How to find the best EVS project for you

Some time ago I received a mail from a girl that she was asking me how I got my EVS project in Rome and what she can do to get one too. She told me that she sent mails to all the organizations hosting volunteers in the Eternal City but she hasn't received any answers and she was quite dissapointed.

I tried to give her some advices and therefore I will share it also here :

• It is quite impossibile to find the EXACTLY EVS project that you are looking for, in the EXACTLY city that you want and for the EXACTLY period of time that you want to. For example if you want to do a project with european awareness theme, in London, in August....well better to accept from the beggining that it is quite impossible!
• So..try to choose your proorities. Why you want to do this? What is more important for you? The city, the theme or the time?

1. The theme 

If you goal is for example to learn French maybe you have to compromise with doing a project in a small city instead in Paris. If you are doing this for professional experience, for example you want to add to your CV that you have worked with disable children,  you should focus on that.

2. The location

 If you goal is to live in a big city, you dream is to wake up everymorning in a European Capital, no matter what, you should compromise and do anything. Also, it is quite difficult to find projects in big cities, as the rents are very high very organizations cannot find accomodation for the volunteers within the budget of the program.
Think always that big cities have their pros (it is full of life , full of opportunities, discover new things everyday) but also cons ( they are expensive, it is difficult to move and you maybe be stucked in a crowed bus most of the time, your friends may live in the other part of the city)

3. Time period

If you want to have a break for 1 month from the university in the summer, for example,  just to add some new experiences , you should focus on this factor.

 At the end, remember that almost always the reality is very diferent than the one that you imagine. According to the information that we have, we construct a reality that sometimes once the volunteer arrives it's completely different that the one imagined and gets dissapointed.

Good luck to everyone!