About crisis during crisis – how to not drown in our problems

Even without a pandemic, a crisis caused by an inappropriately treated problem can emerge at any point in our life.

But what happens when our ordinary life gets turned upside down by an unexpected and completely new situation? How do we react to said unpleasant situation? How does it affect us and our environment? What feelings and experiences does it bring along? What could be the possible solutions? These are the types of questions we’ve been searching the answers for on Saturday, throughout an all-day training with our coordinators and fellow volunteers in the Târgu Mureș centre of Caritas Alba Iulia. 

Of course, our topic was based on the coronavirus pandemic and the global situation it’s brought through the past months. We can also call it a lifestyle, since our lives as we knew them have seen major changes ever since this whole thing started. 

We have realized early into the training just how important is to pay attention and tune ourselves to one another. A few very original, interesting and instructive team games helped in the process. While it may seem simple at first glance, as one of the gears in the small team, we realize that it’s not so easy to spin in sync with the other little gears. You do need that certain lubrication. Giving each other the balloons, getting the hula hoop back to its starting point while holding our hands, guiding our blindfolded partner while building a sugar cube tower and counting loudly, back-to-back so that no two people talk at the same time – all these have thought us that no matter how hard a situation can get, there is always a way out and, more importantly, we are never alone. There is always someone around us who could help us, we only need to raise our head and pay attention instead of keeping it low. Yes! Perhaps this should be the motto of our everyday rush, of this world in which we are growing more and more estranged. Paying attention. We shouldn’t only pay attention to our loved ones or acquaintances, but also to the stranger in the gray coat passing us by. Because maybe we only give them a kind look or a quick smile, and still it makes their day a little better.

After the pleasant and thought-provoking introduction, we got in a more serious mood and dealt with the world of problem solving, crisis management and coordinating crisis situations. Small group conversations, large-scale discussions, a cascade of information, instructive examples, laughter and silence led us to also find ourselves even more by the end of the day together, and in the meantime, it became clear which personality type suited each of us best. 

Although masks covered our faces in accordance with epidemiological regulations, the smell on our hands was that of disinfectant and we followed the rules of mandatory social distancing, we could still feel closer to each other in the moments of saying goodbye, as we explored ourselves a bit, a slice of how we ourselves react in similar situations. In this way, we were able to learn from each other’s example, and we were able to take with us useful ideas and directions that could be applied during our everyday life difficulties.

Gerczuj Tímea,
volunteer in Târgu Mureș

Despite the fact that there have been major changes in the world since March, the volunteer program at Caritas Alba Iulia has been trying to maintain contact with its volunteers adapting to the current epidemiological situation. We are grateful for the flexibility and positivity of our volunteers in these uncommon situations and we thank Outward Bound Romania for the warm welcome and flexibility.

The eighth team building could not have been organized without the support of the Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt and the Communitas Foundation. Thank you!

Photos
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=YoungCaritasRo&set=a.2841692226098723

Translated by Razman Noémi-Katalin