Hilal SERT

Hello everyone,

I am Hilal Sert. In the spring of 2026 I joined a two-month short-term ESC volunteering project in Portugal. For me it was not only social responsibility work: it was one of the turning points of my life, where I stepped out of my comfort zone and rediscovered myself, my limits and how I see the world.

My Project

Throughout the project I was part of many-sided work aimed at building bridges between generations, taking active roles in assisting and coordinating activities. In my first month I spent time with children, sharing their boundless energy, joining educational and creative activities, playing games and enjoying myself.

In the second month our focus turned to older people. Listening to their life stories, spending time with them and bringing a little joy into their daily lives was a very different experience for me. We did yoga, exercise and dance with them, and sang songs. I supported them in these activities while trying to make movement easier and raise their energy and motivation. Seeing the sincere smile on their faces was priceless.

A Day in Portugal, and My Discoveries

My days passed with project activities and with the energy of a multicultural living space. The people in the house where I stayed came from completely different backgrounds and cultures. So the cultural exchange did not stop when I came home at the end of the day. Sharing different languages, cuisines and habits turned our house into a small world.

Over those two months I did not stay only in Santa Maria da Feira, where the project took place. To get to know Portugal’s spirit, architecture and history better I visited Porto, Lisbon, Aveiro, Coimbra, Braga and Espinho. Every city had a different atmosphere, a different story and new people to meet.

My love of travel did not stop at Portugal either. I also had the chance to discover Spain and Italy. In every city I made new friends, experienced other cultures and collected unforgettable memories.

What the Project Gave Me

The project and my travels gave me priceless maturity, both professionally and personally. I had the chance to compare our own culture with the ways of life of the people in the places I visited. Those comparisons taught me something important: people are not judging us nearly as much as we think.

I saw for myself how unfounded the “what will people say?” worries we carry, collectively or individually, usually are. Being somewhere else, spending time with completely different people and being able to see life from their perspective widened my own view a great deal.

The experience taught me that sometimes, rather than trying to solve a problem immediately, I should pause and look at it from the outside. Recognising the moments when I need to protect myself was also a big gain. The most concrete thing I took away, and one that has become a motto, is this: I used to have very firm red lines, and through this process I learned to bend without breaking.

An Unforgettable Moment

During my trip to Spain and Italy I had a tragicomic and equally enchanting moment I will never forget. On my last night in Spain my flight was very early, so I had to spend the night at the airport and could not sleep at all. I had also woken very early the day before — so I had been awake for nearly two days.

The next morning I arrived in Venice at 10:00. Because check-in at my accommodation was at 14:00 I started wandering the streets of Venice in that sleepless state. As I walked I came across a very striking church. I went inside and sat down on a pew to take in that enchanting atmosphere. But from tiredness and lack of sleep I fell asleep there without even noticing. About thirty minutes later one of the staff came and woke me.

The truly unforgettable moment began right then. My mind could not come round for almost a minute. The person in front of me was asking “Are you okay?”; I understood what he was saying but could not answer. When I opened my mouth to speak I started speaking Turkish, and even I could not quite make out what I was saying. That moment — trying to grasp where I was, that I was travelling alone, and that I had fallen asleep in the middle of that magnificent church — will stay with me forever.

With Thanks

I want to thank everyone who helped make this unforgettable journey possible. First of all, thank you very much to KOZ-DER for offering me this opportunity and supporting me from beginning to end.

Endless thanks to the Cruz Vermelha team, who welcomed me so warmly from the moment I set foot in Portugal and stood by me sincerely through every problem. I am also grateful to all the colleagues I worked with there, who were always warm to me and never withheld their care or help even when we did not share a language. I am so glad our paths crossed.

Final Word

Volunteering in Portugal and the travels that followed did not only give me new places to see; they stretched me, grew me and gave me myself. Seeing how unfounded my fears were, learning to stay flexible and looking at the world through a wider window meant a great deal.

Looking back today, I thank myself for having the courage to take that first step. This experience will always stay with me as one of the brightest and most special pages of my life.