My name is Laura Ganeider, I am 20 years old and a social worker. It was a long-awaited dream of mine to go on development aid to Africa and so I fulfilled my wish by volunteering in Angola, Africa from 17.9.2015 to 30.1.2016. In the morning I worked in the elementary school to help children with special needs to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. In the afternoon I taught English courses and on weekends I helped out in a hospital ward. It was a very exciting and varied time for me: a new country, a new culture, a new language. I got to know a completely new culture and had the opportunity to integrate well. I also learned a lot about myself and had the opportunity to develop my personality. What fascinated me the most was the "social togetherness" of the Angolans and the tolerance they showed towards me. I felt very comfortable there - it was not necessarily a problem to make contacts and build friendships. My life was characterized by fun and joie de vivre, which I took over from the Angolans. Now I have been back in Austria for more than a month - but with my thoughts still "a bit" in Angola. The openness, cordiality, and charity of the Angolans will always remain in my memory and shape my life.

Laura Ganeider, 2016, Angola