On the last Saturday of the month, the Istanbul&I office was filled with eager new volunteers. There were 27 newly-recruited volunteers and 42 participants in total. It was a great day, and I got to know people recruited from all over the world, trying to volunteer and help with such wonderful people because Istanbul&I is not an organization; it is a team of friends or rather a family that tries in various ways to support the city in which they reside.
At first, the new volunteers got to know Istanbul&I and the volunteer teams there. After taking a tea break, having drinks and food prepared by the volunteers there, and talking more with each other, we played the game of seasons: Which season do we love the most in the year? And why is it our favorite? Each group chose a particular season to get to know each other and talk about this topic in this beautiful and different way. Then we got to know the leaders of each team and what rules we should follow. The most important rule is to respect the time and tell officials if something urgent happens when we are late for a certain event and cannot attend. Rule number two is to take responsibility for tasks.
Finally, we took some pictures to commemorate the wonderful orientation day, which is the start of a big project for everyone there because volunteering at Istanbul&I not only teaches kindness and help but also working with a team. It also teaches that the responsibility to take on is a great opportunity for those who like to be within a great vision of helping others like Istanbul&I.
As a new volunteer in Istanbul&I, I understood what it means to volunteer with a great team whose goal is to integrate with the local community as foreigners and give back to the city and local community, including supporting and helping people, animals, and children and even trying to save what can be saved from the global warming problem and other problems surrounding us as a society.
