Inês Esteves | MARÉ VIVA Volunteer

9 years ago, I ended up joining one of Cascais Jovem volunteer programs that was suggested to me as a way to occupy my summer and interact with new people. In the tender years that have gone by, I would never have thought of the enormous impact it would have. Do you know what it is like to feel that we grow and above all that we know each other and learn to deal with different personalities, perspectives and values? I knew!

The tolerance, the commitment, the dedication that I discovered to have been used and applied in contexts of a love won to this program that welcomed me!

9 years later, I am as a team leader in the management of teams of young people who every day take my heart and with whom I learn more and more. It is not just about providing a service as citizens. Fool yourself! It is about becoming human beings who put everything of their own and have enough space to take each of the people with whom we have contact, work and to whom we can leave our little big mark.

More and more I feel that choosing a profession / course becomes difficult. Choosing something that I used to do all my life, was only possible thanks to the program. Working with young people, solving problems, managing conflicts, helping psychosocially, made me realize that psychology is already part of my life.

Viva Maré has moved on, helped me to grow and to know me, to adapt and to develop a leadership capacity that brings together all the examples of outstanding people who have passed through here.

If luck really exists, and I'm not skeptical about it, I was / am one of the lucky ones that I was selected and today, with a course made, I am eternally grateful to be able to create a better beach and to be part of the Maré Viva team!