I wanted to thank you for the opportunity of being a part of the Foundation’s volunteer program this June, 2019. It was truly a magical experience for me, and it was unforgettable. I am also very pleased and appreciative that we could work out an arrangement for my extended stay in return for the painting work in the pyramid. That third week made all the difference for me.
Before too much time has passed, I wanted to take a moment to write a testimonial for my experience of the 2 week volunteer program. My decision to extend my stay for an additional week was due in no small part to the quality of people we volunteers were interacting with.
I could go on for days about the mystical experiences I had there personally, but the truth is, I could not have had those experiences without the structure of the volunteer program you have in place. While I enjoyed all the members of your team,I interacted the most with two individuals in particular whom I feel should be commended for the job that they do, these two people being Mirzet Salkanović (our tour guide) and Marie-Sophie Gristi (the volunteer coordinator).
As part of the two week volunteer program, we were blessed to be taken to several points of interest in Bosnia, including the tumulus, the stone spheres, and the Bosnian caves. Mirzet has an irreverent sense of humor, a playful energy, and quite a broad knowledge of these different sites we visited. We were joined by his girlfriend Wanda, who also brought a delightful counter-point to our official tour guide’s perspective. We had a lot of fun together, and I hope he continues in this role for as long as it suits him.
Marie-Sophie was also a stand-out representative of the foundation. The Bosnian Valley of Pyramids draws a very eclectic international group of people from dozens of different countries. All of these people come from very diverse cultures, speak several different languages, and bring with them their own unique personalities. Marie-Sophie is the one who is left to balance and integrate this hodge-podge group of misfits (myself included) into a productive team of workers, while keeping the environment safe, fun, and meaningful.
In my opinion, she was meant for this job.
From my own time and experiences with her personally, I found Marie-Sophie to be very empathic and intuitive, enthusiastic and light-hearted, dedicated and hard-working. She was able to sense personality mis-matches and to make appropriate adjustments with such a light touch that often her solutions went undetected by those involved. She also went the extra mile by offering our small group the use of her washer so that we might save money doing our own laundry at her place.
She is warm, kind, open and communicative, and her passion for being a part of the volunteer program (which often means laborious tasks) becomes infectious. She is, in my opinion, the perfect lens to focus all of our diverse, unique energies into the task at hand.
Truly, these two individuals in particular are wonderful assets to your volunteer program, and I look forward to seeing them and all again when I inevitably return.
Sincerely,
Darrell Womack
