Welcome to Friendship Friday! Every week on Friday, Yuujou will publish a story on a friendship bond that we find inspiring. And what's more, these stories will be coming from you! Each week we will handpick a story from one of our community members, about a friend. The story can be funny, emotional, astounding, and your friend could be from your country, or another country: It doesn't matter! We just want to hear more such stories from you, and share it with the rest of the members.  

Today, we want to share the story of Estefania, an activist from Columbia. She met Elin from Germany while volunteering at an Animal Rescue Centre in Costa Rica. Here is her story: 

"I want to share my friendship experience with you. This particular friend is a girl that I met while volunteering in Costa Rica; Elin. We met while working at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Centre on the day that she arrived, and we clicked instantly. With English as our form of communication, I was amazed to see how much in common we had and it surprised me that I would get to create this new friendship with someone that lived miles away from me (she’s from Germany and I am from Colombia). We decided that our time together couldn’t last only a week, so we decided to make a week-long trip together to the beautiful Santa Teresa. We booked a private room in our hostel and had to share a bed. I didn’t know that I would be so confident and intimate with someone that I had just met a week ago. We went to the beach, we went canopying, we partied together, we rested together, and we helped with each other’s hangovers. She was the first person in my whole trip to hear me play my ukulele and sing (I am not a singer) and encourage me to keep going. She helped through an anxiety attack and gave me a lot of advice. That was a trip that I’ll never forget. It’s been almost five months since she went back to Germany and we still talk every single day. She’s like a big sister to me. We are even planning for her to come visit me here in Colombia and me going back to Germany with her!! I’ve never thought I could find that kind of friendship in Costa Rica, especially with someone so far away from me! I love the friendship that we got to build together and I am so thankful to life and God that I got meet someone like her! It showed me that you can find beautiful friends and friendships anywhere and everywhere! Love is surrounding us and you can connect with the people you least expected to, even if they’re from another continent."

With the purpose of creating a circle of friendship around the world, Yuujou also focuses on encouraging more face-to-face social interactions. At Yuujou, we believe in the power of friendship, and we believe that when we open up to strangers, we strengthen our faith in each other. And who knows? Maybe through Friendship Friday, you could also help us prove that we are all connected together as humans, not only virtually, but also in real life. 

So let's share more love and inspiration. Is there a friendship you want to share? Send us your story with pictures on hello@yuujou.world, and get a chance to have your story featured on the Yuujou platforms.