Roménia

4784

Data de início: 03-04-2015

Data de fim: 31-12-2015

Vagas: 2

Duração: 9 mes(es)

Data limite de candidatura: 08-03-2015

Financiamento: Aprovado

Subsídio mensal (Dinheiro de bolso): 60 €

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Resumo: The host organization has a long history in integrating international volunteers as a way to encourage and stimulate greater intercultural exchange and local participation through positive examples. We have confidence in our ability to provide volunteers with experiences that help them to discover and express talents and build their skills in connecting and working with children in holistic ways.
The goal of this project will be to provide volunteers with personal development opportunities and practical skills needed to connect effectively and empathetically with children across language and cultural barriers, while sharing talents that help the children express and control their energy in constructive ways. The metaphor of the horse whisperer has been chosen for the project’s title, as a horse whisperer is someone who has an intuitive ability to connect with wild horses and to tame them with love and understanding so that the horse can be harnessed by a rider

Perfil: − sports skills
− entrepreneurial skills or strong interest
− interest or experience in organic gardening or permaculture
− experience (volunteer, professional) or background in social work
− experience in working with children − experience in yoga or meditation
− interest in healthy lifestyle
− vegetarian / non-smoking

Age: 17 until 30 years old

Tarefas: The goal of this project will be to provide volunteers with personal development opportunities and practical skills needed to connect effectively and empathetically with children across language and cultural barriers, while sharing talents that help the children express and control their energy in constructive ways. The metaphor of the horse whisperer has been chosen for the project’s title, as a horse whisperer is someone who has an intuitive ability to connect with wild horses and to tame them with love and understanding so that the horse can be harnessed by a rider.

In recent years, we have observed in the children we work with, an increase in difficulties with concentration, hyperactivity and underdeveloped social skills that result in chaotic play, aggressivity, lack of empathy and other challenging behaviors. From a neurological standpoint, these behaviors often indicate that a child is dysregulated, having surpassed his ability to integrate stimulation within a manageable threshold.

As it takes a regulated adult to help a dysregulated child return to a regulated state, our “horse whisperer” volunteers will first learn to tame and calm their own internal “wild horses” by being introduced to stress management techniques based on breathing exercises, positive thinking, reframing, conflict resolution and yoga and meditation techniques. They will also be encouraged to discover and express talents so that they can find ways to redirect the children’s “wild” energy with fun, non-formal education techniques. They will the share this experience with the children so that they can also become “horse whisperers” as well and control their own “wild horses”. They will also have opportunities to learn progressive, holistic education techniques and practical organizing skills that will enhance their employability in the fields of social services, education or NGO work. The specific objectives for the volunteers are :
1. To identify personal talents and interests that are then structured into thematic extracurricular learning projects, artistic and sports activities for the children
2. To provide volunteers with personal development tools as well as holistic innovative holistic education techniques from Neohumanist education through interactive workshops that cover topics such as yoga, communication, language acquisition with children, cooperative games, outdoor education, diversity training,
3. To stimulate local community participation and volunteer spirit by involving children in designing and implementing active citizenship initiatives for their community
4. To develop their own and children’s life skills and cooperative skills through outdoor experiential adventures and other games and practical activities with the children
5. To provide volunteers with career building skills including professional management skills and experience in designing and implementing projects with the children, including project design, budgeting, lesson planning, evaluation and reporting .

The role of the volunteers in the organization is mainly as animators, as well as general program assistants. Volunteers will meet with the children enrolled in the organization afterschool program to identify their interests, and to design and organize a program of extracurricular enrichment activities together with the children and project director. Volunteers also assist the cook and director in meal preparation, cleaning and preparing the center for the educational activities, gardening and chopping wood for the heating in the winter. Volunteers will help to create a regular routine of cooperative games, sports, music, yoga and centering experiences help the children to release energy and calm themselves in preparation for homework. Volunteers will participate in trainings in Neohumanist education as well as share with each other yoga techniques, games, songs, stories.

After completing their homework lessons, the children then participate in the extracurrircular activities designed by the volunteers – such as art, crafts, sports, drama, foreign languages and english. Some of the activities may be organized as “clubs” and some as group activities or theme projects. During the summertime, the young people from the center are given the opportunity to participate in self-organizing community events for the young people in the village – such as film screenings, discos, art classes, drama presentations etc. Volunteers’ tasks are mainly to plan, implement and evaluate the activities. In addition, the “Multicultural Festival” is a program at the center in which volunteers will present aspects of their home culture in creative, interactive ways. Once a year the volunteers help to organise an Open Day program for the parents and other members of the community, promoting the results of both the center and EVS. Volunteers will also be involved in organising events to promote EVS opportunities to local young people.

Volunteers will also be involved in helping at the farm project which grows vegetables for the host organization and a group of clients. They will participate in implementing a permaculture design and may also be involved in organizing activities and workshops at the farm. Periodically the volunteers will work collaboratively on projects with the EVS team.

In addition, EVS volunteers are given opportunities to socialize and participate in both non-formal and organized activities with the children of the organization project and the young adults from the social integration project. As the beneficiaries of these projects often have deep emotional problems from their history of neglect and trauma, volunteers receive training about the special needs arising from traumatic histories, and are encouraged to read specialized material as well. Contact with the beneficiaries from these projects is mediated by the staff of the project.

Evaluation of each aspect of the project is done weekly with written reports and meetings as well as in monthly team meetings together with the EVS coordinator to assess whether the objectives of the project are being achieved and whether the expectations of the promoters and volunteers are being met.

There is a wide variety of tasks in connection with the education programs, i.e. planning of activities, classroom preparation, resource building, profiling and evaluation as well as related administrative tasks.

Volunteers will also organize meetings with the parents to involve them in the project. These ensure that volunteers are integrated into the community as well as the local community. Within organization social activities take place regularly together with children from the organization such as dinners, parties, outings, etc. In the summer the volunteers will organize an expedition adventure camping together with the program youth.

Horário: Working hours will be flexible, from Monday to Friday, arranged according to the needs of the project in consultation with the volunteer, not exceeding 33 hours. Weekends are off days except in exceptional cases of outings, trainings or fundraising events. In this case volunteers will be compensated with days off during the week. There are several school holidays when the center is closed during the schoolyear, and volunteers are encouraged to use their vacation days during that period. Vacation days accumulate at the rate of two days per month. In some cases, there may be a project taking place during a vacation period, in which case the volunteer can arrange a different period to take their vacation days, but it is important to plan it in advance in collective meetings so that project work is not affected.

Condições: 1

Documentação: CV + Carta de Motivação em Inglês + Formulário

Download: 4784 - EVS Questionnaire.doc