Title : Age Of Hope
Location: Kaposvár, Somogy County, Hungary
Dates: 3rd of September 2017- 3rd of July 2018
Number of volunteers: 1 from Bulgaria
About the project:
The target group of the project are children, teenagers and young adults who live in Kaposvár and the surrounding area, but we work with all ages and origin of people. The local young people do not have a lot of chance or the right motivation to travel, or to learn new languages and gain international experiences. Due to this we decided to bring the international environment to our city, by the diversity of EVS, here at the Compass Office! Our EVS volunteers, are our greatest tools! We offer the chance for the youth to come to our office and experience an
international environment, to improve their social, cultural, and intercultural skills, organizing free-time activities, summer camps, send them abroad for EVS, Youth Exchanges, Training courses and Seminars. We offer them; possibilities, to extend their chances, and to expand their world!
Tasks of volunteers:
Every month the volunteer has to write a ‘Monthly Report’. This report should contain a text of the different activities and programs with pictures attached. It is a great way for both the volunteer and the hosting/sending
organization to follow the process of the individual.
Cultural clubs.
The volunteer will be leading/participating language clubs for youth, between the ages of; 6-40, but in some case for elderly people as well. The aim of the clubs is to create a safe and fun environment for locals, to practice foreign languages, mostly speaking, by using the methods of; non-formal education (e.g.: board games, card games, debates, song lyrics etc..) The volunteer has to use/’teach’/his or her mother tongue and English. We hope the volunteer can and will encourage the participants to express themselves and to communicate in foreign languages. For this activity we advise the volunteer to prepare for the clubs, by choosing and discussing about different topics; e.g.: sport, culture, movies, history, or anything what could be interesting for the participants. The aim of the club is to encourage Hungarians for speaking foreign languages, and to show/present the volunteer’s national culture.
Compass has a toolkit so called “Ability Quest” which contains different methods of teambuilding, sport and role playing games and self development training. The volunteer is invited to use this toolkit and to add any further ideas of his or her own. These activities enrich both the knowledge
Language lessons at the local schools:
Our volunteers are regularly invited to local secondary schools, to take part in language lessons; this can be: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French or Russian as well. This activity is very essential and useful for the local community,because through our volunteers, the students have a chance, to hear, and learn from a native or foreign speaker. By this; they can improve their communication skills, listening, hearing, understanding, and most importantly the ability to speak and to express their selves in a foreign language.
We are also doing outreach work in 4 elementary, 9 high schools/technical schools, where we promote local and international projects, volunteering, useful free-time activities and the Erasmus + program. Taking part in popularization of the Erasmus + program As mentioned above we regularly go to local schools. Why? To make different kind of presentations (country, culture, Erasmus+, EVS..) to encourage young people for participating at local, regional & international events, as well as to invite them for different conferences & events (eg: at the City Hall, County Hall)
In these events; one of the tasks are to promote the Erasmus+ program, the EVS and our own projects. The volunteer has to take an active part in these events! They are welcomed to use their own ideas & presentations. Occasional our
volunteers have the opportunity to create presentations, short speeches for conferences, introductions of themselves and their country in the above mentioned events.
Summer / autumn camp:
Our volunteers are encouraged to take the initiative and come up with their ideas/experiences, skills and knowledge for our camps. During the summer we have 6-7 camps in different themes: sports, nature, arts, science, theatre and
much more! In the autumn we only organize 1, depending on the needs of participants. These camps are mostly for Hungarians, but foreigners living in Kaposvár can also take part. For the Hungarians these camps are to improve their social and intercultural skills, to support their foreign language knowledge, to promote diversity and ways of non-formal learning!
The participants learn the usage of a foreign language and the communication with people of different ages, cultural-, social-, economical-backgrounds, through a diverse range of games, activities, team buildings and situations. Our volunteers prepare the activities with the support of Andi, Niki or Kyra, our Hungarian board members. We believe that good communication skills are essential for life. No matter what kind of marks you have at school, or what type of certifications you have, what matters is; the ability to understand and to communicate with people. Useful free-time activities in Kaposvár and its area:
The volunteer has the opportunity to join or to create numerous free-time activities with Compass Organization and its partnership connections in the city.
– There is a big sport complex, only 5 minutes walking distance away from our youth center, including; gym, cycling, boxing, aerobic, sauna and solarium facilities. Our volunteers have 10% off everything.
– One of the best cafeterias in town ‘Eleven’ has also 10% of for all Compass EVS volunteers.
– The city of Kaposvár is known as one of the greenest cities of Hungary. a Parks, flowers, fountains and trees are one of the main attractions of our town. The city has multiple built in bicycle stations that work with solar energy. Our entire spa & swimming-pool complex is heated by renewable energy. As well as, in 2016 Kaposvár become Europe’s most florist city. We have flowers on every corner of the city, which makes a simple walk or stroll around the city very pleasant.
Mother’s shelter:
Is a temporary home for violated women and their children. We also operate an EVS project for this shelter, but again, our volunteer’s are given the opportunity to; visit, to join their activities or to even implement ideas and
workshops together with the main team. We come here to entertain the kids, to expand their point of view, to develop the mothers’ social competences with language clubs, computer knowledge and helping them to get back to the labor market with CV and motivation letter writing workshops. We also host cultural events as most of the mothers and their children are coming from very bad social, economical and geographical circumstences.
Retired Club:
Occasionally we work with elderly people, at a nearby retirement club. We create and present interesting workshops, and programs for them, at their local center, (eg: knitting, or dancing). Village program: Sometimes (2-3 times a year) we visit the surrounding villages & rural areas, where mostly minority people live, to create or to attend on
cultural/intercultural- sport- and culinary events and programs. Visnyeszéplak is a completely self-sufficient village, where people produce their own food, water, or electricity. Those who had enough of city life, and are wishing for a relaxed way of living, move to Visnyeszéplak, to go back to their roots, the roots of humanity and live on their own in this nice community. On a monthly basis, our volunteers have the opportunity to visit them and practice foreign languages with the villagers.
Accommodation, workplace:
We expect the volunteer to:
– Respect the accommodation provided by Compass and the rules of common life/ living together.
– Provide sending and hosting organization with a written ‘monthly report’ each month.
– Take care conscientiously of the materials and objects that are being provided by the hosting organization (camera, phone, office equipments, furniture, decorations, etc) in order to fulfill the goals and objectives of the project much easier. In case of destruction of materials or values, the volunteer is required to pay the equivalent amount of money for each one in part.
– In the accommodation the volunteer are required to take care of the cleaning itself. Washing the dishes, taking out the trash, take care of the usage of the provided equipments and furniture, freshening the air. Basically keeping the apartment tidy and using all belongings as they should be used.
– The volunteers are required to keep the office clean, and organized. So called ‘cleaning groups’ are encouraged to organize by the volunteers. After the language clubs or any other program, activity held in the office all materials, and belongings (games, papers, pens, furniture, projector, etc) should be put back, to its original place.
– Take seriously your commitment to the entire project period
– Support the aims and methods of Compass Organization. Try to give in all your passion and knowledge in whatever you do.
Working time:
30 hours weekly. = 6 hours working + 1 hour lunch break. Usual daily agenda: starting at 11:00 finishing at 18:00.
Free days: two days per every week. (Saturday, Sunday) Here at Compass Organization our working hours are flexible. Depending on; the volunteer’s and the organization’s needs. – For example: starting at 08:00
finishing at 15:00, including 1hr lunch break. If the volunteer has to work on the weekend, (because of an event; sport, cultural or musical) then he/she will get the free day in another time (during the week) Each month the volunteer has 2 free days. This means that; during the 12 months, a volunteer has 24 days for holiday.
If you are interested to participate please send us your CV and Motivation letter no later than 5.09.2017 on the follwoing email: yia.alternativi@gmail.com with subject [EVS- Hungary]
