AIESEC in Greece | Volunteer abroad projects | Summer 2016

Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and has over 3,000 islands. The climate varies according to region and the temperature is typically from 15 degrees in winter and spring to 30 degrees in summer and autumn. Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece and one of the oldest cities in the world

Greece is so rich in culture and beauty that it never seems to be completely explored.

After all, this is one of the reasons that brought it in the list with the top 20 tourist destinations worldwide!

Main issues in Greece Gap between education & what society/employers need Has one of the highest rate of youth unemployment in Europe

Economic crisis lack of ethical leaders Corruption Racism

Our projects

Young Power is the program which targets young students, between 7-16 years old The goal is to empower the young students in order to develop their personality and self-awareness, while addressing social issues .

The constant changes of the external environment creates the need of developing different skills and characteristics from youth. The incapability of the education system to evolve rapidly adapting to the trends, creates a gap in the system, where programs of non typical education are invited to flourish.

The program

Key Details

According to the age of the students you will have different kind of content to deliver in English language.

June 2016 •Presentation skills •Excellent English

You ‘ll be responsible to prepare and deliver all the workshops sessions upon the issues that you will adress.

The main issues that you will adress are: Cultural – awarness, teamwork and team management, time management, Your workshops interactive and the goal is to pass the knowledge through experiential learning.

2 days preparation conference Accommodation

What past participants have to say?

I took part in Young Power which focuses on developing soft skills for high school students. My responsibilities were to take care of the kids, engage them to join and enjoy the project and contribute to the topics. Teaching how to develop soft skills made me realize I’ve got a lot to improve. Basically, I learnt everything again, from the basics, with the kids. It was an amazing journey.

During the project, I became a much more organized, patient and calmer person. I developed my audience management skills and improved my body language, also.

This whole process taught me how to express myself the way I always wanted to.

I have tons of great experiences, but the most important thing is all the love I got back from the kids.I’m still in contact with a lot of them and I can see how they develop which is always a nice thing.I have tried my best to be someone to be looked up to, and give them another point of view.

I recommend everyone to challenge themselves and take this route because its a huge and joyful adventure to everyone who takes part. Interns can learn more from the kids than we can imagine.

Berk Ozerk,Turkey

Zoltan Lantos , Hungary

My project was about going to schools and talking about my culture, racism and future dreams. It was called Young Power.

Mainly racism because I was from another country and we could discuss it with the kids.

My responsibilities were going to school and make presentations a bout given topics and discuss them with the kids.

As a soft skill I developed presentation making, talking in front of the class and generally public speaking.

Best moment was when some of the kids came and they said ‘‘I want to be like you when I grow up’’.

I would definitely recommend it and have already recommended it.

It is a lifetime experience!

NGO for Change is the program which takes place in non-governmental organizations and institutions by tackling a variety of issues such as: •Environment, •Social issues, •Health, •Culture The goal is to enable the nongovernmental organizations to have financial sustainability, gain knowledge on organizational development and management.

Give to the NGOs the needed knowledge and tools with the final aim to run future initiatives and activities.

According to the latest study of the European union many non-governmental organizations of Greece after the economic crisis of 2009 have closed because they couldn’t be financial sustainable anymore.

The main challenges they are facing are that the don’t know how to use technology for their advantage, how to manage and promote their activities and they have an important lack of collaboration with other organizations. These factors have lead to Greece having one of the lowest rate of volunteerism in Europe

Key Details Depending on the non-governmental profile & needs you will provide: administrative , technological and functional support

May – June 2016

Make the project plan and design the awareness campaign about the issue you will work on Build the promotion strategy Create promotion materials Manage the online promotion ( social medias ) Make presentations and seminars about your campaign and manage a networking event (if needed )

Preparation Seminar

Gather all the data that you have collected and finalize the campaign

Accommodation

• Marketing, IT skills • Good level of English

What past participants have to say?

My Global Citizen experience in Greece this summer had a huge effect on me in different aspects of my life – It widened my worldview, gave me a chance to make lifelong friendships, and most importantly, it enabled me to help the ones that needed it the most. It was very rewarding of how I was able to use my skills and abilities learnt from university in a practical environment, and of course, towards an extremely important cause.

This experience has definitely made me more solution oriented, and now I understand that there are ways in which you can turn drawbacks into success if you just look at the situation from a different point of view.

As much as the economic situation affected my NGO, its people and my work there, I am also grateful that I was able to make a positive contribution during this difficult time. I learnt so much about the ways the country, and especially the media tends to handle such occurrences.

Jasmina Korpimaki, Finland

As a whole, I can honestly say that I have experienced the change Global Citizen have on people’s lives and I really recommend it to others as well!

Lucy Banny, North Carolina

"My AIESEC experience in Greece last summer was the best decision I have ever made for myself.

I worked at an amazing NGO called "Thess Checkpoint", an HIV prevention center with the friendliest staff. I did human resources for them to help with the problem in Greek society of volunteer engagement. To do this, I interviewed and surveyed local staff, Athens staff, and volunteers, to create a report with plans for how to improve volunteer engagement at the organization.

Through these tasks, I developed my communication and presentation skills and was able to learn more about Greek society.

It's hard to pick a single "best moment" from my experience, because everyday was a different adventure. The best part of living in Greece was the people, learning Greek customs, going to bars, dancing, walking by the waterfront.

I lived with different Greek students and international interns, all of whom have become close friends as we shared such a unique experience together.

From the food, to the culture, to the weekends spent in Greek islands and cities, my trip to Greece has made the last summer the best in my life!

I really can't wait to go back one day!"

International Kindergarten is the program which takes place in kindergartens for kids, between 3-6 years old

It aims to help the kids develop cultural understanding and respect towards differences through interactive activities and games

Kids in early ages usually are not familiar with people from other countries and they are more likely to develop a sense of xenophobia.

Also nowadays bulling episodes are occurring more than ever

Key Details Present your culture through your traditional foods, history-mythology and storytelling

May – June 2016 • Educational profile(child ,language) • Excellent English

Create activities inspired from your country roots (theatre ,dance, songs, drawings)

Teach basic English through games

Create interactive activities about team work and cross cultural respect Make games and presentations for global interest issues ( bullying, cultural understanding )

Preparation Seminar Accommodation

What past participants have to say?

My name is Quyen Nguyen from AIESEC in Houston, United States.

I applied for the International Kindergarten program and shared the American and Vietnamese culture.

During my time at the Kindergarten, I played American games and sang Greek songs, taught them the colors, numbers, and basic phrases in English as they taught me the same in Greek.

After not being able to communicate with the children because of the language barrier, I learned to handle them more with my tone and actions rather than my words which I have used once I came back.

I have never been an expressive person but after this experience, I said less and showed more which made me open up more to how I felt.

I made so many amazing memories during this experience but the one I loved was when one of my students made me upset but another student made me feel better by putting his arms around me, kissed me on the cheek and said, "Σ ‘αγαπώ, Κυρία Quyen. (I love you Ms. Quyen)."

If I had a chance to do this program again, I would do it without any hesitation because everyone that I met was family and Thessaloniki, Greece was home.

Quyen Nguyen,USA

I participated in the project International Kindergarten in Athens, The project addressed community empowerment, specifically education.

I helped the teachers with the regular activities of the kindergarten, but I also had the opportunity to propose projects and develop ideas of my own. This mostly concerned presentations of my country and practical activities to promote cross-cultural dialogue.

Working with children surely improved my patience and put me in a different mind-set

Elena Viero , Italy

I had to find ways to communicate with them without having a common language and to catch their attention with my activities, which requires creativity and imagination.

I think I really felt satisfied when I saw the children reacting to my proposals with enthusiasm and growing fond of me, despite the differences and the linguistic obstacles.

It made me feel that I was really doing something important, both for them and for myself.

I would recommend the project because it offers a good perspective to get to know a new reality and a new culture from the inside. Moreover, the teachers allow you to express yourself through your ideas and suggestions, which are really taken into consideration: the engagement is practical and really helps to develop personal skills.

Summer Camps is the program which targets young students, between 5-14 years old The goal is to empower the young children in order to develop their competencies by learning and interacting with other cultures in order to increase their awareness towards other cultures and other people

Since the start of the crisis in 2008 the emerging issue of xenophobia and racism rised in the Greek society, that’ s why there is a need of a constant effort of enforcing the society and especially the youth with more tolerance and cultural awareness.

The program

Key Details

Design and execute of workshops and games for the children in the camp.

Organize activities in the camp according to tour area of expertise( arts, dance etc) You will conduct workshops that have to do with burning social issues of Greece and

June 2016 •Past experience •Excellent English

You will be a team leader for a total of 810 kids in the camp .

This is a general Job Description it could be that from position to position you could find also other kind of backgrounds.

2 days preparation conference Accommodation & Food

What past participants have to say?

Working as an extreme sports team member in Skouras Sports Camp was truly an unforgettable experience. I still clearly remember how helpless I felt on the first day of the internship as nearly everyone around me only tended to speak in their own languages.

Yet, by reminding myself of the spirit of my organisation to face challenges squarely, I made every effort to embrace the Greek culture. And now, here comes an adaptable and independent me!

Yen Wun, UK

Angie Bronk, US

My primary role at Pitsas Camp was to practice conversational English with thechildren through camp activities. I have acquired skills conversing with a variety of people, public speaking to groups of kids and parents, and also have practiced teaching. Both the organization and the camp made sure I was happy in my internship and were very accommodating. Overall, my time spent in Greece was everything I had hoped for and more.

AIESEC in Greece Accommodation free

What do we provide ?

(either in flat, hosting families or hostel with basic living condition)

Pick up from airport Preparation from host committee before arrival

Incoming preparation seminar after arrival Personal development plan Fulfillment of all Standards & Satisfactions

UoM Thessaloniki

Alex Tsatinyan alex.tsatinyan@aiesec.net MCVP iGCDP

AUTH

Athens

Unipi

NKUA

Giannis Chondrogiannis giannis.chondrogiannis@aiesec.net Dimitra Thomaidi dimitra.thomaidi@aiesec.net Alex Papanastasiou alex.papanastasiou@aiesec.net Thanasis Koftoris thanasis.koftoris.aiesec@gmail.com

Patras

UoI

Antonis Ginitsopoulos antoniosstefanos.ginits opoulos@aiesec.net

Christos Maris christos.maris@aiesec.net Georgia Statiri Georgia.statiri2@aiesec.net