ACT TOGETHER brochure

ACT TOGETHER

ABOUT ACT Association Community for Youth (ACT) is a non-governmental organization working in the South-West Oltenia (Romania), with the main objective to promote community development.

Our mission is to develop, implement and support youth development programs built around the concepts of lifelong learning, mobility and associativity.

ACT works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives. The aim of this empowerment is to establish a widebased community movement which encourages the positive involvement of young people in solving issues which affect them, treating them as resources, not as problems.

PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT In March of 2019, ACT Together project started.

A team of 10 volunteers, from Spain, Greece, Portugal, Albania, Georgia and France until the end of

September

spreading

their

they magic

were in

Craiova.

GENERAL PROJECT OBJECTIVE: The general objective of this project was the creation of a database with young people interested in doing volunteering both

at

local

international Promoting

level the

level

and

as

well.

volunteering

concept in the high schools of Craiova and region of Dolj County.

GET TO KNOW OUR TEAM

@acttogethercraiova Acttogethercraiova https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQhES0zuPS sWzjmSxLNClQ)

MARIAMI გამარჯობა. Hello, I am Mariami from Georgia. I already finished the faculty of Finance and decided to go abroad with an EVS program, because I always wanted new challenges. All I knew was, that I really want to do it and “now” is the perfect time. The perfect time to challenge myself in a new country and also to be part of an intercultural team. I went in Romania in the city of Craiova. My project was long term- 6 months. From the first days I was super motivated and active about creating my new life, in a new country, with new people.

For me, the first month wasn't easy, especially because I don’t speak the language of the country, and I had a speaking complex, so my English wasn’t good. Why Romania? I don’t know but Romania is a really beautiful country with amazing cities. I recommend to everyone to go to visit them. For me, volunteering can offer fantastic opportunities to spend time abroad, learn new skills, develop yourself, improve your languages skills and participate in different activities. From this experience, I took out endless new life lessons. A wonderful opportunity to travel and discover a new culture, to challenge myself by working in English, to learn to take initiative and be independent. I really like to say that – “Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep going you must keep moving.”

Move always, as, much as you can, as far you can go, trust yourself and believe in your dreams. Meet new people, make new friends, think globally and never limit yourself.

MARISA Hello! My name is Marisa and I’m from Portugal. I’m 22 years old and I’m graduated in Nursing. I decided to come to Romania to challenge myself, to improve my level of English and to learn about new cultures. Also, i knew that Romanian people don’t have the same opportunities as people from other countries in Europe so I decided to try to do something to change this cycle.

I arrived almost at midnight in Craiova, scared and thinking if I have taken the right decision.From the airport to my new house it was dark, so i did not see anyone in the streets or in the buildings. I was received by my flatmates in a really intense and nice way. In the next morning when I woke up I realized that everything was so different compared to my country.

MICHAIL Hello, my name is Μιχάλης (Michail) and I am from Greece. I am 25 years old and for the first time in my life, though ESC, I will live abroad for six months. I have studied Economics at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki and I have a degree in classic guitar. Volunteering for me means solidarity, aid, contribution and making an impact in the society.

My first weeks could be described as having mixed feelings. Everything was new for me, the city, the project, the people, the language, everything. I was confused because for the first time in my life, I was in a foreign country trying to communicate in English. After some weeks the language barrier was not there, and I was not feeling lost; I had a clear view about our project, about the activities, about the non-formal education and the most important thing I had created new friendships from all over Europe. I was lost but it was also amazing because in these weeks I learned a lot of new things, I met a lot of new people and these weeks determined the evolution of the project and me too. I did not have high expectations about Romania but at the end I was wrong, Romania is a beautiful country. About the language, Romanian language is difficult, especially for me, but thanks to the Romanian lessons and the daily interaction with the students and the locals I have learn more than the basics.

ACT TOGETHER BROCHURE

05

CATHAYSA

Hola mi gente! I just finished my degree in Science Politics and decided to take a gap year to improve and increase my languages while doing a meaningful activity in the other part of Europe.

I came to Romania with a lot of feelings, I was worried about my decision to “lose a year”, but at the same time, full of emotion to start a new adventure. A gap year could be mean a lot of things but for me it was learning languages that I had never thought about, like Romanian, Greek or Georgian, while improving my English, French and my own language, Spanish. It’s easy to create spaces to exchange cultures, ideas and life views. Regarding the country, I had stereotype because I only knew about it from external sources, but I came with the idea to remove them and I mostly did it. This is a welcoming country that takes care of their traditions and with a complex history of a real Balkan country. I have traveled across mostly all the Balkans countries finding commons points and also I traveled to Austria and Turkey. Thanks to that, I gain a view of the past Ottoman empire, the relations between countries, the tensions and stereotypes between them and I experienced the flaws of a wide means of transport, concluding that “Eu sunt voluntar” open many doors. I encourage you, future volunteer, to try every meal, dances and songs in Romanian and to exchange your own culture with your international team. I came thinking that I was an open minded person and with time, I realized that you only can continue learning.

ATHANASIA Hello, my name is Athanasia and I come from Greece! I have studied International and European Studies and in my free time I like to sing, read books and watch TV series.

The idea of volunteering was always fascinating to me but I haven’t tried it, at least not in another country, and that’s because I had no idea about EVS or ESC! I’ve learned about it during my Erasmus+ internship from a friend, I searched it and here I am!

When I first came in Romania I was a bit afraid of what I was going to see in this new place, how my house was going to be, or my flatmates. Also, I was very excited about the project and I couldn’t wait to get started. I had many different ideas about what we could do or how we could do it, so I was more than excited to get started.

Except our activities and the meetings in the office we took Romanian lessons twice a week. I was eager to start the lessons because learning a new language, or at least trying, is very interesting for me.

To conclude, I would say to the new volunteers three things: 1) Don’t be afraid of what is coming, 2) be open minded and 3) be involved and enjoy the ride!

05

JESSICA Bonjour bonjour ! I am Jessica, from France. I turned 20 years old, here in Romania. I’m an optimistic girl who is willing to give her positive energy to the others when needed. I came here in Romania to break all the stereotypes that i had and to discover the world and myself.

Coming here and getting out of my comfort zone was a real challenge. It was the first time leaving my family and friends so far and for so long. But if i knew all the good things that was going to happen to me, i wouldn’t have been so worried. Because yes, at the beginning i was nervous and a bit scared.

Because you step in a country that you don’t know, you have to speak a language that you never heard before and you must live with 4 other persons from different countries. In the first days, we learned how to adapt ourselves in this new life that was going to be ours for the next 6 months.

The first days in Craiova were mostly about visiting the city, trying all the local dishes and get to know the community. Everyday, we were meeting someone new, discovering a new word, a new way of thinking, a different point of view… « Routine » is a word that doesn’t exist in the Volunteering Vocabulary. I was so amazed by this. I really enjoyed the first days of work, the first steps in the project and the first working interactions with the other members of the team. I felt a bit more integrated day by day. We were having great conversations all together, sharing our culture and habits, our experiences and our expectations.

This was when i realized that we were all the same no matter our age, country or studies. We were all here for the same thing : be helpful for the local community, travel across the Balkans, learn new things and make friends everywhere in Europe. And that’s exactly what we did !

IRENE ¡Hola! I am Irene, from Spain. I am 24 and I have studied Advertising, Public relations and Political communication.I could tell you that I don't remember what I thought when I just arrived and I wouldn't be lying to you. It was a plethora (I just learnt this word in English, so here you have too) of emotions and probably none of them was the best of my life. The first month here was the hardest for me. I was living with people from other countries, in another country, having a new routine, without exactly my food, my people or the things I am used to. Knowing new realities, creating a new one… But since the beginning, I started to share with my two lovely flatmates our concerns and our nostalgia. Those will be my memories from that week: infinite walks, photos of every movement with Mariam’s super Phone and Erisela random’s laugh. The most important thing I learnt those days was: there is only one thing that can bring us closer than the roots… and this is rootlessness. And one day (not as if by magic) I realised that I was fine here, that I found a place and something just bloomed. It's only a matter of time and good people (no matter how hard the environment, you will always find them).I could say my volunteering period was unique, and I wouldn't be lying. Probably you have circumstances that I can not even imagine, so your volunteering period will be for sure unique. The moments of challenges, with people, doing the project, laughing, crying and laughing after crying... If your volunteering is as unique as the volunteering usually are, for sure you will live all of them. Recommendations of cities to visit in Romania it will be better for if you look at my colleagues’ recommendation...

In exchange, I give you my favorite places in Craiova to eat: Doispe, Craft and if you are looking for a pizza L’Assassino is your place (I am saving time for you, don’t try more).

ALBERTO Hi! My name is Alberto, I am 24 years old and I come from a region located in the northwest of Spain called Galicia. I have studied Biology and I am so interested in almost all the topics related with science. I like sports, nature and in the future I would like to be a science teacher. I think that was also a motivation in order to accept the challenge and come to a such different country in compassion with mine as Romania is to do my volunteering project, travel and get to know new cultures and landscapes. My first weeks here were a strange mixture of feelings. I had never been living abroad and this was the first time I really found myself out of my environment. It is weird not to understand the language in which people speak on the street, have to work in a multicultural team or not find the things you used to eat and drink at home.

But, dont́ panic! Luckily, you are sorrounded by people who are exactly like you and you will find common ground with people you would never have expected. You will discover the city, meet your team and diferent volunteers in your area, try the typical romanian dishes… and when you realise all that you will feel so much comfortable and strong to face all the things that had scared you before. I know this process may be different depending on the person and we all have different stereotypes but try to take advantage of your time there make the most out of it. I’m sure you will find (as I did) that Romanian people are so welcoming and they are willing to help you if you are in trouble.A good way to immerse yourself in Romania and break those stereotypes I mentioned before is travel across the territory. I suggest you to rent a car and plan a trip to visit the most important cities and the most picturesque villages. You cannot lose the opportunity to observe the churches and the streets of Timisoara or Sibiu. Furthermore, all the Transilvanya region has an amazing natural landscape with some little villages scattered among steep mountains (Sinaia, Brasov, Bran with their famous Draculaś Castle…) I recommend you also the Salt Mines of Turda and get on the cable car and walk some km in the Bucegi Mountains because the views are impressive (only if you are not afraid to be in bear territory!).

ACT a TOGETHER BROCHURE

05

BRIKELD Hi my name is Brikeld Agara I am 22 years old and I am from Albania . I finished my bachelor in law with success and I wanted to give my contribution to the world (which is going to make me feel happy), so I decided to become a volunteer here in Craiova, Romania.

At first, I was very excited to be part of this project because I was thinking about what will happen when I arrive there, which will be my duties, my responsibilities, I was thinking about my expectations. Then I realized something surprising: I didn’t have any expectations, I came in this project with an open mind and this is the best thing anyone could do. If you come with an open mind you will not be disappointed, and the only thing that you will have is the joy of life.

My first impression when I came here, in Romania, was that the people are very friendly and the stereotypes that I had heard about Romanians were destroyed. At the same time it was created a new idea about how they are in reality and they are such nice people. They would help you with anything and would give all their best. Another thing that I liked was the traditions and the culture of Romania, their songs, their language, the celebrations, the food was one of the things I liked the most. Anyone who is reading this, should try Romanian food because it is so good you will love it.

ACT TOGETHER BROCHURE

05

ANA გამარჯობა! Hello! I am Ana, from Georgia. I turned 19 years old here in Romania. I am a student, and my future profession will be in the field of the sociology. I am a sociable and positive person, who loves to challenge herself and does the best in order to boost her self-confidence.

First of all, I want to say that this was my first project in foreign country, so it was really hard for me to sort out everything: new country, new language, new people from different sides of the world, various cultures which are different from mine, so I was a bit nervous and scared. All the time I had the question: how can I deal with these? In addition, the project had already started three month before I came here, So, it was doubly hard for me, because everyone knew each other, they had common interests and they were friends already.

Finally I overcame all these situations and started to do my best in the volunteer team. No one can say that there are no hard moments in our life.

You should be the best version of yourself and have high self-confidence to achieve your future goals. It is important to be kind in every situation, to challenge yourself, discover new ways to overcome problems and, of course, to improve yourself.

To be honest, about Romania, I had a stereotypical attitude. When I decided to come here, my friends told me that this country is not good, that people are rude, but no! When I went out and met Romanian people, these stereotypes disappeared. People in Romania are benevolent and supportive, they try their best to help you to show you the right way or to help you find something in market.

I encourage every new volunteer, who wants to participate in volunteering in Romania. Yes, it’s hard, but you can do everything! Come, learn, gain experience and be more confident!

ACT TOGETHER BROCHURE

05

ERISELA

Ç'kemi! I am Erisela from Albania . When I landed at the airport of Craiova, Romania, at 00.30 in the morning I felt lonely and after 2-3 min I meet my coordinators and they were so friendly to me. In that moment I felt weird.

I was the first person that came in my new apartment and didn't know it.

My first impression for the flat was disappointed, but now is one of my favorite apartments where I have lived. I don't know why, but I felt lost and I thought maybe it was a mistake to live in a new country.

The funny thing that I remember from my first day in Romania is when i meet my roommate, she had the same feeling as me, and I realized that I wasn't alone. All of my colleagues were so ready to help me and to explain everything about the project. It was an amazing day and, of course, a long day, new people, a lot of information and everything spoken in a foreign language. Craiova has similar climate as my city in Albania, so it was normal for me to adapt with that. And the culture that I found was similar too. I can't say that was one of the best days of my life, but it was one of my best decisions to be in this project in Craiova, Romania.

Xhaferr Hello! My name is Xhaferr Shira, the one whose name gave people a lot of headaches. I'm from Albania, I finished University with a degree in electrical engineering and I decided to jump on this journey to Romania after I felt I was in need of a new adventure that could develop my skills and help me grow as a person. I've been in Romania before, so I was eager to come back and experience all the wonderful things I didn't have the chance to experience in the past. Moreover, I've been spending the last years of my life being involved in volunteering projects, hence my desire to work in a team and a project that promotes volunteering and new opportunities for young people.

I had a bit of contact with Romania before but it was still a new country for me, new places that I was supposed to see, to discover, and new people that I was supposed to meet. Because, at the end of every objective we have regarding the volunteering project, there should also be another one: creating friendships, which is maybe one of the most valuable outcomes. I had the chance to visit some places, to try traditional food, to have a lot of fun during our Capacity Building and during On Arrival, I met people and gained plenty of memories.

I was not nervous or anxious, but motivated and ready to work on our purpose, as a team, to promote volunteering and let people know that there is an entire world waiting for them.

Sharing the flat with 4 people was not a difficult task, the opposite actually.

Different countries, different personalities, but all working on getting to know each other, so that we can reach our goal.

The last thing I would like to say is: "Shit happens anyways, so even if you are afraid to get involved in these kind of projects, do it! Don't be afraid to discover the world".

TRAINNING

03

ON ARRIVAL TRAINING On Arrival Training is the first and main training of the long-term volunteering projects. Our team attended to it in two groups, once we arrived at different time to our project. Half of us attended in at the end of March and half of us attended in the beginning of May. This training consists on bringing all the volunteers who came to Romania at the same time together, and give them a complete learning process about what is volunteering and how to deal with it. In our OAT (May team!) were at least 70 people from more than 15 countries. We spent a whole week in Bucharest, in the Yesterday Hotel, with all the things covered and doing lessons and lectures from 9 am to 7 pm. It sounds like a hard work, and it was‌ But it was one of our favorite experiences here.

ON ARRIVAL TRAINING One week is a lot of time to sum it up. So, I will classify the learning we acquired in four groups.

1. Methods of non-formal education. As we work in our project, we developed our OAT throughout many different games and energizers. Every session had their own. It was useful to acquire all the competences which are required from OAT, but also to implement them in our project.

2.Self-exploration and exploration of our relationships. We explored our motivations, goals and background… and the others’ ones. Also, spaces to know more about cohabitation, dealing with our colleges and other personal and interpersonal issues.

3. Deep knowledge about volunteering and its framework. Some sessions were dedicated to look into the volunteering system: all the parts involved and their importance.

4. Keys of Romanian society. Last part of OAT was about knowing better Romania. We attended to workshops to know more about the traditions and the past of Romania with the purpose of understand more how the locals are and why. We also went for a “City Rally” and we had the opportunity through a survey to interact directly with them and create a more well-founded image of the people and the place.

Moreover, we ate tasty food, we drank good beer and we run good parties. (The international Night was so fun and my favorite class of geography ever!) Coming back to Craiova meant sadness but, in some way, a new energy and a better preparation to implement our project and to face the challenges we had ahead.

CAPACITY BUILDING Capacity Building or « How to get closer to your colleagues and create a feeling of team belonging in 3 days ». We spent an entire weekend in the mountains of Baia de Fier with every member of the project, from the volunteers to the coordinating team. We learned more about our project and how to work together to achieve our goals. We also learned more about ourselves, our differences but mostly, our common points. We understood what brought us all together in this project and we motivated each other to do the best we can to make this project works. I would divide this weekend in three, according to the 3 days we spent. First, we attended some presentations about our project to understand better the purpose of it and the ways to get there. We talked with the managing team and learned more about the organization and the planning of this project. The second day was more focused on creating a friendly, trustful and working environment between all the volunteers. We called that « Team Building ». We did some games and non-formal activities to know what it means to be a team and how to behave like it.

Finally, we spent the last day talking about our individual place in this project and what we would like to achieve at the end of it. We also brought up the topic of the life after EVS and the options that we will have when we’ll come back to our countries.

03

MIDTERM EVALUATION This is not a training but a meeting to see again some volunteers and get to know others meantime you spend three days in a relaxing environment. Our mid term took place in Poiana (Brasov), and we were fifteen volunteers.

First day - past During this day (10 am-7 pm) the volunteers follow a dynamic of team building through energizers and activities all together to build a comfortable environment. The second step consists in explaining our project using, for example, flipcharts or theater (we chose this to show the purpose and the evolution of the project). The purpose is looking at the past to detect what has happened these past few months.

Second day - present This session is focusing on the motivation, the trainers will explain the three components (need for connection and belonging, need for autonomy and control, need for competence). Maintaining the balance is a difficult task and here we will learn how to keep it. We will have to create a graphic with your motivation during this time, showing the high and low points and linking them with concrete situations.

Everybody has fluctuations during their volunteering project and with this exercise you will detect your present challenges (purpose of volunteering, team or organization problems...), trying to understand the different perspectives on the same problem and what you can do with it.At the end of the session you will have time to explore the area or go to Brasov to practise “walk and talk” with some volunteers. This means you will examine your volunteering experience in relation with the others while you have a good time.

Third day - Future The session will start with the exposition of the “walk and talk” conclusions. After, the volunteers will create flip charts with the possible futures (studies, other volunteers, work) and tips to travel, sharing, in this way, useful information with everybody.

03

HIGHSCHOOL SESSIONS 1st session: Our first meeting with the students was all about getting to know each other.

We were starting our sessions with ice-breaking games, ordinary games where you had to introduce yourself and your interests. After the ice-breakers we were distributing our flyers, in which we had information about ourselves and our project. On the flyers they could, also, find our social media pages and a QR code which helped us make our data base.

03

HIGHSCHOOL SESSIONS 2st session:

Our second meeting with the students had the aim to inform them about the European Solidarity Corps. We started the day with an energizer; a game that aims to wake up the students and fill them with energy. After the energizer we started our presentation, which was not a conventional power point presentation, but an interactive one.

HIGHSCHOOL SESSIONS 3st session: In this session our aim was to enroll as many students as possible in ESC. We were starting our session with one or two energizers to wake them up and make them more comfortable. After that, we used the kahoot!, which is an online question game. The students had to search it on the internet and then to connect with a unique password. Then they had to answer some questions which had been made by us. These questions were about ESC, Europe’s geography, tradition and some questions about us. Afterwards, we asked them if they wanted to enroll in ESC portal and if yes we did the enrolling together.

Sometimes we run out of time, so we invite the students to do the enrolling in our office. In that way they will see the environment we are working in and they will have a concrete idea of how is to be a volunteer.

CREATION OF PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS The purpose of this project was the promotion of volunteering in which social media and the creation of promotional materials played an important role. We advise you to be actively social and to use hashtags to raise the visibility of your project.

Logo Firstly, you must identify your project and for that, we started with a brainstorm of illustrations and then, we voted the part that we preferred of each proposal. After that, we designed our logo using Canva.com and Photoshop trying to reflect the European concept and the idea of interconnection that volunteering bring to us.

Posters This is very visual, the easiest way to present the information of an event in one document. We used Canva because is free and offers a lot of models to guide you for any occasion. Usually, one or two volunteers create examples and the team vote the final one. It must include: hour, place, date, activities and short catchy messages.

Flyers Flyers were the first instrument we used in our activities to promote our events and to introduce ourselves. We created different models: the first one was a double face flyer in which we offered a personal view with a picture of the team and a short message, while in the back of the flyer we put the instructions for ActionBound, a useful tool to collect the data of the students. However, the team had two new entries and we decided to change our flyers, presenting the characteristics of volunteering and all the ways to contact us, keeping the back page unalterate.

Netmedia Nowadays, social media plays an important role in terms of visibility and contact with students. Instagram: visual net which we organised in three columns: first, tips of volunteering, second, our personal experiences, third, examples of volunteering. We also used it for promotion of workshops, language clubs, events, showing us work or give a friendly image.

CREATION OF PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS Facebook: this platform offer us a space to explain better our activities, create events and control the number of participants and diffusion, create groups with students (requires time, but could be useful to start discussions). The majority of our followers come from the schools and frequently they asked for personal accounts, we advise you to keep them in the official page and interact with them through it as much as possible. Moreover, we use this page (and Instagram) for live sessions in which we talked about different topics as money, travel, benefits…

YouTube: this media offered us a never large space than Facebook or Instagram to explain more in detail what is volunteering, this means more possible audience and much time larger videos. Afterwards you could promote this videos in the other social medias interconnecting them. Usually, we created a script or just some guide lines and letting us the fun of improvising.

ActionBound App used to collect data. You must enter in the page, create a profile and then you have many possibilities like creating a quiz or missions or making surveys. We used mostly the survey to collect social accounts of students and create our database (one of our objectives was achieved: 500 potential volunteers). The only negative point is that they must download the app on their phones to scan the code, but you can overcome this problem offering your own phones.

Database Collection in Excel with data from students including: Facebook, Instagram, phone number, school, age, name, email. It’s useful to contact student, define target group linked to events and enrolling of potential volunteers.

Drive It is the most useful tool to work in a team because you can share documents and edit all at the same time the same documents. We created a common email account with access for everybody and an open part for the management team. You can have the instruments to plan and evaluate your activities, divide the schools and events by folders and have the weekly schedule of the project, allowing everybody to be informed.

SWIMMING POOL

During the second half of our volunteering project, we had the opportunity to get closer to the Romanian community, going to the swimming pool located in Helin Airport Hotel. We went in pairs two days per week and the aim was teaching children how to swim and take care of them during the sessions. We were picked up nearby our flats and after the lessons someone was in charge to drop us off at home. We usually spent 2-3 hours there and despite, it being on intense and tiring activity, it was also relaxing. Working with children and practicing the language with them disconnected us from the routine.

HOSPITAL Our project, in association with the organization Tabara pentru viata, have done activities in the hospital with children with cancer. Two times per week, our volunteers went to oncology pediatric to play games, do activities and talk to these kids and their parents. After these days we felt our heart full of love. The children were always so happy to see us, welcoming with a smile, a hug during the time we spent together. We felt that we helped them and during those hours we managed to make them forget about all the problems while playing with us.

ARIPI DE LUMINA We want to talk about our opinion regarding Aripi. What is Aripi? It is a social center where amazing, smart, energetic and different children are spending their free time after school and develop their skills during the activity. First we were very confused because it was very difficult to communicate with children when you do not understand the language. But everything changed gradually. It feels great when the kids are waiting for you, expecting something new from you. Our team had a variety of fun activities, we taught dances, games, we made fun energizers. We would like to speak about one of the best activities that we had. One morning, as usual, we suggested the children to reflect upon their world and express their feelings. At first, we did not imagine it would be so exciting and enjoyable. The creativity of the kids was surprising because everyone made their own story and named it. It was a very memorable day for us and we surely know that this experience will be useful for us in the future. We have reached the conclusion that we should try to offer children something different and enjoyable since we know that they have the skills to work and have fun with us.

ROMANIAN LESSONS If you come to Romania, as a volunteer, you will have Romanian lessons. It is mandatory to have 1 hour and a half lessons twice a week. The aim of these lessons is to develop our communication skills in Romania. We did not learn very difficult things, we used nonformal and informal methods in order to learn and to also use our knowledge. During our lessons, I learnt a lot of things: how to communicate with locals, how to buy products in the supermarket, etc.

ENGLISH CLUB English club is for everyone who wants to learn English. We have lessons twice a week and also, we have students. The aim of this club is to help motivated children to learn English.

We do not teach them grammar tenses or hard tasks, we just play with them, use non-formal education to improve their speaking or writing level. We have a variety of funny lessons.

With English we raise their cultural, ecological, educational, and healthy awareness. The important thing is that this club is free, so everyone, who want to learn or improve their English level, can join us.

Students like the variety of lessons. Once we played a game called- “guess word’’. They really enjoyed and what is important, they learned many words and how to spell them. Also, we made listening tasks, too, but it is not like in schools. We prepared song lyrics with missing words, so the student task was to put the missing words. Using these activities the children learned a lot.

To sum up, we wish to see more Romanian people with advance English level, so we do our best to achieve this purpose.

Language Clubs Georgian Club Georgian club’s aim is to exchange language and create relations with the students. We teach them the alphabet, numbers, useful words and whatever they want, but the important thing is that our teaching methods follow non-formal education, which means that we use games and some kind of activities to have more interesting and funny lessons.

The most amazing and exhilarating thing is when students like Georgian language. For me, as Georgian, it is pleasant. One more thing about Georgian language is that it’s absolutely different from another language which we have in our project. We tried to teach them Georgian songs, dishes and, of course, the traditional dance. It’s easy to use non-formal education activities to teach them some memorable things. Using this kind of method, we exchange our culture, traditions and languages.

Greek Club.

In the Greek club we tried to teach Greek to the volunteers and the students in a non-formal way. We learned the Greek mythology, etymology of words, and the most basic, the Greek alphabet. We discussed about the ancient Greek history, culture and religion.

Also, in one of our sessions we found common words between Greek and English and their meaning. The Greek club was a good challenge for us to learn more and profound about our language but also to find a way to teach and make it understandable to the others.

Language Clubs Spanish Club This club is included in the initiative to exchange language and create relations with the students. The methodology followed is non-formal education and we used tools that consist in word games, incomplete songs (fixing the gaps with words that you listen), conversation examples in normal situations‌ The most useful was the creation of stories based on topics as vacations, the student chooses transport, place, activities, possible conversation, so you can teach vocabulary and structures in an interactive way. However, these clubs were implemented during the holiday and few students could come. The aim was to achieve some students who would want to take the role of the teacher or to create a net between them.

Guitar Clubs We organised a guitar class and the volunteer in charge was Michail. We came with the idea to create a guitar club after some students asked us to teach them guitar. It was a very pleasant activity for us because we taught the student how to play the guitar in a non-formal way, and also is Michail's favorite occupation. It was not the first time that he taught guitar but it was a big opportunity for him to do the clubs in English. Made him more aware about the English vocabulary and he is happy that the students also enjoyed his guitar club.

Debating Clubs The purpose of this activity was to create a space of discussion between youth being guided by the volunteers to develop critical thinking and active listening.

We created events on our social media and flyers for the schools, but, as always, face to face comunication is the most successful way. Once you start, if they like the format they will bring more participants and it will promote your project indirectly. However, we recommend doing this activity during school period and avoiding exam or vacation periods.

The format was one social topic per session (bullying, sexism in childhood) and three questions as guidelines. The volunteers must research documentation to inform participants and to avoid the continuation of false information or stereotypes.

Moreover, you should assign the roles like timekeeper or facilitator, as well as, rules of discussion like time to talk, responds for allusions. Nevertheless, you can choose a format more open based on simple exchange of ideas.

Volunteering festival We had to organize a volunteering event in the center of the city . We had to collaborate with almost all Craiova’s NGO’s. We arranged a meeting to discuss about the activities that we would do, to organize and manage the logistics and organize the space of the event. We had to go to the City Hall to take permission about the event, to visit the place in which we would do the event and made a sketch to see where we would settle the stage, the volunteering stands etc.

Someone was in charge to make the poster and the logo of the event and finally all of us were in charge of the promotion. In our team we worked a lot, it was our first event and we had to take in consideration the activities that we would do and how we can promote and raise the awareness about volunteering through this event. We had really good ideas, we created photo booth, we had flyers to distribute, we had the part of the music and some games with the map of Europe. Finally, the event was successful, we succeed our goals and it was a good opportunity to improve skills such as organization, management, public speaking and of course meet new people.

03

Europe Day On the 9th of May, we celebrated Europe Day. For that, we prepared a questionnaire about Europe with political, geographical and cultural questions about it.We created this questionnaire using Kahoot! a great app which allowed us to ask the students of Henri Coanda High School questions but in a non-formal and ludic way. This tool was so useful for us because we could bring up important topics without boring the students.

We could see their involvement and their eagerness to participate in this game and, without noticing it, they learned a lot about Europe. So we can say that the students' feedback was positive and they liked the non-formal way that of learning, which was different from the formal way they are used to.

Children's Day The celebration of children’s day happened on the 1st of June in front of the theater of Craiova. Our project participated too and we created some activities and games for the kids but also for some teenagers that came. It was a different day we had with a different target group, however talking to the children, informing the parents about our project, about who we are and where we are coming from.

Tabara Bucurei Event One of the hardest but most beautiful events we participated in was organised by Tabara Bucurei, an association made by people who work to make the life of kids treated for cancer a little bit easier.

We went to the countryside near Craiova at 8 am to prepare all the stuffs. We set up tents, tables, games and food before the children came there. Three hours later, a bus plenty of parents and children arrived. The association thought about all the activities, we just helped them to implement them. We spent there 10 hours. We stayed with the kids outside in a great environment, we played sports such as football, parachuting circle and hit the target! among others. In the more relaxing zone, we made craft, blew balloons and did make-up customization. But there was so much more‌Tabara organised a huge event. They played music, they cooked for everybody a great lunch (cake included!) and even made cotton candy for all. Another association which works with dogs and children, creating activities that work, as therapy for the kids, came and spent some time with us (the most lovely moment).

Kids were full of energy and so eager to do everything. We had the chance to learn something willingness of people were having a hard time and helpful someone, at the same time we enjoyed a quiet moment along with the ones that became a part of our family. (I swear this was the main feeling we had).

Bailesti Event One of the most prepared events we did was in Bailesti. It was carried out in the Cultural House of Bailesti on 24th June. We arrived there in the morning to prepare all and we spent more than 5 hours doing workshops and promoting European Solidarity Corps. We focus on our topics and the areas you could go if you want to apply for a project: culture and education, human rights, environment, healthy lifestyle‌Firstly, we taught them how to craft handmade jewelry. Secondly, we made a game in order to figure out the huge amount of hidden sugar and fat which are in the food we actually eat. Then, the human rights group discussed about some of rights, trying to find gaps and common ground between different countries. Finally, we tried to show how the consequences of climatic changes and global warming might affect the Romanian population in a few years. In the middle of the event, we made a cooling break. During this time and also at the end we offered support and information for those who wanted to join ESC.

Intercultural Event Intercultural event was one of the best we had in this project. This event consisted in the promotion of our countries and culture, first intercultural night we had was in Craiova in collaboration with other organisations. We held this event in the main square of the city and we had a lot of people coming to see what we were doing. In this event we bring our traditional food,we dance our traditional dances ,we put music from our countries, also the flag , the map and many other things that made this event extraordinary.

Football match For these summer holidays we wanted to do an event that could bring youngsters from different schools of Craiova together, so we decided to organize a Football Match where the students can meet new people and enjoy a sports day. The football match, took place in the sports field of Henri Coanda high School. The youngsters brought comfortable clothes and shoes. The teams were mixed and composed of five players on the field and with as many players as desired in reserve. Before the match, the students participated in a collective warm up session which consisted in some games and energizers that helped them know each other better and at the same time, get ready for the match. Then, the match started and each part lasted 30 minutes and between the parts they had a break of 10 minutes. After the match, we provided the participants a bottle of water and fruits to recover their energies. After a brief moment of rest, we awarded the winner team with a medal of chocolate and the rest of the teams with a certificate of participation. The main goal of the activity was to allow the teenagers to enjoy a sport day but also to keep the connection that we already created with them by going to their schools.

ART together Event Art together event was the final big event of the project. It was one of the most special and different event, because participants were only locals, not volunteers from our project. The aim of this day was to show Craiova’s society the talent of their own city. We made an exhibition of paintings and photos. Also, we did workshops about how to draw face contour and eyes. It was really interesting and quite a cognitive process to raise the community’s awareness about art, painting and photography. About photography I want to add that we made workshops about how to catch good shots and taught them photography tricks.

When we say Art, we are not allowed to miss theater, so we did activities about theater, too. It was a great opportunity for me to see improvisations and some hidden things in the field of theater. To sum up, I want to say that this event was done in a good way. We achieved our goal and got many, many new things.

03