Change to exchange
Start date: Aug 1, 2014,
End date: Oct 31, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
8 youngsters were invited to participate in EVS project "Change to exchange". This project was held in Lithuania and volunteers from Germany, Austria, Latvia, Spain, France, Romania and Hungary were invited. The goal of this project was to create environment for young people involving the ones who have less opportunities, to discover themselves, to learn from their own experience while supporting and helping others in international environment.
EVS project was held in organization of people with disabilities, animal shelter, kindergarten and homeless night shelter. EVS volunteers were involved in everyday activities of hosting organizations. They learnt the essential skills of non-formal education and teamwork. Volunteers had gained creativity skills and developed their social competencies, personal and professional skills, moreover they discovered their new abilities and likes. These skills and competencies will help them to choose their future paths in their education career and personal life.
Living together with other volunteers they discovered different cultures. Facing people, who are different from you, helps to know their culture better and to be more tolerant. Volunteers not only discovered Lithuania and its customs and traditions but also had the possibility to share their own culture. Such experience helped them to be more open-minded and get rid of stereotypes. Volunteers found new foreign friends and became members of Lithuanian communities of their hosting organizations. They learned how to tolerate and respect different individuals and how to get along with them.
This project was created in terms of past cooperation between coordinating organization and hosting organizations. Hosting organizations had good experience with EVS volunteers and see such project as an opportunity for volunteers and the members of organization to grow and develop their skills. Organizations are trying their best to make volunteers feel useful and equal in their EVS projects. They are in charge of challenges that would help volunteers discover and develop their skills.
This project was held in Vilnius city and 8 volunteers came to 4 organizations that work in the social field with children, homeless people and animals. The duration of their volunteering service was from 9 to 10 months. Volunteers learned special skills that are needed in the social field and have known Lithuanian and other cultures by experiencing them, moreover they have been learning Lithuanian language and used it in their everyday life.