With our project "International Youth Houses" we want to provide the volunteers, youthworkers and youngsters a positive experience of different cultures coming together and hopefully it will have long term impact on their view of the world. We see the potential in making international contacts and experiences, how it makes people more confident and open minded. Internationality and different cultures should be an obvious part of peoples lives by now, but somehow we are still struggling with prejudice and even hate towards cultures and people different from ourselves. Creating projects where people from different cultural backrounds can get to know each other and learn to work together is the best medicine for this. We also want all the parties of this project to get that "international experience" which seems to have become a necessity in our globalicing society. Pori has more and more immigrants moving in year by year, but for some reason this isn't showing in our youth activities. We have strategies to improve our cooperation with organisations working with immigrants and how to better channel advertising our activities. EVS projects with international volunteers could be of great help with this task and if we succeed creating a positive international atmosphere in our youth houses it would be a more natural chance for our immigrant youth to come take part in our activities. We are recruiting two (2) volunteers who are comfortable working with youngsters, who are responsible and able to cooperate well with the youthworkers. Volunteers must be able to understand and obey Finnish laws and regulations, especially ones conserning the profession of youth work. Language skills don’t have to be great but volunteers need to have sufficient skills in English or Finnish to be able to communicate with the contact persons and youth workers about the practical matters of the volunteer period. Working with youth the volunteers can use variety of methods that are not based on discussions in common language. The will and ability to learn English and/or Finnish is naturally considered a positive thing Volunteers have the opportunity to learn how to work in a team and organise activities for youth. Work includes facing the youth in a more professional way which is a great opportunity to learn leader skills. There will be a variety of methods applied in different activities and volunteers can learn a great deal of practical tools. Volunteers will mainly take part in our usual activites and bring their own view and skills in to the work. We also provide the possibility for the volunteers to use their own abilities and strengths when planning and organising activities. If volunteers are for example skilled in music or sports they can use these skills to create activities for the youngsters. The role of volunteer workers is to work at the youth houses and in our youth groups, always with the support of our youth workers. The work is mostly about being there for the youngsters as an adult, spending time with them, listening, guiding and acting as a role model. The work will also be creating and guiding small activities and events at the youth houses, like game nights, small trips, handicrafting, sports etc. or participating in bigger events planned together with the youth leaders like discos for all the youngsters in Pori. There is a possibility to help other youth workers, aside the youth houses, in guiding some small groups. For example the international youth group that meets weekly to learn from other cultures. Volunteers can also participate in any kind of projects and events in the youth department.