Youth for Change
Start date: Jul 1, 2014,
End date: Dec 31, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
Artemisszió Foundation is an NGO aiming at fostering intercultural dialogue with a special focus on the social integration of marginalized youth (socially disadvantaged, Roma, migrant youth). Together with our partners (Xena from Italy, Plataforma from Portugal, Eurocircle from France and Filoxenia from Greece), we have realized an EVS project called “Youth for Change” that focused on intercultural dialogue and social inclusion of youngsters. Volunteers were primarily involved in working with socially disadvantaged youth, hence, they focused on the development of the local communities, based on their creativity and entrepeneurship and volunteers were also motivated to take initiatives throughout the whole the project.
The project gave the oportunity for 6 young volunteers to travel abroad for 3 or 5 months and be integrated in the local society with the help of the host organization for their personal development, and for the benefit of the community.
One Hungarian volunteer, Nikolett did a 3-month voluntary service at Xena in Padova. The volunteer supported services related to youth information, youth mobility projects and local activities for youth.
Moreover, three foreign volunteers did their services at Artemisszió Foundation in Budapest for 5 months each. One French volunteer, Ambrine worked at Artemisszió in our projects fostering the social inclusion of migrants who live in Budapest from October 2014. One Italian volunteer, Giulia, undertook her service with a strong focus on activities for marginalized youth partly in a community place where Artemisszó realizes projects from February 2015. And one Portugese volunteer, Ana Rita, came to Artemisszió to get involved in our projects organizing mobility experiences for disadvantaged youth and other youth related projects of Artemisszió.
Apart from these, two Hungarian volunteers, Virág and Aletta, have done a service in Kryoneri, Greece for 3 months working with youngsters in the youth center of the organization, as well as in school and kindergarden projects, related to enviromental education.
The participants have proposed mini projects using the tools of non-formal learning to enrichen the activities of the organizations. Upon return to their countries, the volunteers became more involved in the youth projects of their sending organizations, in order to help the integration of socially disadvantaged youth in their local community and to share experiences with the general public about having lived as an EVS volunteer in a foreign country.
As for the results and the impact, the competences of the volunteers have improved (social and intercultural competences, animation skills, knowledge about local realities, skills related to pedagogy and non-formal education, self confidence, self knowledge, knowledge of a new language, critical thinking, tolerance, patience etc), they had an insight in how an NGO / youth centre works, and they have experienced the European dimension via this experience. At a local level, the communities and young people (directly and indirectly involved in the host projects) benefited from the presence of a foreign volunteer, as well as the volunteers brought back home the experience, and this is fostering further intercultural exchanges back in the home country. The project had an impact on the partner organisations too as our cooperation strengthened.