For those who dream of visiting abroad
Do you dream of going abroad, but you obviously do not have enough money to buy a tour? Are you ready there not only to have fun, but also to perform some socially useful work? Have not you forgotten the foreign language that you were taught in school or college? Then, immediately sign up for volunteers!
Who is this? A volunteer is a volunteer who performs "socially meaningful" work at home or in the territory of another state.
What's this? Socially significant projects are environmental, construction or restoration work, as well as working directly with people who need your help. As part of an environmental project, you can, for example, gardening streets in a small town, trim trees in a children's park, equip picnic areas in national parks-reserves or take care of domestic( and not very domestic) animals( for example, about tortoises in Mexico).If the project is a restoration, you will have to repair the monuments of the past( cleaning the walls of weeds, restoring the masonry and decor elements, as well as the stucco, whitewashing, painting), if the building is necessary - you have to carry bricks, interfere with cement and nail the nails on the construction of a socially significant objecttype of school.
The most difficult volunteer projects are working with people. Within the framework of these programs, you can send a counselor to a children's summer camp, a tutor to an orphanage or an animator( a grassroots entertainer) to a nursing home. To a person who grew up in the post-Soviet space, it is especially difficult to work with disabled people. No, you do not have to do them injections or perform any sanitary and hygienic procedures. Your task is to help people with disabilities to adapt to society.
To do this, you need to make friends with them. And our compatriots do not always get it. And not because we do not have enough mercy or goodwill, but because we have not learned to perceive disabled people as equals. In general, working with people can become a kind of exam for the volunteer for the title of a person free from prejudice.
Where is it? Yes, almost everywhere. In Germany, France, Greece, Japan, Morocco. .. And in sixty countries of Europe and Asia.
When is this? All year round. Of course, most of those who wish to become volunteers choose projects during their holidays, that is, for the summer. But this does not mean that at other times of the year, volunteers are not expected anywhere. By the way, people who took part in several programs, argue that the most memorable are always in the winter. Many perceive these trips as an exotic kind of tourism. Even those who really want to help people and sincerely believe in the disinterestedness of volunteer work, still feel relaxed in the summer. And from this the atmosphere in the camp suffers, the company spirit disappears. .. But in the winter, volunteering becomes an extreme adventure. In winter projects tend, as a rule, people enthusiastic, which the most unpretentious project is colored with a whole fireworks of ideas.
How is it? Within a few weeks, you have to work from Monday to Friday for five to six hours a day. Saturday and Sunday are the days off. In your free time you will be transported on excursions and show local sights. Since volunteer camps, as a rule, are far from major cities, one will have to live in marching conditions. You can be accommodated in a hostel, in a school, on a farm, in an army tent, in a working shed. .. But in any case, a roof over your head, a bed, hot and cold water, a regular shower, a toilet, a full three meals a day,.Typically, volunteer camps are designed for a couple dozen people, and in one camp they try to gather people from different countries, different nationalities, races and religions. You will prepare meals and clean yourself, for this purpose two duty persons are appointed every day. Details about all the conditions you will be told in the volunteer organization at home.
All volunteer projects are divided into short-term( from ten days to four weeks) and long-term( from two months to several years).Between them there is a small, but fundamental difference. Long-term projects are only socially significant projects that involve working with people. For example, the Turkish project on physical adaptation and rehabilitation of disabled people with the help of diving;German program for the social adaptation of refugee children from Asian countries, etc. In long-term programs there are no random people. People who really like volunteering, or those who need to gain experience in this field of activity( sociologists, teachers, politicians, political scientists) come here. Participants in long-term projects are given pocket money.
What does this give? European employers, when selecting employees, highlight those summaries in which a separate item indicates: "volunteering".By the way, in our country in the past few years there have been companies that welcome the availability of such experience from their employees.
Who can become a volunteer? The first volunteer project was implemented in 1920 - then the volunteers were recorded exclusively young. Now there are no strict age restrictions. Nowadays it is possible to become a volunteer at the age of fifteen and manifest yourself in "social creativity" to a very old age. Although some countries, Germany, for example, prefer to work with people who have not turned 31 years old, because they believe that people of more mature age are spoiled and do not tolerate the hardships of volunteer life. Although from our point of view, it is hard to call it hardship.
What is needed for this? Call the volunteer organization. It is a non-governmental non-profit structure that is responsible for the safety of volunteers and guarantees the acceptor's side of their( volunteers) adequacy. Large foreign associations, uniting local and national volunteer organizations, prefer to cooperate with established agencies that signed the International Charter on the conditions of work of volunteers. You need to come to the office of the chosen organization, write an application and talk with the project coordinator in a foreign language( you need to find out if you understand a simple colloquial speech).After paying the registration fee you will be issued all the necessary documents. If there are no regional representatives of the volunteer agency in your city, they will talk to you by phone and be asked to write a letter in a foreign language, where you explain why you want to become a volunteer.
What is the use of this? You will be able to travel abroad, spending a minimum amount of money on a trip, pulling up your foreign one and realizing that you need very little for complete happiness: a roof over your head, food, basic hygiene products and a good company.
What will it surprise you? Yes to all. Do not believe me? For example, Grushinsky Festival. Here you will work in the organizing committee, agree on the conditions for breeding campfires and listen to bard songs. In Morocco, you will have to master the hard work of a potter, and then transfer your knowledge to local children. In Japan, you can completely break away from civilization - there is a village where you need to climb the mountain goat tracks, and already in place to carry water to the kitchen from the creek, prepare vegetarian dishes, in general, to help the Japanese live a natural economy.
Before the trip:
1. Ask the coordinator if you will get medical insurance. If the organizers do not do this, be sure to create it yourself. One friend once went to France to volunteer. And she fell off the bicycle, but so unsuccessfully that she broke her jaw and knocked out a few teeth. Under the insurance, the treatment and prosthetics were free. As a result, she returned home with a snow-white smile and exceptionally pleasant memories of the quality of French medicine.
2. If a firm invites you to participate in a volunteer project, be sure to find out whether this is a commercial enterprise or not. With commercial matters do not have. Ask to present a letter of authorization from the organization that the firm represents. Remember that in Ukraine there are only three official volunteer centers working with international volunteer organizations. Let the firm give you recommendations. Better yet, try to meet with people who have already participated in volunteer work with the help of this office.
3. Do not give away your documents, especially in the territory of another country. Make photocopies of all your papers and leave them to relatives, having agreed that you will call them in the very first days and tell about the living conditions. The ability to call will be required.
4. Remember: you have every right to leave the camp if the conditions of work or residence do not suit you.