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EVS PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Type: EVS GROUP

Duration of Service: 9 Months

Period of EVS Service: February 15th, 2011 – November 15th, 2011

Number of Volunteers:10

Project details Objectives Partners The Communities

SEED II  represents the concrete follow up of the current SEED project. The motivation to launch a second phase of SEED project was due to the positive impact which is being currently manifested in the three communities in relation to the participation and inclusion of the target group, education institutions responsibility and responsiveness as well as parents support and involvement.
SEED II will further address the aim to spur the involvement, active participation and cooperation between Roma and Romanian youngsters. The project will involve 10 volunteers from 8 Programme Countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Sweden), and will be implemented in Craiova for 9 months, in the same three locations as the SEED project: Mofleni, Popoveni and Catargiu
The general objective of the project aims towards Development of activities that stimulate the personal development of both volunteers as well as the target group and contribute to the further consolidation of the process launched and piloted by the current EVS project in order to increase the cooperation between Roma and Romanian Youngsters, raise local institutions awareness towards the Roma issues and further responsabilise them, break prejudices and raise tolerance.
SEED II will follow is to be divided in 4 main phases:
- A training and preparation phase (Pre Departure Training, Capacity Building Training, On Arrival Training),
- A cultural and organizational accommodation phase (Community Discovery),
- Community Activities Phase and a
- Monitoring and Evaluation Phase (Mid term and Final Evaluation, Monthly Evaluations and Weekly meetings)
The methods that are to be used during the project will focus on sport activities and non formal outdoor activities (games, camping, etc). An innovative method to be implemented is theatre forum.
Locations: Scoala n°26, Str. Banu Stepan nr.20, 200819 Craiova, Dolj, Romania.; Scoala n° 19, Str. Baraganului nr. 45, Craiova, Dolj, Romania. Scoala Generala Popoveni.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

 HEALTH INSURANCE – AXA
All volunteers will be covered by a group insurance plan (AXA Insurance) specifically designed to protect participants in the European Voluntary Service programme during their period of voluntary activity. The health insurance is provided free of charge to the Volunteers. The purpose of this plan is to give volunteers access to an insurance network which can help them whenever a medical, dental, disability or liability problem occurs. European Platform for Youth Development took/ will take care of insuring all volunteers based on the requested document received from your hosting organizations. Furthermore, the volunteers will be placed under the care of a family physician throughout the entire period of EVS, doctor which will supervise their state of health and will guide them to a specialist consult in case of necessity. Emergency numbers and a 24h available person will be also provided in case of medical urgencies.

RESIDENCE PERMIT
Within three months from their arrival to Romania, it is compulsory for all volunteers (including the ones from EU member countries) to obtain a residence permit from the local police in Craiova. The volunteers will receive support from the coordinating association that will help them with filling the dossier with all necessary papers and accompany the volunteers to the police station.
All taxes incurred with obtaining the residence permit will be paid by EPYD
ALL VOLUNTEERS need to bring their Passports in order to apply and receive the residence permit.

TRAVEL COSTS
The EVS program covers 90% of the international transport costs of every volunteer from his/her living place to the new hosting place (Craiova) and return once – at the beginning and at the end of the stage. Starting from 2010, volunteers will contribute with 10% of these costs.
The sending organization will provide its volunteer/s the necessary support to arrange the best travel option considering the following:
For the volunteers traveling by plane:
- landing Airport: – Bucharest – Otopeni Airport (Henri Coanda International Airport); Baneasa Airport (Bucharest) can be an option as well 
- hours of travel: please make  all efforts to arrange for your volunteers a flight that lands on Bucharest Otopeni/ Baneasa Airport within the morning- afternoon period.
NOTE!!
For the volunteers arriving before/later than the 15th of February 2010 the transfer from the Airport to Craiova will fell in their responsibility. If such cases will occur, we will send them the necessary information to handle their way towards the destination.
For the volunteers traveling by train:
The final destination is Craiova Rail-station. It is approximately 220 km from Bucharest. You can find information about the trains schedule at http://www.mersultrenurilor.ro/ ; please write Bucuresti Nord as departure and Craiova as destination. From there we will pick you up by car and drive you to your accommodation place.

TRAVEL REIMBURSMENT
The reimbursement of the travel costs will be made accordingly:
- To the sending organization in case it was you to buy the ticket for the volunteer. The payment will be made 70% of the travel costs (but no more than the budget limit) upon the provision of original invoice, travel ticket and boarding passes, once the volunteers will arrive to Romania. The remaining 30% will be reimbursed at the end of the project, once the final payment will be done by the Romanian National Agency. 
- To the volunteer – in case it was he/she that bought the ticket. We will reimburse 90% of the travel costs (within the budget limit) upon provision of the original invoice, tickets and boarding passes

To make sure that no problems will incur with the reimbursement of the travel, please instruct your volunteers to ask for the fiscal invoice from the travel agency (that bears the full cost – including taxes), keep the tickets and the boarding passes.

The international travel costs of the volunteers are covered only once (from his/her living place to Craiova and Return).
All additional travel costs incurred with the personal travel of the volunteer (such as vacations or other personal events) are not to be covered by the EVS project and will fall exclusively into the responsibility and expense of the volunteer.

ACCOMMODATION
All volunteers are to be accommodated in the outskirts of the capital city of the Oltenia Region, Craiova.
The volunteers will be split in teams and hosted within one of the 3 rroma communities in which the project will take place. These communities are about 5 km from the city center but the volunteers coming in the project should be aware that, although the 3 communities are neighborhood of the city Craiova they look like a rural community, and have problems like no sewerage and many of the roads are not asphalted(which means that sometimes there is a lot of mud). For this reason we can not guaranty that the accommodation will have a toilet indoors(most of the houses have the toilet outside separated from the bathroom).
The volunteers will live either with host families or share a living location together. The living location will meet decent living standards ( free access to kitchen and bathroom, current cold water with the possibility of providing hot water at least one hour/day, functioning heating system, clean and secure location).
EPYD will make all efforts to find the best accommodation location for the volunteers. All accommodation and utility costs (water, gas, electricity) shall be covered by the hosting organization.
All accommodation costs (including utilities) are to be covered 100% by the coordinating organization
NOTE!!!
The hosting family might be a rroma family. If you have preconceptions about this try to discuss with the coordinating organisation before coming.
NOTE!!!
The accommodations are not luxurious and provide no 5 stars conditions.
Upon arrival, a representative of EPYD and the volunteer will go through the accommodation and check everything, and then Liability Agreement will be signed. Damages brought to the initial state of the things will be handled by volunteers

FOOD
Buying and preparing the food is to be the sole responsibility of the volunteers. For preparing the food the volunteers will have free access to an equipped kitchen.
The hosting organization will provide each volunteer with a monthly food allowance - 80 euros - from which they shall cover the alimentation costs. The allowance is enough for insuring a good living standard (being higher than the amount an average earning citizen from the region spends for food). However the allowance will not be enough for ensuring every day eating in a restaurant or bistro.
Pocket money
Each volunteer is entitled to receive a 60 Euro monthly allowance – pocket money, which they can spent as they choose/want.

LOCAL TRANSPORT
The volunteer’s local transportation will be covered 100% for the travels made for the benefit and in direct relation with the EVS project.
The personal transport of the volunteer within or outside the community is to be covered by the volunteer from his/her own financial resources – pocket money or private money
The local transportation of the volunteers necessary for the activities implementation will be covered by the project.

TRAINING AND SUPPORT
Pre Departure Training: Each volunteer from a Programme country will be attending the Pre-Departure Training organized by the respective NA. The participation of each volunteer to such training session is crucial for his/her preparation, as far as the volunteer will be informed about his rights and obligations, general administrative and technical aspects connected to an EVS project as well as various inputs and advices
In what concerns the volunteers coming from EECA countries the pre- departure preparation will be inured by the sending organization.
In case the selection of the volunteer is made after any pre-departure training is available, the sending organization in close cooperation with EPYD will make their best in compensating the absence to this training session by preparing the volunteer as much and better as possible: informing the volunteer oh his/her rights and responsibilities, giving him/her the most relevant information about EVS, prepare the volunteer for a cultural shock or potential conflict.
On Arrival Training. The coordinating organization will insure the participation of all volunteers to the On arrival Training organized by the Romanian NA.
Capacity Building Training  - is a two weeks intense skills and abilities development programme that is to be organized in the first month of the project and which will include a series of sessions on Non formal Education. The Capacity Building Programme will take place for 2 weeks, in two phases: The first phase, of one week, will take place upon the volunteer’s arrival and will stress on: technical aspects;  project objectives, activities, roles and responsibilities; cultural and language accommodation; introduction in non formal educational tools.
The second phase, also of one week, will take place after maximum one month from the arrival, once the volunteers participated in the On Arrival Training and had an experience with the hosting community. The second phase will focus on strengthening skills and abilities of the volunteers according to their specific needs and the communities they are being hosted.
Language Training. Sessions of Romanian Language will be provided for all volunteers by a language tutor with certified education in languages. The language sessions will be provided in a digressive manner: intense coaching in the first months and less classes towards the end of the project. The language training aims to give the volunteers enough language skills to fend for themselves in the community (in a shop, rail/ bus station, etc).
Weekly evaluation meetings will take place in between the volunteers and their coordinators with the aim of checking the current state of the planned activities, the results or the failures.
Monthly Evaluation Meetings Along the project, the monitoring and evaluation process will consist in monthly meetings of two working days between the team and all volunteers, meetings that along the analysis of the previous month activities will comprise coaching and support in planning for the next month, provide solutions to eventual problems, share best practice examples, offer working tools and instruments, etc.
Reinforced mentorship. Additional personal support and coaching will be provided to the volunteers with fewer opportunities.
In addition to all the above mentioned methods, EPYD will provide further support to the volunteers also after the project shall end, by giving recommendation for the volunteers to whomever might be of interest.

VOLUNTEER’S TASKS.
Amongst the concrete tasks of the volunteers we mention:
Attend all the preparatory (Capacity Building Programme), training (On Arrival, Thematic trainings, Language sessions) and evaluation meetings (weekly and monthly evaluations) organized during the EVS project and directly related to it.
Prepare themselves for each meeting with the requested materials (for example: filling on time the monthly evaluation forms)
Learn about the Rroma cultures, customs, way of life, etc
Preparation, implementation and evaluation (assisted by the team staff) of the non formal educational activities for the Rroma and Romanian Youngsters according with the activities already implemented during the SEED  project ( see more about activities on: http://www.yesforevs.eu/seed.php - activities )
Help prepare a Summer Campus for a mixed group of youngsters
Record all their activities in a monthly electronic journal
Assist in working with the youngsters; propose activities, discussion topics, share opinions, cultural and traditional customs, etc.
Openly communicate with the mentor, his/her peer volunteers and the EVS coordinator
Display a decent and common sense behavior in relation to the organization, the youngsters, local stakeholders and the local hosting community in general
Contribute to the visibility of the project in the community, especially amongst the target group (youngsters) as well as the local actors (public administration, education institutions, media, etc)
Be responsible and meet one’s tasks accordingly.

Examples of proposed activities:  language lessons, painting, drawing on thematic subjects complementary to class thought subjects, walks in the parks, etc. Sport Activities (volleyball, football, kickboxing, dancing, etc), Humanitarian Actions, Green Activities. Outdoor Games, Free Discussions, Theatre forum, etc
Organizing large events such as: Europe’s Day; Roma Day; 1st June – Children’s Day, Summer Camp, Intercultural EVS Campaign .

PROFILE OF THE VOLUNTEER to fit the project

We are looking for a person willing/able to:
be prepared for challenges. He/she should be communicative and be used to deal with children, young people and also other adult people. We expect tolerance, helpfulness and the intention to learn the Romanian language.
work with children, being aware that he/she should relate also with the parents (family)
Continue the work done up to now (see http://yesforevs.eu/seed.php - activities) and improve in any way he/she considers it opportune
make with the mentor/EPYD staff a plan to fit his/her and children’s interest and to follow it
develop leisure activities. sport classes, art and crafts, music & drama (acting) classes, language classes, first aid classes, trips, after school activities, environmental activities, etc.
Work with the community and plan activities concerning different age segments;
Cooperate in the environmental and other projects of the community as sport contests, dramatic performance, symposiums, debates, etc.
Prepare materials for the activities anytime necessary,
support to the planning, realization and evaluation of events or conferences aiming at promote EVS in universities, high schools, Informing Youth Centers of the Municipality of Craiova, etc.
realization of general EVS promotion activities (production of materials such as leaflets, multimedia material to be showed online on the association website, or to be spread through local partners as other associations, communities, or through media such as local televisions, radio, local newspapers and free-press);
organization, realization and evaluation of activities for the diffusion of results, promotion and visibility of his/her own EVS experience ;
cooperating with EVS candidates of the host organization with a special concern on EVS promotion realized by describing his or her own experience.
prepare celebrations (traditional celebration, birthday or moving in day,...). A volunteer could for example help to organize a party or something like that. The volunteer gets an idea about culture and habits of Craiovean life. New ideas are always welcomed.

IV. SELECTION
10 volunteers from Europe:
Age: 23 – 30 years

  • Ideal profile Youngsters with genuine interest and motivation in working with Roma community. Education in Sociology or relevant experience in the field is to be an advantage in the selection process
  • Interest in working with children with the support of non forma educational tools

Language Proficiency: - at least basic level of English (being able to make herself/himself understood by the others – able to communicate)
knowledge of Romanian can be an advantage – however it is not a selection criteria
Other requests: interest in intercultural and minority integration issues, moreover adaptation ability

OTHER ASPECTS

Logistics
The volunteers will have an working office inside their community that is equipped with everything needed in the implementation of the activities(computers, internet access, printer, scanner, ). The working office will also serve as a location for some of the activities with the children.

WHAT TO BRING.
Clothes for winter, spring and summer
The temperature in the winter time can drop during the night even to – 20 Celsius degrees.
Spring is really nice, with warm weather, sometimes going even over + 25 degrees.
The Romanian summer is really dry and hot. The temperature can reach even + 38 degrees in the shade.
Personal Items:
Towels, bed sheets, tooth brush, raiser, etc

Looking forward to working together.
I am fully confident that we shall have a fruitful and professional cooperation from which the main beneficiaries to be the volunteers.

For any further questions, clarifications or suggestions please contact us.
Nagy Serban
Project manager                  
European Platform for Youth Development
+40 766.670.465
Serban.nagy@epyd.eu
Skype ID: syn4u2


This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.