Noored Ühiskonna Heaks (NYH) is promoting a call for volunteer for European Solidarity Corps placements called “Balkan Hotspot” for 10 months, which will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Hosting Organisations is United Societies of Balkans (U.S.B.) The organization is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Thessaloniki, Greece, working in the field of youth mobility, participation and promoting youth awareness of social issues. It was founded in 2008 by the initiative of a group of active young people who wanted to address the social issues which affect the youngsters in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
The Profile of the volunteer:
Our ideal volunteer candidate is an open minded person willing to learn, to improve her/himself and to help other people. It is important to be ready to work in a team and to share the daily life with people from different backgrounds. It is not necessary to have a previous technical knowledge of media. Although it is not required to have a high level of English, the volunteers need to have at least a basic knowledge of the language. That is this important for their everyday communication with international and local people but also for their safety.
The volunteer’s tasks are the following:
The ‘Balkan Hotspot’ Project deals with the service of volunteers coming from member-countries of the EVS Programme. This is a project which has been running since 2009, with more than 180 volunteers having been hosted by our organisation. The main activities of the project are related to Web Media. On the website of the project (www.balkanhotspot.org) you can find the articles, the radio podcasts, the link to the videos and to the E-Magazine “Balkan Beats” made with the essential contribution of our volunteers. Through these tools, the volunteers, in cooperation with the youth of the local society and the other volunteers of our organisation, will contribute to create and maintain a space of free expression and communication among young people, always within the context of the subjects, the principles and the goals of the Erasmus Plus Programme. For the radio, we also collaborate with Infinity Greece (http://infinitygreece.com), a local youth organisation that runs also a radio and has the radio station inside our office. Our volunteers can collaborate with them for their live radio shows or with podcasts.
The activities in which the volunteer will be involved are:
- Organisation and development of an e -radio with emphasis on youth social issues of the Balkans making radio programmes (live or podcast).
- Organisation and development of a web- tv. Documentaries emphasized on social issues and cultural activities in Thessaloniki are highly recommended.
- Organisation and development of “Balkan Beats”, an e- journal focused on youth and human rights.
- Management of the website of the project and its social networks
- Organisation and participation in special events and meetings organised by the project, especially during dates dedicated to EU or Human Rights.
- Workshops organised by USB. The three workshops on Media (mandatory) plus the Creativity and Cultural Activities Coordination Workshops (optional)
- Deliver workshops for the other volunteers as well as for locals based on their skills and knowledge
- Participation in some public events or festivals organized by the local authorities or other organizations, such as the International Film Festival of Thessaloniki.
We truly believe that for volunteers the European Volunteer Service is an opportunity to learn, to improve themselves and to discover and develop their personality and competences. For this reason we encourage our volunteers to develop a personal project besides the daily work for Balkan Hotspot project. With the support of their Mentor the volunteers will develop a concrete personal plan with the objective of creating a personal project based on their own interests and goals.
The volunteers are divided in two groups, rotating between morning (10:00/14:00) and afternoon (14:00/18:00) shift, from Monday to Friday. Every Monday there is a meeting with the Coordinator to check the working plan of the previous week and schedule the working plan for the next week. Individual or group meetings will be organised with the Mentor to talk about their personal project and development.
Accommodation and food:
Volunteers are going to be accommodated in a fully equipped building located in the city centre (Angostara, 13) near the main bus and train station of the city. It is an autonomous 5 floored building of 150m2 per floor and a terrace on the 6th floor. On the first floor there is the working space of the volunteers, while on the second floor there are the showers, two bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room and two balconies. The bedrooms are located on the other three floors. In the building they are also accommodated the volunteers who participate in other projects in the city coordinated by our organisation. Each volunteer will share their room with one or three more people of the same gender (we have double and big quadruple rooms). There are also single rooms for people with special needs or for interns. Wireless internet is available in the whole building. The House Tender cleans the common spaces every day and the rooms once per month according to the volunteers. The volunteers are responsible for the daily cleaning of their own spaces as well as the common spaces during the weekends.
We provide our volunteers with three meals per day through a catering service that prepares the food according to their preferences and allergies (also if they are vegan or vegetarian). Diamantis Catering
(http://www.catering.gr/) is one of the biggest catering services in Northern Greece and has received multiple certifications of quality. In this way the volunteers will have the possibility to get in contact with the Greek cuisine and culture, but at the same time on Saturdays and Sundays they can cook and enjoy their own food. In the weekly days the House Tender will prepare the breakfast and will be responsible for the service and cleaning for lunch and dinner.
Breakfast is served from 9.00 to 10.00, lunch from 13.00 and dinner from 20.00.
The organisation will provide a monthly pass for the local transportation. Entrances to festival or events where volunteers go for activities connected to the project will be paid by the organisation (for example Marathon, Tattoo Festival, Colours Day, Expositions). The volunteers can refer also to the Volunteer Coordinator about what they need to buy for the house or for special financiation for their personal projects.
Pocket Money: pocket money, 5 euros per day plus 5 extra euros per day for the weekends, days off and official holidays of Greece (in these day the organisation will not provide meals).
The Erasmus + Programme will reimburse 100% of the travel costs for the participants (up to 360 euros).
Here you can find more details in the INFOPACK: Balkan Hotspot Infopack
All the interested people should fill send the CV and Motivation Letter in English to marco@nyh.ee.
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