CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS IN ESTONIA - 6 MONTHS - MAARJA KÜLA

Noored Ühiskonna Heaks is coordinating a European Solidarity Corps volunteering project called “Maarjaküla for Solidarity”. We are looking for 2 long-term volunteer to Maarja Village for people with learning disabilities.

Candidates must be aged 18-30 from European Programme countries of Erasmus+ and Eastern Europe & Caucasus countries (European Union and Turkey, Macedonia, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan)

The aim is to create solidarity among young people towards people with fewer opportunities. It is about creating a dialogue between individuals in different stages of their life, to reinforce understanding, cooperation and once again, solidarity. All this comes with participants improving their skills and competences to assure better possibilities in the labor market and enhancing personal skills to become a more tolerant and exemplary citizen of Europe and the world. The activities of the project include supporting people with learning disabilities to take care of themselves and grow independence, making activities to stimulate their days and fill it with learning by doing moments. As well as, using the skills, interests and hobbies of the volunteers to teach, create and entertain.

FOUNDATION MAARJA VILLAGE is a community village that works as a competence centre for people with learning disabilities. Our aim is to support people with learning disabilities to become equal members of Estonian society. It lies in South-Estonia in the middle of our beautiful nature. It has hosted more than 100 long-term volunteers from 16 different countries since summer 2004. Hosting volunteers has had incredible effects on our organization’s development and to our people.

Duration: 6 or 12 months

Time: Starting in January 2022

Place: Maarja Küla, Kiidjärve, close to Tartu

https://maarjakyla.ee

Profile of the volunteer: One of the principles of Maarja Village, is to have no discrimination towards gender or background of volunteers. As mentioned before, one of our main ideas why we welcome all candidates, regardless of their background, is to develop our organization by meeting different challenges and providing young people possibilities to be valued members of our foundation. Our experience shows that it does not matter if the volunteer has had any previous contact with the area of special needs. We prefer volunteers, who are interested in our way of life.

Main activities: Volunteers accompany inhabitants of Maarja village. Creating activities and workshops with them, assisting them with their daily activities etc. On Thursdays, volunteers have reflection day, tutor and mentor meetings and time to create their own initiative projects. That day will also be used for learning experiences that might not have to be connected with Maarja village work activities: getting to know the local community and participating activities there, getting to know Estonia and Estonian people. Once a week there is an opportunity to work in our Tartu houses and support the activities there.

VOLUNTEER’S CONDITIONS

Accommodation:

The accommodation costs are covered. Volunteers will live in a shared house in Maarja Village, equipped with all the necessary utilities for comfortable living.

Allowance:

Each month volunteer receives a total of 270€ pocket and food money.

Transport:

The transportation from home country to Estonia and back will be covered according to the distance calculator of Erasmus+ program: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/resources/distance-calculator_en

Insurance:

The volunteer will have Cigna Health insurance.

General support:

The volunteer will have a mentor to help with any issue and support the learning process.

Once a week there is a meeting with the staff and other volunteers to analyse the activities and plan the upcoming week. Additionally, once a month all the volunteers and staff make trips to different locations in Estonia to learn more about our nature, culture and traditions.

TO APPLY:

Fill in this application form and add your CV and motivation letter as attachments.

https://forms.gle/ZR99gbaJQUYHigST9