Noored Ühiskonna Heaks is coordinating a European Solidarity Corps volunteering project, and we are looking for 15 volunteers to youth centres kindergartens, and disability centres around Estonia.

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 mobilities start from October 2021 and last for 6-12 months.

NURSERIES, KINDERGARTENS AND SCHOOL

FULL! TALLINNA LASTESÕIM HELLIK

https://www.tallinn.ee/est/hellik/

Duration: 11 months

Time: October 2021- August 2022

Place: Tallinn

Profile of the volunteer: Hellik is looking for an enthusiastic young person, who would love to work with children at the age of 1,5-3 years. We are hoping to host a person who is motivated to do this work 7 hours a day and 5 days in a row.

Main activities: In Hellik Nursery the volunteer would be working alongside with class teacher and teaching assistant with children from different ethnic backgrounds between the age of 1,5 to 3 yrs.

Hellik Nursery has two different age groups: 1,5-2 years and 2-3 years. Volunteer would be asked to work in different age groups every week (where the help is most needed).

Activities include:

– introduce his/her country of origin to the children of our kindergarten, their parents and staff through different events throughout the school year.

Eg. Photo exhibition or other display about his/her country of origin, food tasting, introduction of games etc.

– accompany teachers and groups of up to 18 children going on mini trips to museums, exhibitions, libraries, nature etc.

– help the teacher in preparation of learning materials for everyday teaching activities (e.g. prepare worksheets, copy materials, take out paints, pencils etc.).

– help the teacher and children during the everyday teaching activities and outside playtime (e.g. Art tasks, playing with children etc.).

– help to dress, look after and feed the younger children, support them in their daily activities as well as older children.

– organize sports activities for children (e.g. a weekly outdoor sports activity).

In addition to that, we have traditional events where volunteer can help us. You can see all the events here: https://www.tallinn.ee/est/hellik/

With these activities, volunteer will get a wide experience and knowledge of a child’s development and learning process, she/he will get to know pedagogical aspects/ways of teaching kids, developing his/her intercultural and interpersonal competencies, develop ways and competences to work with different stakeholders (for example parents). Besides that, volunteer will develop his/her team work and self-expression skills, cooperation and learn to analyze situations based on the child’s perspective.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/5733_en

TALLINNA PLANEEDI MUDILA

http://www.planeedila.ee

Duration: 9 months

Time: October 2021 – July 2022

Place: Tallinn

Profile of the volunteer: an enthusiastic young person, who would love to work with children at the age of 1,5-3 years.

Main activities: In Planeedi Nursery the volunteer is working together with a class teacher for children between the age of 1,5 to 3 years. Volunteer’s tasks involve assisting the teacher with everyday activities: dressing, eating, playing. To help with the materials that the teacher uses for lessons. Also, the volunteer will have the chance to create new materials and bring new topics to the lessons. For example, to bring games and methods from the kindergartens of the country of origin. Also, using her/his own skills, the volunteer can teach new competences to the staff and the children. In addition, the volunteer will be organizing events for the families of the children, to get to know a new culture and other leisure time activities that would integrate the volunteer to the nursery and to have a contact with the parents for a more trustful relationship.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/5736_en

european solidarity corps eesti estonia noored uhiskonna heaks

FULL! TALLINN LINNUPESA KINDERGARTEN

https://www.linnupesa.edu.ee/kindergarten/

Duration: 12 months

Time: October 2021- September 2022

Place: Tallinn

Profile of the volunteer: “Our volunteers have to be open minded and ready to work with kids. This work needs a calm and creative person. Our volunteer likes to try new things and is not afraid of multimedia and robotics. Our volunteer has some extra value he/she wants to spread with us. Educational degree isn’t needed. Our volunteer has to have shiny eyes and a singing heart. Hopefully he/she has a little child inside who wants to get out. Our volunteer is definitely ready to jump into the frozen sea”.

Main activities: Volunteer is working 5 days per week, approximately six hours a day. It depends on our weekly plans. Our expectations for volunteer are:

* We are looking for a young person with an open mind and bright eyes who wants to work with children

* Always there for the kids, playing games, coordinating activities, helping and guiding them while they are working individually or groups.

* Once a week will do a morning circle (depending on the week’s theme, plan and organise everything for the circle and conduct it.

* Taking part in our meetings and in the beginning introducing himself/herself to our organisation personnel. Planning intercultural night for personnel.

* Taking part in every day activity in our group and helping teachers with artworks.

* Taking photos and videos in our daily activities and putting together a blog- with the help of teachers or assistants.

* Preparing worksheets if necessary

* Taking part in the study visits (expeditions), in outdoor education and in the movement activities Assisting the teachers in the preparation of the traditional house events – sports days, study visits, field trips, excursions, etc.

* Helps to decorate the rooms.

* Creates a plan of action for robotics lessons. Every other week has robotics for the kids who want to participate.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/21999_en

FULL! TALLINN MUDILA KINDERGARTEN

https://www.tallinn.ee/est/lasteaed-mudila/

Duration: 6 months

Time: January 2022- June 2022

Place: Tallinn

Profile of the volunteer: We are welcoming volunteers who are active, social and enjoy working with kids and adults. In pre-school it is very important to be creative in arts, technology, nature consciousness or music. But due to our work nature above else it is imperative that the volunteer is open minded and wants to learn new things about themselves, others and pre-school education in general.

Main activities:

1 Participation in educational and learning activities in groups

2 Participation in an outdoor learning day

3 Participation in music and movement activities

4 Cooperation with pedagogical council

5 Promoting diversity and different cultures

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/28034_en

TALLINN VINDI KINDERGARTEN

https://www.tallinn.ee/est/vindi/

Duration: 9 months

Time: October 2021 – July 2022

Place: Tallinn

Profile of the volunteer:

Active, friendly, benevolent and should enjoy working with children. Willingness to work without prejudice with different kids (special needs, different ages, different nationalities). Flexible and adaptable. We want to develop international understanding, understanding of other cultures, increase tolerance, solidarity, respect and friendship between people and nations.

Main activities:

Engages with children (supervises or plays with children in play, directs their activities; under the supervision of the teacher, does individual work with the child). Participates in the morning circle with children, music and movement activities, group activities; assists the teacher in organizing activities; conducts the game under the guidance of a teacher. Assists in organizing outdoor activities deals with children outdoors, finding suitable activities for them (nature, movement games, etc.), read fairy tales (in their mother tongue) to children during naps.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/28035_en

YOUTH CENTERS

FULL! PAIKUSE YOUTH CENTER – PANOKE

https://www.facebook.com/PaNoKe-189332871086408/

Duration: 12 months

Time: October 2021 – September 2022

Place: Paikuse, Pärnu county

Profile of the volunteer:

We are willing to learn new things from the participants so no one is overqualified. Our main focus would however be young adults and people getting started in life. Not necessarily only people in the youth work field, but people with some tie or interest in it. The country and culture the participants come from do not matter to us to any great decree, we would optimally have someone who speaks and understands either English or Russian as a second or third language but that is not essential, it would only make the work easier for them.

Main activities:

Youthwork

Culture

Education and training

Equality and non-discrimination

Inclusion

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/26087_en

VÄIKE-MAARJA YOUTH CENTER

https://www.facebook.com/VMNoortekas/

Duration: 12 months

Time: January 2022 – December 2023

Place: Väike-Maarja, Lääne-Viru County

Profile of the volunteer: The volunteer should be bold and very open, because our young people are quite modest and don’t get along very fast with new things. The volunteer should also take into consideration the fact that our youth center is located in a rural area where it is relatively peaceful and the leisure facilities are limited. However, the nearby town of Rakvere has many opportunities and the capital city is only 100 km away.

Main activities:

The volunteer will work daily with the youth center worker, they will work together to plan and organize different activities. For example competitions, trips, different activities (for example- cooking, arts & crafts) and maybe even projects. We generally follow a weekly schedule, affected by previously made activities, also celebrating special days from the calendar and sometimes there will be unexpected opportunities and offers that we will accept if presented.

Volunteer will often participate in several training and seminars about youth. So it would be nice if the volunteer could get acquainted with the principles of youth work here and other people in this field thanks to their participation.

During summer we organise summer camps and working camps for young people, where the volunteer has a possibility to create activities and workshops.

There is no doubt that the volunteer has a say in the planning of activities and implementing them, because in the youth center we always follow the young people’s own ideas and thoughts and we are all flexible in any situation.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/28037_en

WORKING WITH DISABLED PEOPLE

HOOLEKANDETEENUSED SA – support home for disabled people

https://www.hoolekandeteenused.ee/teenused/

Organization: Hoolekandeteenused Viljandi Näituse Unit

Duration: 12 months

Time: from November 2021 or January 2022

Place: Viljandi

Profile of the volunteer: We expect that the volunteer is committed to the project, is independent and active, positive, open minded, flexible and willing to learn. Also active to support our clients in everyday activities, working activities, hobbies and also to be ready to give suggestions to improve our service. Some experience in work with people with special needs would be an advantage. Positive way of life, friendliness and sociability are the characteristics that describe a successful volunteer candidate. We also expect the candidate to be reliable, responsible and taking initiative.

Main activities: We are expecting volunteer to:

support and guide clients in their work assignments;
support clients in using services in the local community (cinema, theatre, public transportation etc.);

organize and carry out gatherings and groups for clients (gardening, sports, handicraft, photography, cooking, movie nights, reading etc.);
organize and help activity coordinators in arranging different functions and parties or spring bees, birthdays etc.;
help activity coordinators in their everyday work;
make suggestions in enhancing our services.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/22000_en

HOOLEKANDETEENUSED SA – support home for disabled people

https://www.hoolekandeteenused.ee/teenused/

Organization: Hoolekandeteenused Pärnu Niidumetsa Unit

Duration: 12 months

Time: from November 2021 or January 2022

Place: Pärnu

Profile of the volunteer: We will welcome motivated, mature and committed volunteers understanding the nature of the Project and its particularities, including working with people with serious mental and physical disabilities. Experience in working or relating to people with special needs would be an advantage. We would like a volunteer to be open-minded, positive and flexible, helpful and active. Taking initiative from the volunteer ́s side is welcome, though of course the staff will always provide the needed support and advice.

Main activities: Everyday we work together for one goal – people who live here should have an active and positive day regardless of age, gender or disability. We are always standing for their rights to be involved in society and feel safe at home. We support every resident to be as independent as they can. We encourage them to be active members of the local community and we warmly welcome families, trainees, and volunteers. Especially those who want to contribute through activities and through being present for the people who live among us but are often more vulnerable and in need of support and encouragement in their daily activities. We work on the principle of recovery and inclusion. It means – we help people find their strengths to improve their quality of life and make them more independent. Although it requires a lot of patience and time.

Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn about the lives of people with special needs and multiple disabilities. Become part of their daily routines, worries and joys. Working with people with special needs broadens your mind, you will learn that sometimes things that seem self-explanatory and simple are not really that simple for some people.

You can participate in different ways:

support daily activities such as cooking, gardening, leisure activities, etc.;
help activity instructor to conduct one-off events;
accompany and attend an outing, sporting or cultural events

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/28038_en

FOUNDATION MAARJA VILLAGE

https://www.maarjakyla.ee

Duration: 6 or 12 months

Time: from November 2021 or January 2022

Place: Maarjaküla, Tartu County

Profile of the volunteer: Looking for 3 volunteers! 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: Foundation Maarja Village is a competence centre for people with learning disability. Our aim is to support people with learning disabilities to become equal members of Estonian society. Volunteers accompany inhabitants of Maarja village. Creating activities and workshops with them, assisting them with their daily activities etc. On Tuesdays, 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.

Accommodation: Volunteers will live in a shared house inside Maarja Village. Everyone has a private room and all necessities for a comfortable living.

Project in the Youth Portal: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity/placement/22008_en

VOLUNTEER’S CONDITIONS

Accommodation:

The accommodation costs are covered. Volunteers will live in a shared flat equipped with all the necessary utilities for comfortable living. The flat will be located not far from the activities place.

Allowance:

Each month volunteer’s receive 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

The local transport card or a bicycle will be provided.

Insurance:

The volunteer will have Cigna Health insurance.

Language support:

The volunteer will have access to the Online Language Support to learn Estonian.

Volunteer’s training cycle:

The volunteer will have on-arrival and mid-term training provided by the Estonian National Agency.

General support:

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

Every 10 weeks a meeting with all the volunteers and coordinators will take place in different parts of Estonia to evaluate the progress of the volunteering projects, to set goals, socialize and discover new locations in Estonia.

Extra activities (compulsory in all placements):

In addition to the work at the hosting organization, the volunteers will take part in different events and fairs to promote European Solidarity Corps and the Erasmus+ programme. They also have an opportunity to apply for funds for their own personal initiative projects.