Posts Tagged ‘EVS’

1. Making friends:
EVS brings like-minded people together in a common setting where they’ll all be working towards a common goal.
2. Networking:
You can also network with others who might be in a position to help you turn your voluntary work  into a paid career you’ll enjoy.
3. CV improvement:
Employers recognize the value that voluntary work adds to a CV in terms.
4. Decision making:
Sometimes you need a little help in determining what kind of job or career path you wish to follow. EVS helps to decide the type of work you might prefer.
5. Building self-confidence:
EVS is a useful way to increase your self-esteem and confidence.  

And last, but not least…You make a difference that far outweigh any form of financial reward.

Ioana (23), an EVS volunteer from Brasov (Romania), is currently working from the Joetz office in Brussels. She started her EVS project in March and at the end of May she launched a blog about her Belgium experiences with its ups and downs. On her blog she talks about EVS in general, EVS at Joetz and EVS in Belgium. Ioana hopes the blog will one day become an instrument for all young people in their search for an EVS insight and she it will providing a platform for dialogue around EVS. Do you want to get an insight of her Belgium experiences and read more about EVS? If the answer is yes, then visit her Joetz EVS blog.

Ganziantep Training and Youth Association is an EVS hosting organization in Turkey. On their website you can read comments from volunteers about their EVS experiences. For example about the experiences of Johanna Smit (20) from Germany, who worked with and for children in various associations like nurseries or centres for young people with disadvantaged backgrounds or difficulties in their daily life. She gave English lessons and organized leisure activities such as excursions and games. At the end of her EVS project she wrote this letter to the children.

Johanna: ‘My project can be described as 8 months full of joy, feelings, friendship, activities, adventures, tears, experience AND baklava. One of the best things about the association was that we had the possibility to meet lots of new people from different countries. Now I have friends all over the world.’ Are you curious to other EVS experiences in Ganziantep? Please visit their website.

creACTive: the world of creative and active young people
creACTive is a youth association from Macedonia for support of creativity and active citizenship of young people. Formed in 2007, creACTive has a main aim to assist the personal development of young people by providing them with a variety of non-formal education activities. creACTive currently has one Youth Centre in Kavadarci and two Youth Clubs – one in Skopje and another one in the village of Drenovo.

‘It was a big experience for me to work in creACTive. During the work I improved my language skills (English, Macedonian), I learnt how to organize events involving many people. Last but not least I learnt about work with young people, how to solve some problems and how to improve the work with them.’ – Adam Gazda from Czech Republic Read the rest of this entry »

Have you done any kind of European Volunteer Service abroad between January 2007 and February 2010 and are you between the age of 15 and 30 years? If so, you are invited to participate in the Scriptamanent contest. The challenge is to write about your EVS experiences. The winning work will receive a sum of 300 euros! For the competition rules and registration sheet, please visit this webpage. Deadline: 1 April 2010.

When applying to an EVS project, you need to submit both CV and a motivation letter. Your motivation letter is needed to discover your personality and interest in the project. Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing a motivation letter. First of all, every good letter has a basic structure built on a few sections. For example: Read the rest of this entry »

Abbas Zahidi (24) from Azerbaijan went in March 2008 to Romania to work as an EVS volunteer with Roma people and disabled children. Below you can read about his experiences during his 9 months abroad: ‘EVS experience was definitely one of the best experiences in my life!’

‘First of all, I would like to notice, that the project where I have participated was the biggest one in Romania and one of the biggest in Europe. We had 52 volunteers from 18 countries. It meant, we had chance to discover many-many cultures.’ Read the rest of this entry »

As you could read in the category ‘In the spotlight’ doing your EVS in Moldova is quite an experience. Below you can read the reports from 5 EVS volunteers about their experiences in Moldova:

Wiebke Alina Knäpper:
‘Doing my EVS in Moldova I’m facing many new challenges, so I can always learn something new – Using the marshrutka, working together with NGOs etc. Moreover I enjoy to get more and more independent in mobility and in using Russian language. At the beginning we had nothing to do and I had doubts if I will find a place for me, but now we had an on arrival training and I started to work. Our project allowed us to live first in Komrat than in Chisinau, so we could see the contrast between more rural Gagausia. While people in Komrat produce homemade wine, honey and kompot, people in Chisinau have a more urban lifestyle. We have much opportunities to choose our working field according to our interests and skills. Soon each of us will decide in which organization he wants to engage.’

Read the rest of this entry »

Are you interested by performing an EVS in Moldova? Then read thoroughly the information below about the Center EVS in Moldova, because they are looking for young people to participate in an exciting EVS experience in Moldova to learn more about different cultures and develop new skills.

 ’It’s the best decision to spend one year abroad and it was of course a right decision to stay in Moldova. I’m learning, seeing, experiencing every day something new and interesting. The mentality and hospitality of the people impresses me every time again.’ - Katrina Fee Schmitz-Roekerath Read the rest of this entry »

Are you an European citizen between the age of 13 and 30 years old an do you participate in a social project abroad? For example doing a European Volunteer Service, participating in a youth exchange or an youth initiative? Then you are invited to join the video contest ‘There’s much to do!’. The challenge is to show everyone what you do by capturing all moments of your work on video. Show the extraordinary or difficult moments, the challenges and unexpected solutions. Every form of expressing yourself by video is welcome. Your video will be published online on www.youthreporter.eu and everybody will be able to vote for it until 30 June 2010. Afterwards a jury will pick the winners taking the voting into account. Do you want to participate in this contest? Please take a look at the Youthreporter website for rules and conditions. Submission deadline: 31 May 2010.