Welcome to Charge up! 48 Hours Varusha South youth exchange!
We wanted to create an opportunity for young people from different countries to meet and explore diverse creative ways for changing realities, community organising and youth empowerment. We also wanted to emphasise on the importance of local initiatives and festivals for the revival of neighbourhoods and the inclusion of young people with different backgrounds, refugees including, in the community life.
Festivals create a simulation of possible realities which many times serve as a starting point for entrepreneurs, local businesses, volunteers and even local municipal authorities to revive and recreate whole neighbourhoods and towns. Festivals bring people from all over the world together and charge up the atmosphere with possibilities, make us think out of the box and believe that everything is possible.
We thought that an amazing place to do all we mentioned above is the local festival which our partners from VT Events and TAM community space are organising every year in the old capital of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo. The festival is 48 Hours Varusha South and it happens for a third consecutive year, bringing together different artists from Bulgaria and abroad!
During the youth exchange the participant will collaborate with local volunteers who will be part of the 48 Varusha South Festival. They will have small individual and group tasks and will also have to observe, record and document the ongoing events of the festival in order to create an E-zine. The E-zine will be created during the festival and finalised after the festival with the aim of portraying how such local festival re-creates the neighbourhood and contributes to the well-being of the young people. Apart from contributions to the e-zine (photos, videos, interviews, texts), the participants will join the local volunteers team in other tasks:
Cleaning and preparation of the different locations
Logistical tasks before and during the festival (folding programs, sticking posters, distribution of information materials, etc.)
Operation of the info point (Guiding visitors and answering questions about the program and locations)
Helping the different locations (e.g. supporting the artists in the different categories of the program (musical, architectural, visual, creative and family)
Learning activity for youth workers to learn about future thinking, to test methods and tools and to collect ideas for Guidelines for youth workers on how to work with future thinking topics with youngsters.
Activity is organized by partner consortium: leading partner “Baltic Regional fund” from Latvia, “MindUp” from Poland, “CVS BULGARIA” from Bulgaria and VsI “Inovatyvi karta” from Lithuania.
WHEN?
August 18 -23, 2024 (including travel days)
Arrival on 18th August until 18.00
Departure on 23rd August in any times
WHERE?
Latvia – guest house “Vecmuiza” (18-22 August), Liepupe parish, Limba?u county (75km from Riga) and Rija Domus Hotel, Tirgonu street 9, Riga (22-23 August)
WHO?
Altogether 24 people (in age 18+) – 6 people from each country- Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Bulgaria. Profile of the participants:youth workers with different experience and roles – from municipal youth centers, from rural and urban areas, from NGOs working with youngsters, experienced and also newcomers in the youth field etc.
The objectives of the learning activity: – to introduce participants with the future thinking and support to develop personal competences in the future thinking;
– to present in the project developed Toolkit and to practice different methods and tools to work with youngsters on future thinking topic;
– to introduce participants with the pilot versions of the Playbook and Future thinking game and to collect ideas for improvements;
– to share ideas about specific material for youth workers on how to work with future thinking topics with youngsters and create the first draft for this material (guidelines).
– to share youth work experiences working with young people & to discuss challenges, opportunities.
Max Travel limits in EUR
20.00 – Latvia
180.00 – Lithuania
275.00 – Bulgaria
275.00 – Poland
Will be transferred by the Bank after mobility activity and provision of all original documents. Flights tickets can be bought after confirmation for the selection and before buying, please send them for approval to: ginta.salmina@gmail.com
Application form: all participants who are interested to take part in this mobility should fill the application form by 30 June 2024. Final selection will be done in collaboration with the partner organiSations and selected participants will be informed the latest by 3rd July 2024.
The “Mindful Youth Work: Cultivating Well-Being in Yourself and Others” training course gathered 30 participants from 8 countries and 17 nationalities for the period 9-16.05.2024 in Pozna?, Poland.
CVS-Bulgaria was happy to send our participants – Denitsa, Katya, and Maya. Here you can find their impressions:
We would like to express our gratitude for the wonderful workshop for youth workers in Poznan, Poland from 9 to 15 May 2024.
It was a great chance to get involved in the training course: “MINDFULL YOUTH WORK: Cultivating well-being in yourself and others” that was a part of the project “Stop, Reflect, Do Better” organised by SCI Poland.
We are thankful for the opportunity to meet young people from many countries. The precious moments that we spend with the participants, all discussing the ways for our and our young people’s well-being that will exert great influence on our youth work.
We, the participants from CVS-Bulgaria expresses our acknowledgment for the organizational details that made for transforming a group of individuals of different backgrounds and cultures to establish long-lasting friendships and to start planning future joint activities.
An enormous thank you for the trainers that took care of our well-being during the course and provided us with extremely useful advices for our future work with the young people in our organizations, implementing non-formal educational methods, group work, problem-solving, and clarifying the 8 dimensions of well-being, including the experience of the environmental well-being by walk in the forest, hiking around the lake and swimming in the pool.
Thank you Natalie Jivkova and Goska Tur. Thank you to SCI Poland and CVS-Bulgaria.
The “From Conflict to Collaboration: Building a Culture of Peace in Diverse Communities” training course gathered 28 participants from 10 countries and many more nationalities for the period 2-9.04.2024 in Herentals, Belgium.
Georgi Vasilev and Rahil Siddiqi were the participants from Bulgaria.
High time to critically look at International Voluntary Service (IVS) and work on the necessary changes inside and outside our volunteer organisations to make IVS more inclusive and equitable. That is what Decolonise Now! Is all about.
Check out www.ccivs.org/decolonise to see how IVS organisations over the last few years have been trying to critically reflect on colonial legacies and existing solidarity mechanisms in the organisations and networks that promote IVS.
Now it’s time to support and accelerate the common efforts. Over the course of the project, the partnering organisations worked on various tools to create debate and question existing practices and mindsets. This Tool Fair and Training of Trainers wants to bring together committed volunteers and staff from International Voluntary Service Organisations who are eager to bring this “Decolonise!” debate to their organisations.
Do you have a genuine interest in creating change in your organisation or network from a decolonised perspective? Did your organisation create tools that would contribute to the decolonising process? Are you eager to dive into the decolonise topic, learn from others and upskill your facilitation skills? Then this training is for you!
ABOUT THE TRAINING:
a combination of ToT and Tool Fair
The training focuses on educational tools that can be used to reflect with volunteers and staff on existing inequalities in International Voluntary Service. At the same time these tools should create space for possible new ways of working, encouraging participants to work on change in their own lives, their organisations and the ecosystems we all are part of.
The participants are encouraged to develop their educational competences so that they can accompany these reflection processes in a responsible and constructive way as these conversations can be uncomfortable. This training, apart from emphasising on exploring new tools, will also work on the development of facilitation skills so that these tools can be used in a safe space creating new insights.
The Decolonise Tools developed so far include:
Decolonise Card Game: “Reverse Injustice”
Decolonise Self Assessment Tool
MOOC focusing on preparation of volunteers from a decolonised perspective
Guidebook for Participatory Action Research
Apart from these specific tools, there is a huge collection of material available on topics very closely related to this Decolonising process: anti-racism toolkits, gender toolkits, global education toolkits, etc… How we can combine a Tool Fair and a ToT?
By planning a Tool Fair we aim to bring together these resources and encourage participants to try-out some of these existing materials. Combining it with a ToT we will create a space for the participants to learn how to adapt and apply them in their daily professional work as youth workers, trainers, educators.
Together we will offer a programme that will lead the participants to engage in the decolonisation process by working on participatory and liberating facilitation skills while using the tools developed and collected in the Decolonise. Now! Project.
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN?
During the event you will have the possibility to:
get insights on the topic of decolonisation
learn different facilitation techniques
explore a variety of methods and learn how to choose the appropriate ones for your activities
experiment with the Decolonise tools and use them in your organisations
collectively reflect on the use of Decolonise tools in your organisations, adapt them to your local context and initiate new decolonise activities
engage in a wider debate on the decolonisation process in the IVS movement and propose follow-up activities based on the learnings and needs
create new synergies with IVS members and like-minded organisations to strengthen the common work on decolonisation.
WHO IS THIS TRAINING FOR?
The Tool Fair and Training of Trainers wants to create a learning community which can support the pedagogical work linked to the Decolonise. Now! project. Therefore we are looking for
The selection will take into consideration inclusiveness principles such as gender balance (including + groups), accessibility for people with disabilities and ensuring geographical, ethnic and socio-cultural diversity.
Although the project is open to all, since part of this project is funded by the Council of Europe, 60% of the participants need to be 18-30 years old.
The learning journey
Online preparation session – mid-July 2024
On-site training in Bulgaria – 7-13 August 2024
Remote work (follow-ups) in small teams – September – December 2024
Online evaluation meeting – beginning December 20
PRACTICAL INFO
Thanks to the funding of the Erasmus+ programme and the EYF of the Council of Europe, this training has no extra participation fee. Travel will be reimbursed up to the established travel platform upon completion of the training and providing all the necessary travel documents.
WhenFrom 7th August (arrival) till 13th August (departure)
AccommodationThe accommodation will be organized in double or triple rooms (in small family houses) which have a private bathroom, bed-linens and towels, and free Wi-Fi. There are many possibilities to enjoy the free time in the place – table tennis, swimming pool, volleyball, walk in nature or just relax in the green garden.
Food The food we are going to provide will be vegetarian with vegan options. This is not just a practical decision, but also our suggestion on how to contribute to a more peaceful planet.
TravelParticipants will buy their travel tickets following the information provided in the info pack and will get travel reimbursed up to the budget limit and up to 1 month after providing all necessary travel documents.
Visa Visa costs will be reimbursed if duly justified
More information and draft program you can find in the detailed Call for Participants
HOW TO APPLY
Fill in the ONLINE APPLICATION FORM as soon as possible and the latest by May 31st 2024. In case of participants who require visas to travel to Bulgaria, you will receive a confirmation by June 5th 2024, so we can immediately initiate the visa application process required by the Bulgarian authorities.
All applicants will be informed about the final selection results by 18th June 2024.
This training is part of the CCIVS 2024 work plan “Decolonise. Now!” supported by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and builds on the work done in the past years by CCIVS and its members on biases and power relations within the IVS movement. www.ccivs.org/decolonise.
While CCIVS is coordinating the overall project, CVS-Bulgaria is the local host for this activity and will support this training. Thus the training is also a part of the Erasmus+ accreditation plan of CVS-Bulgaria for 2023 and co-funded by the European Union (From Well-being to Well-doing // 2023-1-BG01-KA151-YOU-000139334).
Posted by Rian Hulscher at 18:25Comments Off on Decolonise. Now!- Tool Fair and Training of Trainers is looking for participants!
The training is a part of the Erasmus+ accreditation plan of CVS-Bulgaria for 2023 and co-funded by the European Union From Well-being to Well-doing 2023-1-BG01-KA151-YOU-000139334
Финансирано от Европейския съюз. Изразените възгледи и мнения обаче принадлежат изцяло на техния(ите) автор(и) и не отразяват непременно възгледите и мненията на Европейския съюз или на Европейската изпълнителна агенция за образование и култура (EACEA). За тях не носи отговорност нито Европейският съюз, нито EACEA.
Posted by Rian Hulscher at 14:56Comments Off on TC “Pathways to Resilience in Youth Work” is looking for participants!
My name is Petya, a Bulgarian Youth Worker who joined the FLOW training in Innsbruck, Austria this April.
FLOW stands for FLOW – “Facilitating, Learning, Organising and Welcoming” and the project was designed to deliver critical training for trainers to foster highly sought-after skills and personal inspiration that every trainer should possess.
I was very happy to be part of FLOW! In one week, I learned new techniques and approaches related to group facilitation and training delivery. In addition, I had the chance to meet and exchange ideas and experience with Youth Workers and Trainers from other EU countries.
The intense daily program, packed with fun activities and practical workshops, usually ended with relaxed evenings where we all gathered to mingle, play games and come together as a group. The friendly atmosphere and the chill vibes made me feel happy and at ease.
Now that I am back in Bulgaria, I can say that my heart is full and I am more than excited for future opportunities to train and pass on what I have learned.
Many thanks for this amazing experience!
Petya
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FLOW is financially supported by SCI’s Operating Grant, Partnership on Peace 2024, funded by the CERV Programme of the European Union.
Posted by Rian Hulscher at 14:07Comments Off on FLOW – Facilitating, Learning, Organising, Welcoming- a participant impressions from a Training for Trainers
Being a volunteer youth worker at CVS-Bulgaria has been a great experience. So far, I’ve been able to meet with dozens of refugee children and play my part in making what can otherwise be an incredibly stressful period of their lives a little better.
An important yet oft ignored aspect of youth work is the mental well-being of not just those being worked with, but the youth workers and volunteers themselves. In the last week of February, I was able to participate in a training consisting of 30 unique participants, 10 different countries, and 17 nationalities around the world.
Centered in the peaceful Poznan, Poland, this little melting pot of the world came together to address this pressing issue in the youth worker community. I eventually arrived in Poznan and was greeted by an incredibly welcoming and vibrant group of individuals, all with unique backgrounds and perspectives to add on this matter.
Multiple workshops addressing mental well-being were led by our instructors for the training, Natalie and Goska. Their seasoned experience in youth work allowed them to share multiple pieces of helpful advice in maintaining our well-being in stressful periods.
Even while learning at the training, our mental health was thoughtfully considered by our trainers. Some of our activities – when the weather allowed it – was held outdoors, where we were able to connect with not only nature, but with each other as well.
While I take the many lessons and advice learned at the training back to Sofia, and eventually my home in the United States, I also take back countless memories. One of the pieces of advice offered by our trainers in order to deal with stress is to surround ourselves in a positive environment. I’m especially confident that such was achieved in Poznan, and I hope to keep in contact with the many great individuals I met during our training. I strongly urge anyone – regardless of their background or hesitations – to consider taking part in training courses of SCI, a truly wonderful experience.
“Stop. Reflect. Do Better” project (2023-1-PL01-KA153-YOU-000148664) is run by SCI Poland and co-funded by the European Union.
Posted by Kathy at 17:35Comments Off on SCI training courses – a truly wonderful experience!
TheTraining of Trainers for Peace, part of the Educators for Peace project, took place from 16 until 23 November 2023 in Koniz, near Bern in Switzerland. 30 participants from 12 countries in Europe and the Middle East attended and Lilly Dakova was one of them. We are happy to share her notes from the training.
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Find your bubble, they say. Fill it with warm human beings who make you feel safe and special and empower you to believe in your abilities to make a change.
Let me tell you more about mine, a.k.a. Nostalgic post-impressions about the Training Course “Training of Trainers for Peace” in K?niz, Switzerland.
Learning can be a plethora of things. A maze, a lamp, an umbrella; imagination, reflection, unlocking your potential; running together, running from someone, running towards yourself. It all depends on your perspective and your willingness to open your mind and feel, explore, ask, share, and create.
The ToT training course encompassed facilitation fears and techniques, steps in developing a workshop, dealing with challenging situations, evaluation and measurement of impact, and digital tools. It made us waltz – both in the vast hall of the house and in the corners of our minds – in order to think of personal examples and investigate what we could have done a bit better. Regret is rarely a perfect option, but improvement can always be.
You are the owner of your well-being and you are responsible for your education. Don’t be afraid to think of yourself as a change-maker. Paraphrase the astonishment provided by others, make space for different paces and mistakes, and balance the wheel of your emotions.
We live in a world that is full of beauty. Let’s help more people feel it.
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This project is financially supported by Movetia. Movetia promotes exchange, mobility and cooperation within the fields of education, training and youth work – in Switzerland, Europe and worldwide.
Posted by Natalie at 12:05Comments Off on Nostalgic post-impressions about the Training Course “Training of Trainers for Peace” in Koniz, Switzerland
We are happy to share the story of Bashak Sarah Yoney, who was a short-term ESC volunteer in Croatia this autumn (2023), part of the project “Green Fingers” of our partner organisation Udruga O.A.ZA. – Odr?iva Alternativa ZAjednici. The project is financed under the European Solidarity Corps program.
Ever since I’ve known myself, I’ve always felt deeply upset about all the bad and unjust in the world, and truly appreciated every single kind act.
With the guidance of these feelings I’ve had, I decided I wanted to do volunteering to give back to the society and to earth.
After I graduated college, I started looking for volunteering opportunities, both in my home country and abroad. In the process, I remembered about European Solidarity Corps, of which I learnt about thanks to a youth exchange I did previously. At that moment I realized this could be the perfect chance for me.
On European Youth Portal, while looking through volunteering opportunities, I came across Green Fingers, and I was instantly captivated! I’ve always been someone who not only appreciates, but also tries to nurture, protect, and connect with mother nature. So, I applied and heard back from Jasmina soon. After we got in contact we scheduled an interview, where Jasmina interviewed me and helped me with all my questions and concerns regarding the project. She also put me in contact with a sending organization since I didn’t have one (shoutout to Natalie as well, she was the best person I could ask for in a supporting organization!). With all the arrangements finished, I was ready for my journey!
After my bus ride, I arrived at Zagreb, where Jasmina picked me up and took me to our hostel, the accommodation. When I went there, all the other volunteers were outside since they arrived a day earlier than me and started exploring the city already! Realizing they’d already made friends with each other, I couldn’t help but feeling anxious: I was scared I couldn’t be friends with them, or that I’d miss my home, friends, and family. However, after I woke up from my nap, they were back at the hostel, and as soon as I met them, I realized I wouldn’t be too lonely. They were all very friendly and welcoming: they even made grocery shopping from the first day, and started cooking and eating meals together 🙂
Within less than a week, we started being friends as a group. Of course, not all of us got along with each other instantly, but over time, we discovered all the amazing sides of each other that made us unique, and we all became this crowded family! In the meantime, the activities and work started as well. We were so surprised and happy when we saw the office for the first time: it was in the middle of Zagreb, with a beautiful terrace, and over a hundred plants!
Soon we started working in school gardens. At first, we were focusing on the maintenance of the gardens, while also learning about the tools and plants. Additionally, since it was Day of European Languages shortly after we arrived, Mile thought it would be a nice idea to prepare a workshop for the students at the schools about our languages and cultures. Just like that, we begin preparing and executing workshops for the kids as well. In this first workshop we planned, we played games with the kids which were revolving around the kids guessing things about our cultures, and then proceeded with teaching them basic phrases and words in our languages. It was very encouraging and sweet to see them engage in the workshops and be interested about our cultures and languages.
Throughout our project we went to four different primary schools, in which we did our gardening activities and workshops. In one of the schools, we planted new flowers and little trees, while in another we were building composter boxes or raised beds out of wood. In one we were working with the children, while in others we were alone, focusing on the job we were doing. I must say, those times even felt like meditation: I would give all my attention, focus and care to the plant I was working with, and would have the chance to let go of my thoughts.
I learnt a lot during the time I spent in Zagreb. I learnt about gardening, about the types of plants, about how to care for them, how nature works and what it needs. While building in the gardens, I learnt how to use a drill and a hammer. I learnt how to have a good time with a group of kids, and what’s the best way to communicate with them in a healthy way. I learnt about Croatian language and culture, about their food and habits, and about Zagreb.
Furthermore, I learnt how to better work in a team. How to organize, take responsibility, participate in civil life, be more open minded, take initiative, be patient, and much, much more…
But there was one thing I learnt, which I could not have learnt anywhere else: I learnt how a random group of young people, from different ages and countries, could become family ?
Hvala to my family away from home and to green fingers for teaching me so much, and helping me on my journey to discover who I truly am 🙂
Can’t wait to see you again someday…
Bashak Sarah Yoney
Posted by Natalie at 15:48Comments Off on A story of Green Fingers project
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