Voluntariado en centro cultural y guardería de Polonia

Dates

October 2016 – July 2017

Project

“GET ORGANIZED!”

Deadline

5 April 2016

Place

Krakow

Our project will take place in one of the most beautiful cities in Poland. Cracow – the city of King’s as they call it – is a place where you can never get bored. There are always thousands of students from other Polish cities and from various countries from all across the world. The traditional side of the city meets the innovation and progress on daily basis. You can take a royal Wawel’s tour and the other day you can visit the modern ICE Congress Centre. The magical atmosphere of the city creates a great space to creative thinking and actions, especially in art fields. Cracow’s tradition and history is also very

Subject:

work organizing, professional skills, events coordination, working with children, art, cultural differences Cracow, Poland. About the organizations: Cultural Center  is the place where the tradition and history meet with modernity. Among our cultural events addressed to both children and grown-ups, there are lots of concerts, theater arts, exhibitions and meetings with people like travelers, writers or hobbyists.  Is a very creative space for innovatory projects and international cooperation. Cultural Club , where we would like to host the volunteers is a branch  and in its everyday activities is guided by Pablo Picasso’s quote: «All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist when the child grows up». The classes and events in Cultural Club  are focused on quality and having fun right next to pride and respect for the work of each artist. We offer a lot of various regular classes for all age groups. One of our targets is to activize the seniors and to support development of children and teenagers. The Club’s staff is also animating the local community and prove that valuable cultural events are not only available in the city center.

Cultural Club  has quite extensive experience in international projects. Since 2012 we were involved in many international actions such as workshops, interships, exchanges etc. Here are some examples: – Interships for french animators realized in the frame of Youth In Action Programme and Erasmus + – International exchanges in the frame of Youth In Action Programme and Erasmus + We believe that hosting volunteers in our Cultural Club is a major opportunity for both staff members and local community. Working with foreign volunteers may be extremely developing and educating as well as hugely interesting and inspiring. By cooperation with foreign volunteers we can learn how to look at the things we do, from other, totally new perspective. Hosting volunteers may be also a great opportunity for our regular attenders and the local community to draw knowledge of a foreign culture and art. It is also a chance to expand our audience and attract more people to visit our institution. Villa Decius is another – brand new branch of Cultural Center .

It is a renaissance palace which is a place that offer a wide range of cultural activities. What is more – as the iconic, recognizable and prestigious building it is a really special place to creating culture. This beautiful villa is becoming a part of Cultural Center this year, so it will be a space for innovation, new perspectives and totally new ideas and projects. Villa Decius is going to be something that we call “Art Residences” – it is a concept which basis are to promote the mobility and exchange of artists all around the Europe. The building, concept, atmosphere and unique environment (Decius Park) are the factors that will give the volunteers great opportunities to develop their creativity and learn how to work in antique buildings among artists and culture managers. Villa  is also Cracow’s beautiful Conference Center. It offers its unique space for business conferences and trainings, office parties and also weddings. That creates another opportunity for the volunteers who can learn how to work in the business environment and context.

Kindergarden skrzaty” is the preschool education institution which supports the developement and education of children on the pre-primary educational level. It’s functions are care and education. It is the place which gives children the space for having fun together and to learn in safe, friendly and adapted for their developement needs environment. There are couple of educational methods that we offer in our institution: The Good Start Method, chosen techniques of C. Freinete, activization of mathematical thinking, methods of physical developement, relaxation excersises, Schulz’s autogen training, the elements of Dennison’s educational kinesiology. We believe that it is important to involve parents in educational process of the children so we are giving them opportunities to take part in the activities organized by our institution. We also cooperate with the local community so we try to promote our activities outside. We are also participants, co-organizers or organizers of the local events with our partner institutions. The talent of our children is being shown outside in various art competitions.

The volunteers will be working under the supervision of the certificated teachers during the classes with the children on the pre-school level. It will be an oportunity to learn how to work with children, how to take care of them and how to infulence their developelement procces and also how to teach them. Working with qualificated teachers is the chance to learn various methods needed for working in places as kindergardens, schools and all educational institutions. Working in our institution will be also a chance to develop volunteers creativity by proposing their own activities for children and by cooperating with other young people in similar institusions in Kraków. Primary school Szeregów” – The Daily -Care Centre is working in the cosy co-ed Primary School, which is located on the southern hillside in Bielany suburb at the outskirt of Kraków. Bielany is a small suburb of Krakow and our Day-care Centre is the only place that can offer an opportunity meaningful and creative for many children, who otherwise might get involved in potentially harmful activities. Our organization has hosted European volunteers according to projects offered earlier by volunteering organizations and our staff participated in professional training. Furthermore, we organize internships for students after their graduations. A European volunteer is invited to cooperate within our Daycare Center. We want to introduce children into society by teaching them how to cooperate and how to be creative. Tutor give and require respect, promote self-discipline, create and support friendly atmosphere. The project assumes that means of regular Day- care Centre activities that are clearly focused on various aspects of volunteer’s country culture are able to bring elements of European heritage into our community life.

Proposed activities related to the project:

Organizations mentioned above that are going to host the volunteers lead diverse activities. Generally speaking – there are cultural and educational institutions. First kind will be focusing on culture, art and developing artistic skills. Very important aspect of working in such institutions will be also learning the skills in a field of culture managing and events coordinating. The project is about work organizing and organizing your own activities! The volunteers will have to learn how to work on the events from the conception point to accomplishing the targets. The second kind of institutions are these with education basis. The volunteers can work in primary school or kindergarden. Both of them are places where the volunteers will learn how to work with children and will gain the skills that may help them in their future work as teachers or animators. Every institution has its unique atmosphere and environment and also specific working models which are briefly described before. Working in new environments mentioned above may be very inspiring. That’s why we believe that meeting new people and working with them is a great opportunity to explore new creative spaces. The volunteers are going to get and develop the skills of working in diverse range of environment and situations. We would like the volunteers to become an EVS promoters by collecting and sharing on the web information about their experience from participating in the project abroad. The final «product» of this action could be a guide for other volunteers in the future with tips on how to get the most from living and working in other country during the project. What is also very important – hosting the volunteer may be also an opportunity to fight unemployment among young people.

Practical information:

Accommodation – for our volunteers, we will hire a two-room flat. Every room will be dedicated for two volunteers. We will try to find a suitable location of the apartment and by suitable we mean a location from which the volunteer would quickly and easily get to the places where they would work and to the city center. Kitchen and bathroom will be shared. The apartment will be equipped with basic furniture and the kitchen equipment. You don’t need to bring your own things, like cutlery, plates etc. However you should take the bed-cloths. You might be asked to pay the caution (about 120 €) to the owner of the flat to cover eventual damages. The caution will be given back at the end of the renting period.

Local transport – the volunteers will buy Cracow City Card which is a ticket for all buses and trams. The ticket is needed to be renew monthly (or you can buy it for the whole project duration) Language support – as the coordinating organization we will ensure that the volunteer would get a formal or non-formal language course, paid with the money provided for this certain purpose.

The travel costs – from home country to the venue of the project (2nd class/APEX return train ticket) will be reimbursed to the volunteers or to the sending organization from the coordination organization in the maximum amount agreed in the grant application to the value of the ticket. The pocket money – will be given to the volunteers by the coordinating organization once per month in the amount of 85 Euros (per person) (its´ equivalent in the Polish zloty according to the exchange rate given by the Polish National Agency) to your bank account. The money for food – any volunteer will be receiving 400 PLN every month. The coordinating organization will cover activity costs (task-related, linguistic and personal support, mentor, accommodation, food, local transport, administration/communication) The costs of preparation: arranging insurance, staying in contact with the volunteer, evaluation, follow-up, administration / communication will be covered by the sending organization.

How to apply