EVS- Roma community by Joao Pedro

BROCHURE

Active Participation for Rural Development Bilgi Yildiz, Darinka Khubashvili, Jo達o Pedro Sousa, Saba Pashurishvili

Sunday, November 24th 2013

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Summary What is EVS? Partners About Project Volunteers Activities Non Formal Education Methods Games Workshops Special Events Trainings Conferences Intercultural Nights Theatre Case Study -Roma Community Links

What Is EVS?

EUROPEAN VOLUNTARY SERVICE

he European Voluntary service is one of the actions of the project Youth in Action from the European Union. The Youth in Action was created to promote the European citizenship, the culture diversity, the active participation of young people and the inclusion of youngsters with fewer possibilities inside the European community. It was created in 2007 aiming to last until 2013. With different actions, and different ideas that would "affect" people from 13 to 30 years old. In all the 5 actions of the project the EU wanted to use non formal learning, multilingualism and anti-discrimination methods to achieve its goals. The EVS is the “Action 2” of the program. It’s idealized for young people between 16 and 30 years old to carry out voluntary service for up to 12 months in a country other than their country of residence.

Voluntary work moves the hearts (and brains) of youngsters and the EU knows that. So with this action the EU joined the voluntary work to all those main goals of the YiA program. Here they could find a project that motivates them into An EVS project can focus on a variety helping others and that at the same time of themes and areas, such as culture, makes them grow into becoming one youth, sports, social care, cultural her- day more consciouse and capable adults. itage, arts, civil protection, environment, development cooperation, etc.

Partners

Hosting Organization Asociatia Tinerilor Formatori pentru Promovarea Dezvoltarii Rurale Romania

he purpose of this association is to promote youth policies, financial support for specific youth activities, cultural activities, social activities and training activities. The activities consist mainly in: Vocational training for the youth, disadvantaged youth, ethnic minorities, unemployed. International youth exchanges. Establishment and implementation of social programs. Establishment and imCONTACT:

plementation of cultural and civic programs. Rural develo ment and rural youth access to forms of nonformal learning. Training sessions in accredited institutions. Promoting transnational mobility. Orgnization of summer camps. Organization of seminars, conferences and exhibitions. Developing web pages for promoting civic and cultural youth activities. Establishment and implementation of projects from EU funds.

•Str.Valea de Case Riu 9 Baile Olanesti, Valcea Romania •atfpdr@gmail.com •www.atfpdr.ro

Sending Organizations ProAtlântico - Associação Juvenil PORTUGAL

uvenil is a non-profit youth organization, founded in 2001 in Portugal and carries out projects with children, youngsters, elderly and disabled people. In 2003 we started to work in Youth Program and we took part in more than 60 youth exchanges, we also took part in several training courses and seminars all around Europe. Since 2006 we are sending, hosting and coordinating organization in EVS and hosted/sent more than 250 volunteers. Today ProAtlântico has more than 9000 members from all around the country and give special attention to needed people and to those with few-

er opportunities, aiming to them the chance to establish contact with other cultures, in order to help them to find ways to deal with their own problems and to break the existing prejudices.

Sending Organizations SIQA - Georgian Association of Educational Initiatives

eorgian Association of Educational Initiatives is a non-profit legal entity, which is productively functioning in Georgia, as well as abroad, since 1999. SIQA oriented on development of critical and creative thinking trough informal learning among society's members ( age is unlimited), who's motivated to positive changes, but also contribute to introducing innovative and already approved method of studying, that a person established as an active citizen, who's oriented on self-development. Main activities: -

Trainings for teachers.

Camps and other activities for youngsters.

- Seminars and trainings arrangement for people with different kind of profession and social status to develop their competency of lifelong learning. - Youth Clubs ( debates, ecological and legal, educational and cooperaive projects and so on) -

Events for various layers of citizens that increase civic engagement.

Initiation of international project for Georgian residents and foreigners.

Adaptation od international projects to Georgian reality (environment)

Involvement of Georgian volunteers in international projects.

Sending Organizations Yap Zonguldak Association TURKEY

ap Zonguldak Association is a registered EVS and European Union project Office and Table Tennis Complex with 3 full time youth worker staff and many part time Turkish members and volunteers. It's biggest NGO in our region. This association is based in Rainy Town (Zonguldak) and specialise in increasing cultural awareness and understanding. Since 2009, They have been breaking down barriers to mutual understanding by bringing together people from different cultures.

articipation in EVS and the other Youth in Action projects are the best way to learn from each others experiences, to share knowledge and skills, to gain experience from other people with different social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds as well as opportunity to be part of multiethnic and multicultural team. Youth come back a more relaxed person with a different view of the world all of a sud-

den, things that used to make them really stressed don't affect them as much because they realize how many other things are going on in the world.

About Project

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT “Active participation for rural development” is an EVS project, whose main theme is to promote durable rural development, with the help of young people’s voluntary participation in the rural Roma communities. Project’s objectives : To promote active citizenship among 4 volunteers who was directly involved in volunteering activities meant to promote rural development. - To promote multicultural and multilingual skills by involving 4 volunteers coming from different backgrounds and cultures in the project activities. To develop entrepreneurship skills among the volunteers and young Rroma people from rural communities. 12

- To exchange good practices for rural development by means of European collaboration.

The voluntary service extended on a 7-month period. It began on the 1st of June 2013 and will end on the 31st of December 2013. The partner countries involved in the project are: Romania, Georgia, Turkey and Portugal. The four volunteers participating in the EVS project performed the following activities. Social programmes for rural development. -

Holiday workshops for the Rroma children in rural areas.

Organising seminars and debates on European construction and fighting poverty and marginalisation. -

Outdoor and sport activities for the young people in rural communities.

These activities were implemented by using a series of non-formal education methods such as public café, photo-voice, living library, street animation, debates, workshops, role play, forum theater, flash-mob.

Volunteers

JOÃO PEDRO SOUSA Name: João Pedro Carvalho de Sousa From: Viana do Castelo, Portugal Project Duration: 01.06.201304.01.2014 Sending Organization: Pro-Atlântico Project Place: Ramnicu Valcea Date of Birth: 14-01-1989 About Me:

y name is João Pedro Sousa, I live in Portugal, that little country by the sea on the other side of Europe. I am 24 years old and I am a recent graduate in Pharmacy.

It's great to be here, in Romania. I like interact with new cultures, once that encourage me to look at life from a different perspective. Challenging myself and experiencing new things gives me insight into who I am and what I want to do in life. I accepted this project because I want to create a positive impact in the community. It is amazing working among volunteers of different countries. As a person I consider myself patient and creative. I’m new people and I am very In my spare time, taries, running, with my friends or news to keep love sports eswhich I pracwas a kid and I still do now!!

a happy, friendly, caring, fas- cinated in getting to know open to new experiences. I enjoy watching documenswimming, taking coffee and reading online articles me informed. I also pecially football, tice since I

BILGI YILDIZ Name: Bilgi Yildiz From: Hatay / Turkey Project Duration: 01.06.2013-04.01.2014 Project Place: Ramnicu Valcea Sending Organization: Yap Zonguldak Association Date of Birth: 09-10-1989

hat are my interests: I enjoy learning new things, cultures and keeping myself busy, picking up new hobbies along the way. I especially love anything to do with the Arts both visual and creative things. Another thing that I have a passion for traveling and exploring. I am always ready for an adventure. What made me take part in this project: I decided to be a volunteer in this project because I wanted to get to know another country, culture and language. Furthermore I really wanted to help people especially children because I have worked in Kindergarten. I wanted

to broaden my horizon and to get into an intercultural exchange with people from different countries. Also the aspect to become more independent while living far away from my country, convinced me to become a volunteer. What am I most curious about in this project: I love the fact that I will forced to exercise my brain every day to come up with better solutions, new ideas and creative works for project. I am sure that this project will be useful to find out about other cultures and individuals as well. It will give me new skills and greater confidence.

DARINKA KHUBASHVILI Name: Darinka Khubashvili From: Rustavi, Georgia Project Duration: 01.07.2013-01.02.2014 Project Place: Ramnicu Valcea Sending Organization: S.I.Q.A - Georgian association of educational initiatives Date of Birth: 23-03-1991 About Me:

ey! My name is Darinka! I'm from small country (not state of America) Georgia. I am so happy that I decide go to Romania. It's so nice country with so nice people. My project is about working with kids in kinder gardens and schools for 7 month. And about me: I am crazy georgian girl who like to laugh, dance, sing, take photos and enjoy life!

SABA PASHURISHVILI Name: Saba Pashurishvili From: Rustavi, Georgia Project Duration: 01.07.2013-01.02.2014 Project Place: Ramnicu Valcea Sending Organization: S.I.Q.A - Georgian association of educational initiatives Date of Birth: 08-08-1992

About Me:

ello There, Im Saba from Georgia. I came in romania because I heard a lot of stories about this country, I like it and I really want to feel what does it mean to be a volunteer in foreign country, I have been a local volunteer in my sending organization, I was working also as mentor, so I know a lot of things about EVS and in December when I saw this project,

I realized that it was the chance that I could not miss. Now it was a time to be a Volunteer. I applied and Im here. and now a few things about me: I like skateboarding and riding a bicycle. Also the math and physics, Im still student, I study business administration and marketing. I have 2 brothers and fishes. aaand if you have more questions add me on facebok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Activities

ACTIVITIES

activities implemented: - specific activities of spending the free time, outdoor activities, sport games and games of ecological education for the young people from rural and Roma communities (painting workshops, music workshops, video workshops, foreign languages workshops, IT workshops, communication and participation workshops); - activities of preserving and promoting the traditions from the Rural and Roma communities; - organizing a festival of the Rural and Roma communities; - workshops in the schools from the rural communities regarding the development of creative competences among the pupils; - organizing a Rural camp for youth, camp that will use innovative concepts developed during the implementation of the EVS stage. The main activities of the EVS stage accompanied by secondary activities like: - permanent update of the project webpage with information about the EVS stage, photos from activities, videos from the activities; - posting information about the EVS stage on the project blog; - making promotional posters, flyers, newsletters, press release; - taking interviews with young people from the rroma and rural communities; - publishing press articles in the local press about the EVS stage; - making TV shows about the EVS stage.

Non Formal Education Methods

NON FORMAL EDUCATION

onformal education is an organised educational process which takes place alongside the mainstream systems of education and training and does not typically lead to certification. Individuals participate on a volun-

tary basis and as a result, the individual takes an active role in the learning process. Unlike informal learning where learning happens less consciously, the individual is usually aware of the fact that he/she is learning through nonformal education.

Games

SPIDER WEB • Category: Name game • Time: 15 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Skein of yarn

• Description:

his ice breaker focuses on how people in the group inter-relate and depend on each other.

1- The group forms a circle.

2- One person has a skein of yarn. Keeping one end, tosses the skein to another participants, and the person to introduce him- or her-self. 3- Once this person has made their introduction, ask him or her to pass the ball of yarn on to another person in the group. 4- This continues until everyone in the group has caught the skein. The web formed between all of the members illustrates the individuality of the group and the tie that bind them into a group. 5- To emphasis the interdependencies amongst the team, the students have to find a way to get inside of the web.

BALL CHALLENGE • Category: Name game • Time: 15 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Small ball

• Description:

his exercise encourages people to include other people.

1- One of volunteers arranges the group in a circle and asks each participant to throw the ball across the circle, first announcing his or her own name, and then announcing the name of the person to whom they are throwing the ball. 2- When every person in the group has thrown the ball at least once, it's time to set the challenge – to pass the ball around all group members as quickly as possible. Time the process, then ask the group to beat that timing. 3- As the challenge progresses, the team will improve their process, for example by standing closer together. And so the group will learn to work as a team.

BLANKET NAME GAME • Category: Name game • Time: 30 mins • People: +15 • Resources: Blanket

• Description: 1- Split the class into two groups. 2- Tell them to sit on the floor facing each other. 3- Hold up a blanket between the groups so that each team can`t see the other. 4- A member of each team is quietly selected to move up to the blanket. 5- On the count of three, drop the blanket so that each of the selected members are facing each other. 6- Whoever says the other person’s name first wins. 7- Whoever loses, goes to the other team.

JUMPING IN JUMP OUT • Category: Energizer • Time: 15 mins • People: +10 • Description: 1- Ask your group to form a circle, holding hands, facing in to centre. 2- Announce that you want the group to – “Say what I say, and do what I do”. 3- Explain that you want to practice this skills with one of four commands“JUMP IN”, “JUMP OUT”, “JUMP LEFT” or “JUMP RIGHT”. 4- Call out a series of “Jump” commands, one after another for 20 second.

5- Re-form the circle, and announce that you now want the group to “Say the opposite of what I say, and do what I say”. 7- Continue with a series of “jump” commands, one after another for 20 seconds, or until the circle breaks up too much.

FOLLOW THE LEADER

• Category: Energizer • Time: 15 mins • People: +10

• Description: 1- Ask to everyone to sand and arrange the group into a circle, facing inwards. 2- Ask one person to leave the room for a minute. This person will be the guesser for the round. 3- While he or she is gone, the group decides who should be the “leader”. The leader will be the one who sets the movements for the round. 4- When this person is chosen, invite the guesser to come back. The guesser stand in the center of the circle. 5- When the round begins, the leader will do some movements, and everyone else mimics the leader`s actions, without being too obvious to reveal who the leader is.

THE WAVE • Category: Energizer • Time: 15 mins • People: +10 • Description: 1- Students have to get into a circle and hold hands. 2- The leader announces they will start the impulse by slowly whipping the arm of someone to either their right or left. 3- The motion should flow continuously through the group until it returns to the leader. 28

4- First just focus on completing the task. 5- After they get the hang of it run an impulse in opposite directions at the same time and see if they can pass through each other.

MUSICAL CHAIRS • Category: Energizer • Time: 30 mins • People: +10 • Description: 1- Students are gathered in a circle around the chairs 2- Play the music and have the students walk around the perimeter of the chair circle. 3- When the music stops, the students have to immediately sit in a chair. 4- The one person left standing it out. 5- Remove another chair and continue until only one student is left.

SAMURAI • Category: Energizer • Time: 25 min • People: +15 • Description:

eeds to be very fast paced and the more animated the more fun it becomes. Gets very hard for the few at the end of the game.

1- Everyone stands in a circle. One person starts by raising their arms above their head with their hands clasped, and with much enthusiasm points at another person in the circle while yelling “Wih”.

2- The person who the Wih is directed at immediately raises their arms like they are a tree and yells “Wah!” The two people immediately to their left and right will then FAKE chop sideways, like they are chopping down a tree, and yell “Wuh!” At this point the person being chopped now sends the Wih to someone else in the circle, and thus starts the process all over again. 3- Also, the game can be played elimination style so that whoever breaks the rhythm is out of the game. 4- The game is played until you have two people left or everyone has laughed themselves silly.

FACE PICTURES • Category: Energizer • Time: 30 mins • People: +20 • Resources: Papers Markers

• Description: 1- Each participant writes his or her name on a piece of paper. 2- They have to smash the paper and throw up to each other. 3- Every participant picks a paper in the ground. Reading the name that is written in the paper, they have to find the correspondent person. 4- Will be asked to them to draw a part of his/ her face. Then, they have to do the same procedure – smash the paper and throw up to each other but, now they need to draw a different part of his / her face (noise, ears, mouth, hair, eyes). 5- The activity just finish when you have a full picture of each participant.

TELEPHONE • Category: Communication game • Time: 20 mins • People: +10 • Description:

ractice passing whispered messages. 1- Divide class into teams. 2- Choose 1 person from each team to meet together and create a rumor/message. 3- Once signaled to start the first person on each team will whisper the rumor/ message to next person on their team. 4- She or he will whisper the message/rumor to the next person and so on.

5- The message/rumor cannot be repeated. This is a relay type game, pass on what you’ve heard. 6- The last person to receive the rumor/message must run to the chalkboard and write the message. 7- The team that is closest to the correct message/rumor gets a point. 8- Choose new players to create the message and play again.

SCANNER

• Category: Communication game • Time: +20 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Chalkboard

• Description:

ractice passing messages. 1- Divide class into teams.

2- Choose 1 person from each team to meet with the facilitator who will show to the person a paper with a symbol or an image. 3- Once signaled to start the first person on each team will “draw” with one finger in the back of the next person on their team. He or she has to “draw” what they saw in the paper. The next person, trough the feeling, has to guest the right image. 4- Then, she or he will “draw” to the next person and so on. 5- The last person to receive the message must run to the chalkboard and write the message. 6- The team that is closest to the correct image / symbol gets a point. 7- Choose new players to create the message and play again.

HANGMAN • Category: Guessing game • Time: 30 mins • People: +20 • Resources: Blackboard Chalk • Description: 1- You are shown a set of blank letters and have to guess what the word is. You guess by picking letters and seeing if they are in the word. 2- If you pick a letter that is not in the word a man is slowly drawn. With each wrong letter guess the man is drawn more and more. 3- When the man is finished he is hung and the game is lost. 34

OUTSIDE GAMES

DANCING LESSONS

Workshops

COLOR CHANGING MILK •Category: Workshop of chemistry reactions • Time: 30 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Milk (whole or 2%) Dinner plate Food coloring (red, yellow, green, blue) Dish-washing soap (Dawn brand works well) Cotton swabs • Description: 1- Pour enough milk in the dinner plate to completely cover the bottom. 2- Add one or two drops of each of the four colors to the milk. Keep the drops close together in the center of the plate of milk. 38

3- Place a drop of liquid dish soap on cotton swab. Place the soapy end of the cotton swab back in the middle of the milk and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds. 4- Add another drop of soap to the tip of the cotton swab and try it again. Experiment with placing the cotton swab at different places in the milk.

HAND PRINT ART • Category: Workshop • Time: 30 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Colour paint A3 paper size Marker Pencil

• Description: 1- Brush pupil’s hand with the paint to create the print. Spread paint evenly over the child's hand for full coverage 2- Guide pupil’s hand to the paper. Gently press down on his or her hand to make sure you leave an actual handprint. Tell the pupil to hold his or her hand still and then gently lift the hand 3- Allow the paint to dry. After, ask to them to write their name with a marker or a pencil under their hand paint.

DRAW FRIEND • Category: Workshop of draw friend • Time: 50 mins • People: +15 • Resources: Papers with already draw faces Sheets Makers Colour pencils • Description:

he purpose of the game for the kids to realize how they identify themselves and the others on the group

1- Each kid should draw a face of a friend. They had an image already draw and they should get inspiration from that. 2- They had to use the colors that facilitator provide for them. 3- They should to identify a friend that is always happy, another that is sometimes sad and another one who is most of the time angry. Then, the kids have to draw the expression of this friends in a sheet. 4- They need to go in front of the class in order to tell who is who.

PAINTING FACES • Category: Workshop of face painting • Time: 50 mins • People: +15 • Resources: Water color pencils, markers, Brushes Makeup sponges Glitter

• Description: 1- Ask the children being painted what picture they want. 2- Prepare the child’s face: Clean the skin of any existing makeup or product, tie hair back and secure flyaway that might interfere with application. 3- Wait for your paint to dry after every coat. 4- When you're done, give the face time to dry.

HALLOWEEN DRAWINGS •Category: Workshop of Halloween drawings • Time: 50 mins • People: +15 • Resources: Papers Sheets Markers Colour pencils Blackbourd

•Description

he purpose of this workshop for the kids is to developed their creative

1- The facilitators draw on the blackboard specific simbols of hallowen- panpkins, ghosts, vampires, etc… 2- The kids should use this as an inspiration for their drawings about hallowen. 3- They have to colored in a creative way.

HANDMADE FLOWER •Category: Workshop of Handmade Flower • Time: 60 mins • People: +10 • Resources: Flower wire Tacky glue Scissors Crepe paper Tissue paper •Description: 1- Crinkle a bit of tissue paper in a ball. 2- Wrap a square of tissue paper around the ball so it looks like a ghost. 3- Attach it to floral wire by making a hook with the wire and wrapping it around the ‘neck’ of the ‘ghost’ and wrap the extra wire around the ‘base’ of your future flower. 4- Use floral tape to cover the wire at the base. 5- Cut petals from crepe paper and attach them to the base of the flower, layering the petals in a circle. 6- Use floral tape to wrap the base.

Special Events

CHILDREN`S DAY

he sun filtered through the clouds, signaling the end the rain. My first day in Romania, 1 June, children`s day!! Arriving in that day, make me a pleasant smile!! Why?? It seems that I am deeply connected with this day, maybe I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t lose the spirit and enthusiasm of a child!! My friends are used to call me child, also Peter Pan!! Well, I cannot fly as Peter Pan, just in my dreams, but in that day I felt like being in Neverland!! I can exclaim: WONDERFUL! UNBELIEVABLE! LOVELY DAY!!

irst, I met with others volunteers!! They had their faces painted with different draws, distinct shapes, diverse pardons of colors!! Nicolas, a friend who has extreme passion for travelling, looked so similar to captain Jacks Sparrow!! SURREAL!! Rodrigo, a friend very talented and humorous, was dress as a clown!! In my opinion, this character fitted him so well!! The optimistic Arturo was using brilliant sport cloths! The big Onur had the symbol of google printed in his face!!! The Argentine girls were so sexy and the Kankas handsome as well!! Ana, Maria and Veronica seemed living dolls!!

ll of them were incredibly nice to me!! Incredibly naturally lovely!! The best welcome party ever!! Also, the kids were amazing to me!! I was completely surround by them, surround by a positive field full of positive and thrilling energy!!! Games, dances, juggling, makeover, balloons, everything that you can imagine!! I learnt how to make balloons in different shapes: dogs, swords, helmets, flowersâ&#x20AC;Ś!!! In the park we start dance and flying through the sound!! Mothers, fathers, children and volunteers, all of us were dancing!!! Also, we did treasure hunt game around the park!! The first kids that discovered the treasures had the right to win an ice cream! The aim of this activity was to raise aware-

ness of children`s rights, problems, wishes and needs and also provide to them a colorful and brilliant day, making their time special!! Wonderful day among wonderful friends!! Thanks a million!!

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

n 26 of Setember, we went to the city center to promote the European day of Languages. It was a warm golden and magic day that was great for us. The city was immersing of people, children holding vanilla and strawberry ice creams! Happiness condensed.…grandfathers feeding doves with seeds and little pieces of bread.… Boys and girls smiling to each other.… a lovely day!!!We had the ideal conditions to share with the community about the European day of Languages.

Randomly, we start to talk with people that we met, informing them about the language day. Some questions were given to them with the purpose to see how many languages the citizens are able to speak!! It astonished to me that so many people, doesn’t matter if they are young or not, the majority could speak more than 1 language… English, some of them Spanish due to telenovelas, others ones could communicate in French and Russian. Unfortunately, I didn’t meet anyone that was capable to speak in my language, Georgian. We carried with us some posters that we made in the day before. It was asked to public to fill the blanks of the poster with their favorite word in another language than Romanian. The aim of this event was to encourage the people to learn new languages, alerting them to the importance of diversifying the range of languages learnt in order to increase intercultural understanding and plurilingualism.

THE HALLOWEEN PARTY

he volunteers organized a Halloween party in the office of the Host Organization. We made decorations with pumpkins, strings, and other scary stuffs. This was not an ordinary party: we organized a lot of games to entertain the guests. One of this game was the mummy game: the participants were grouped in pairs and in one minute, one member of the pair had to roll a toilet paper on the other member in order to have a mummy at the end. The fastest team won the game and they were rewarded with candies. Another game was about dancing in pairs. But this was not just a Sunday dance. The pairs should dance on a piece of paper, and the organizers of the game were cutting pieces of the papers until the paper get short. It was forbidden to put out any leg from the paper. The pair who manages to stays longer and dance on the paper won the contest. The organizers put on one bag some potatoes and the participant sitting on the bag they had to guess how many “eggs” there are inside. The participants inflate some balloons and using these balloons they had to “shoot” some plastic glasses. The one who threw up the most glasses win the contest.

EXHIBITION IN VALCEA VILLAGE MUSEUM

n 18 December we were invited to the exhibition, in Valcea Village Museum, of Valeriu Ciurea, one of the famous photographer in Romania. We saw a lot of interesting photos with very interesting stories. Most of them were about the traditions of Romanian people, Villages and traditional dresses and etc. On May there is a special program for children from schools and whole month they come and learn different things in the Museum.

lso, we got a detailed information about Museum and let me share with you. The Museum was opened 43 years ago. It is located in the entrance of Ramnicu Valcea on the way from Sibiu. Before museum, it was an empty field and then they brought almost 60 constructions from the county of Valcea and opened the village museum. The newest is the church which was brought 2 years ago from the village Pietrari Anghelesti , but in the same time it is the oldest building there. It was built on the year 1650. At the moment there are 3 churches, a school, an inn, a lot of houses with storage places.

he 110 years old school was the most interesting places for me in the museum because everything in it has an unique meaning and story. For example there was blackboard 100 years old which name is

Walking Blackboard, it is some kind of automatic moving from top to down wood pieces. We could see the pictures and above it there is the sculpture of king Carol, first king. You can also see the bags for pupil which is made by

goat hair. Moreover, we saw the clothes for teachers. The most interesting was that at the begining of lesson they always light a candle and pray.

Trainings

TRAINING ABOUT EVS

his activity wanted to familiarize more the EVS volunteers with the EVS concept and to make them understand the role of the communication in achieving the tasks.

The training: - energizers: each then all volunteers

volunteer had to choose a walked in the room using

greeting and that greeting

- definition of EVS: each volunteer had to write a word coming in his mind when talking about EVS. After, in groups, the volunteers had to make the definition of EVS using all the words written by them. - ideal mentor: divided in 2 groups, the volunteers had to make the portrait of the ideal mentor (showing what they expect from a mentor) and presented in front of the other team and facilitators. - ideal volunteer: this session was aimed to ask the volunteers to reflect about what they would like to improve (the skills and competences missing ) - communication: for this session we made a game called â&#x20AC;&#x153;How old is Maria?â&#x20AC;?. The participants were sitting in a circle. They had to solve a problem but they could not talk between them. The communication was done only through notes given to the facilitators whose role was of postman. All the activities were designed in order that the volunteers reflect to their needs and expectations and about the main role of communication in team work.

MID-TRAINING COURSE

ell, about my mid- training course….my journey to Predeal started in Cluj with my favorite trainer – Sonia, a person who has always a hand to help someone, no matter what the circumstances, she will be there!!! Completely addicted by Education System, Sonia shared her time speaking about this thematic, I could feel the enthusiasm when she spoke!! Despite of slow train it was an interesting and productive travel, I learnt so many things- “”Thanks a million”!!

hen we arrived to Predeal, fresh air filled my lungs. It was a cold and windy night. Predeal is a small city, with few habitants, with a wonderful landscape located in the mountains near of Brasov. Before entering in hotel, I went to the close shop to buy some beer to warm my friends!! :D I always take care of them, I don’t want that something is missing!! XD

irst day it was amazing…I meet with so many volunteers, ones from on-arrivel training others ones from mid-training. Different people, interesting people, exotic people, inspiring people…. my Heart skipped a beat… some of them from Africa others from South America … mix of cultures… a mix of ways of thinking… AMAZING!!

The volunteers of mid-training were split in two groups. About the people from my group…. mmhhh… So crazy and wonderful group!! I don’t remember for sure how many we were, but approximately like 15 or 20. Andreea and Marian were our mentor, very active and creative!!

53 Iceberg of Conflict

Full of imagination, energy and creativity we had 3 marvelous days, replete of activities, games and fun. We reflected about our EVS… what we have done until now, what we have learnt with the project, how to resolve problems in the group, feelings and levels of motivations that we had, highlights and bad moments, what our intentions after EVS…

hrough non-formal education, using methods such as energizers, icebreakers, know each other, self-knowledge games we debated about these issues!!! Without doubts my favorite methods: Iceberg of Conflict

Each level of the iceberg represents something that does not apppear on the surface, yet adds weight and immobility to our arguments when we are in conflict.

EVS Motivation Graphic 54

In an A3 paper size, everyone drew, with distinct marker, their own graphic of motivation, of their feelings during EVS program. Absolutely, Colorful graphic with ups and downs, ups and downsâ&#x20AC;Ś I still remember that just one person, in that room, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have one unique down, it was Erik, fantastic and boy who has always a smile in the face!!

What makes you Unique What makes you Unique Each volunteer was given a piece of paper and pencil and was asked to write what makes them unique. The papers were put inside of a box and in the course of activities were asked to us to remove one paper and guest who is the owner of it. Criminology, basketball, nuclear engineer, sharing peace, drawing, toxicologist, football and more and more things that make your group unique!!! But the best moment for me, it was when Onur, a calm and thoughtful boy from Turkey, didn’t receive any paper and the box was already empty. Then, our trainer (Marian) asked him: “ Onur, why didn’t you write nothing about you, why didn’t you put any paper in box” Suddenly, in a wise way, Nour answer him: “I didn’t write and put my paper in box, because it makes me unique!!” I will never forget these words!! Sharing tools with the others volunteers Everyone in the room could share something with others volunteers. So many volunteers in one place, sharing different ideas. The room was immersed of creativity and imagination!!! In that hour, I learn so many things: • Open space technology • World café • Drum rhythm • Hidden theatre • Living origami

n free timeâ&#x20AC;Ś well it is hard to me express myself in words, it was really fabulous and brilliant!!! People smiling, playing, singing, talking, dancing, getting fun, gathering in the fire, throwing snow balls, giving and receiving more warmth in these cold days!!! My heart almost burst with happiness!!

Conferences

UNIVERSITY OF VALCEA

e were invited two times to make a small presentation about EVS and volunteers' life. With us was a guy from Dragasani. Joao from Portugal opened the show with a Romanian music. He played guitar and he sang at the same time. Students were very excited. After musical performance we started to present our projects... 58

There were a lot of questions about us, that 1st grade students invited us to about our countries, about project, EVS... their BALUL BOBOCILOR party!!! But the most interesting thing was

TV VALCEA UNU

n 1st of November we was invited on local TV Valcea Unu. Topic was about youth which is working in some projects. We spoke about our project, activities which we already made, differences between Romania and Georgia. I think that citizens liked us very much because one man called and offered us a donation in land (live on TV), to build a house in Romania and to stay here! So we will think about it.

Intercultural Nights

GEORGIAN INTERCULTURAL NIGHT

n 20 Of December we had a Georgian night at Ceanarie. We were 4 Georgians, two from Ramnicu Valcea, one from Dragasani and one from Arad.

As we have a poor volunteer's life, we didn`t have so big budget to do the activities. We had to use our money very reasonable and we tried to cook as much as it was a possible.

At first, we made a short presentation of us in Ceanarie... Who we are... Why we were there... After we started to make the presentation of our country. A lot of people were watching and a lot of questions were made. We showed our beautiful country with beautiful songs and dances and then we started to give our food.

TURKISH INTERCULTURAL NIGHT Let me introduce our friend Esra Alparslan who wrote an article about Turkish intercultural night.

am Volunteer in Service Europe Volunteer … we wanted to organize an Interculture Night in Romania … so we were four Turkish people in Ramnicu Valcea but we also knew some others Turkish from here who helped us in everything we needed. First we made Turkish FES’s (FES meaning: traditional hat ) but wasn’t original … we just tried it … After, we bought Baklava … my favorite desert . We also prepared a Harmandali dance ( traditional Turkish dance) …With the help of Romanian people and local TV, we organized a great night with a great success …"

PORTUGUESE INTERCULTURAL NIGHT

ey, what do you know about Portugal??! I have been asking this to my volunteer buddies for several times now, as well as to the people with whom I interact in my daily life. I noticed that the majority of them possess little knowl-

edge about my small and humble country! For that reason, I was lead to create a cultural event about Portugal to share with the community the beautiful things that my country can provide.

Me and the other João, the smart one, worked things that mean a lot for us, it becomes rathtogether in order to make a great event. Yes, er difficult!! Seems like a tons of responsibilit was challenging! Sometimes when you ities are weighing down in our shoulders!!! have to speak and make presentations about We started the presentation by showing where Portugal is located, in Europe!! Well, although it is Spain’s little neighbor, it ain’t a Spanish province!! :D This friendly and hospitable country is situated on the Western edge of Europe where the land meets the sea and the wind brings along the warm scents of Africa. It has the oldest borders in Europe and 850 km of splendid beaches bathed by the Atlantic Ocean!! We didn’t forget to specify the 2 archipelagos, Madeira and Açores! Eleven islands, in total, that are surround by the Ocean Atlantic.

In our presentation we gave our best efforts in order to provide the audience with the most memorable experience they could possibly get. After introducing some basic notions about Portugal, we then spoke that the most beautiful aspect of this country lies in its diversity!! A country of artists, a country of history, a country of beautiful landscapes, a country of love, and soul!!!! Portugal is all of this, and much, much more!! . A marvelous and intriguing country!! A unique country which offers a brand new universe of things you can do, achieve, discoverâ&#x20AC;ŚExcept of course, employment for the younglings!!

We have the utmost delicious cuisine and some of the best wines in the world, cooking has become over the time such a fine and highly appreciated art for us that, to prove it, we cooked exclusively for all the folks who made our night

by showing up, delicious, and irresistible dishes through the combination of milk and flour- a.k.a Leite creme!! I think that we glorified our ancestors with this dessert!! I came back home with nothing but an empty platter!!!

Portugal is a country where surprises lie in each corner, and for this reason, we made yet another surprise for our guests!!!! We sang 2 traditional songs, one was folk and the other was for celebrating Christmas!!!! The music is a trait commonly found among all of the Portuguese, something we all tend to cherish deep inside our souls, which is why as you can imagine, it was a stunning performance!!!!!!!!

Theatre

FORUM THEATRE

ne of the main activities of our project was forum theatre. For it we had 3 days trainings. What we did in the training was team building activities. It was good to meet new participants of our team.

If somebody doesn't know what it is forum theatre, now, I will try to explain it. In forum theatre, actors are showing some problematic situation and after that viewers should try to modify this situation and find solution of that problem by changing one of the characters. Play should be short, not more than 3-4 scenes, and takes not more than 10-12 minutes. Also it should be a little funny, easy to understand, and characters can be a bit dramatized to highlight the situation of oppression.

On the training, we were separated in two groups. Each group chose a topic to play. One topic was a situation in school: when one person is being bullied by classmates; and other one was a situation in family: pregnant daughter. Both of them were funny and at same time so interesting. I learnt how to act in public and how to control my shyness!!

Study Case- Roma Community

ROMA PEOPLE

oma settled in Europe several centuries ago. They migrated from North India, from a region called Ciga. They are nomads, who traveled from Western Europe and Asia and have made Romania their home. Since then Roma carried their customs, traditions, and religious believes. It is said, that their skin colour comes from working â&#x20AC;&#x153;from sunrise to sunsetâ&#x20AC;?. They have their own unwritten language and a unique culture.

In general, these people are specialized in handcrafts made out of wood, such as baskets, sticks, tools or horseshoes (blacksmith). Moreover, during the spring season and end of autumn, they collect fruits from the forest to sell in the rural market.

The number of children per family is around 2 to 12. Due to usual size, families can often simply not afford schooling for every child. Poverty is a self-perpetuating problem and reduces the access to education. This is one of the problems which the Roma community is dealing with - poor school enrollment, high dropout rates, and limited participation in higher education.

Another main problem is that Roma in Romania are often discriminated and marginalized. This issue dates back to the communist regime and World War II, when minorities suffered from political oppression. Especially Roma have experienced a history of forced assimilation, exclusion and measures against their existence.

From my point of view, Romania should intensify its efforts to improve human rights trainings and foster an awareness of tolerance, interracial or inter-ethnic understanding. Also they should create specific conditions that enable Roma children to develop and learn.

COLONIA NUCI

olonia Nuci was one of the Roma communities that we were working with. This specific community is incredibly organized with a strong structure, different from some other communities. We did researche and interviews in order to discover what we could improve in the community `s life. Colonia Nuci is situated on the vicinity of Ramnicu Valcea. Its inhabitants are mostly Roma, but also Hungarians and

Romanians live there. Someone told us that there are almost 350 Roma families and 200 Romanian families. In the 1960’s, when local authorities started to build houses, in order to accommodate factory workers, many people settled here for work in the chemical factory. These residences were occupied after by the nomadic Gypsies, that found a good place to stay and raise their children there.

The main occupation of the villagers is the production of handcrafts made by wood and metal. As an example, the ladies craft spoons and axes using their skills of “cutting” wood. On the other hand, men are well known for craftsmanship in metal works, for example they do the materials for the distillation of Palinca. Some of the villagers are field-workers. They cultivate all kinds of seasonal vegetables and fruits: apples, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes…

Village life is plain and simple. On the roads we saw some horse carriages. Parts of the villagers use it as a way of transport.

Typical houses with their own garden were built, and reached about one foot or two off the ground. Some buildings are still unfinished like the Orthodox Church. The majority of the community is orthodox but some of them are also Protestants. 73

The school is well-designed and very attractive. All classrooms have pretty good conditions and also contain almost all the materials that the kids need. I am sure that this school can provide an amazing educational experience! I spoke with some teachers and they appeared to be very attentive and

kind. In all classrooms I could find a lot of crafts and drawings made by the children!! This school is also equipped with a gym where the kids can dance and play pingpong. Outside, there is a grand football field, as well as a space to play volleyball.

They implemented a â&#x20AC;&#x153;second opportunity systemâ&#x20AC;? for students who have left school. These alternative school structure provides the opportunity to develop necessary skills, values, and attitudes needed to be successful in life. For example, they can learn how to sew clothes!!

TRADITIONS

peaking about social traditions, Roma communities have their own court. When two citizens have a conflict, they are judged by the community in a kind of street court. Both of the sides are listened to and then the court decides who is guilty. The guilty pays to the other a respective amount of money. About marriage: the boys marry around 21 or 22 years of age and the girls when they are 18 years old. Usually, the girls get married as virgins with a boy from the same community. Among Roma, women are equal to men, but each gender has its own traditional role. The men go out to work and earn larger sums of money, which tend to come in sporadically, while the women earn for day-to-day expenses that are needed to run the household. The Roma woman is the absolute ruler of the home. The nuclear family is rare and unmarried adults are looked upon with suspicion.

About clothing: Roma women wear a traditional costume composed of a full, ankle-length skirt tied on the left side of the waist, a loose, low-cut blouse, a bolero vest, and an apron. The cloths are passing from generation to generation.

About language: Romani uses many idiomatic expressions, proverbs, and sayings, often with metaphorical qualities. The speakers normally refer to their language as Romani. About their believes, everything must have its natural place: birds fly and fish swim. Thus hens, which do not fly, are considered to be out of balance (and therefore stand for bad luck). Also frogs, which can go into the water and also walk on land too. For this reason, Roma traditionally do not eat the eggs of hens and avoid frogs. About music: the roots of Roma music go back to India and show traces of all the musical cultures to which the Roma have been exposed during their migrations. In Romania, the Roma citizen have the habit to listen to Manele. Manele is a mixture of "oriental" Romanian folk and contemporary Pop music with Balkan influences the lyrics usually refer to themes of love, enemies, money, alcoholism and difficulties of life in general. About food: Roma food differs from one country to another. In Colonia Nuci they cook the same traditional meals as much as all over Romania. For example, at Christmas, each family usually sacrifices a pig and prepares a large variety of dishes from its meat and internal organs, like cĂ˘rnati. At Easter, it is customary to sacrifice a lamb, and for dessert, cozonac cu nuĂ§ĂŁ is served. 76

RESEARCHE IN COLONIA NUCI

he main problem of life in Colonia Nuci is the unemployment. People are seeking work but cannot find any. Even in Ramnicu Valcea, which is the nearest city, they are not enough opportunities of employment for those people. Part of the citizen in Colonia Nuci work in a chemistry company which is close to the community. The other part of them stays at home, practicing few handicrafts to sell in the market. Some Roma men make belts or leather clothing, and women may do elaborate embroidery work, while both genders create artifacts, such as baskets,

for sale. There are some jobs in agriculture but they are not well paid and, in summer, the farmers cannot afford the high prices of the water bill. Public water is very expensive and the soil is very dry without any water springs. For that reason, working in the fields is not a viable option for the community.In fact, some young people opt to leave their family and work abroad. The rate of immigration is very high in this village. They often go to England and Italy to find a better life.

One of the minorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems is about the strange smell that comes from the chemistry company. Sincerely, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if in a long term it will not bring health problems to the community, in a long term. I have no idea if toxicological studies were conducted in that area. If that is not the case; they should do that, due to the exposition of toxic components.

No one complained about health services. Three or four times per week, a doctor comes to village to take care of any health problems. Moreover, the inhabitants donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to move to another city to buy medicines, since there is a small pharmacy in this community. Well, the price of the medicines is not proportional to their salary. Needless to say, elders have difficulties to pay their medicines bills.

According to an old man, Colonia Nuci does not offers many recreation options. In his opinion, he would like to have an elderly club to spend some time playing games like chess or cars. Also, for young people, could exist a sport school to promote a health life.

All citizens have access to basic services, like transport, electricity, water, sanitation and waste removal. They have new roads; a train station and also a bus from Ramnicu Valcea that stops every 30 minutes. Also it is a clean village with some dogs around. They could build a kennel for the abandoned dogs, but this issue is representative all over Romania. Their orthodox church is, for example, also still waiting to be rebuilt.

One of the biggest problems, in this community, is that Romani people are direct victims of discrimination and marginalization. Not only Roma are living in this community. Sometimes there is a racial fight between the citizens. Speaking about security, they have a police post in the village, they are, however, not very efficient.

ACTIONS WERE TAKEN •We provided information to the Romani communities concerning EU policies in the field of youth, and information relating to the fight against racism, prejudice and xenophobia. •We tried to cultivate an awareness of tolerance- an interracial or inter-ethnic understanding among the younsters. •We provided public education and initiatives to raise awareness in areas of multicultural diversity, concerning harmony and tolerance among minorities, particularly with Roma •We did Positive Discrimination such as programmes for zones of educational priority and programmes which provide targeted support to schools in disadvantaged areas. •We did activities of preserving and promoting the traditions of the Roma communities.

•We developed strategies to give those young people and children equal access to education. •We spoke about EU politics in domain of youth with national authorities, local representatives, representatives of Roma leaders, etc. •We provided additional support to pupils and involved young Roma people in activities concerning about rights of national minorities. •We did workshops for: environmental education, communication and responsibility, knowledge of the rights of young people, school orientation, knowledge of EU institutions and EUpolicies.

Links

http://www.viatavalcii.ro/index.php/component/content/article/45-univers-valcean/16708-patru-tineri-voluntari-strini-vor-lucra-in-satele-valcene.html http://www.viatavalcii.ro/index.php/component/content/article/45-univers-valcean/20814-voluntarii-strini-fac-educaie-nonformal-cu-elevii-de-la-coala-colonie-nuci-.html http://www.eurovalcea.ro/index.php/2012-08-28-11-11-41/item/1301-voluntarii-straini-fac-educatie-nonformala-cu-elevii-de-la-scoala-colonia-nuci www.tinact.ro

youth/index_en.php

http://www.salto-youth.net/ http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ http://aprdevs.blogspot.pt/