EVS World openings

11/03/2011 — 1 Comment

Dear friends,

We have worked hard to develop new EVS World projects in new, exotic and challenging places in Ecuador, Honduras, China and Ghana, for your enjoyment! Read more below and don’t hesitate to send your applications to Neel Fleuren at EVS-World@code-x.nl. Get inspired and become a world citizen! Read carefully, choose wisely and: ‘Get inspired and become a world citizen!’

Approved projects:

Ecuador, Quito:
Duration: 4 or 6 months, start 1st June 2011 and 6 months starting November 2 2011
Number of volunteers: 7
Project description:
This EVS project will take place in the Ecuadorian city of Quito and its primary goals include promoting social cohesion, motivation to learn, and self-efficacy to local youths who receive little attention or guidance from their parents and tutors. Volunteers will be given the choice of working at the children’s house ‘La Casita’, or take care of the children who come from the market. The project at Children of Ecuador aims to provide counseling and activities to local children and their families, primarily through a child care centre ‘La Casita’. The centre offers a new home, a ‘family’ where training and support for the development of motor skills, parenting skills, and literacy skills, as well as activities oriented towards prevention, self-defense, hygiene, resilience, and even practical skills like using a computer are given. Because of the nature of the project we aim at volunteers at least 23 years of age and with knowledge of the Spanish language.

Your activities can also be part-time at the centre where the activities will be more based on helping with homework and working individually and take care of the children who come from the local market. Volunteers can also assist with other projects in neighboring communities, such as teaching English at a local school, teaching basic hygiene or cooking skills to children at a school for the disabled, or playing with local children at a special-needs daycare centre.

Honduras, Tegucigalpa:
Duration: 6 months, start 1st Augusut 2011
Number of volunteers: 4
Project description:
This EVS project will take place in the Honduran city of Tegucigalpa and its primary goals include interacting with local youths, supporting and educating them, and promoting international and intercultural exchange.
Volunteers will be given the choice of working within various projects at either a school for special-needs youths called Instituto Psicopedagogico Juana Leclerc or a school for hearing-impared and deaf youth called Escuela Taller para Sordos Amor en Accion.

The project at Instituto Psicopedagogico Juana Leclerc aims to offer integral attention to youths with mental and learning difficulties through diverse communitarian strategies and interactive activities. Volunteers will have the opportunity to assist in a broad range of programmes and services, including vocational workshops, health classes, sports activities, or English lessons.

The project at Escuela Taller para Sordos Amor en Accion aims to provide educational, health, and dental services to hearing-impared or deaf youth through formal and informal learning opportunities, vocational classes, workshops, recreational activities, and medical services. Volunteers will likewise be able to assist in any of these activities.

Ghana, Volta region:
Duration: 6 months, start 1st June 2011
Number of volunteers: 6
Project description:
Care is mostly needed in the rural communities in Ghana. It is our aim that people in these communities benefit from our organization. But the Care and Community work placements we arrange – in orphanages, day care centres, hospital wards and homes for the elderly – make a difference to children and older people who would otherwise lack opportunities for one-on-one social interaction. Children particularly benefit.

As a Care & Community volunteer working with children in orphanages, volunteers would be helping the kids to learn life-skills that parents would normally teach. By getting involved in the day-to-day running of a care centre – making sure children are fed, washed and dressed, and paying them personal attention – they are helping to shape the lives of young people, preparing them better for life.

They might like to be part of a team working on community projects such as building classrooms, community centres, or playgrounds, painting and decorating children’s wards or orphanage dining rooms, soap making, palm oil production and generally lending a hand where it’s needed. Community projects are typically under-funded and under-resourced, so volunteers, and our resources, are always welcome.

China, Xinjiang
Duration and start: 6 months, 1st June 2011 and second group 1st December 2011
Number of volunteers: 6
Project description:
This EVS project will take place in the Shanxi province of northern China, in the cities of Houma and Xinjiang. Its primary goals include stimulating and engaging disadvantaged children, listening and teaching, supporting and care-taking. Volunteers will achieve these objectives through working at an orphanage for abandoned youths.

The project aims to provide mutual interacting and learning opportunities for both volunteers and the children they will be looking after. All activities and duties are oriented around the children, and volunteers’ primary purpose will be giving the children attention and support. Through teaching English to the children using enjoyable and informal methods like games, they will become motivated to learn by their own initiative and creativity, and education will become fun. Not much effort is needed to stimulate the children’s interest, as they are already eager both to learn English and to get to know the volunteers. Through sustained interaction and communication, volunteers will have a chance to experience the culture and lives of the children and vice versa.

Upcoming projects (Awaiting approval):

China: 6 months, start 15th September 2011 and second group 15th March 2012
India 1: 6 months, 15th October 2011
India 2: 6 months, 15th October 2011
Vietnam: 3 months, 15th October 2011

Project Description:
This EVS project will take place in three focal locations: China, Vietnam and India. Volunteers will have their choice of placement. The project’s primary goals include promoting integration, cultural understanding, and civic engagement in youth volunteers, allowing them to impact disadvantaged local youths using formal and non-formal teaching methods.

The project in China aims to provide support and interaction to orphans from the local community, primarily through organized activities and active participation. The orphanage houses disadvantaged and disabled youths who are in need of particular attention and care. Volunteers will assist with all aspects of the running of the orphanage, with a focus on teaching and connecting with the children. Volunteers will also be encouraged to build or assist in other community projects on their own initiative.

The project in Vietnam aims to enhance and enrich the lives of local youths by facilitating a broad range of community projects, workshops, and activities. The foundation organizes skill-building and language classes, community service and environmental initiatives, educational seminars, games and other activities. Volunteers will assist in any one of these sectors and will be given the opportunity to build projects of their own.

The project in India aims to promote the academic and social well-being of orphans from the local community, primarily through formal and non-formal activities oriented towards learning and integration. Volunteers will assist in a broad range of projects at the orphanage, including home-care, language lessons, extracurricular activities, and administration. Volunteers will also be encouraged to build or assist in other local projects on their own initiative.

The second project in India aims to enhance and enrich the larger community through providing classes and other services to local youths. Volunteers will assist in a broad range of activities organized by the foundation, with placements available as classroom or infirmary assistants, workers in the organic garden plots, and administrative assistants in the foundation’s offices.

Awaiting contacts / planned projects:
Uganda, Ghana, Burundi and other projects in Africa, starting volunteering in the beginning of 2012.
When information becomes available, it will be posted