1. Citizenship of Republic of Moldova;
2. 18-29 years old on August 15th, 2010;
3. Applicants preferably should have basic knowledge of English;
4. Applicants must be highly motivated to actively volunteer and to contribute to the development of the future projects of ADVIT/ICYE Moldova upon the return.

1. Travel costs : - 90% of actual costs from/to Chisinau to/from Helsinki
2. Visa and visa-related costs: 100% of actual costs;
3. Volunteers will be covered by AXA (European Benefits) insurance for the duration of the project;
4. Board and lodging in the host country during the project;
5. Monthly pocket money: 120 Euro/month;
6. Local travel costs from the place of accommodation to the host project;

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10.02.2010

Call for participants

Dear friends,

ADVIT “Europe without Borders”/ ICYE Moldova has a great pleasure to inform you
that we have 1 free place for participation in:
Kisälli-Harjulanmäki, 15th August 2010 – 15th June 2011 in Vihti, Finland.

The project is arts and crafts based activity centre for disabled people situated near to Helsinki, in a town called Vihti. The volunteer will assist the disabled people in the work.
Description of Project:
Vihti is located 50 kilometers to northwest from Helsinki and it's easily reached by bus (1 hour from centre of Helsinki). The region is mostly rural except for the village of Vihti and town of Nummela. In Vihti there's nearly 30 000 inhabitants and more than half of them are living in Vihti-village and Nummela. Vihti is culturally active town. Arts and sports are well represented in the region. Village of Vihti is home of many artists and quite a many of them work in the same building as Kisälli-Workshop. Also folk high school and open university are active in the region. The village of Vihti provides all necessary services: health care, pharmacy, post-office, bank, supermarkets, library, movie-theatre & cafes.

Harjulanmäki locates on beautiful hill of Sipilänmäki, 1 kilometer from the village. Harjulanmäki has the big garden and animals at the premises (lambs, chicken and doves). Gardening and keeping of the animals are important activity at Harjulanmäki.

The host project Kisälli-Harjulanmäki has two main activities:
1. Harjulanmäki, the nursing-home for mentally disabled people which provides permanent home for 5 adult-aged disabled persons.
2. Kisälli-workshop, which provide art- /work-therapy for disabled people.

Kisälli-Harjulanmäki is managed by Mauri and Annamari Pajunen. The family Pajunen lives on the same building as disabled people (nursing home is on the 1st floor and home of Pajunen on the 2nd floor). The rest of the staff (4 employees altogether) come to work from outside of Kisälli-Harjulanmäki. All employees are professionals in social- /educational work. Kisälli-Harjulanmäki provides its services exclusively for the public sector. The disabled customers are chosen for Harjulanmäki by social service department.

All of the disabled customers of Harjulanmäki have average mental defect. The customers have no physical defects.
In rehabilitation Harjulanmäki is specialized in discoursive methods (mainly narrative dialogue), which we use to support our disabled customers in the challenges of their life.

Residence of the volunteer is a separate flat beside the Harjulanmäki-nursing home. The volunteer will have own room and the bathroom. The meals will be at the nursing home. Village of Vihti is in a walking distance (1 km).

Kisälli-workshop (where the volunteers' work is due mainly to take place) is located at the heart of village. Role of the volunteer will be the helper of disabled people at Kisälli-workshop. Customers of Kisälli make skillful handicrafts (weave carpets and rugs with loom, dye fabrics, make big works of art etc.). Work of the volunteer contains personal assisting of disabled people at their work. Workshop visits regurarly at art-musems, cultural-happenings etc., and arrange also its own exhibitions. Volunteer is needed also to help in that kind of activities.

Description of the activities:

Volunteer is due to work occasionally on evenings (instead of regular daytime work at Kisälli-workshop). This arrangement is needed for example when customers are in need of assistance when they go out for the cultural happenings etc. We have also planned that volunteer can arrange outdoor activities for disabled people (walking, playing sport-games etc.).

Also we offer chance to learn the contemporary discoursive approach in work with disabled people.

Workdays at Kisälli-workshop: Monday to Friday; working hours: 08.30-15.00.

The example of the Workday of volunteer:

08.30 Walking with customers to work (from Harjulanmäki to Kisälil- workshop)
08.45 - 09.15 Discussion with workshop-staff and customers: Planning the day's activities
09.15 - 10.30 Assisting customers in their work
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee-break and walking out of doors: joining with customers with this activity
11.00 - 12.30 Assisting customers with their work and assisting customers to bring the lunch-food from the school nearby
12.30 - 13.15 Lunch-time: Joining for lunch with customers and assisting to clean up the tables when lunch is finished
13.15 - 15.00 Assisting customers in their work

Profile of the Applicants:

The experience of volunteer living in our community will enrich the lives disabled customers of Kisälli-Harjulanmäki. It is important to see people who have a different background and that way get acquainted with cultural differences. We think that it is especially important for mentally disabled persons. Also we are interested to have the "new eyes" for our community, i.e someone who could see our organization from the objective standpoint.

We want to provide the volunteer a possibility to work with disabled people in a safe and convenient environment. Also we will provide a possibility to learn about Finnish culture and language. These learning possibilities will be arranged with close contacts with the family running the project as well as using the local educational services, like the Finnish language classes. We don't have experience in EVS beforehand, but we have hosted foreign volunteers also before.

In the selection process the motivation and interests of the volunteer play an important role. Also the volunteer who have less possibilities for international experiences are given priority. All the interested candidates are informed about the outcome of the selection process.
We prefer a volunteer who is interested to work with disabled people as well as interested of art and culture. It would be also good if the volunteer would have some independence and active attitude. Interested toward gardening and animal care is also welcome. We are capable to host one volunteer at a time.

Selected candidate will be covered the following costs during the project:

Application process
Interested applicants should use the official application form attached to this letter and submit it by e-mail to ADVIT (advit_ewb@yahoo.com) along with the CV by April 09th 2010 COB the latest. The applicants will be notified of the results of the selection by 02 May, 2010.

For inquiries and additional information, please contact ADVIT/ICYE Moldova team:by phone on 022292284 or by email to advit_team@yahoo.com

 

26.04.2010

"Moldova - Go Green and Clean"

Raindrops were landing on my head as we stood surrounded by a sea of achievements, wrapped in blue plastic bags. We had been through sweat, blood, and tears, walking the paths of mud and garbage and now, finally, we could see the result of our hard work. In front of us stood around 50 plastic bags filled with all the trash you could imagine; clothes, cups, condoms, car parts, bottles, bags, bones, diapers, gadgets, shoes, tin, toys, toothpaste and I could go on.

We were around 30 volunteers who had faced the rain and decided to clean up Riscani, the north part of Chisinau. Not only us, but all over the city, few brave people had defied the bad weather to clean up the capital.

“Cleaning up Chisinau” was initiated by ADVIT in cooperation with Art Labyrinth, AVI and Youth Generation and was set up not only to clean the parks in Chisinau, but also to create awareness of environmental issues in Moldova.
On April 24th 2010 at 12.00 we invited people to clean up their city. With meeting points in the three parts; Buiucani, Riscani and Telecentru around 50 people gathered to clean. With help from EcoExpert, a Moldovan NGO working with environmentalism, we were able to distribute plastic bags and gloves to the brave participants. Even though the weather was against us, after three hours of hard work, we could see the fruit of our effort; a sea of filled plastic bags and a city that was a bit cleaner.

As the afternoon went by, Mother Nature decided to give us a stroke of sunshine and a break from the rain. At 16.00, as we all went to Valea Trandafirilor in Botanica to clean up the park together, the sun said its greetings. Even though we were all tired, the mood was high and so was the will to clean. The day ended of with a concert at the cultural organization Art Labyrinth. With the slogan “Cleaning Day – Clean up your mind” the concert offered Moldovan as well as Russian artists with music, poetry, theatre and fireworks. So, as the sun went down on the gleaming city, our tired bodies and minds enjoyed the sweet tones of reggae music.

10.05.2010

ADVIT CHILDREN'S DAY

“Bine ati venit la Ziua Copiilor!” Alf, a volunteer from Germany, said in the microphone, trying to get the attention of all the children spread around the yard. A minute of puzzling around, finding seats, and settling down, and “Ziua Copiilor” - Children’s Day, had officially begun.

Chris from UK continued by presenting the activities: Dancing, juggling, football, origami, drawing, windmills, bracelets, face painting, limbo, and twister. Some children were trying to follow the presentation and choose activities, while others were out of reach, magnified by the bouncy castle waiting just few meters away. Ziua Copiilor was initiated and organized by four of ADVIT’s international volunteers as an event for the children in organizations and institutions which ADVIT cooperates with. This includes: children without parents, children of refugees, children with mental and physical disabilities, children of parents living with HIV/Aids, children whose parents have migrated, children from broken families as well as children who are not from fewer opportunities. By involving all these children, the main aim was to unite children from different backgrounds in creative and outdoor activities.
The event took place on May 8th 2010 from 13.00 – 17.00 at the Charity Centre for Refugees in Buiucani, Chisinau. In total 141 children enjoyed the different activities, all organized, prepared, and carried out by ADVIT’s 25 international volunteers. In addition to the creative and sportive activities, the day offered a bouncy castle, a lottery, 30 kilos of Placinta, and 45 liters of lemonade.
The day even included surprise guests; not in form of children, but from the national television station Moldova 1, covering Ziua Copiilor for the evening news.

Throughout the afternoon the handicraft activities were on-going, and workshops of dancing, juggling and football were going in two rounds. Last but not least the bouncy castle was open all through the event, welcoming the children with its big open arms.
After two and a half hours of jumping, dancing or concentrating over the handicraft activities, lunch was served. Placinta, lemonade and a “Pofta Buna” was provided for the children, parents and educators.

The day ended of with a lottery, where 20 children were the lucky winners of teddy bears, footballs, and other toys of all kinds and sizes. To leave no one standing out, each child who had not won a prize in the lottery was given a small present.
After the long day of fun, Chris and Alf ended the day with a smile, a “Multumesc” and a “La revedere”.