To remember i to encounter i to understand will be our guiding slogan in these two weeks. We will learn about the history of the concentration camp Dachau and other aspects of the German Fascism. We will always ask: What did we learn about this? Where are racism and discrimination today? The program consists of different workshops, discussions with eye-witnesses and Holocaust survivors, guided tours through the Memorial Site, tours in Dachau and Munich, day trips. There is also time for personal conversation, sports, parties and the chance to experience the modern Germany.
Accomodation & food:
Accommodation is at the Dachau Youth Guest House in rooms for four people. The participation fee includes: full board and lodging, together with the cost incurred by the program.
Location & leisure:
There will be free time for fun and games, day-trips, entertainment, getting to know the people, going to cafes, etc.
Requirements:
Participation fee: 140,- Euro, Motivation letter requiredThis is a special workcamp, it is an International Youth Meeting with the theme: National Socialism and Racism You should have a working knowledge of English and/or German to communicate without any difficulties. Age: 16-26 years. You should be interested in various subjects and in taking part in workshopsClothes which suit the work and the weather, musical instruments, games, songbooks or whatever you want for the leisure time... Materials for the study part of the camp, a map of your country, photos and things that help you to describe your country to the other participants of the workcamp.
Your work and help is welcome in various measures, especially in working for environment protection e.g. cutting bushes and constructing small nature trails in the wildlife area. The forests workers will be there to instruct and look after the participants. And of course the most important ecological relationships and the origins of the unique landscape will be explained to you.
Accomodation & food:
The participants will be accommodated in a forest hut which is about 4 km away from town. The facilities are very basic and the hut offers no comforts but the participants will get a chance to live in the middle of the nature for 14 days instead. Running water, toilets and electricity (generator) are available. Showering is only available in the local swimming pool (4km away) which you are able to visit for free. During the workcamp a VW Bus is available for the participants.
Location & leisure:
In addition to manual work the participants will also be introduced to the local environment. Iphofen with its historic oldtown and sights e.g. an open air museum in Monchsondheim Kirchenburgmuseum (http://www.kirchenburgmuseum.de/) and the world-famous Wurzburg Residence are also part of the sightseeing program. On the weekend we will organize a fieldtrip to Wurzburg.
Requirements:
Only for nature lovers, Workcamp venue is in the forest, with very basic facilities. Sleeping bag is needed
Volunteers will paint Window of Peace within the village, a wall for posters and other artwork, also for announcements concerning our work for peace. This means carpentry, painting and requires also some talent for designing. Participants who prefer manual labour find a playing area around the buildings of the centre, where we will do some garden work and build seating units and a small shelter.
Accomodation & food:
The accommodation of the participants is carried out in 4 bedrooms. Accommodation and meals are free. There are bed sheets available. During the workcamp an Abend der Begegnung (Evening of encounter) with the people of the village and region will be organized. This will be an opportunity to spend some time in a German family.
Location & leisure:
Participants will learn some essentials of peace work and get basic non-violent conflict management training. In the second week we will visit the former concentration camp of Bergen Belsen, and have some lessons on European history in the first part of the 20th century. Participants will have the opportunity to spend an evening in a German family.
The project will consist of two parts i a practical working part and a study part. In the first half of the days the practical working part will take place and in the evenings and at the weekends there will be time for the study activities. At Lunette No. 41, a half-moon shaped outpost in the fields outside the city, which is today located eight metres below street level in a town park, there will be the task to open up an entrance to the south western tunnel system almost two kilometres long (30 kilometres all together). During the Heritage Volunteers Camp the volunteers will restore the walls above ground level of the excavated central access tower to the undergrounds and the western walls of Lunette No. 41, which includes landscaping green, setting up dry walls, opening walls which have not been looked behind for centuries, taking away rubble in the underground tunnels, dig up them up from above and restore individual arched vaults with the help of experts so that they can be used again.Because not everyone can work in the same place at the same time, there will also be weeding and cutting shrubs in order to make visible again the old yard of the ravelin No. 65 from 1700 in the close-by northern fort. It is also necessary to develop a concept which makes it possible to present the project, the works and their function to the public with the help of showboards. There will be two trips to other fortifications which might help the volunteers to get fresh ideas for the project.If the weather is too bad for this kind of work, the volunteers will open up fireplaces in the Rote Kaserne (which used to be a French soldiers barracks) and restore them. In years to come these rooms might also be used for accommodating the volunteers. In the framework of the study part different guided tours will be organized i the group will visit the courts and streets of the town, climb up a church tower and visit pleasant places in the countryside, go on excursions, for example to Speyer, visit the famous World Heritage Romanesque cathedral, go on a trip to the Alsace region which is not far either, visit Hambach Castle or any other castle in the mountains.
Accomodation & food:
Fairly basic, two dorms with matresses, warm showers and toilets,fully equipped kitchen in an anne
The Storkow Peace Village is an anti-racist youth project which promoted humanity, solidarity, and intercultural youth work. Your team s help is needed to renovate and maintain green spaces in the city and the grounds of the Peace Village. After work, this camp offers an opportunity to improve your command of German. Two hours of instruction daily and using German in everyday situations will do a great deal to improve your language abilities. Your language instructors are native speakers and have experienced in teaching German as a foreign language. They will also be a part of your team for the entire duration of camp.
Accomodation & food:
You will be staying in a three story house in the Storkow Peace Village. Meals will be prepared as a group.
Location & leisure:
Brandenburg; Storkow is located 50 km southeast of Berlin. Storkow is one of the oldest city in Brandenburg and has a historic fortress for you to visit. Along with cultural opportunities, your team will also be able to use the nearby sports facilities to play volleyball, basketball, and soccer. In the area you can travel to a lake, a climbing park, or to a zoo. Berlin is less than an hour train ride away.
The project will consist of two parts i a practical working part and a study part .In the first half of the days the practical working part will take place and in the afternoons and evenings there will be time for the study activities. Concerning the working part, the volunteers will do gardening and care in the different parks of the Classical Weimar. They will work seven hours a day, five days a week.On one side the volunteers will support the regular works in the Park on the Ilm, the Park in Tiefurt, the Park in Ettersburg and the Park in Ossmannstedt as cutting grass, collecting leaves, taking care for flowers etc. This work will show the fact, that heritage cannot exist without permanent care, even more a garden and park architecture. On the other side the volunteers will overtake the responsibility for an abandoned part of the Belvedere Park by cutting small trees, bringing back view axes, rebuilding paths etc. This part of the work will show that also in a short time of only two weeks there can be seen a real result of the work. Additionally it will show that also in the rich and well organized Germany exist parts of heritage sites which had been for long times without care.The study part will give the theoretical background for the project. Depending on the interests of the volunteers there will be lections and guided tours about Classical Weimar organized for example by Klassik Stiftung Weimar, that is one of the major project partners. The study part will also bring the input of the project into a wider public. It also includes meetings with NGOs in Weimar and Thuringia, students and with the press. In their spare time the volunteers will have the possibility to visit museums and exhibitions i for the duration of the project they will have free entrance to all museums managed by Klassik Stiftung Weimar. The best way to be mobile in a town like Weimar, with lots of gardens and parks to discover, is by bike. So the participants will get bicycles during their stay. Depending on the interests of the volunteers, on the weekend will take place an excursion to another UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of historical parks and gardens, called Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Worlitz.
Accomodation & food:
Shared 8- or 6- bed-room in a hostel in the city warm showers and toiletsThe meals will be prepared together as they are part of the community life, what means that everybody will be responsible for the meal at least once during its stay. So it would be very nice if you could bring typical recipes from home in order to introduce each other to the preparation of food from all over the world.
Work: The volunteers will work in the memorial of the former concentration camp of Buchenwald. We will do several jobs in the area of the memorial like cleaning, gardening and restoration in cooperation with the curators of the memorial and participate in an archaeological dig to find any artefacts relating to the prisoners. Our work will also include tending to the original remains of the former concentration camp in Buchenwald.
Study part:
We will get to know more about the time of fascism, covering the areas of racism and neo-fascism. The responsible pedagogical assistant of the memorial will show us the camp, step-by-step, through different excursions. Moreover we will see documentary movies, and those who would like may work with materials of the library or the archive.
Accomodation & food:
you will sleep in the Youth Centre building, situated on the area of the former concentration camp in rooms for 5 persons. Sanitary facilities including showers are available.
Location & leisure:
Weimar-Buchenwald
Requirements:
: For this Workcamp it is necessary to have very good English skills. A motivation letter specific to this project is required.
Together with the refugees we want to organize common activities, where the women and children are taken into consideration. In addition, our goal is to get in contact with the young members of the local protestant church to raise greater awareness for the refugees and to break the isolation of the refugees. We will prepare contact with students of the university that are willing to take care of the medical issues of the refugees and to pursue the legal issues of the asylum law. We will also get in contact with students of the University who medicate people without legal status. We especially invite volunteers to participate, who are able to speak Turkish, Arabic or Farsi. Besides organizing common activities with the refugees we want to work together in the reception centre to maintain the playground and to renovate the cafe
Accomodation & food:
The workcamp will be hosted by a local protestant church which is already involved in working with the refugees. The premises of the church are plentiful and for that we will have a lot of space for sleeping, cooking, dining, relaxing, and for indoor and outdoor activities.
Location & leisure:
Giessen, a city populated mostly by students, is located in the mid-west of Germany. Giessen is easy to reach via Frankfurt airport and Frankfurt Hahn. There are plenty of possibilities for leisure time activities: playing football or canoeing as well as possibilities to visit some other cities. (e.g. Marburg, Frankfurt or Heidelberg).
Requirements:
Sleeping bag, camping mat, work clothes, bathing suit, sunscreen, music, your talents, something specific from your country
« I would recommend participating in a workcamp, especially with VAP, who ensured that I found a project to suit me and provided essential training for me in preparation for my trip. Being part of a workcamp really is a life-changing experience, oh, and it looks great on your CV! »
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