First week of the workcamp will be focused on the cooperation with school children. Two meetings in local school will be organized where you will present your countries and cultures to the children during their classes of English or Geography. Bring something special from home which represents your region/country (food, games, music, pictures, etc.). In return, pupils will introduce the Czech Republic to you. There will be also some sports matches and some manual work organized together with the children. The second week you will do maintenance works the cellar of the house where the children and youth centre Pastelka is situated. This house will serve as your accommodation, too.
Accomodation & food:
In the house of the children and youth centre Pastelka. There will be beds but you need to bring your own sleeping bag. In the building there are showers, toilets and a kitchen. The meals will be prepared by the volunteers at the accommodation. In the house, smoking and drinking alcohol is forbidden.
Location & leisure:
Location: Uhersky Ostroh (a town with 4500 inhabitants) is situated at the river Morava in a beautiful area of Southern Moravia, known for its wine.Study part: Get to know the local folk traditions, have an excursion to a traditional wine cellar. Leisure time: There is much to see in the region: The open-air museum in Straznice, a place of Pilgrimage in Velehrad, castles, the Bata Canal, a big lake for swimming and other sites of interest. You can also go cycling and play games at the sports ground next to the school.
Requirements:
We are looking for outgoing and friendly volunteers with a particularly good attitude towards children.
The workcamp will be mainly focused on the contact with local community, especially children. During the first week, you will be presenting yourselves and your culture in two local elementary schools and in one high school. You will also prepare international evenings for local public in three close-by villages and a summer celebration for children. The second week, you will do some manual work in the forest for three days which will be physically demanding. The rest of the second week, you will be gathering historical photographs from local people to be presented at the end of the workcamp to the public. Meanwhile, you will have a chance to write a blog on the web page of the NGO Mezenak.
Accomodation & food:
The volunteers will be accommodated in a local football clubhouse. No beds and blankets can be provided, therefore the volunteers are asked to bring a sleeping bag. Mattresses will be provided. Please be prepared for basic living conditions. The volunteers will prepare their breakfast and dinner by themselves. Lunch will be provided in a local restaurant.
Location & leisure:
Location: As Mezno is a small village (about 360 people). There is a shop, a doctor, a post office and a restaurant. There are also some sports facilities. It lies about 20 km from the historical town of Tabor.Study part: You will have the chance to get to know a typical Bohemian village and learn a lot about local culture, history and lifestyle. There will be a possibility to visit local farmers and get a lecture of horse-riding. You can also take part in a pottery workshop.Leisure time: Possible free-time activities include a visit of the historical town of Tabor and other sights according to your own interest, trips in the surroundings on bikes provided by the local partner, swimming in natural quarry or a pond, etc. You can also play football or tennis in the village.
Requirements:
A motivation letter (A4) is required You should be ready and willing to spend a lot of time with local people from the village, mainly with kids and teenagers who do not speak perfect English. We are especially looking for out-going and communicative volunteers who are not afraid of speaking in public and who do not mind manual work, too.
The volunteers will perform two different kinds of work: Firstly you will help with practical manual tasks indoors and outdoors: gardening, putting up tents and teepees, help in the kitchen, prepare the barn for the arrival of the clients (moving furniture, cleaning, decorating and preparing games and activities for the children and youth), who will arrive at the second week of the project. Secondly the group will work with children and youth with autism and other disabilities who spend their vacation at the village (general assistance, organization of activities for the clients, going with them on walks outside the centre etc.). During the children s camp, volunteers will work longer hours but it will be compensated for during the first part of the workcamp when you will have more free-time.
Accomodation & food:
Part of the time you will be accommodated in modern tents or in a barn in Jizbice (the village where the children and youth camp takes place). The rest of the time you will sleep in a house in Nymburk that serves as a centre for the organization. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. You will help with preparing the food, so bring some interesting recipes with you.
Location & leisure:
Location: Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk).Study part: In the first week you will get a lecture on autism and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth affected by autism. The group will visit a school for children with handicaps and special needs. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal, who was born in Nymburk.Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Pod283;brady, excursions to the castle of Lou269;e328;, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk.
Requirements:
Smoking is forbidden while working with the children. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty You will need clothes for all kind of weather (raingear and waterproof working boots). A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required.
Every year the NGO Andromeda organizes a project for kids from children’s homes and other similar accommodation centres. During four days the kids will stay in a “Fairytale World”, created in a forest in a small village of Vsestary (half an hour by train from Prague). In this imaginary village they will meet with fairy-tale figures and play different adventurous games. This special form of experiential education provides the kids with a therapy focused on compensation of their emotional deprivation and supports the development of moral values and social skills. Besides, the kids are supported by long-term therapy, which helps them to overcome traumas and come to terms with the difficult life-situations they find themselves in.
Work:
The workcamp takes place several weeks before the arrival of the kids to the “Fairy-tale World” in Vsestary. You will help to prepare the adventure for them – the work will be mainly manual. This means you will extend the “Fairy-tale World” by building several new wooden huts in the forest. Also, you will decorate the huts from inside and outside. Please take good working cloths and boots for the work in the forest with you. As you will work in all kinds of weather, you will also need raingear. Besides this manual work, you will visit several times disabled kids (3-7 years old) from the children’s home in Vsestary and play with them. One day, you will go to a children’s home in Prague and meet kids (4-12 years old) who will be part of the “Fairy-tale World” project.
Study part:
The meetings with children give the volunteers a chance to better understand their life situation, the problems they face and their special needs. You will also learn more about the aims and mission of the NGO Andromeda and their engagement for socially disadvantaged children. During workshops led by psychologists cooperating with Andromeda, you will learn more about the problem of social exclusion of children and the therapeutic approach used during the “Fairytale World” project.
Leisure time:
After work, volunteers will have lots of time for relaxing such as making barbecue, doing sports (cycling, jogging, volleyball, etc.) and playing different games. Several trips to interesting places in the surroundings are planned, such as the famous castles Karlstejn and Konopiste and the capital city of Prague.
Accommodation/Food:
Volunteers will be accommodated in a local football clubhouse in two rooms at the outskirts of the village Vsestary. Please note that the conditions are basic – there is a toilet and two showers. Take your own sleeping bag and a sleeping mat! One meal will be brought to the accommodation from a local restaurant, the other two meals will be prepared by volunteers in the kitchen in the common room of the accommodation.
Location:
The project takes place in and around the village of Vsestary which is located about 30 kilometres to the east from Prague.
The volunteers will perform two different kinds of work. Firstly they will assist during a summer camp for youth with physical and/or mental disabilities which takes place in the village of Jizbice (even though the clients are handicapped they are able to play and enjoy their stay). The volunteers will provide general assistance and organize activities for the clients. Secondly the volunteers will help to prepare the area of the Youth camp for the winter (gardening, cleaning after the summer season). During the youth camp, volunteers will work longer hours but it will be compensated for at the end of the workcamp when you will have more free-time.
Accomodation & food:
Part of the time you will be accommodated in modern tents or in a barn in Jizbice (the village where the Youth camp takes place). The rest of the time you will sleep in a house in Nymburk, that serves as a centre for the organization. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. You will help with preparing the food, so bring some interesting recipes with you.
Location & leisure:
Location: Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk).Study part: In the first week you will get a lecture on special education and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth with special needs. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal, who was born in Nymburk. Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Pod283;brady, excursions to the castle of Lou269;e328;, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk.
Requirements:
Smoking is forbidden while working with the children. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty You will need clothes for all kind of weather (raingear and waterproof working boots). A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required.
During the first week, you will prepare an afternoon full of games and competitions for local children at the end of their summer holidays. Please bring some interesting games that are typical for your regions of origin or anything special you may need and which could be unavailable in the Czech Republic. Musical instruments are also very welcome. During the second week you will clean an old house and cultivate its garden. The house is going to be transformed into a cultural and social centre of the village. It is also planned to organize intercultural evenings, so take some pictures and music that represents your country and some interesting recipes with you. Do not forget some special ingredients and spices.
Accomodation & food:
In a separate private house together with the family of the local partner - two rooms available for sleeping, plus a common room, a bathroom and a kitchen. The volunteers will sleep in sleeping bags on mattresses. Bring your own sleeping bag. Lunches will be provided in the local restaurant, volunteers will prepare their own breakfast and dinner.
Location & leisure:
Location: Kysice, 4 km from Pilsen.Study part: Learn more about the history of the village Kysice from a local historian and visit an exhibition of historical photographs. Take part in a voice-training lead by a professional trainer and discover the production of animated films created by children and youth from the region (project Animania). Learn how to play golf, there will be a two-hour lesson of golf provided for the volunteers in the golf terrain near Kysice.Leisure time: There are plenty of activities the volunteers can do during their free time: visit of Pilsen (the Brewery Museum, the Pilsen brewery itself, museum of puppets, synagogue), have a campfire or a barbeque; do sports such as volleyball, foot tennis and handball; go hiking and cycling in the surroundings (bicycles will be provided by the village). During your stay a second workcamp will take place in one of the neighbouring villages i it will be possible to meet with the volunteers and plan some activities together.
Requirements:
Regarding the fact that the volunteers will stay in a private house of a family with three children (6, 11 and 13 years old), volunteers should be out-going personalities with a relation to kids, non-smokers and they should not be allergic to pets.
« 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! »