This project will take place in Mashmet, one of the remotest areas of the city of Voronezh. It has a reputation for being a neglected and desolate place which lacks bright colours and vibrant life. Despite these drawbacks there is a huge and green park that is said to have been a popular centre of family recreation in the Soviet period. It attracted locals of all ages and interests where everybody could find something to suit their tastes. But with time the place slowly lost its charm and became adandoned and unpopular. Recently it has received no attention from the local community or from the municipal authorities. The aim of this project is to give a new breath of life to this green oasis and help locals to see it from a different perspective.
Work:
Organising ecological and artistic workshops; cleaning the park area and placing new litter-bins on the children playground; creating fun and unusual «no-litter» signs; making a new bus-shelter nearby the park; painting graffiti on facades of buildings and on roadside barriers.
Accomnodation:
In an apartment, food prepared by volunteers in a kitchen.
Location:
Voronezh is a large and modern city (with roughly 1 million population), situated in the very heart of European Russia, in between Moscow and the Black Sea (500 km — a night on the train — from Moscow), on the Don and Voronezh rivers. The city boasts its 4 centuries history and a special charm of a typical Russian provincial city. Despite having been almost entirely wiped out during the Second World War, it still preserves some of the beautiful architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The project is organised by DiGevu Samara in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Otradny. The Sarbai Ethnographic Museum is situated at 42 km of Otradny. At the end of the 18th century a small russian village Sarbai appeared in the middle of steps. The name “Sarbai” can be translated as “rich place”. Since old times the main treasure of the village has been its loam fields and skilful inhabitants. Each inhabitant knew how to weave, spin, braid lapti (traditional shoes made of bast) and make pottery. People from other villages came to Sarbai for its ceramic pots, famous for being made in the unique pottery school. The wares of Sarbai masters have been always ornamented with a wavy line round a pot. Time passed and the village became a centre of pottery art in the Northern part of the province. By the end of the 19th century this craft was lost but at the beginning of the 20th century Sarbai school started being restored to life. The school hosts a centre of national art. School children come here to study the craft of their ancestors.
Work:
Elaboration of the interior decoration of the museum; collection and preparation of medicinal herbs; making ceramic wares; assistance to local inhabitants; constructing a summer house; preparing clay; restoration of the museum and of the recreation areas surrounding it; assisting during the entertaining activities organised by the museum staff; meeting and accompanying the guests of the museum.
Accomodation:
In school classrooms (beds, bed linen, shower and toilettes are provided). Food at the canteen.
Location:
Otrandy is a small town, founded at the beginning of the 1920s, situated at 100km from Samara. The whole territory of the town is 27.8km with a population of 54,000. The foundation and development of the town is connected with its oil fields. You can find detailed information on the website: http://www.otradny.ru
Special requirements:
Basic skills of repair work, sociability, knowledge of Russian is very welcome. Please be aware that the food will most probably be non-vegetarian.
Songs by the fire gave birth to hundreds of legends. Each country has its own stories but at the same time they unite people all over the world. One can observe a nice picture of people sitting round the fire and singing songs. This project combines cleaning the festival place and direct participation in the event. We are waiting for creative individuals, nature lovers, open to communication. We are happy to exchange information about different styles of music in our countries. You are a creative person, you like music and play a musical instrument - this project is for you!
Work:
Cleaning the festival place; organising actions on cleaning the surrounding areas; installing of promotion banners; assisting in the installation of musical equipment.
Accommodation:
Volunteers will stay in tents. Meals will be provided in the canteen of the festival. Please beware that the food will most probably be non-vegetarian.
Qualifications:
Interest in music and in preserving nature. Ability to play a music instrument is very welcome.
Nizhny Novgorod is full of wonderful architecture that are historical monuments. But the uprising construction and reconstruction of the city makes it difficult to save the surface of the old city. Slum clearance, the development of skyscrapers, business and trade centers in the historical centre of Nizhny Novgorod threaten the existence of the look of the old city. The aim of the project is to fix through photography the look of the city, its old quarters and buildings. The best photos will be selected together with professional photographers and exhibited for two weeks to the general public. During the project volunteers will have workshops with 3-4 professional photographers and architetcts, the programme is quite intensive.
Location:
Nizhniy Novgorod is historically considered to be “The Third Capital of Russia”. One of the most ancient cities in the country, situated on the Volga and Oka rivers junction, it is an extremely beautiful and very typically Russian city with unique wooden architecture and laid back and colourful life style. The city is very well developed in economical and cultural aspects and at the same time deprived randomness and mad rate of a megapolice.
Accommodation:
The volunteers will live in a rented flat. Self-cooking, food products are provided.
NB:
Some basic skills of photography are necessary. Please bring your photo camera, laptop (if possible for photo processing and selection).
The objective of this project is to raise awareness on the issues of animal homelessness, maltreatment and abandonment in Samara. Volunteers will publicise the work of the “Nashi Droozya” (Our Friends) Animal Shelter - providing a refuge to homeless or abandoned animals, by photographing stray animals living on the streets and, in contrast, animals that the “Nashi Droozya” Animal Shelter has rescued and provided care and shelter for. An exhibition at the end of the workcamp will aim to address the differences between the health of those animals which live on the streets without care and those which the “Nashi Droozya” Animal Shelter has been able to help, and in some cases, successfully find a new home. It is hoped the exhibition will raise awareness over the problem of animal welfare and encourage the people of Samara to offer their input with regards to solving this crisis. This project will be the initial part of a continuing commitment to facilitate the work of the “Nashi Droozya” Animal Shelter; other long term projects will follow.
Accommodation:
In a rented flat. Self-cooking, food products are provided. Please be aware that the food will most probably be non-vegetarian.
Nerekhta is a tiny but extremely picturesque town in the heart of European Russia, 46 km from Kostroma and around 400 km from Moscow, with a population of around 25,000. The town’s history goes back to the 13th century, and the past seems to be in the air – in the slow and traditional pace of living, in the landscape with its numerous churches and exquisite wooden houses.
Project:
Unfortunately, the fires are very dangerous for the town’s wooden architecture – the houses often burn down leaving ugly black debris behind. The remains of these houses are then surrounded by a grey fence. These fences slowly fill the town, making it grow grey and boring. To add a little bit of colour to the town and help it preserve its history the volunteers will paint the picture of the burnt house on the fence surrounding the place where the house used to be. Besides that, the volunteers will take part in a regular exhibition of photographs, showing the locals the outsider's perspective of the town and its surroundings. Volunteers may also take part in a children’s camp that takes place at the local Youth Centre at that time.
Work:
Painting the house on the fence around the place where it used to stand; taking photographs of the town and its surroundings for an exhibition; possibility of working with the children at the local summer camp.
Accomodation:
In a comfortable hotel-like building. Three meals a day in a modern restaurant-style canteen will be provided by the hosting organisation.
The project takes place at the town of Yakhroma, 50 km from Moscow.
Project:
This project will take place in the arts leisure centre “StArt” which holds classes in painting and various crafts with orphans of several orphanages of Yakhroma and nearest towns (over 60 kids between 8 and 16 years old). Children are also taught some cooking skills in a recently built kitchen. The centre was set up by a couple with 4 kids of their own and is run as a very cosy and welcoming club with tea drinking after every class to create a homelike friendly atmosphere for students.
During the first week volunteers will help to prepare the centre for a new school year and do some maintenance work like wall and ceiling painting, decorating the main entrance, making flower beds etc. Then volunteers will participate in daily classes (usually two per day) helping children and tutors and are more than welcome to hold their own arts classes if they know some creative techniques to teach. They are also invited to prepare presentations of their countries for all the kids with national food, games, music, dances, stories, fairytales etc. In leisure time volunteers can travel to Moscow (1.5 hours by train). Excursions and interesting visits will be organised for them in Yakhroma and surroundings.
Accomodation:
Volunteers will live in a rented apartment and cook for themselves.
Qualifications:
Creative skills are important and knowledge of interesting arts & crafts is very welcome (necessary materials can be provided by the centre); experience and interest in working with children
« 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! »
