International volunteer in Estonia "Unity for community", 01.09.2022 - 30.08.2023

Coordinating Organisation:

MITTETULUNDUSUHING VITATIIM, Estonia

The ESC volunteer project "Unity for Community", initiated by VitaTiim NGO, aims to increase local community awareness of sustainability and sustainable development and make practical actions to implement sustainability activities in the society of Ida-Virumaa region.

Project is also seeking to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable development and to increase ability to envision sustainable lifestyles.

The aim will be achieved through the implementation of volunteering activities by 12 young volunteers (18-30 years old) from Germany, Spain, Georgia, France, Ukraine, Austria, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Romania and Slovakia during 8-12 months (19.09.2022 to 30.08.2023) in 11 Hosting Organisations in Narva, Sillamae and Kohtla-Jarve cities.

Who are we?

NGO VitaTiim is non-formal learning centre which actively works in the field of youth work and education.

We create an empowering environment, so that we and our clients/learners/partners could:

- discover ourselves, discover the world and realise own role in the world;

- become the best version of ourselves and support others in this process;

- be learning agile and authentic in an era of global uncertainty.

We strive to promote intercultural learning, solidarity, voluntary service and support development of key competences of young people. Our most important target groups are young people from 7 to 26 years old, as well as youth leaders, youth workers and school teachers. The institutions we work with: schools, hobby-schools, youth open centres, youth organisations and municipalities. In all our activities and educational programmes we emphasize importance of learner-centred approach, human agency and a synergy between formal and non-formal education. One of our missions is to promote ESC and learning mobility both amongst young people and organisations. To do that we've got EVS accreditation as SO, RO and CO in 2008.

Last year we have hosted volunteers from Vietnam, Cambodia and Honduras and we sent Estonian volunteers to Mexico and Honduras in the frames of CODE project. We try to encourage volunteering on various levels, scopes and work with people of different ages. It is very important for us to develop a learning community in which people can support each other, learn together, share their competences and make a better world.

General Objectives of project:

The short-term objectives are:

- offering an inspiring and empowering experience in Ida-Virumaa for 12 young people from different countries;

- supporting 11 local host organisations in starting their work in European Solidarity Corps and providing a respectful and trusting hosting environment for international volunteers;

- providing intercultural learning environment in the local community for the duration of the project;

- promoting sustainability through activities, such as volunteers mini-projects, workshops, live libraries, informational events, festival "Everyone is learning" and etc.

The additional tasks supporting the project objectives are:

T1: to arrange the on-arrival training by the coordinating organisation VitaTiim NGO, during which the volunteers will have workshops related to meaning of sustainability and sustainable development and its realisation in their working places. This will be the first step to accumulate all activities which can be implemented to increase sustainability.

T2: to create and implement volunteers' own mini-projects related to sustainability. The main idea of the mini-projects will be that volunteers should show their understanding of sustainability in a practical way.

T3: to organise the community learning festival „EVERYONE IS LEARNING“, to bring together volunteers, guests from different cities of Estonia and the local community of all ages to learn together and learn from each other, act on behalf of the community in promoting initiative, learning, cooperation, knowledge sharing and intercultural dialogue. Moreover, this festival can be as a space for spreading the results of "Unity for Community" project and raising awareness of the value of volunteering for young people and for communities.

T4: to arrange the Volunteers' Job shadowing for local youth. This activity aims to increase the number of young people who are interested in a such international experience and activities.

T5: to increase solidarity and awareness of sustainability in Ida-Virumaa region we with our volunteers will arrange different kind of activities during the project time. Activities will include zero waste workshops, live libraries, culture evenings, social responsibility related activities and other solidarity based workshops.

Hosting Organisations:

Non-formal learning centre VitaTiim NGO, Narva city - 2 free positions

Sillamäe Hobby and Youth center "Ulei", Sillamae city - 1 free position

Ahtme school for children with disabilities, Kohtla-Jarve city - 1 free position

Narva Language Lyceum, Narva city - 1 free position

Narva “Kesklinna” Gymnasium, Narva city - 1 free position

Narva Vanalinna State School, Narva city - 1 free position

Narva kindergarten "Käoke", Narva city - 1 free position

Narva kindergarten "Sädemeke", Narva city - 1 free position

Kohtla-Järve kindergarten "Karuke", Kohtla-Jarve city - 1 free position

Kindergarten "Tuhkatriinu", Kohtla-Jarve city - 1 free position

Maleva basic school, Kohtla-Jarve city - 1 free position

Narva Youth Center, Narva city - 1 free position

The volunteers will be working on individual projects in their hosting organisations, but living and learning together and being coordinated by non-formal learning centre VitaTiim.

Activities

There will be 12 volunteering activities implemented in frames of this project, 7 in Narva, 1 in Sillamae and 4 in Kohtla-Jarve.

Activities in non-formal learning centre VitaTiim NGO

Activities in Sillamäe Hobby and Youth center "Ulei"

Activities in Ahtme school for children with disabilities

Activities in Kohtla-Järve "Maleva" school

Activities in Narva Language Lyceum

Activities in Narva “Kesklinna” Gymnasium

Activities in Narva kindergarten "Käoke"

Activities in Narva kindergarten "Sädemeke"

Activities in Kohtla-Järve kindergarten "Tuhkatriinu"

Activities in Kohtla-Järve kindergarten "Karuke"

Activities in Narva Youth Center

The volunteers will create and implement volunteers' own mini-projects and initiatives related to sustainability.

Also young people will have a chance to learn either Russian or Estonian language.

Learning Outcomes

Participants of the project will acquire and/or improve the following learning outcomes:

- solidarity and respect for sustainable life, as volunteers will implement their own mini-projects related with sustainability;

- respect for diversity, intercultural sensitivity and competence as volunteers will communicate, live and cooperate with people of different ages (youngsters, kids, colleagues), different social and economical background, different working styles (youth workers and teachers from formal education institutions) and cultures;

- flexibility and adaptability;

- practical life skills acquired by living independently without parents and family;

- awareness of value of voluntary service and value of contribution to a community development;

- future work skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, coordinating with others, judgement and decision making, negotiation; key competences;

- skills in various kinds of arts and handicrafts;

- awareness of European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ Programme and its values, aims and opportunities.

Moreover, each volunteer will acquire and improve his/her professional competence depending on volunteer's personal learning plans and profile & expertise of his/her receiving organisation. The hosting organisations will enable volunteers to acquire and improve the following learning outcomes:

- in kindergartens: knowledge about Estonian education, especially preschool education, system; pedagogy, including working methods with children, skills of teaching language to people of different age, knowledge about children's development;

- in schools: pedagogical competence, knowledge of Estonian educational system, language immersion methodology, skills of teaching language to children of different age;

- at Ahtme School: communication with children with learning disabilities, empathy, social competence; pedagogical competence, including language teaching; leadership; knowledge about education system in Estonia and organisation of studies for students with special educational needs;

- in Youth centres: competence in non-formal education and its principles and use of interactive learning methods, leadership and management of group dynamics, organisation of events, presentation and public speech, competence in art and handicraft, language teaching skills; multimedia competence.

Travel details

The volunteering will take place in Narva, Sillamae and Kohtla-Jarve (North-East part of Estonia). There is an airport "Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport" in Tallinn (capital of Estonia). There are not direct buses from Tallinn airport to these cities. First you need to go from the airport to the Tallinn bus station or Tallinn Train station.

How to reach Tallinn bus station: There is frequent tram service from Tallinn airport to Tallinn coach station. Tram line no. 4 stop is located on the city side of the passenger terminal of the airport. On Mondays through Saturdays, the first tram arrives at the airport at 5:25 AM and at 5:45 on Sundays. The last tram from the airport leaves at 0:45 AM. For a single trip you can buy the ticket from the driver (2€) or buy a QR-ticket on the Internet (1€).

The journey to the city center takes approximately 15-17 minutes. The name of the stop is – Tallinna Bussijaam. The bus station is directly in front of tram stop. Information on tram lines and stops can be found here: https://transport.tallinn.ee/#tram/en

How to reach Tallinn train station: To get to the train station there is a direct bus departing from Lennujaam (from Tallinn airport) and arriving at Balti jam (Tallinn train station). Services depart every 15-20 minutes, and operate every day. The journey takes approximately 18 min. Bus stop is 300 meters away from main entrances.

Another possibility to get to the bus or train stations is Taxi. Taxi park are only meters away from arrival entrances. Important! Taxi rates are not limited by law in Estonia. Before you start your ride, make sure that the rate is acceptable to you and, if possible, ask the driver for the estimated fare. The most reasonable fare is offered by Bolt taxi, which can be called by application.

From the Tallinn bus station to Narva, Sillamae, Kohtla-Jarve: From the main bus station there is direct buses to these cities. Tickets can be bought directly to the station or via online as well. The information about buses and times can be found here : https://www.tpilet.ee/en/

From Tallinn train station to Narva: More faster way to get to Narva is by train. Tickets can be bought via online or directly in the train as well. First train leaves at 07:00 and last at 18:15. Schedule of the train and tickets can be found here: https://elron.ee/en/

From Tallinn train station to Kohtla-Jarve: Tickets can be bought via online or directly in the train as well. First train leaves at 07:00 and last at 18:15. Stop where you need to go out is called Jõhvi. Schedule of the train and tickets can be found here: https://elron.ee/en/

The necessary documents for reimbursement of travel

1. Tickets (bus, train, boarding passes, flight tickets);

2. Invoice – where the price is, your name(if the case), time;

3. Provement of payment (bank excerpt, credit card online payment-emails, paper bill)

Please before you will buy tickets confirm it with us.

Financial support

Pocket money: 4 EUR per day (116-124 EUR per month)

Food allowance: 145 EUR per month

Accommodation will be provided in shared flats.

For more details :

Beata Lamauskaite, project coordinator

email: volunteering@vitatiim.ee, beata@vitatiim.ee; facebook:https://www.facebook.com/beata.lamauskaite