The «Service Volontaire International» (SVI) is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political association founded and run by volunteers, with origins in France, Belgium, and Vietnam. SVI has received official recognition as a youth organization from the Belgian Ministry of Youth and is accredited by the European Commission to facilitate and coordinate Erasmus+ and European Voluntary Service (EVS) programs. SVI actively participates in international exchange programs in over 80 countries, including Belgium.

Our primary focus is to prepare, deploy, and host volunteers who aspire to participate in international projects or work camps organized by local nonprofit associations.

The organization primarily focuses on fostering intercultural exchanges among young people aged 16 to 30 worldwide, providing them with opportunities to participate in volunteering projects regardless of their age, gender, or skills. In essence, SVI’s main objective is to make international volunteering accessible to a wide range of young individuals. Through these efforts, SVI aims to inspire young people to actively engage with and contribute to the societies they are part of, empowering them to become ethically and socially conscious global citizens who are critical and empathetic.

Consequently, SVI promotes not only solidarity but also active citizenship. The ultimate goal of SVI is to raise awareness among young people about the challenges of our globalized society and help them comprehend the significance of solidarity, diversity, and development within such a society.

Esperanzah! is a world music festival that has offered a varied programme of well-known and lesserknown artists since 2002. Every year it is an alternative line-up, open to the world and based on discovery. A programme that expresses cultural diversity and deliberately goes against the tide of monopolies, algorithms and the mainstream. It takes place at Floreffe Abbey, located between Charleroi and Namur in Belgium.
Z ! Association, organizer of the Esperanzah music festival, aims to design and organize remarkable sites, events or cultural and social activities.

Volunteers will be responsible for cleaning the festival site. They will collect waste so visitors can attend concerts in a welcoming and safe site. They will also be assigned physical tasks. They will have to make festival-goers aware of the protection of the environment. Volunteers will work from 9am to midday and from 1pm to 5pm. Your job is to keep the area clean and tidy. During the festival, volunteers are free to enjoy too! The tasks that need to be done can be physical.

Volunteers will be accommodated in a dormitory.
Kitchen, shower and toilet will be available, but they will share it with another group of volunteers. There will be no washing machine. You will be asked to bring a mattress and a sleeping bag. Do not forget to bring working clothes as it can be rainy from time to time.

Three meals a day are provided for volunteers. Vegetarian volunteers will receive special meals. Only during the festival and not during the days off.

Floreffe is a French-speaking town of Belgium located in the Walloon Region in the province of Namur.
There is a fabulous range of things to do in and around this destination. Nothing compares to watching great masterpieces when your soul needs to be transported. By looking at the fabulous works of art in the Félicien Rops museum, see if you can find a deeper meaning in them.

The project allows you to speak either French or English. You will meet people from all over the world, so English will often be the language used.
Do not forget: you will work with 9 other volunteers on the project. The group can be a support even for linguistic understanding. We do not ask for bilingual people.

Rue du Poirier, 8, 1348 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Arrival days are from Monday to Friday between 11am and 4pm. Outside these hours, we recommend you to take a hotel room on your own. To get to the meeting point you can take the train from the airport: https://www.belgiantrain.be/en.

Clothing: Boots or hiking shoes (you might not want to take nice shoes because you might get VERY dirty). Do not forget, everything will take place outside. Work clothes (for the construction work), and comfortable clothes (for the festival). Summer clothes AND winter clothes because it can get warm or cold!

In Belgium we can have very rainy summers with temperatures around 15°C but we can also have periods of high heat with dry weather and temperatures around 35°C, so we have to check the weather before leaving and be ready for anything. Volunteers need to bring clothes that dry fast because if you get wet, you might have to change clothes several times a day. If you think about bringing clothes that dry fast, you will not end up with only wet clothes left.

European citizens only require a national identity card or a passport for entry into Belgium.
Non-European citizens may need a visa. The visa application must be submitted to the embassy or Belgian consulate in your country of residence.
If your country of residence does not have an embassy or Belgian consulate, please get in touch with the nearest Belgian Embassy, typically located
in a neighboring country.
The visa application process can occasionally be time-consuming. Therefore, it is advisable to apply for a visa at least four weeks before your planned departure. Visa info:

https://diplomatie.belgium.be/fr/venir-en-belgique/visa-pour-la-belgique
If you need an invitation letter, you can contact us at
[email protected]