Romania: ESC: Solidarity in the Community 5

About the local hosting organization

CDC is a youth NGO in a rural community focused on providing young people opportunities for personal and professional development through nonformal learning.Curba de Cultură is all about reaching out to rural youth. We are an NGO committed to non-formal learning, to culture and to participation opportunities. Our focus is to improve education levels and community engagement for the young people living in rural environment in Romania. We take our work very seriously, yet we do it in a relaxed, witty and humorous spirit. A youthful spirit.Our main goal is to revitalise rural environment. In our view, change finds its most fertile ground in the ones most aptly equipped for change: YOUTH. Their energy and their desire to set a new way of doing things inspired us to provide for them an organisational framework capable of allowing them to implement this change for themselves and for the community they live in. We believe that our projects function as a pilot initiative addressing the issues of rural development, educational access and better opportunities for the ones who need change and a better life within the rural area.Our organisation's headquarters are based in Izvoarele, a small rural community near the town of Vălenii-de-Munte, in Prahova county, Romania. The other affiliate organisations we run are located in Roșia Montana, in Alba county, Transylvania and in Slon village, Prahova county. The youth centres are offering information services, coaching, public libraries, leisure time activities and youth advocacy.Curba de Cultură focuses on teenagers and youth development. Our mission is to use non-formal education as a complementary method to the formal educational system for young people. We want to create the premises for a better development of the young people and their more suited integration within their respective communities. We want to make young people aware that they actively belong to their local and national culture.For the period of 2014-2018, we, at Curba de Cultură, have prepared a multi-layered strategy targeting our core objectives.Operationally, we aim at:• Increasing international exposure for young people in rural communities through Youth Exchanges developed by young people;• Hosting EVS volunteers in youth centres in Izvoarele and Rosia Montana in non-formal learning, rural development and personal development related projects;• Capacity building for rural youth organisations in Europe through participation in trainings, seminars and job shadowing mobilities ;• Providing residence opportunities for young artists with an interest in studying rural communities;• organizing contact making events for establishing relevant partnerships in youth projects in Europe;• developing a programme for art residencies in order to create a strong link between performative art and the rural environment, and also to provide the place for reflection and work dedicated to young artists.

Presentation of the programme

Be part of a team of volunteers that will help the life in the local community. Do you like to do some physical work, walk around, interact with locals, chat with youngsters and share some of your experiences? Then you should be in our team! We gather 20-24 people to help less fortunate locals in their households with autumn chores and preparations for the winter, to arrange and prepare our youth centres, to provide learning activities to youngsters, to do some cleaning actions and so on. So the work you will do will vary from cleaning actions, to fixing stuff, painting or chopping wood to games and activities with youngsters, workshops and intercultural events. A little bit of everything is needed in our community. Spend 30 days in our community and be solidary. And if you would like to stay longer afterwards, we can look for options. If you apply, check your email often and your spam folder. We write to candidates quite fast.

About the accomodation

We will provide you accommodation in a shared house in one of the villages together with the other volunteers. You will share the rooms as well. The accommodation costs are covered by us and you will also receive a food allowance and pocket money. Local transport is covered by us, be it by reimbursing your tickets or with our cars. The international travel costs are also reimbursed according to the limits of the ESC guide. You will have wifi and phone sim cards. Check the infopack here: https://jumpshare.com/share/rv9I7r9N1t6LjDnY0WB8

About the leisure activities

We will prepare you for life in the community, how things work in the association, you will get some basic Romanian lessons and some basics of nonformal learning. We have a health and security instruction, a bit of teambuilding and additionally we help you with your personal learning.

Requirements

The Participant profile: We are looking for people that are up for this challenge, willing to live in rural Romania for a month, and not afraid to get dirty from time to time. Also cheerful and enthusiastic people, able to communicate in English, 18-30 years old and able to adapt to tasks and different schedules. No need for special skills, just energy, will to help and good mood.Deadline: