Travel with intention - Volunteering 2.0

Travel with intention - Volunteering 2.0

Sustainable Development Department | Talent Management

Margit Barna, Project Manager of the Egyesek Youth Association, prepared a really exciting and interactive presentation for the final event of this year's SUSchool series.

The slogan of the association "We Are Complete With You" was particularly true throughout the whole lecture, as the audience had the chance to actively participate in the one-hour event, in the form of a quiz-like presentation and different games.

Margit mentioned that the Egyesek Association works as a host and sending institution, organising trainings and sending young people abroad for various training courses. In Hungary, the so-called Creative Space youth training centre welcomes volunteers from abroad for a long term, with most of them staying for one year.

Participants have the chance to get involved in different camps throughout Europe, for example in topics such as media and communication, skills development, personal development, methodological and strategy-based or long-term trainings. Various topics are offered, volunteers have the opportunity to work with children and elderly people, participate in sports camps, or even work in the environmental protection field.

The costs of participating in EU-based projects are largely covered by the host organisation. Of course, it is not uncommon that some host organisations ask for a registration fee or even for a symbolic contribution to participate in the programme, but the value of the experience and the network participants establish there will far outweigh that amount.

Margit emphasised that the membership of Egyesek in the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations guarantees the reliability of their programmes. Before applying for a volunteer programme, many of us might wonder what exactly we need to know about the organisation we are going to actively involved with for several weeks. The member organisations of the Alliance must meet certain quality criteria, for example that their programmes follow certain values, such as environmental protection or human rights. It is also essential that any volunteer programme they offer serves the interests of the local community, so it is assured that you avoid a camp that has no effective benefit for the local community, but solely serves the business interests of the intermediary companies.

Particularly good news for high school students is that youth exchange programmes are available under the age 18 as well, so our audience could start to plan a lifetime experience from now on for the next summer holiday. At the end of the lecture, everyone raised his or her hands when it came to the question who was planning to participate in a similar volunteering programme in the near future.

 

Sustainable Development Department