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EVS - Growing Together
Start date: Aug 1, 2016, End date: Sep 30, 2017 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Europe and the world of today change very quickly and suddenly. Often the changes are difficult to accept and they could put in a difficult situation the most vulnerable part of population, those who are most at risk or exclusion and they mostly feel lost with a sense of eradication. The project "Growing Together" want to bring together two world at risk to be overwhelmed by the Europe of crisis, globalization and migratory flow: young and elderly people. With a European Voluntary Service a young portugues will spend 11 months of service in a residencial house for elderly people in Italy in the Waldensian Valleys. This occasion will provide the volunteer and the beneficiaries the opportunity of confrontation and will create the spaces and moments for a precious exchange of knowledge and competences. The young volunteer will be able to share his/her own knowledge of the contemporary world and its evolution and the elderly people of the residencial house will be able to pass on their knowledge about the traditions and the history of the place.The EVS will be the occasion to open an intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, for an exchange about the share values and to build up a meaning of the European identity through the generations. The youngster will involve the elderly people in creative and leisure activities, particularly complementing them with the use of the new technologies and social media network. From the other side he/she will get to know about the local rural Italian community, with a particular history, those of Waldensian, a protestant minority in Italy, getting in touch directly with the witnesses of that history and culture. The residential house of Asilo is anyway an international and young environment, as it involves other Italian and foreigners volunteers, and cooperate with Diaconia Valdese who manages a hundred of volunteers a year. The volunteer will be able to meet a rural environment but strongly committed at international and European level. The volunteer will participate at the activity of Asilo through planning meeting, workshops (gardening therapy, kitchen, etc...), leisure activities, communication and networking activities with the local community. With the time the volunteer will have the possibility of proposing and leading activities proposed by him/herself. He/she will achieve competences related to the socio-assistance job field in Italy, he/she will learn a foreign language, he/she will be able to put idea into practice, she/he will learn to live with other youngsters coming from different countries and he/she will appreciate the tradition and the cultural expression of this part of Italy.The volunteer will participate at the training organized by Diaconia Valdese where he/she will develop competences and attitude regarding the topics as social inclusion, active citizenship, intercultural, interreligious and intergenerational dialogue. This path will provide the volunteer competences, knowledge, attitude that will prove to be fundamental for his/her future carrier. The participating organizations will strengthen the partnership and will be able to get to know new context and new partner thanks to the network to which the organization are part of. The presence of a young foreigner committed in voluntary project in a territory already strongly involved in the hosting of refugees will represent a positive example of international presence at a local level, helping in this way to overcome stereotypes and racism. The project will also show the possible learning potential in a service with elderly people in terms of human and professional growth and will give back importance to this part of population often relegated at the society borders.
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