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Intergenerational Volunteering – Empowering People Project II
Start date: Oct 1, 2014, End date: Mar 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

This was a Programme Countries EVS Project with sending partners from Italy, Spain, Lithuania and Slovenia, involving 6 hosted volunteers in Portugal for 10 months. Intergenerational Volunteering – Empowering People II Project aimed to facilitate a better understanding of common European values, promoting social inclusion, European culture and Active European citizenship. AEVA felt the need of having in the organization young people from different nationalities to join the Portuguese team of intergenerational volunteers, in order to promote an open culturalism mind set to the whole community of Aveiro. The volunteers involved in this project mainly worked with SEN young individuals, helping them in their daily routines and helping them achieving autonomy, organizing for them, with the rest of the team, sport and leisure activities, promoting workshops, helping them in their daily routines, in their learning processes, in becoming autonomous, etc. Apart from this, they were also involved in bio-farming, interacting with SEN individuals. Another important objective of this project was to involve the volunteers in visits to local schools of all levels of education, universities, kindergartens, youth associations, etc, in order to share with the same, their knowledge of respective country, their experience of living and doing volunteering service abroad, the benefits of such experience, etc. They have also helped in the organization of events, seminars, conferences,etc with the intention of promoting the priorities of Communication of the European Commission, such as Sustainable environment, Active European Citizenship, job market and job search, youth in movement and youth employement, live and work in Europe, etc. Finally, they were also involved in classes with teachers to promote intercultural competences among the younger ones and whenever possible 'teaching' the basics of their own language. One of the Italian volunteers also organized Italian courses for the local community and for the students going to Italy for internship/work practices. This project has provided practice based methods which enabled the volunteers have hands-on experience. Volunteers were mentored and supported in their planning and executing of all activities, in the development of cultural dialogue and intercultural skills. Adequate training was also provided whenever needed as, for exemple, in special education and special needs. All of them had Portuguese Language and culture lessons during the whole period. At the end of the project, the volunteers and the whole community have benefited from the intercultural learning and have become cultural richer, without doubt. Volunteers were able to communicate in Portuguese, had more competencies for team working, acquired sustainable environmental skills and were more aware of handicapped people needs and feelings. They have become more inclusive people, accepting more easily the differences among people. Everybody has also become more conscious of the volunteering work value.

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