The project „Volunteering for a Better Life“, № 2019-3-BG01-ESC11-077759, funded by the European Solidarity Corps Program, started on 01.01.2020 and has a duration of 3 months.
The main goal of the project is to promote volunteering and solidarity among young people by engaging 25 volunteers from Bulgaria and Romania in activities supporting the inclusion and socialization of disadvantaged youth, which will support their active participation in youth civil society at the local level.
The candidate for the project is Bokaya Association – an organization that works actively with young people and has extensive experience in implementing youth-oriented projects. The partner organizations in the project are Asociatia Act Integration – a Romanian youth organization working in the field of development of active youth civil society at local, regional and national level.
Within the project, 25 volunteers – 13 from Romania and 12 from Bulgaria, will take part in a 21-day volunteer service, in which they will work with local disadvantaged youth from the city of Vidin and through the implementation of various activities will support their social inclusion and involvement in local civil society processes.
It is very important for these young people to take measures to facilitate their social inclusion, which is the basis for leading a normal life. Supporting them will largely allow them to feel important to the local community and able to change their lives and take steps towards full personal development.
The young volunteers, through their participation in the set project activities, will gain valuable experience and skills related to:
- work with disadvantaged young people in order to support, integrate and socialize in everyday public life;
- interaction with representatives of the local community and promotion of important personal qualities such as solidarity, tolerance and empathy;
- supporting the development of civil society by working with a specific target group
- improvement of language competences and communication in a foreign language – overcoming the language barrier between Bulgarian and Romanian youth is the basis of effective communication, which will lead to the successful implementation of the planned volunteer activities;
- development of intercultural dialogue, tolerance, equal opportunities and non-discrimination;
- use of work methods based on non-formal learning, through which young people will work in a team and develop their skills;
- work in creative workshops, which will be the basis for discovering and developing talents and talents to be realized through creative and creative actions;
Through the implementation of the volunteer service, the team of Bokaya Association, in partnership with Asociatia Act Integration, will help to sustainably integrate disadvantaged young people into everyday life, thus enabling them to live fully as full citizens of the country. . By participating in various activities organized and coordinated by the volunteer team, young people will expand their worldview and will be integrated into modern socio-economic processes.