Target group Italian volunteers will work with in Dragasani

Starting with December 2010 Pro Xpert Association develop the selection of the group of learners that we intend to involve in the project – families (from Dragasani and neighbouring villages) at risk of social exclusion due to different reasons: low level of income, leaving in isolated rural areas, single parents and their children, Roma families etc.

In three month we selected 20 families – parents and children (5 families from Roma minority, 5 families from isolated rural areas and 10 families with a low level of income) and presenting them the project and Romanian volunteers. Together with our senior volunteers we draw a schedule of courses of dance (folk and modern) and different out-door activities that they will develop with the learners both before and after the exchange.

By the end of May we will also decide with our partner the courses that Italian volunteers will develop during their stay in Romania (including a course of Italian language and some artistic courses).

Project launching in Dragasani

The official launch of the project took place Wednesday, 10 November 2010, in the Meeting Room of Dragasani Town Hall, with a press conference where participated more than 20 persons from local media, representatives from local authorities, staff and volunteers of Pro Xpert Association. We presented the project – aim, objectives, activities, expected results – and made public the selection criteria: senior 50+ with artistic hobbies and/or abilities and availability for outdoor activities, being able to share their talents among the learners and other target groups of partner organization.

Pro Xpert Association organized a first selection among the senior volunteers we already worked with in other projects developed in Dragasani town. The main reason we choose this town is that we found two very nice and active senior volunteers (see the full list of volunteers here) that speak Italian very well (as their mothers were Italian citizens) and they are very motivated to be involved in the project. As we already know that it’s difficult to find Italian people that speak English (even the official language of the partnership is English) we appreciated that two Romanian volunteers that are almost native Italian speakers could practically solve any language barrier.

First partners’ virtual meeting

On 7th October 2010 took place the first effective activity of the partnership created by the project – a video-conference where both entities involved – made acquaintance of each other by web.

There were about 20 participants – staff members and some senior volunteers of both partners.

We reviewed the project, activities and financial plan (as for Romanian partner the amount of money approved is slightly less than in the application form) and clarified more technical issues.

We also mapped out what skills we brought as individuals partners to the project.

Meeting at LUETEC

test

Kick off meeting at Pro Xpert Association

On 22 Septeber 2010 Pro Xpert Association organized a kick-off meeting in order to make known the project among all interested persons the organization work with. There were 23 participants from the staff of the organization (including volunteers’ mentor – Mrs. Psychologist Maria Popescu), some young volunteers and representatives from some of our collaborators (Public Library “Antim Ivireanul”, Public Library from Dragasani etc.)

We presented them the project, made a list of “key persons” who express their availability to be involved in the project, established some tasks, made a first draft of activities calendar (Gantt chart), outlined a first resources needed analysis (human, financial, logistic etc.)

Impact

Learning outcomes

1.   A brochure of best practices (in Romanian and Italian languages), containing the most relevant aspects of the volunteers exchange and how sending and hosting organizations used the senior volunteers’ knowledge, skills and life experiences in adults’ education process.
2. Six portfolios with volunteers’ activities in each organization (12 in total)
3. A DVD with short movies during the project
4. A website of the project
5. A core skilled 50+ Volunteers who can train other people in their own communities, using both their knowledge and personal life experience and the knowledge&experience gained by the project.

Social and personal development of the volunteers

•   specific task related skills developed: communication skills for working with people outside their environment, artistic skills in other culture and traditions
• increased personal, linguistic, social and intercultural skills
•  increased wider interests, motivation, and personal responsibility for learning
• enhanced the sense of personal well-being, self-worth and social value
• improved self esteem & regard, able to view future events as opportunities
• a more developed ability to work co-operatively & communally

Other impacts and benefits

• developed understanding of the value of variety – especially amongst individuals, cultures and beliefs
• enhanced the sense of belonging to a trans-national community
• deeper understanding of the value of an inter-connected Europe and appreciation of the variety of social life contained within
• a “starting point” in order to progress from this project and explore their own full potential in life

Volunteers’ role and tasks

Both partner organizations will develop an activities plan for the volunteers to be host, taking into account both the organizations’ needs and capacity and the volunteers’ background (knowledges, experiences, skills).

In this respect partners will exchange documents related to each organization’s needs, profile of their target groups and their volunteers to be involved in the exchange. Then partners will identify the best way to use the knowledge and experiences of future hosting volunteers.

In Romania the hosting volunteers will work with one of the most fragile target group Pro Xpert work with: families at risk of social exclusion due to different reasons: low level of income, leaving in isolated rural areas, single parents and their children, Roma families etc. We will select about 20 families – parents and children (5 families from Roma minority and 5 families from isolated rural areas) and involved them in different social activities as: courses of dance (folk and modern), courses of different arts (painting, crafts, modeling – depending of LUETEC volunteers’ skills and abilities), courses of Italian language – very important especially for those families that has one or more members gone to work in Italy (or intending to do that). In all activities we will try to involve different generations – parents, children, grandparents if possible.

The main activities will be developed in Dragasani, a small but very nice town in Valcea County

In Italy the hosting volunteers will work with seniors that attend activities LUETEC usually develop: courses, labs, foreign language (English/French) lessons, conferences etc. and they will actively participate in the activities carried out by LUETEC according to the period settled, having the possibility to better know the local reality Italian partner work in. They will compare with our learners and their families on different themes giving a big room to the socialization activities.

Both Romanian and Italian volunteers will also gather as many information as possible regarding arts, traditions and culture from the hosting organizations and will draw training modules including elements from both cultures. When they will go back home they will organize in their own communities a few seminars and workshops in order to disseminate as many issues related to their host country and organization.

The added value brought by each volunteer in the project consist of the knowledge and personal life experiences they will make available for the use of target groups of their hosting organization.

On the other hand, Romanian and Italian organizations will work together, share knowledge and life experiences of seniors and enrich them with elements of partner’s senior volunteers and this will be the added value brought by each organization to the other.

Aims and theme of the volunteering activity

The aims of the volunteering activity are:

1. to contribute to the personal self-development of the 12 volunteers involved by offering them the possibility to volunteer in other country, valorize their knowledge and life experience in learning activities and improving in this way both their knowledge related to culture, traditions, customs and lifestyle of that country and their abilities in learning to learn, communication in a foreign language, social, cultural and civic skills
2. to help different categories of disadvantaged persons from the two regions where partners are working in improving their communication abilities (including communication in a foreign language), social, cultural and civic skills by involving them in self development activities (cultural, artistic, out-door etc.) organized with senior volunteers both from Romania and Italy.

The theme of the volunteering activity consist of finding the most proper ways to use the senior’s knowledge and life experience in the life long learning process.

Partners:

The coordinator – Pro Xpert Association Ramnicu Valcea – is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established in 2005 in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the local community and to the Romanian Society’s synchronization with the European Society by offering technical assistance in several fields such as ICT, communication and partnership between public institutions and civil society, strategic planning, environment etc. More details here

The partner – Libera Università Europea terza età Campania – LUETEC is a no profit organization set up in 2000 as a lifelong learning education center both for young people and adult-senior citizens. The main aim of LUETEC is to meet their life-long educational needs for personal development and for improving their work-related skills, as well as supporting their needs for social networking and general well-being. As many organizations working in this field the main challenge is to contribute to the sustainable development of the local community. More details here

What is it about

The project aims to enable local communities to draw on the potential of senior citizens as a source of knowledge/competence/experience and is focused on promoting the active ageing process and emphases the contribution of seniors to our societies at the level of the two partner organizations and local communities they’re working in.

12 seniors (6 from Romania and 6 from Italy) will volunteer in a different European country –valorize their knowledge and life experience in learning activities and improving in this way both their knowledge related to culture, traditions, customs and lifestyle of that country and their abilities in learning to learn, communication in a foreign language, social, cultural and civic skills. Volunteers will be mentored and supported in their planning and executing their transnational and intercultural dialogue and skills development. They will develop artistic and language (Italian) courses, out-door activities and be an integrant part of the hosting organization they will work with for three weeks.

A brochure of best practices will be edited and printed both in Romanian and Italian, containing the most relevant aspects of the volunteers exchange and how sending and hosting organizations used the senior volunteers’ knowledge, skills and life experiences in adults’ education process.