ALMANYA 2011-08

Contact person: Doris Hofer
Coordinating organisation: aha Tipps Infos für junge Leute
Host: St. Gallus - Hilfe für behinderte Menschen: http://www.gallus-hilfe.de/
Location: Meckenbeuren, Germany
Deadline: 12/10/2011
Start: 01/04/2012
End: 31/03/2013

The St. Gallus Hilfe for disabled people has been first accredited as sending and hosting organisation in 2004 and has since hosted two volunteers per year and sent approximately two volunteers per year.
We want to give young people in Europe the opportunity to get an insight into the living conditions for young people with impairments in Germany. The encounter with people with disability should be thought provoking and can influence young volunteers in their future plans. Through their volunteer service young people are able to experience that they can offer assistance to disabled people and feel that they are needed. They learn to take on responsibility for themselves and for others. Values like humanity and solidarity can be experienced and lived. By offering these experience, this service is a contribution to the European community of values.
Young people with disability are supported in important aspects of their day-to-day life and can get into contact with young people from other countries.
The exchange with the partner organisations brings up new thoughts and ideas for the development within our own organisation.

Tasks
Children and young people with disabilities usually need support in their organisation of their spare time. Usually there is not enough staff in homes to offer interesting and adequate activities. Above all young people with disability feel the same needs as all other young people: they want to hang out with friends and be part of a group, instead of staying home with their parents, which they feel dependent off. The contact with a young volunteer can satisfy this need and offers great possibilities to a young person with disability. The programm Happy Hours wants to offer with the help of the volunteers greater freedom and more possibilities in the organisation of their free time. The volunteer will work with the team of a residential group, which normally is made up by three or four experienced members and two to three helpers and attends to eight childern or young people.Within this team the volunteers receive personal and professional guidance.The volunteers will work with the youngsters after school and sometimes on weekends and offer activities outside the St Gallus-Hilfe. The volunteers have the possibility to get to know the situation of people with disabilities in Germany. In their everyday life they can explore their abilities in contact and communication with young people with disabilities and develop a sensitivity for the social and spatial barriers in the life of children and youngsters with disability. The volunteers can connect their own recreational activities with those of handicapped people and learn how to actively devise, plan and implement own ideas. They take over the responsibility to represent in the interests of the children and youngsters and learn to put those interests into the fore when offering recreational activities. The volunteers will not only work in the teams of the residential groups, but also work in a team with other volunteers the same age as them. Thus, they can get into contact with young people outside the St Gallus Hilfe as well. The St Gallus Hilfe offers adequate accomodation in form of a personal appartment on the grounds of the St Gallus Hilfe and if wished, can also offer meals. The volunteers will attend a language course in Ravensburg and attend the necessary seminars of an EVS. Additionally they will attend the supporting programme for the German volunteers.

Criteria
Only applications sent to doris@aha-ravensburg.de will be considered. You have to state in the motivation letter, why you want to participate in the project in the St. Gallus Hilfe and how you can contribute. Aplications with general Motivation Letters will not be considered

Procedure
The tutor of the project will select the volunteer based on his/her presentation in the motivation letter. The selection takes place on 17. October 2011, all applicants will be notified. The dates of the volunteer service are still flexible.