Elder's Solidarity Project in Local Communities - GRUNDTVIG Senior Volunteering

1. GRUNDTVIG SENIOR VOLUNTERING PROJECT Elder’s Solidarity in Local Communities 2011-1-IT2-GRU14-26476 http://totiusmundiunadomus.wordpress.com/elders-solidarity-in-local-communities/

2. SENIOR VOLUNTERING PROJECT PARTNERS: TOTIUS MUNDI UNA DOMUS, Messina, ITALY President: DORINA COMAN ORIZONT CULTURAL T , Craiova, ROMANIA President: RODICA MIALA GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

3. SUMMARY • The project aims to provide solidarity among elders in our communities through the active participation of Volunteers, within the local environment of the participating organizations. Participants will be engage in volunteering activities organized by our institutions that will benefit seniors acquiring knowledge and experiences from volunteering in a different country, within a different cultural framework and traditions. • They will learn working methods and approaches in dealing with people of different nationalities, generations, backgrounds, with special needs, lonely, getting a new experience in the benefit of our communities in Messina and Craiova. • Both groups of Seniors will offer their volunteering services and engage in cultural activities, learning each others’ traditions, languages, family’ events, religious ceremonies, discovering similarities and differences, and being active as European citizens. • Senior Volunteers will teach each other and elder guests on the health benefits of herbs and healthy food, having the opportunity to use local products and cook traditional food from both countries. • The approach of this project is to provide solidarity and support to elders in the local community through the active learning of Seniors. • In this way, Seniors will feel that they contribute in a good cause while they gain knowledge, skills and pride. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

4. Target groups: • persons less fortunate, at risk of marginalisation, with special needs, in the centre, disadvantaged area, immigrants, travellers, gipsies, people with low level of culture, parents and grand parents who wants to give a good education for their children, to understand and to give them good advices, to be a model, to plant enthusiasm, to refresh their attitude, to learn to became tolerant, flexible, to adapt their way to live integrated in the needs of society, • persons in difficulty young or older, discouraged persons, who lost their jobs, • persons who want to adapt their knowledge, competences, abilities, • persons without their own family living in Medical Centre • Centre of the Street ‘s minors, special schools for young with disability, • persons that are living in disadvantaged socio economical area • persons, adults, learners living in rural area – Cultural Houses, libraries, gipsy communities, • The volunteers will be involved in learning and volunteering activities with all these groups because they will follow the planned activities of our association. This way they will get a more clear view of our activity and their message will have a stronger impact. The community will understand that our volunteering initiatives are complex, not punctual and are able to build a bridge between the ones needing help and the ones needing it. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

5. JUSTIFICATION: • The Volunteer Program builds trust and respect helping us to work together, to make a real difference for people in need of assistance in order to have a normal meaningful life in spite of mistakes they made, health problems or socio-economical misfortune. A senior’s lifestyle can be impacted by widowhood, illness, disability, and changing care giving needs… or even the needs of a parent or spouse. • Together we can find out new options, we can find out our rights, to find out new resources, but most of all, find out where adults seniors can reach out to others in the community with the same challenges. • The non profit-making nature of the activity • Acting as volunteers in any society, the only payment is a drop of happiness in the life of the persons that need a ray of light and the satisfaction of those offering their help. • It is important that the thank we fits the volunteer; • They can be thanked in a way that leaves them feeling truly recognized. • Recognition – happens in an informal way every time a “thank you” is said. • Offering praise to volunteers while they are doing their job • • Send them a letter or a text message to say thank them for their help • • Give them a thank you certificates These include thank you cards, balloons, t-shirts, baseball caps, stickers, pens, pencils, travel coffee mugs, bunting and lots more. • ‘’Certificate of good competences in Volunteering’’, The Volunteer of the year’’ GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

6. General and specific objectives: The general objective of the project is to provide a “European” Solidarity to Local Communities, which would focus on groups of elder people and people with special needs through the initiatives envisioned by our organizations and carried out by our senior volunteers. The specific objectives are: • To provide support to marginalized groups and elders in local communities and to people with special needs; • To equip participant volunteers with knowledge, capacities and skills and provide intercultural learning through the envisioned activities; • To promote an improved comprehension of ageing, so that better use is made of the social and economic potential of senior citizens; • To provide cultural information about the partner countries and the situation of the volunteering work and opportunities for seniors; • To strengthen local communities through volunteer work and to empower day centers and associations with people with special needs; • To improve understanding regarding the role of seniors and volunteering in local communities; • To involve volunteers in other activities, such as foreign language learning, lifestyle, folk traditions, religion and civilization, culture and heritage values; • To inspire more active citizenship and the facilitation of Intergenerational learning and particularly in later life, remaining active as European citizens; • To improve best practices, as a Model of Seniors Volunteers in the benefit of local community while gaining cultural experiences. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

7. The aims and theme of the volunteering activity : • The Senior volunteers involved in the placement and activities in both the receiving and the sending institutions are eager to learn and share their talents becoming actively involved in our initiative. • - enable senior citizens to volunteer in Italy / Romania for non-profit activities, targeted on disadvantaged groups; • - create lasting cooperation between the host and sending organisations around the idea that disadvantaged groups can be revived through common cultural interests; • - enable the local communities involved in the exchange of volunteers to draw on the potential of senior volunteers as a source of knowledge, competence, experience and good practice. • - respond to the educational challenge of an ageing population, adapting them to the European dimension; • - help volunteers with pathways to improving their knowledge and competences; GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

8. AIMS: • For the volunteers the aims are to learn from each other experience increasing their personal, social and intercultural skills, to make a contribution for development and implementations of non-profit activities, to give back the community their resources, to discover a new way to became active citizen, to acquisitive and develop specific task-related skills, discovering new values of the feeling of helping others. • For the sending and hosting organisations the aim is to encourage the exchange of experience, knowledge and good practice, the development of a European collaboration on thematic topics, and to increase their European outlook, to help individuals develop global skills to succeed in getting a new European dimension. • These skills will ultimately lead to greater cooperation and understanding among nations and peoples of the world. We are committed to treating every person with respect, and devoting our energies to helping participants meet their individual and collective goals. • The Project activity will be in the benefits of the community, staff and on the organization themselves, reinforcing the connection between the civil society and the volunteers group.; • rising social and personal development very useful in future volunteers actions; • To give a stimulus for and an effective support to the search for certification as a new training opportunities • -to create means of support that allowed clarification of the way in which their mission should be enforced in the field for senior volunteers; • -a concept of key competence that "leads to a capacity to act and react in an adequate way in potentially complex situations, through mobilising and combining knowledge, attitude and personal proceedings, meaningful and values oriented in a specific context; GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

9. The role and tasks of the volunteers • - to exchange experience in volunteering, • - to continuously keep the contact with the partners; • - to inform the mentors about the progress of the activities; • - to support the target groups they are going to address ; • - to work and adapt to new conditions in a different context; • - to collaborate with the group of local volunteers; • - to organise learning activities and to prepare the necessary materials • - to observe, to evaluate their own and the others’ work; • - to promote the meeting between volunteer supply and demand; • - to promote volunteering and recover its status in the society, • - to encourage seniors to give, to became volunteers in the benefit of community • - to discover a way to use resource of senior volunteers in the benefit of community, • - to rise pride through the feeling of important role/ person/ learning in later life, • - to enhance the number of senior volunteers involved, • - to discover solution, creativity, motivation, innovation, working as a team, family, • - to share culture, civilization, • - to offer a drop of your happiness for less fortunate, • - to share each other language, culture, civilization, • - to promote the social dialogue in public institutions. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

10. Evaluation of the volunteer’s learning • The volunteers learning experience will be evaluated continuously by mentor of both institutions and by group of voluntaries involved using daily, weekly questionnaires, reports of the progress , discussions, appreciation, good advices. We’ll evaluate using questionnaires, information form, periodic evaluations, exit interview write-up, final evaluation by the mentors and volunteers • Formally, volunteers are thanked through celebrations and recognition events planned in their honor. • It is important that ‘’the thanks’’ we fits the volunteer; they can be thanked in a way that leaves them feeling truly recognized. • Recognition – happens in an informal way every time a “thank you” is said. • For learning activities we’ll plane to offer praise to volunteers while they are doing their job: • • to send them a letter or a text message to say thank them for their help • • Give them a ‘’ thank you’’ certificates • These include ‘’thank you’’ cards, balloons, t-shirts, baseball caps, stickers, pens, pencils, travel coffee mugs, bunting and lots more. • ‘’Certificate of good competences in Volunteering’’, The Volunteer of the year’’ GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

11. Practical arrangements: • The duration of the Senior Volunteers exchange will be for 3 weeks, including 2 weekends’ cultural, free –relaxing, pleasant time. • Daily activities were distributed in three parts: • The first week : learning to live each other’s senior life on commentary level; • - meeting volunteers different generation; • The second week: our partners were involved in volunteering activities, also visits/meeting- adult education centers, useful actions against social exclusion of ageing people, activities • The third week: • -Working for ‘’Cultural Guide of Italia and Romania’’ • International -Farewell Dinner • Cultural visit GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

12. Impact and benefits • The Project activity will be in the benefits of the community, staff and on the organization themselves, reinforcing the connection between the civil society and the volunteers group.; • - rising social and personal development very useful in future volunteers actions; • -To give a stimulus for and an effective support to the search for certification as a new training opportunities • -to create means of support that allowed clarification of the way in which their mission should be enforced in the field for senior volunteers; • -a concept of key competence that "leads to a capacity to act and react in an adequate way in potentially complex situations, through mobilising and combining knowledge, attitude and personal proceedings, meaningful and values oriented in a specific context; • -to allow the adults to evidence the competences acquired throughout their lives, their “learning experiences”, which they have not been able to appreciate and value in a conscious way, because it is mostly about competences that are directed to social interaction. • Learning outcomes • The main outcome for the senior volunteers’ participants derives from their direct contact with Italian and the Romanian traditions, faith, crafts and cultural heritage, of their way to feel as part of community and Europe. • All these will raise their awareness regarding the European values of diversity and tolerance and will consolidate seniors’ volunteers’ motivation for lifelong learning programs for adults. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

13. Dissemination, use and share the results • Participating organisations: • -Seniors voluntary will disseminate and use the results, comparing the exchange experience, including the impact of activities on their life, community and on the Institutions; • - Posters, leaflets, article, comments, good practice examples will be used for adults, • - will encourage and give good advice how to stay active, to feel younger, to get independence of your life, to became European active person. • - Info points ‘’ Voluntaries success activities’’, • - Stands and panels will present phases of the project outcomes, photos and results. • - Similar websites will be enriched with project products, http://orizontculturalt.wordpress.com/project-7/ • http://adultstrainingandsocialinclusion.blogspot.com/ • -The project’s website will be maintained for at least 2 years after the completion of the project in order to help sustain on a longer time scale the products of the project, • - Power Point, leaflets of pleasant but useful way of living for European community, • - Final product used for continuing the volunteering, CD/ DVD/ will be handle. • In the local communities: • We’ll present, inform, disseminate through: • - Conferences, workshops, giving new chance, solutions, reinforcing the attitude of seniors, • - Interview on GTV, TVS, • In the wider volunteering community: • -Radio, TV, newspapers, WebPages, using mass media. • -We’ll present the book Cultural Guide of Italy and Romania • –how to succeed’’-common experience, we’ll publish it in English, on our web of the project. GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

14. Elder’s Solidarity in Local Communities GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

15. Elder’s Solidarity in Local Communities GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

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