Associação Mais Cidadania

Context

Associação Mais Cidadania (AMC) was born in 2003: the organization is settled in the city centre of Lisbon, in Bairro Alto, one of the most typical and historical neighbourhoods, very cool and freak, full of bars and small music clubs with every kind of music during the night and plenty of fashion shops between old styled cafés open during the day. Lisbon is a very multicultural capital with lots of people coming from African Portuguese-speaking countries, Brazil, Asian countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and India and full of youngsters coming from all over Europe. We work in an office in an old building that was a primary school and has been transformed into a Youth Centre and office.

The team

Fifteen people are employed and six are working daily in the office – the general coordinator, three project managers, the accountant and a graphic designer. Plus we have many volunteers cooperating in different projects; around 100 people are associated and around 20 people are active volunteers who participate in one or more projects according to competencies and availability.
AMC is also the promoter of two youth centres, one in the same building, +Skillz, which is open during the afternoon for the youngsters to come after school. A big part of these youngsters leave in or near Bairro Alto and most of them have a difficult life, with problems at home and/or school. The other youth centre is Apelarte, in Apelação, a neighbourhood built 20 years ago to host displaced people with low opportunities and in a situation of social exclusion. This neighbourhood is within a city close to Lisbon called Loures.

The community

The community where the association works is composed by people from distinct backgrounds but generally facing social and economic obstacles; unemployment and low scholar level are barriers that influence the lives of families and low education is linked to risk behaviours. With our youth centre, we work against social exclusion creating opportunities of training for adults (professional and informatics) and we organize daily activities for children and youngsters in order for them to have a safe place where to go after school or in replacement of the school/family. Here they can do their homework with professional “school support”, they can find workshops of plastic art, dance, painting, handicrafts and also do some trips in the city or visit nice places during the holidays.

Our method

Since our aim is to promote the citizenship and the participation in society, our methodology of work is very open to new ideas and constant discussion, for this, working in a multicultural context, we always like to acquire new tools and suggestions to be able to face different realities we work with in a multifaceted way.
AMC views itself as a learning community, working towards an Educative Society. In order to achieve this goal, the Association searches innovative perspectives for action, that can help turn to reality the potential for transformation and education that Citizenship possesses. This helps to complement the action of other institutions in the work field (such as schools), and to cooperate in the construction of solutions to the challenges of modern societies – building testing and evaluating projects for the promotion of “good attitudes” and “good practices”, that may be adopted in other contexts with multiplying effects. As a “learning community”, the Association builds its action on the ability to involve in an active and conscious way its associates and co-operators, organized in project teams (giving special importance to young members) and working in cooperation with other partner institutions.

The EVS volunteers

Firstly, we dedicate time to the volunteers for them to settle in and feel integrated in our reality, in several directions:
• Arranging good accommodation in a house with other EVS volunteers to share the experience in a pleasant way;
• Language support: depending on the needs of the volunteers, we provide a language course adapted to the level they need;
• Fostering their contact with all aspects and environments of the project we work with: schools, partners, associations, institutions and youngsters they could work with.

These are the different profiles of long-term volunteers we are looking for to work with us in the office:
1. Promotion of local intercultural and intergenerational dialogue – direct work with the community and integration in our local projects
2. Communication and dissemination – image, video and photography
3. Communication and dissemination – writing and blogging

And these are the profiles of volunteers we are open to integrate in our youth centres, Apelarte and +Skillz:
1. Animator in daily activities with youngsters – long-term (nine to twelve months)
2. Animator in daily activities with youngsters – short-term (two months)