Mental Health for ESC in a pandemic 101

We are currently looking for partner organizations for a Seminar under KA1 action! We intend to apply for Erasmus+ funding on October, 1st. If you are interested in being our partner organization, read the call below!

2020 will be remembered as the year of confinement. Covid-19 took the world by surprise, a virus that we know so little for it´s multiple possible mutations, and whose devastation has been spreading all over to the point of declaring a State of Emergency in many countries, closing borders, asking people to stay home and avoid physical contact and always using mask.

From one day to the next, we were living inside a sci-fi book and had to re-think and re-arrange ways of work, socialize, nurture our family and friends, use private and public spaces, avoid stepping out of the house unless in case of medical/food need or any other emergence, prohibition of living residential area..And if all this sudden changes were tremendous disruptive for all of us, imagine being outside of your comfort zone, new to a new country, new city, new house, new friends, new co-workers, full of expectations...and now you cannot leave this new house of yours. For months...

Working towards motivation, in a volunteering project, is a shared responsibility between the volunteer itself, the hosting organization and even the sending partner. But when all changed early this year, and we were all stepping in a “new world”, what kind of strategies have we implemented while keeping hosting and working with ESC volunteers? How did the daily logistics have changed? How did we work and improve the well being of the volunteers and our own at the same time, as youth workers, tutors, mentors..? What worked, where did we fail, what could we do differently from now on?

In this Seminar we hope to gather organizations with hosting experience (1 or more projects) and especially with ongoing projects during the pandemic in order to debate all this and many more questions regarding hosting volunteers while being able to work and nurture them from far away.

During 6 days it's expected to address practices and challenges of ESC experience before and after the pandemic; embrace this “brave new world” of strategies for mental health and wellbeing of ESC volunteers during and post-pandemic; create and share practices, failures and new approaches to be disseminated through a podcast.

Main objectives:
- Promoting healthy debate among organizations, youth workers, coordinators, tutors and mentors regarding ESC practices before, during and post-pandemic;
- Sharing strategies adopted during the pandemic while hosting volunteers and ways of coping with mental health and wellbeing;
- Creating new approaches and strategies, as a group;

Conditions:
- Travels will be reimbursed up to the limit established by the Erasmus+ Program Guide within 3 months after the activity, given that all travel documents have been submitted to the coordinator, as well as the activity carried out in full by the participants and the partner organizations;
- accommodation, food and activities will be covered by the host organization;

Partner Organization´s responsibilities:
- Be able to send 2 participants (one youth worker + one mentor) with and/or without relevant experience but currently engaged in ongoing ECS projects;
- Be able to help and support in all the necessary logistics regarding preparation but also executing outcomes and dissemination activities, contributing for the overall accomplishment of the project

To be partners, you should:
- Be an eligible institution from a Program or Partner Country (having all the necessary documents up-to-date on the Participant Portal);
- Agree to all the conditions of this call;

Send your PIF to international@a-spin.pt by September, 25th (please make sure you mention the title of the project “Mental Health for ESC in a pandemic 101” in the subject line of your email).

Please share this call with all interested organizations. We are looking forward to your applications and to cooperating with you!