YOuths 4 Youth

‘Youths 4 Youth’ is a European (volunteering teams’ project designed in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC)
The project is developed for international volunteers who want to experience youth work in a different context and country. The service consists of 2 weeks of volunteering on one of the Flemish Don Bosco playgrounds. The volunteers will be divided into country groups and will be active on one of the Don Bosco oratories (for example: 2 Czech volunteers go to Don Bosco Genk, 2 Spanish + 2 Maltese volunteers go to DB Heverlee). The aim is to create an enjoyable time for the children from the age of 4 to 16 on these oratories.
The volunteers are expected to work together with other young Belgian volunteers (weekly about 40 volunteers) to carry out the program. The volunteers work together in planning, implementing and evaluating the program. During this service, we strongly promote active participation in all the tasks and duties, formal and non-formal moments with children and other volunteers.
The volunteers will learn a lot from working with young people in a non-formal context. This is a simple but very effective working method which they can take home and implement easily in their own working area.
During the weekends, the international volunteers will take part in a joint program organized and carried out by Belgian trainers and youth workers. The program will offer training, evaluation, intercultural activities and cultural sightseeing.

Focus on inclusion
There will be a specific focus on inclusion during the project. Creating an inclusive society is one of the priorities of the European Solidarity Corps program. That is why we chose to work on inclusive youth work. The volunteers will get an introduction about inclusive youth work in Flanders and will share experiences how this done in their home countries and sending organizations.
During the weeks on the oratories, the volunteers will analyze the inclusive working style and will organize an action, activity or a campaign to improve to inclusive way of working. There can be a focus on:
- promotion campaign to reach outsocial inclusive target groups (children and animators)
- actions to lower barriers for inclusion
- concrete actions to make games and activities more inclusive
- infocampaign on inclusion…all different but all equal…
- etc…
The volunteers will be supported during this process by a big team of volunteers.
At the end of the project we reflect on the whole process with the purpose to develop ideas and actions to take to the own organization where they can be implemented.