2024 – Projects in Latvia

European Solidarity Corps project “Volunteers for Change (Quality Label 2)”




2022-1-LV02-ESC51-VTJ-000067663

Volunteer Lasha BERIKISHVILI from Georgia arrived to Rezekne, Latvia at the beginning of 2024 to work in Pre-school “Namins”. He worked there for 12 months. Volunteer Vanuhi ASPATURIAN from Armenia worked in the Pre-school “Namins” from 04.12.02023-21.10.2024. in Rezekne, Latvia. The main tasks for the volunteers in the kindergarten "Namiņš" consisted of assisting teachers during the workshops, support activities related to the meal serving, preparing the lessons and education tools together with teachers, talking to and playing with children, providing them with language lessons, organizing different music, dance, sport games and activities. Shushan MANUKYAN from Armenia arrived at the end of 2023 and worked in Rezekne Social Department till 21.10.2024. Şaban ÇiçEK from Turkey started his project in 2023 also at the end of 2023 and participated in the project till 04.04.2024. Sona KARAPETYAN from Armenia started the project on 04.12.2023. and worked in Social center till 14.08.2024. All 3 volunteers worked in Rezekne Social Department of the municipality of Rezekne in Multifunctional center with people with disabilities and in Pensioner Day Care center with seniors. The main tasks for the volunteers who worked in Social Department consisted of organizing creative activities in the centers, language workshops, working in the Multifunctional center with people with disabilities. The main motivation of the organization Rezekne City Council Administration “Social Department” to participate in the European Solidarity Corps programme and implement of volunteering activities is to promote solidarity between different generations, nations, cultures and religions, to contribute to strengthening of democracy, citizenship in Europe and European cooperation as well to develop skills of all volunteers and people involved in the work of Social Department. Through the volunteering activities we are able to provide intercultural learning opportunities for our local citizens, as well as for young people and pensioners, giving them a unique opportunity to learn about other countries’ customs and traditions, but at the same time sharing with the volunteers culture, traditions and customs of our nation that is different from many Western European countries.

Muharrem Umut PALABIYIK from Turkey in 2024 worked in the European Association “World-Our Home”. Also Sevcan BOZKURT from Turkey in 2024 worked in European Association “World-Our Home”. Two short term volunteers Kursat DOGAN from Turkey and FATMA ESRA GORMEZ from Turkey worked in the European Association “World-Our Home”. Their tasks consisted of help to the staff in the office, to create some new ideas for the projects, to help in writing the youth projects, to inform Rezekne society about traditions and culture of their country of origin, thus motivating for participation in various European youth exchanges and European Solidarity Corps programme. The volunteers helped in daily work of the staff, communication with partners via e-mail, organization of different events, help with “World-Our Home” home page and social networks. The main motivation of the organization EA “World-Our Home” for implementation of volunteering activities is to promote solidarity between different generations, nations, cultures and religions, to contribute to strengthening democracy and citizenship in Europe and European cooperation. Latvian volunteer Olga STROGONOVA participated in the long-term volunteering project in Armenia. European Association “World-Our Home” send her to work in the organization FUTURE IN OUR HANDS NGO. She was working there for 12 months starting from October 2023 till October 2024. The project objectives are the following: to give young people opportunities to learn new sets of professional skills, gain experience in leadership, team building and communication, develop intercultural dialogue and cooperation between young people and local inhabitants for better employment opportunities in the future. Through this project we want to promote solidarity between nations, to integrate and unite the European volunteers and local young people, promoting European cultures, languages and European Solidarity Corps programme, as well as to make changes in young people's life and environment around them. The project has a great importance in social integration, promotion of motivation of young people from Latgale region to participate in European youth projects. As a result of the project, the partner organization will gain a new experience in cooperation with partners and implementation of a qualified project.

Seminar “Be Active-Be Europen”




From April 8 to 14, European Association “World-Our Home” organized the Erasmus+ youth worker mobility project – seminar “Be Active-Be European” in Rezekne, Latvia. 35 participants from 8 European countries participated in the project – Latvia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Greece, Czech Republic and Poland. The project was financed by the Erasmus+ program and Agency for International Programs for Youth. The aim of this seminar was to give youth workers and youth leaders the opportunity to gain new knowledge and experience, to inspire European youth to actively participate in the upcoming European Parliament elections 2024. The aim of the project was also to discuss with representatives of European organizations the role of young people in EU civic life, promoting participation, raising awareness of the challenges caused by Euroscepticism, studying how the European Union Parliament works, how EU policy is formed and how important the EU elections are and what are the significant achievements of the EU . During the project, participants took part in informative sessions, shared experiences and discussed the positive impact of the EU on its citizens. The goal was achieved and the participants gained new experience, met new European partners, increased the capacity of NGOs providing youth workers with new skills and competences. Within the framework of the project, we cooperated with the East Latvian creative service center “Zeimuls”, Rēzekne City Council. During the project, the Participation event “Youth involvement – for the future of Europe” was organized. Project participants well as Rēzekne City Youth Council, representatives of Rēzekne and regional self-governments, associations that work with youth, consultants of school self-governments took part in the event. The issues relevant to young people related to democracy, participation and active citizenship were discussed together. The topic of participation in the European Parliament elections and why it is important was brought up. Examples of democracy and participation projects were presented, how young people can get involved in various programs and activities. Schools presented their work on participation issues. Young people discussed the possibilities of realizing the European Youth goals. Many thanks to everyone who helped realize this project, as well as to the Erasmus+ program and the Agency for International Programs for Youth in Latvia for funding.

Seminar “CyberPeace: Empowering Youth Against Cyberbullying”




European Association “World-Our Home” ” from 3rd to 9th October 2024 in Rezekne, Latvia organized the Erasmus+ youth worker mobility project – the training course “CyberPeace: Empowering Youth Against Cyberbullying”. 34 participants from 10 European countries participated in the project – Latvia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania, Czech Republic and North Macedonia. The project was financed by the Erasmus+ program and the Agency for International Programs for Youth Republic of Latvia. The project was about and around Cyberbullying, which is a very common problem nowadays, especially among young people. Cyberbullying is one form of violence that has emerged with the development of modern technology and social networks and is characterized by behavior carried out by an individual or group through information technology, repeatedly sending hostile, aggressive or degrading messages to harm or cause discomfort to another person or to a group. According to statistics, every third young person tends to experience bullying and specifically cyberbullying at some point in their lives. The effects of cyberbullying on its victims are well known. It affects their self-esteem, academic achievements, can contribute to absences from schools; it promotes violence and can even lead to suicidal thoughts and attempts. Why is cyberbullying dangerous? Cyberbullying happens 24/7. Today, young people are not safe anywhere. This generation is a digital generation and essentially their lives are online. The Internet interferes with all aspects of their lives. For the past few years, we have read stories in the media about the connection between cyberbullying and teen suicides. The good thing is that most tragedies don’t happen often, but it’s very important to take cyberbullying seriously. This project was created with the aim of promoting the participants’ understanding of cyberbullying and how to identify it, learn about different tools, methods and strategies to prevent cyberbullying in different environments, increase young people’s awareness of the problem of cyberbullying and the importance of joint efforts in solving this problem, gain knowledge about peace, conflict management and safe internet, as well as building new partnerships with youth organizations in Europe. The goal was achieved and the participants gained new experience, met new European partners, increased the capacity of NGOs, providing youth workers and youth leaders with new skills and competences. The project was led by competent trainers Līga Siliņa and Ilze Jēče, who guided the participants towards the achievement of the project goal with using different non-formal education methods. In the project we cooperated also with Eastern Latvian creative service center “Zeimuls”. Many thanks to everyone who helped realize this project, as well as to the Erasmus+ program and Agency for International Programs for Youth Republic of Latvia for the funding.

Training course “Synergy Vectors”




European Association “World-Our Home” together with young, active and very creative young people organized Erasmus + Youth exchange “Synergy Vectors”. Project was organized from 5th-14th August 2024, in Rezekne dictrict, Makašāni vocational school in Latvia. 36 young people from 4 European countries – Czech Republic, The North Macedonia, Italy and Latvia participated in this project. The Erasmus+ Youth Exchange Project, “SYNERGY VECTORS,” was designed to create a single platform for the free interweaving of creative flows of talented people and for the structural building of healthy relationships between people of different psychological vectors. All participants were divided into five groups of talents: Actors, Writers, Filmmakers, Musicians, and Artists. During the first five days of the project, participants studied and gained new knowledge about system vector psychology. They participated in workshops within their talent groups, energizers, icebreakers, intercultural food presentations and physical activities such as floorball, football and hiking to Rezekne. They also conducted improvisational country presentations. The last three days were dedicated to filming. Actors were on set, filmmakers were shooting scenes, screenwriters had previously finished the script and were assisting actors with their roles, musicians were recording the soundtrack and artists were creating the final poster.

 
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