📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Rio de Oro is a non profit association whose aim is to provide medical care and assistance to Saharawi people, especially kids with different kinds of disabilities (physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental). Saharawi (desert people) are living in refugee camps in the southwest of Algeria. The Sahrawi refugees have survived the great exodus from the Western Sahara: endless marches in the desert in 1975. Rio de Oro was established in 2000 and helps Saharawi people with handicap problems directly in Algeria and in Italy. The main activities of Rio de Oro are: distance support for disabled, support to the schools of special education, health care in refugee camps, experimental gardening in the desert, welcome summer camps and health care in Italy for disabled children (6-11 years old). Website (only in Italian): http://www.riodeoro.it/
💼 What the programme involves
The international volunteers will be helping the staff and numerous national volunteers work with Saharawi children (6-11 years old) with different kinds of disabilities (physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental). This means that in most of the cases the kids are not self-sufficient. Daily activities of the international volunteers will include the following: feeding the children (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks), getting them dressed, changing the diapers, washing them, helping clean the school, cooking together. But also we need volunteers to come with a lot of energy to play, run and push a wheelchair for races or go to the beach with the children. The shifts during the day and night will be very flexible (to be arranged with the campleader and with local volunteers) so flexibility and adaptability are strongly required.English will be the working language of the workcamp but any language skills are welcome Along with English, the main spoken languages in the workcamp usually are: Italian (most of our volunteers are local), Spanish (Western Sahara used to be a Spanish colony before the Moroccan occupation and the leaders that come with the kids are fluent Spanish speakers) and, of course, Hassaniya, the arabic dialect the kids speak. Nevertheless, don t worry, you will manage to understand the kids, some of them speak fluent Italian and there will be a lot of interprets to help
🏠 Accommodation on site
The international volunteers will be hosted at the primary school in the city centre along with the national volunteers and the children. The school is equipped with: 5 shared bedrooms that will be appropriately separated for girls and boys, and the kids; bathrooms and a shower for each bedroom common bathrooms; dining room; kitchen; common areas: two halls for activities; gardens with games around the building; Feldenkrais room for the children physical therapy. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided at the canteen by the hosting organization.
📍 About the location
Grottammare is a really nice seaside town of 15.000 inhabitants on Italy s Adriatic coast, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region.TERMINAL: Nearest airports are ROME (Ciampino or Fiumicino), BOLOGNA and ANCONA. Grottammare bus station is the nearest terminal.
⚠️ Requirements
Project-related motivation letter is required. We don t need people with specific curriculum but aware about the topic and really motivated to contribute to the project. Any qualification or previous experience as nurse, physiotherapist or educator etc. is very welcome.
ℹ️ Additional information
Project-related motivation letter is required. We don t need people with specific curriculum but aware about the topic and really motivated to contribute to the project. Any qualification or previous experience as nurse, physiotherapist or educator etc. is very welcome.