ESC: Activities for Disadvantaged Children in Foster Care Homes

Care2Travel is a non-governmental non-profit organisation that has been working with volunteers for over 10 years. Our vision is a world where citizens are socially aware and motivated towards working for positive change. We believe that by education and good examples people will be able to help one another and create a world where we can live together, hence our motto 'Think together, learn to help'. By creating positive volunteering experiences, we popularize volunteering activity in Romania, thus supporting the growth of an active civil society. Our mission is to connect volunteers from different nationalities in working together on responsible placements that support their personal development and the development of the local community. We aim to popularize volunteering and offer a volunteering experience that encourages people to work toward making the community better. Volunteering makes it possible to erase prejudices, promote interculturality, allow the community and volunteers to learn from each other, and exchange competencies and experiences between them, which can greatly improve not only our local community but also communities around the world. Since 2011 our international volunteers work in the following placements within the local community: Teaching, Childcare, Animal Care, After School Support, NGO support, and Agriculture. In addition, since 2019 we have organized 2 ESC individual volunteering projects, hosting 4 volunteers for 10 months for the “European Thinking - Cleaner Environment” project and 8 volunteers for 6 months for the “Teach English in Villages through Non-formal Activities!” project. Currently, we are hosting 3 participants for 10 months for the “Practicing Solidarity in Children’s Homes” project. We have also sent and supported 19 local young people abroad to volunteer in various European countries. Care2Travel’s main target groups are the following: the disadvantaged children from the rural areas near Miercurea Ciuc who attend the After School Clubs we work with, those who go to the rural schools in the villages where we host summer camps every year, the disadvantaged children from the foster care homes we work with, and all those locals, who attend the different clubs and events hosted by us. We mostly receive support and work with, international volunteers (usually between 18-30 years) who come to obtain a greater view of the world, local volunteers (usually between 16-20 years) that help to enhance the local community, and those NGO’s & governmental institutions that host our volunteers, supporting them to improve their capacity to utilize the volunteers.