📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
This project is organized by Youth Centre of Parnu. It was formed in 2008 and it follows NGO Parnu Freeschool’s youth work principles. Staff of the centre follow youth workers professional ethics and standards.
The aim of this project is to offer fun and educative summer camps with different subjects for the youngsters aged 7- 21. In every camp there are activities which help the youngsters to develop as a citizen and help to improve youngsters’ social skills and key competencies, but which are also entertaining for them. In addition, for us it is important to offer fun and educative free time activities for the youngsters who come from families with difficult economic background. In every camp we use learning-by-doing method which includes teamwork activities, games, handicraft, meetings, discussions, seminars, excursions and direct contact to young people from abroad as well as alternative English and/or Russian languages pactice.
In every camp we have around 50 youngsters, separated in two groups. In one group there will be youngsters who speak Estonian and in the other group there will be mostly youngsters who speak Russian as their native language. We look for volunteers for the cultural and adventure camps (14 days) and volunteers for the creativity, sports and final camps (17 days). Volunteers joing these camps have an excellent opportunity to practice work with youngsters of different backgrounds as well as teaching English and/or Russian languages.
💼 What the programme involves
Volunteers together with youth workers are responsible for the day activities in the camps. The general camp program (themes, actions, social activities, games, excursions etc.) is worked out previously by the youth workers before camps start. Volunteers can work out some activities for the youngsters during the camp days together with youth workers. The content of these activities depends of the camp’s subjects. In addition to the volunteers there are 1-2 youth workers in both groups in every camp.
In conclusion, the volunteers’ tasks are:
• assisting youth workers in communicating and supervising youngsters;
• helping youth workers to prepare the day activities;
• carrying out planned activities;
• taking part in excursions, games, meetings, discussions, seminars and handicraft workshops;
• providing youngsters with live communication, activating youngsters vocabulary and encourage them to speak in English and/or in Russian.
The work can be pretty intense, requiring high level of commitment, lots of communication and responsibility for the camp program and the younger participants. The camp days last from 12:00 until 19:00. Volunteers will stay with youngsters in this time period. And they have to spend some hours to prepare the next day activities together with youth workers. But this can be done during camp time period. It means that volunteers do not have to work before 12:00 or after 19:00.
The camps activities will mostly take place in the Youth Centre
🏠 Accommodation on site
Volunteers are sleeping in the Youth Centre of Parnu in the meeting room. They can sleep on the camp beds. There is no need to bring own mattresses, pillows, blankets and bedclothes as we have them in the centre. But you have to bring own towels. Toilets and showers are of common use. Lunches will be organized in the Youth Centre of Pärnu and the volunteers do not have to pay for them. Breakfasts and dinners can easily made in the youth centre kitchen where there are stove, freezer, microwave and cookwares. Very near to the youth centre there are grocery store and pubs where the volunteers can also have their meals. We give 5 per day for each volunteer to buy food.
📍 About the location
Location
Most of the activities in camps take place in the Youth Centre of Parnu. Youth Centre’s site (only in Estonian): www.vabaajakeskus.ee/ ; www.facebook.com/vabaajakeskus/ ; www.instagram.com/parnu_noorte_vabaajakeskus/. The youth centre is just 15-minute walk from the city centre of Parnu (stores, cinema, leisure time activities, pubs, clubs, parks, riverside etc), 5-minute walk from Parnu river and 30-minute walk from the beautiful Parnu Beach. More about Parnu: http://www.parnu.ee/index.php/en/. More about Estonia: https://www.visitestonia.com/en
Terminal
Airport, bus or train station, harbor in Tallinn; bus to Parnu. NB! You are expected to arrive to Parnu by 10:00 am latest on the arrival date. If you arrive one day earlier because of it we can help booking inexpensive hostel in Tallinn
LEThere is plenty to do in Parnu: concerts, festivals, open-air shows etc. Summer period is especially reach with cultural events of all kinds. Also, Parnu is known as the summer capital of Estonia. There are several sport halls, swimming pools, saunas and spas, fitness clubs, beautiful Parnu Beach – sunbathing, swimming, promenade and many other opportunities for outdoor sports and leisure time activities. ISURE