On Monday, 2d of Jully, Mission Jeunesse orginised the predeparture training for the volunteers who soon going to start their EVS: Sara celected for a project in Austria and Merwen – in Italy. It is one of the important steps of EVS programm which gives the opportunity to answer all the questions that volunteers have.
The meeting was led by Isabelle Perasso-Biard, coordinator of international mobility at Mission Jeunesse department, Amanda and Lesia – current EVS volunteers at the Mission Jeunesse. On this meeting we discussed two sides of volunteering: practical (Cigna insurance, YouthPass and Volunteering agreement*) and personal (mentor*, language barier, cultural differences etc). Also we were joined by Rémy, the former EVS volunteer in Ukraine who shared his experience being the EVS volunteer.
Cigna – a special medical insurence signed up for all the EVS volunteers which cover all expences regarding health care (visiting doctor, buying medications).
YouthPass – a European recognition document for non-formal and informal learning. Simply, it is a document in which volunteer itself evaluate, sum up what he/she learned or gained during EVS project.
Volunteering Agreement – a code of conduct which clearly informs a volunteer about what is expected of them and what they can expect from the organisation.
Mentor – a person who provide to the volunteer the on going personal support throughout the duration of the activity, such as sharing thought and struggles regarding EVS and in generql living in qn other country, language barier, shopping etc.
Beside the « serious » part we also played the game where all participants tried to speak the unknown by them language and to our surprise it went super cool: even hearing the language for the first time (ukrainian) they were able to remembered and repeat the sentence to other person! P. S. Except me, who couldn’t really reproduce the sentence in German in any form! =)
Mission Jeunesse wishes Sara and Merwen spend amazing year and take the most of their journey! Bon courage!
We also remind you about open places for the projects in Ukraine and Romania. For more information – check our Facebook page or call us – Mission jeunesse, Ville de Nevers – 0386718394.