| Summary of the project: | Project Environment:
Casa da Ameixoeira is a foster home funded in 2005 that offers protection for 10 youngsters male gender, between 12 till 18 years old who are moved away from their families by different reasons: negligence, different types of abuses (psychological, physical, sexual), violence, abandon or other causes as non basic needs providence.\r\nThe youngsters stay in Casa da Ameixoeira the time necessary to define a Life Project to each youngster and so is needed to be supplied a familiar, cosy, comfortable environment and psychological support as well. During this time is done an interdisciplinary diagnosis and defined a Life Project: return to the family or their autonomy.\r\nGenerally, these youngsters have some development pro blems in some fields as verbal communication and social relationships. So, in these situations all availability of professional staff is needed to follow youngsters evolution. Foster homes seek the return of the youngsters to their families when they already have conditions to provide them a good quality life. This progress can be reached by the early intervention that is\r\ntaken from the beginning by the staff with these families. When it is not possible, the alternative is adoption.\r\nCasa da Ameixoeira is located in Lisbon municipality. Lisbon is the biggest city and capital of Portugal (83,84 km²) that offers the dynamism of large number of habitants (564 477) mainly young, near Oeiras (15 minutes) and 20 minutes from Sintra - World Patrimony, and 20 minutes from Cascais bay.\r\nAlthough, Ameixoeira is an area where most population can be considered low economic cl ass, with low financial incomes. There are many gipsies living here and exist numerous public social care organisations organised to provide good ser vices and resources to the population.
Tasks for volunteer:
- Assist the transport: help to transport the youngsters to school and to leisure activities out of the house.
- Help to keep the house clean and organised: helping to wash and iron clothes and cooking. The idea is to make the youngsters feel more autonomous and confident to face their life in the future and be prepared to face everyday’s life.
- Organise the school material: assist the youngsters to organise their material to the next school da y, checking if they have everything they need.
- Supporting the youngsters during their study moments: monitoring and helping the youngsters in their homework and study hours, helping more intensively in areas where he/she feels more comfortable but also m otivating them to study and to complete their objectives.
- "Leisure hour": animating and implementing leisure time activities with an entertaining but also educational purpose. Activities include cooking workshops, fashion shows, photos exhibitions, thema tic conversations, etc., according to the plan and to the volunteer's skills.
- "Dinner Time": helping to create a friendly, fun and home environment during the meal time: establishing healthy conversations with the youngsters, inquiring about their activi ties during the day, their problems, their needs, etc.
- Supporting the youngsters in health routines: help the staff to assure that the youngsters take care of their health routines (shower, washing teeth, etc), setting the rules and teaching them hygiene habits.
- Preparation of parties and special events: planning, creating and proposing new ideas for this kind of events.
- Preparation and monitoring of going outs: plan different and new activities for these "going outs", visits, define places to go, etc .
- Promote European Voluntary Service and other youth activities: organise exhibitions and presentations in schools and in youth clubs (give visibility to EVS activity, in order to motivate more young people to participate on EVS and in other youth activ ities like youth exchanges);
- Participation in the planning of the work: attend to the planning meetings (propose ideas to implement, propose solutions for specific problems, become aware of the working methodologies of the organisation, place their doubt s or questions about the work, evaluate, etc) ;
- Personal project: promote a personal project that comes in accordance with the regular philosophy of the institution.
Profile of the volunteer:
If the candidates have some previous experience with young pe ople with difficult social background can be also be good. The volunteers must be self-motivated, dynamic, versatile, good mood, flexible, with self initiative, creative, with handwork skills, willing to take
on new challenges, opened to work with people of all backgrounds and cultures; enthusiastic to participate in the project; mature to work and to relate to a group of social disadvantaged children and people; willing to develop new activities and with sense of responsibility. |
