The Project “Learning and Growth – Youth in Action – L.A.G.Y.A” will be implemented by the Bulgarian Youth Forum (BMF) in partnership with three other organizations, namely IslaCrativa (Spain), EUROSUD (Italy), CYDD (Turkey), CPDIS (Romania). It will include a total of 4 EVS volunteers between 18 and 30-year-old from Turkey, Spain, Italy and Romania. The volunteers will arrive and live in Bulgaria for 6 months from 01.06.2018 to the 30.11.2018. The first month of their stay will be in Sofia and during the remaining period of eleven months in the town of Rakitovo and village of Podem, where located partner institutions for work with young people with deviant behaviours. The project will have a positive impact in several key directions, both on partner organizations and on volunteers. The main motivation for its realization is the enrichment of the BYF team with volunteers ready to engage in its day-to-day activities as well as in the activities aimed at working with youths with deviant behaviours, who need support for their social reintegration into society. In this way, BYF will significantly increase the capacity of its specialists (including by improving their knowledge, skills and work with target youths, that are specific), of the organization as a whole, including increasing the capacity and effectiveness of BYF’s activities, targeting young people with deviant behaviours, who are subject to the desired impact. In this respect, the L.A.G.Y.A project has two main objectives:
Effectively improve the quality of BYF’s activities by attracting foreign volunteers with strong motivation and good general training, that will strengthen the international dimension of youth activities and increase the overall capacity of BYF specialists.
-Highly raise and improve the level of key competences of the selected volunteers (including the specific competencies needed to work with the mainstream youth), by conducting specialized, customized training for individual volunteers and by including them in major youth activities Of BYF.
The main activities in which volunteers will participate in pursuit of these objectives are:
– Training in order to familiarize the participants with the objectives, tasks and activities carried out by the BYF, in which they will take part and which will assist.
– A course in Bulgarian language, that will begin as soon as they arrive, to enable them to communicate freely during their volunteer service.
– Assistance with the organization of various youth events, youth training in non-formal education, youth campaigns and projects, including those aimed at young people with deviant behavior. This may include activities from supporting the BYF team in human resource coordination, communication and logistics.
– Help with organizing various sports events for young people with deviant behavior.
-Publication of online materials in own online blogs, reflecting events and activities of the organisation during the voluntary service.
– Promoting the activities of the organization in order for more young people to get involved and to get acquainted with the projects and events of BYF.
-Organization of own youth events and initiatives for young people.
-Participation of BYF activities related to writing, implementation and project reporting, mainly within the “Erasmus+” program.
The implementation of the project will actively apply the methods of non-formal education.
The expected learning outcomes of EVS volunteers in the L.A.G.Y.A project are fully synchronized with the pre-set objectives and the defined program of the project. Participants will have the opportunity to acquire a wide range of knowledge, skills and competences in the field of non-formal education and training as well as all processes around NGO leadership, planning, preparation, implementation, promotion and reporting of European projects as well as organizing, Conducting and recording of various sporting events and events from the day-to-day activities of BYF.
The positive impact of the L.A.G.Y.A project will be taken into account in improving the overall level of key competencies and skills of participating volunteers, teams of host and sending organizations. We are expecting a tangible increase in the international dimension of youth activities as a whole. The knowledge evolved and learned by EVS volunteers will be effectively implemented within their sending organizations. In this way, we expect through the implementation of the project to influence our target groups according to the anticipated learning outcomes of the planned activities of the project.
The potential long-term benefits of the project are related to the ability of volunteers to develop broad-spectrum capabilities that cover much of the key competencies needed by an active youth worker. The capacity and the international dimension of partner organizations will be enhanced so that their activities and programs can better meet the needs of young people in and outside Europe.