Intro

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For 6,5 months I can call myself an EVS-volunteer at Volunteer Centre Osijek, Croatia. EVS stands for European Volunteer Service and is a program funded by the European Commission to promote solidarity and exchange within the EU. You can find all kinds of projects you can apply for, ranging from ecological over cultural to social activities but it is always for volunteers between 18 and 30 years old who go abroad. In this way there is always a social and cultural side to the project, because you drop yourself in a completely new environment. There are a sending organisation (from the volunteer’s country of residence) and a receiving organisation (where the EVS takes place) involved who organise the project and support the volunteer before, during and after this period.
The volunteer (that’s me!) is supported financially as well as with travel costs, a place to stay, money for food, some pocket money and language training. There is also an on-arrival training organised by Red Cross and for long term EVS-volunteers there is a midterm training. An EVS lasts for 2 months up to a year which makes my EVS just long enough to qualify as long term (and thus including the midterm training in Split, lucky me).

The project I am currently in is called Social Atelier and involves volunteering with refugees, teaching language courses (in my case Dutch) to locals, promotion of volunteering or EVS and a considerable amount of free time to be organised according to my own skills, needs, interests etc. This free time is a wonderful opportunity to see more organisations at work, learn more things and meet new people. I am currently volunteering at eco centre Zlatna Greda, Iskra Waldorf Initiative (sporadically, but I love them!) and Breza Youth Association (here I am still in the exciting starting phase). The free time also allowed me to do an online course on Volunteering with Refugees and to be involved in a research project of the Volunteer Centre called ‘Making it Matter’. So you can see how varied my EVS has become…

Hopefully this first post has answered some questions, like ‘what the hell are you doing in Croatia for 6,5 months?’ and ‘what is this EVS you keep babbling about?’. In the next posts I will further explore the main themes of my EVS with you.

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