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EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS

Il Corpo Europeo di Solidarietà offre ai giovani dai 18 ai 30 anni un'esperienza di apprendimento e partecipazione attiva presso enti del terzo settore ed organizzazioni no profit per costruire una società più inclusiva, sostenere le persone vulnerabili e rispondere alle sfide della società.

I giovani possono svolgere attività di volontariato in un paese dell’Unione Europea, per un periodo da 2 a 12 mesi, agendo come "volontari europei" in progetti locali in diversi settori o aree di intervento, tra cui: educazione, animazione, sport, servizi sociali, patrimonio culturale, arte, protezione civile, ambiente, cooperazione allo sviluppo, accoglienza migranti, rifugiati e richiedenti asilo, ecc.

Se si svolge un’attività di volontariato si ha diritto al viaggio, al vitto ed all’alloggio, oltre alla copertura assicurativa, per l’intera durata dell'attività ed una formazione pertinente le attività.

Attraverso questa esperienza i giovani hanno l'opportunità di entrare in contatto con nuove culture, esprimere solidarietà con gli altri e acquisire nuove competenze utili per la loro formazione personale e professionale.

COME PARTECIPARE: Dopo aver completato un semplice processo di registrazione nel portale https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity i partecipanti possono manifestare il loro interesse ed essere selezionati da una vasta gamma di progetti gestiti da organizzazioni che sono state autorizzate a gestire progetti dalle rispettive Agenzie Nazionali. I dati verranno inseriti nel portale europeo e le organizzazioni saranno in grado di cercare persone per i loro progetti nel database.

Interessato?

Se sei pronto per una sfida e sei disposto a dedicarti ad aiutare altre persone, unisciti al Corpo Europeo di Solidarietà oggi stesso e contattaci scrivendo a youth@istitutosorditorino.org.

Trovi tutte le informazioni in italiano su:https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_it.

We are looking for two volunteers

The Turin Institute for the Deaf and the Ergon association, in partnership with the Spanish association OpenEurope, are looking for two volunteers: one deaf and one deaf from 18 to 30 years old to make a 12-month volunteering experience at the Turin Institute for the Deaf in Pianezza, Italy.

The costs of food, food and transport are covered by the project. If you are interested send an email to istitutosordi.projects@gmail.com

2023

Carlotta FrappiITALY

Jarl HanhikoskiFINLAND

Michela DavolioITALY

Margherita CoronaITALY

Miriam SerraITALY

Sara PapazzoITALY

2021

Anita SiembabPOLAND

Omier ElsawafEGYPT

Krzysztof KołeczekPOLAND

Laura Olmos MartínezSPAIN

At the beginning of 2021 I wouldn’t guess I will ever be learning Italian Sign Language. Though, what was an abstract concept at that time, is my reality one year later. Even despite the fact I was not versed in d/Deaf culture and still am not, I decided to become an ESC volunteer in an institute for deaf people located in Pianezza. Considering the fact that also using Italian spoken language is a new skill I’m working to gain, the challenge levels up.

Was it a sane idea to move into the North of Italy and change my life in so many ways? I cannot answer with certainty. What I can say is that it was a decision that made me feel brave and alive. It’s refreshing to be a foreigner, because you start to see that your language, habits and point of view are not as obvious as you perceive them. You get educated not only about the local traditions, idioms and mentality, but, most importantly, you notice your own uniqueness. Another thing that surprised me was the way I’m attached to my own culture. Before this experience I saw my own attitude towards Poland in a different way. I was right about those things I don’t miss, but realizing what I value happened to be astonishing. It turns out that life without ogórkowa soup and Żabka shop at every corner is not the same! I’m convinced everyone’s method for homesickness is different, however in my view the recipe includes parmigiano cheese. Feel free to prove me wrong!

Regardless of the link between eating cheese and personal satisfaction level, I found out that ESC experience is all about learning. You learn how to communicate even when it involves a lot of creativity and effort. You learn what makes you feel like home. You learn how people with different perspective perceive you. You learn that you can always make things differently than the way you were taught. In my case, you also learn where to drink the best hot chocolate in Turin, how to sign your favourite colors in LIS and not to order cappuccino in the afternoon (even though no one knows why the latter is such a crime!).

Since I arrived for the ESC project at Istituto dei Sordi di Torino, I have been responsible mostly for the dissemination part of the projects. Working in this area gave me a possibility to participate in many inclusive projects as SEL PE DE or Creativity Stops Bullying, both of which are meant to introduce new ways and techniques of inclusive education and/or behaviors in modern European societies.

This happens to be important to me as a disabled person but at the same time gives me another - broad - overview on needs of people with different impairments, which can help me in the future in other projects that I intend to participate in.

I can also broaden my knowledge about my area of occupation through the project of DigitALL which develops new digital and remote ways of inclusion and ease of functioning in everyday life for people with disabilities.

Another great aspect in the matter of inclusion - however this time my own one into the project - is the mentoring part. My mentor, Sofia, is a kind, polite and friendly person who helped me with overcoming the culture shock after arriving in Italy. And as I experienced unexpected matters that I had to solve at the beginning I am sure that getting over these would be a lot harder without her help. I really appreciate the mentoring system in this project.

The last thing that I really enjoyed and do enjoy until now is the LIS classes. This is because, on one hand, it is a really entertaining and engaging process which allows you to basically learn a new language - one of many - on the other hand, the atmosphere there is welcoming and fun, at least for me. Trying to learn a language with basically no translation is a completely new way for me as sometimes I am guessing the meaning of different signs and making efforts to ensure myself if I guessed right by asking, which obviously also I have to do in sign language.

But this is only possible because of the attitude of our teachers. Girls are really kind and nice and even with my hand movement problems one of them really tries to come up with new ways for me to communicate with only one working hand every and each time which is showing that for them inclusion works both ways.

I am happy that I got the chance to be a part of an ESC program and project and even with the culture shock process I will gain a lot of great memories and experience that will help me in the future.