Volunteers invited to summer camp 2019
Friends,
The first stage of preparations for our summer volunteer camp is under way. The camp is held at the Belskoe Ustye orphanage and we are recruiting for our team. We are looking for volunteers who are prepared to spend three weeks in a small village in the Pskov region, teaching students of the orphanage for five or six days a week.
Children look forward to the camp and know that a group of volunteers from Moscow will come to them. During the summer, an orphanage for students with developmental difficulties becomes a platform for educational activities, performances, masterclasses, contests, balls, quests, relay races and discos.
Last summer was about football and the World Cup.
A video about last summer at Belskoe Ustye.
We have decided to dedicate this year’s camp to art. We will draw, play, sing and move. At the camp, everyone can become an artist; everyone can create art.
The camp will be held from 1 to 22 July 2019. Applications will be accepted until June 10. Volunteers will be provided with travel (as long as they participate for two weeks), meals and accommodation.
The camp takes place in a small village called Belskoe Ustye, located in the Pskov region (800km from Moscow). The orphanage is situated here and around 60 students aged 4-28 live with developmental difficulties of varying complexity.
Do not be afraid to apply if you have little experience working with students – a group of experienced volunteers will help you acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. All you need is to be patient, active, cheerful, stress-resistant and over the age of 16!
What can I change by participating in the camp?
An institution for students with special needs is a place where students live in social isolation. They do not have the opportunity to participate in educational programmes and social adaptation programmes at the level that each of them requires.
– Your participation in the camp will make it possible for each pupil at the Belskoe Ustye orphanage – regardless of who they are – to participate in developmental activities and communicate with new people. Experience shows that this gives impetus to students’ development.
What else?
– As a volunteer, you will realise that the camp is a breath of fresh air for children and teachers, thanks to the new ideas, events and methods of interaction that volunteers come up with. They do so with such ease and inspiration within their team. There is always something new, unexpected and unpredictable for the everyday life of an institution.
– A volunteer camp avoids the orphanage employees from experiencing burnout. The camp’s activities allow students to show interest in the world around them; they are inspired to learn and they feel positive emotions, while the emotional load is removed from orphanage teachers for at least one month.
– Finally, one of the main reasons to participate in the camp is the opportunity to raise awareness of the problem of isolation experienced by children living in institutions. The camp allows you to share this problem with the wider public, attracting those who care: volunteers, sponsors, specialists.
Think about the fact that before attending the camp, you probably never realised that you could do something important and useful to help solve this problem, even just on the scale of this one orphanage.
You can submit an application and any questions to yelena@vverh.su or by filling in the form below.
