You will do both manual tasks and work with children. 1st week: helping with practical manual tasks indoors and outdoors: gardening, preparing the barn for the arrival of the children (moving furniture, cleaning, decorating and preparing games and activities). 2nd week: you will work with children with autism and other disabilities who spend their vacation at the camp in Jizbice (general assistance, organization of activities, going on walks, helping in the kitchen, etc.). During the children s camp, you will work longer hours but it will be compensated for during the first part of the workcamp when you will have more free-time. All the time, you will cooperate with Czech assistants i every child will be taken care of by 1 Czech and 1 foreign volunteer. Bring games and ideas for activities.
Accomodation & food:
In Jizbice: in big tents in the garden. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. There is a bathroom with toilets and showers at the campsite. You will have meals together with the children and organizers. In Nymburk: in international scouts centre i in rooms on mattresses in sleeping bags. There are 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a big garden. You will prepare your own meals.
Location & leisure:
Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk). Study part: In the first week, you will get a lecture on autism and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth affected by autism. Some materials will be already provided to all participants before the workcamp. Please be ready to read them in advance There will be some teambuilding activities together with the Czech assistants. You will have the chance to learn some basic Czech phrases i it will be helpful during the children s camp. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal who was born in Nymburk i you can visit his birth house or see a film based on his novels.Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Pod283;brady, excursions to the complex of labyrinths and the castle of Loucen, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk and play bowling.
Requirements:
A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required. We are especially looking for outgoing and creative volunteers with good communication skills. Also we will ask you to cooperate before the workcamp and read the materials that will be sent to you. Smoking is forbidden while working with the children. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty You will need clothes for all kind of weather (swimsuit, warm clothes, raingear and waterproof working boots).
The work will manual and can be physically demanding. The tasks can include creating simple play structures from natural materials (digging a hole, putting logs, branches, ropes), renovating flower beds in the town, planting bushes in case of good weather (digging holes, planting, watering), creating a ponton on a local lake, maintenance of other public areas (painting of fences, repairing benches, etc.). As a lot of work will be done outside, please bring solid shoes.
Accomodation & food:
In the gym of a primary school. A kitchen and a bathroom will be available. You will sleep on mattresses in your own sleeping bags. Please, bring your sleeping bag and a light mat You will cook your own meals, some meals will be provided in the local restaurant.
Location & leisure:
A small town of Odolena Voda (population of 6500), at approximately half an hour from the outskirts of Prague by bus.Study part: Meet the locals, get to know the local culture. During the workcamp, an international literary evening Meeting of Languages will be organized in a house where a significant Czech poet Vit283;zslav Halek was born. You can get involved in the program by reciting shorts extracts of your favourite book or poem to the other volunteers and the public (in English or even in your native language). Please bring your favourite novel or book of poems, preferably in hard copies, that you would like to present at the event. There will be some activities for and with local kids.Leisure time: Visiting a local church and a fortress, hiking trip to close-by volcanoes, a trip to Prague, to the Veltrusy castle or a cycling trip to the town of Melnik. There is a possibility to use the community sports facilities i a hall for basketball, voleyball, tennis and beachvoleyball courts.
The workcamp takes place in the town of Kadan in Western Bohemia. The local NGO Parents and Children of Kadan (RADKA) provides a variety of services for families with children (maternal, swimming, volunteer, social and educational centres). During summer holidays RADKA organizes „suburban“ and „outdoor“ camps for children aged 6-12. There will be 2 such camps during the workcamp – the suburban one in the 1st week in Kadan and the outdoor one in the 2nd week (near a small village of Lubenec). RADKA wants to bring international dimension to the camps and enable children to practise English. That‘s why foreign volunteers are invited for 2nd time. The aim of the workcamp is to help with the preparation and running of an interesting intercultural and sportive program in both camps.
Work:
The 1st week, you will work at the suburban camp in the premises of RADKA (topic: “English by playing”). Children stay at the camp from 8am to 4pm but they sleep at home. You will mainly work with children (games, arts, dancing and interactive English lessons). This week will end with a final party with kids and their parents. During the outdoor camp (2nd week) you will help with the all-day program (topic: Summer Olympic Games) managed by RADKA’s organizers. The program will include trips, swimming, sports competitions, campfire, night games. You will get involved in the sports games and other activities. Please bring your favourite games, music and other ideas.
Study part:
You will learn to prepare a program for children and see how children’s camps are organized in the Czech Republic. You will meet the local community from Kadan, especially during an international party for children and their parents. You will have the chance to present your home towns/countries in an interactive way.
Leisure time:
During the stay in Kadan, you will have many possibilities how to spend your free time – visiting the town of Kadan and its monuments, visiting cultural events, trips to the countryside, swimming, doing sports. During the outdoor camp in Lubenec, you will have 1 day off when you can organize an excursion to Carlsbad or Zatec. Apart from that you will be able to spend your free time at the campsite and in the surrounding (relaxing, swimming, walks, visit of nearby sights…).
Accomodation/Food:
1st week - drop-in youth club in 2 rooms with beds, kitchen corner, bathroom. Lunches will be provided in a restaurant. You will prepare your own breakfasts and dinners.
2nd week - campsite with tents, no electricity, no internet, limited access to hot water, dry toilets. Bring sleeping bag and mat! You will eat the same food as everyone in the camp (vegetarian meals not always possible).
Location:
First, the historical town of Kadan (20.000 inhabitants), in West Bohemia, not far from the Ore Mountains and then the village of Lubenec (about 40 km to the south of Kadan). There is a beautiful nature around Kadan but also an industrial zone (coal mining, power plants).
Meeting point:
Kadan. The meeting time is usually in the afternoon. Please note it takes at least 2-3 hours to get there from Prague. The exact info will be provided in the infosheet.
Note:
During the workcamp, you will spend a lot of time with children aged 6-12. This is why we require a motivation letter, a certificate of good conduct and a medical form. We look for communicative and creative volunteers. The workcamp is suitable for non-smokers. You will also work at the weekends but you will get some days off during the week instead.
You will perform two different kinds of work. Firstly, you will assist during the camp for teenagers with and without disabilities i you will provide general assistance, organize activities for the teens and help in the kitchen. The camp for teens will have a theme i Wild West. Creativity and artistic skills will be very welcome as you will be asked to contribute with your own activity. Secondly, you will help to prepare the area of the camps for the winter (gardening, cleaning after the summer season). During the teen camp, you will work longer hours but it will be compensated for at the end of the workcamp when you will have more free-time. All the time, you will cooperate with Czech assistants i every teen will be taken care of by 1 Czech and 1 foreign volunteer.
Accomodation & food:
In Jizbice: in big tents in the garden. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. There is a bathroom with toilets and showers at the campsite. You will have meals together with the children and organizers. In Nymburk: in international scouts centre i in rooms on mattresses in sleeping bags. There are 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a big garden. You will prepare your own meals.
Location & leisure:
Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk).Study part: In the first week you will get a lecture on special education and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth with special needs. Some materials will be already provided to all participants before the workcamp. Please be ready to read them in advance There will be some teambuilding activities together with the Czech assistants. You will have the chance to learn some basic Czech phrases i it will be helpful during the camp. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal who was born in Nymburk i you can visit his birth house or see a film based on his novels.Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Pod283;brady, excursions to the complex of labyrinths and the castle of Loucen, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk and play bowling.
Requirements:
A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required. We are especially looking for outgoing and creative volunteers with good communication skills. Also we will ask you to cooperate before the workcamp and read the materials that will be sent to you. Smoking is forbidden while working with the children. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty You will need clothes for all kind of weather (swimsuit, warm clothes, raingear and waterproof working boots).
« I can say that the best things about the workcamp and this whole experience were the chance of making a real difference to the lives of very needy children. This is an extremely valuable project where volunteers can have a massive impact. Also the possibility of learning a huge amount about a country so different from our own. I learnt ten times as much by carrying out a workcamp than I would ever do backpacking. »
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