There will be two main tasks:1. To renovate and decorate the local youth club. Probably painting work will be an important part of it. Parts of the work will be realised together with local youngsters.2. To support the local community running the daffodil-festival on March 25th. In the past they had more than 1.000 visitors per year enjoying the first flowers of spring, having a drink and listening to traditional music.There might be some other tasks in the village, for example maintenance work on a playground.
Accomodation & food:
You will be hosted in parish rooms of the local Catholic Church in the centre of the village. There is enough space, a kitchen and toilets, but you will have to sleep on the floor (no beds, please bring a mat and a sleeping bag). The showers are in the sports hall nearby.
Location & leisure:
Schillingen has 1.200 inhabitants and is situated in a touristic green area not far from Trier. The area is well known for cycling, hiking and other outdoor activities. Many tourists visit the area, but also local people come here for cycling (there is a 45 km cycling path on a former railway roadbed) or to spend a nice day outside, e.g. at a near-by lake. The region also offers plenty of historic sites (castles, museums....). Public transport is quite poor during the weekend, so the number of excursions will be limited. But for sure Trier, with the famous Roman sites, the cathedral and the birthplace of Karl Marx can be visited.
During the first week, you will help to prepare and run an international drumming festival for children, youngsters and families called "RAKATAK". It will be run 1July 2018. In the previous years, 7000 visitors were present at the festival. Your help will be needed to prepare, to run and afterwards to clean the site. Another task of this project will take place during the 2nd week in the youth club "Maxim". The main work will be designing the façade of the youth club. Your help will be also needed to renovate and maintain the building and its surrounding grounds, like painting inside or outside, digging, gardening in the climate garden or re/constructing. Please be prepared for hard physical work from time to time!
Accomodation & food:
Accommodation:During the festival time you will sleep in tents on your foam mattress in your sleeping bag, so please don't forget them! In the youth club there will be 2 rooms available. You will sleep on the floor on a mattress in your sleeping bag. Your quarters will be very modest, but of course there is a kitchen and bathrooms. However, the youth club is a nice place to work, live and party.
Food:
During the project, all volunteers will share the responsibilities for shopping, cooking and cleaning the dishes. Please don't forget your recipes and special ingredients from your country.
Location & leisure:
This will be decided according to the group's wishes. Of course we will enjoy the sights and culture of Berlin (theatre, clubs, concerts...).
You will help the organisers in all phases of the festival: The main tasks will be, on the first days, setting up the stage and the campground on the site of the festival, as well as the disassembly of the whole structure and surroundings on the last day. While the festival is running, the volunteers should be available to the organisation and will be ask to assist in different areas: bar, stage, organisation, catering etc. You will work closely with the local people from the association! There is a plan for the build-up of the festival, nevertheless the schedule will be adapted to the always changing logistics of the event and you are expected to be flexible, patient and work autonomously within this plan. Volunteers should be prepared to work long and unusual hours, but also have some time between their shifts, which can be used to explore the festival and enjoy the music! Speaking or understanding basic German will be a plus!
Accomodation & food:
You will stay at the local brewery! It is a small and very basic accommodation not far from the festival site that does not provide much comfort, but a very unique charm. The final ceremony afterwards for all the helpers of the festival will also take place there. During the festival food will be provided by the food stands throughout the day.
Location & leisure:
Pegnitz is a small town in Franconia, Bavaria, near Nuremberg. You can find medieval and historic buildings and churches in the centre of the city. The city is known for its beers: it has a long tradition in brewery and the locals are very proud of it. The Bavarian region, in which Pegnitz is located, is called "Little Switzerland" due to its beautiful surrounding that invites extended adventures and hiking trips in the region. There are all kinds of trails and possibilities to experience the unique nature.
Volunteers are invited to join our campaigns and activities for promoting peace dur-ing the time of the workcamp. You will help us through your participation and through some manual and artistic work: In Mutlangen we will create a wall painting promoting a peaceful world. And together we will design and create another artistic installation for the so called "peace mead-ow" in Buechel and support the campaign against the remaining nuclear weapons. We believe that campaigns for nuclear disarmament and non violence conflict resolu-tion are messages worth to be spread in the media. We invite to you to learn from best examples in peace building and to help us to share these examples in social media as messages of peace. If possible you can translate them into your language. Such skills are particularly welcome!
In both places you will do garden work:
There is a little garden for vegetables and flowers in Mutlangen and in Buechel you can help to enlarge the peace meadow.
Study part:
The participants will receive information about nuclear weapons, ongoing nuclear armament programs and efforts of disarmament and reconciliation. We will share experiences about different forms of action for peace.
Accomodation & food:
We sleep in tents. In Mutlangen in the garden of the "Pressehütte". In Büchel in a peace camp on a field beside the military airfield. You will need sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Vegetarian Food will be prepared together.
Location & leisure:
The participants can visit rurals and urban attractions nearby
Age:
18-30
Location:
Mutlangen
Language(s):
English, German
Airport:
STR: Stuttgart (Stuttgart, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
This year, work camp volunteers will be helping out at a culture festival in Nagold. Local clubs and associations will be participating in the festival and you will be helping them with preparations for music, dance and international food. On other days, you will work on various environmental tasks within the community of Nagold.
Accomodation & food:
The group will be staying in the YOUZ youth centre. Two sleeping rooms with beds and a large kitchen are provided. Please bring a sleeping bag! Showers are available at the swimming pool nearby. Take a look at the youth centre here: http://www.youznagold.de/YOUZ2012/wordpress/
Location & leisure:
Nagold is situated in the beautiful Black Forest and has about 22,000 inhabitants. The youth centre, located in the inner city of Nagold, is a popular meeting point for young people aged 14 to 20. Beside many other possibilities to spend time in the youth centre you will find rooms and equipment to play music, to dance, to take videos and plenty of other things to do in your leisure time. Trips to Stuttgart and Tuebingen, hiking in the Black Forest, horse riding, swimming and playing beach volleyball are only some of the possible activities. Local youth will be around at almost all times, so participants can look forward to getting in touch with them.
The international group will work together with many other volunteers from Karlstadt. The main tasks will be setting up of the stage and campground on the site of the festival, as well as the disassembly at the end. While the festival is running, the volunteers will assist in different areas: bar, stage, organisation, catering etc. Volunteers should be very flexible, because often there are no fixed working hours. The organisation of the festival is in many parts done "just in time" and depends for example on deliveries, which are arranged on short notice or even on the same day. This can result in longer breaks or the need to work quite late. Speaking or understanding basic German will be a plus!
Accomodation & food:
In the local youth centre for the first days. For the main part of the Camp the group will be lodging in tents on the site of the festival, where all helpers will also stay. Food will be served in the festival canteen throughout the day. Sanitary facilities are provided, but be aware of festival standards. Expect very basic amenities!
Location & leisure:
Karlstadt is situated in the Bavarian region called Franconia. The town is home to around 7000 inhabitants and has a historical touch. If you are interested in architecture, you will find lots of traditional German buildings in the town centre. Also, with its vast vineyards and rolling hills, the region provides an opportunity for some calm and relaxing outdoor activities as an alternative to the hectic life of the festival.
There will be two different tasks: 1. You will improve the accessibility of a path surrounding a small lake for people with different disabilities. To make the path more attractive you will create a bare-foot-path and a maybe an area of special herbs and flowers smelling very nice. 2. You will support the middle-age-festival that is taking place in the nearby ruins of a castle and is attracting many visitors. You will for example help setting up tents and stands and offering activities for children. All tasks will be done under professional supervision and in cooperation with people with disabilities (mainly from the Café Courage) or with special needs. The project will start with an introduction focussed on questions of inclusion on the first weekend.
Accomodation & food:
The accommodation will be in the village community centre of Oberesch. Here you can find a big kitchen, a spacious hall, facilities to spend your time or to sleep and toilets of course. Showers will be available at the building of the local fire brigade right next to the community centre. During the middle-age festival you might sleep in a tent next to the castle.
Location & leisure:
The project will take place in Oberesch, a small village with 320 inhabitants situated directly at the German-French border, approx. 40km north of Saarbrücken. The local youngsters are already waiting to meet you. In the area you can find several castles and the famous valley of the river Saar, offering many opportunities for nice excursions even to destinations in Luxemburg or France or hiking tours. The region Saarland has a rich history of steel production and coal mining. Many excursions and activities will be done together with the people from Café Courage thus making the workcamp an unforgettable experience.
Workcamp participants are invited to work in different fields: Manual, artistically, pedagogical. During the youth camps, you will have contact with kids from diverse background and join their activities as well. You are requested to be prepared as "ambassador" of the peoples living in your country. It would be helpful to be prepared to offer your own workshop artistically, musically or athletically at home and bring lots of ideas. In addition all volunteers will have the chance to introduce their country in an open evening. You should gather ideas at home and bring material for creating this evening. Further information will be provided after the placement in the workcamp. Beside the announced activities the volunteers will also need to take responsibility by leading groups of young campers in daily works like catering and cleaning.
Study part:
The study part of this workcamp will be dominated mostly by the question about life between past and future, tradition and modernity, small-town-life and global correlations. Working on the "Himmelsfels", always encourage encounters between people from different cultures and diverse background. Religion will be reflected by experience Himmelsfels as place of ecumenical Christian believes in diversity.
Accomodation & food:
There will be basic and simple accommodation. You will be sleeping in caravans. Please bring a sleeping bag. As some summer nights can get cold in Germany, please bring some warm clothes and raingear!
Location & leisure:
The small town Spangenberg is situated between hills in a green countryside in the middle of Germany. Leisure activities will be arranged according the needs of the group. There will be the possibility to visit Kassel, town of the world wide know art exhibition "Documenta".
Age:
18-26
Location:
Spangenberg
Language(s):
English, German
Airport:
FRA: Frankfurt Main (Frankfurt, Germany)Vegetarian food will be available
« I would recommend participating in a workcamp, especially with VAP, who ensured that I found a project to suit me and provided essential training for me in preparation for my trip. Being part of a workcamp really is a life-changing experience, oh, and it looks great on your CV! »