Work: Volunteers will help out the National Forest Service by cutting and sawing little trees, cleaning the paths and renovating the special wooden bridge, which we call knuppelbruggen. Also other activities will be organized so volunteers will learn more like spending an afternoon in the nature and having a meal together with the people living at the village. Location: National Park ‘de Groote Peel': situated at both sides of the provinces Limburg and Brabant in The south of the Netherlands. Partner: National Park ‘De Groote Peel' offers a varied landscape of (peat) swamps, pools and open terrains. The swamp landscape came into being by the cutting of peat in the 19th century. The humid character of this area and the quietness makes it attractive for birds. To be able to walk around this area, the bridges are very important. There are traditional wooden bridges that make the swamp area more accessible and its nowadays possible to walk through this in 1993 established national park. Every two years, SIW organizes a project in this national park. Requirements: Terminal: Weert Accomodation and food: A scouts building. Self catering.
Work: The participants will do different activities like; cutting, dredging, pilling up the paths and haymaking. The cooperation with the local partner has been taking place since several years and they are always very supportive. Location: Drentsche Aa, situated in the province of Drenthe. Partner: Drentsche Aa offers a various landscape of woods, heathland and meadows together with old villages. It is a perfect area to walk through so you can see the various landscapes. There is also a lot of water in the north of Drenthe. This part is called the stroomdallenlandschap which you can reach by bike approximately 30 minutes from Assen and Groningen. Requirements: The partner organization is always willing to give some fun leisure time activities as well, like a guided tour to natural parcs and historical places.Terminal: Assen, volunteers will be picked up in a old fashion way: with a tractor tram. Accomodation and food: Volunteers are expected to bring their own tents. There are minimal sanitary facilities and volunteers should expect primitive accommodation in the middle of the nature. Self catering.
Work: The volunteers will stay at the KNHS-centre and they will renovate the materials which are used at competitions for example beams. During this project, the Dutch Championships Horse Riding will take place. The volunteers will therefore help with construction of the competitions and they will assist with organizing the event. Finally, they will do some work in the gardens around the organisation. During the project, there will be a lot of horses, but volunteers will not work with horses. Location: Ermelo. It is situated in the center of the Netherlands in a beautiful natural area called ‘de Veluwe'. Partner: The KNHS (Dutch Royal Sport Federation), situated in Ermelo is one of the biggest sport federations in the Netherlands. Eight disciplines of the horse riding sport are connected to the KNHS. This project will be the fifth project in two years and our partner organization is really happy to host you for two weeks. Accomodation and food: You will stay in the accommodation of the organisation itself. There are beds for the volunteers. In a big cafeteria, you will eat together with employees during the whole day.
« I appreciate that constructive criticism may be more useful to you than praise but I honestly have no gripes that I could possibly mention. I can only thank you for the experience that I really enjoyed and will undoubtedly follow-up in the coming year. »
