PROJECT ENVIRONMENT:

Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara is situated in Ajuda in the capital Lisbon.

The construction of the first building is connected to the history of Santa Engrácia Church, actually the National Pantheon that in 1630 was robbed. As a consequence, D. Maria Ana, daughter of King D. José I promised to build a convent named Conventinho Novo and that became ready in 1766 after the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

In 1942 the convent became Casa Pia patrimony and started to be used as basic school, under administration of salesian nuns. Later on 2006 after some changes in the courses and in the management of the College, a new step began focusing the social answer in sheltering children and young people in danger.

The aims of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara are: promote the full development of children and young people in danger situations, through their shelter in different units (Children's Homes, Psychosocial Unit, Emergency Unit), according to their needs and potentialities; building projects of personal development that aims to decrease the time that children and young people have to live in the Homes, with the support of the community and families;

The efforts and work of a team of workers assure the success of this College, by promoting specific projects like Insertion Team and Prevention of Sexual Abuses.

In the first semester of 2007, Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara established three shelter units of children and young people and one emergency unit, with capacity for 6 children coming from the Emergency System of sheltering of Lisbon district, that Casa Pia is a partner. Nowadays, Casa Pia has 4 shelter units.

To put in practice all the objectives, there are several principles that are defended by Casa Pia de Lisboa: transitory nature of the shelter measures; pro-active articulation with partner services and entities of local and national scope; close relationship with the families of children and young people, in order to improve the family competences; definition of personal development projects suitable to the needs and abilities of each child, by taking actions that promote their autonomy and full social and familiar reinsertion.

Lisboa is the capital of Portugal and lies on the north bank of the Tagus Estuary, on the European Atlantic coast. It is the westernmost city in continental Europe. Greater Lisboa has an area of approximately 1,000 km2. The city lies more or less in the centre of the country, approximately 300 km from the Algarve in the south and 400 km from the northern border with Spain.

Portugal has more than 10 million people and half a million are resident in Lisbon council. Everyday, about 2 million people from the Metropolitan region of Lisbon move to Lisbon city to work and make the city very multicultural. Lisbon community is the largest urban centre located in the centre coast of Portugal.

Lisboa offers a wide variety of options to the visitor, including beaches, countryside, mountains and areas of historical interest only a few kilometres away from the city centre.

The capital city is very dynamic and it offers a wide range of places to visit, offering information about history, culture and art, such as: Castle of São Jorge, National Museum of Old Art, Art-tile Museum, National Coach Museum, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon Casino, Oceanarium, Zoo, Basílica da Estrela, Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower, etc.

Around Lisbon there are several highlights in Cascais, Sintra, Oeiras and Mafra that can easily be reached by transport connections.

Lisbon has a very dynamic nightlife with discos, pubs and bars around the city and little restaurants where Fado is sang in typical places like Alfama.

In the daily life it is possible to visit many museums, theatres, shopping centres, typical old places like Alfama and Baixa-Chiado.

Lisbon is one of the mildest European capitals. Spring is cool to warm (between 6 °C and 27 °C) with plenty of sunshine and also some showers. Summer months are mostly sunny, dry and hot with temperatures between 16 °C to 38 °C. Autumn is mild and unsettled with temperatures between 8 °C and 23 °C and winters are typically rainy, windy and cool with some sunny days (temperatures between 4 °C and 18 °C), usually staying at an average of 11 °C. Snowfall is a very rare occurrence. On average, there are 3300 sunny hours per year and 100 days with rain per year.

Portugal is well known for good organisation of international events like Expo 98, Euro 2004 and Lisbon-Dakar in 2006 and 2007. This fact brought a lot of tourists to Portugal, mainly to Lisbon city.

The cost of life is considered to be middle-low when compared to other E.U. countries being the services the main sector of production. Its economy is based on the tertiary sector (Services). The access to public transports is quite good, including an underground network, trains, trams and buses either to the urban crown or to the surroundings.

Portuguese is Latin in origin and the third most widely spoken European language in the world. It is the mother tongue of about 200 million people. Portuguese is the official language in several countries: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé e Príncipe in Africa, and Brazil in South America. In Portugal itself a considerable number of people can understand and communicate in foreign languages.

After the Revolution in 1974 that installed the democracy in Portugal, a lot of people that lived in the African ex-colonies came to Portugal, searching for better life conditions that caused an enormous immigration during the 70's. Nowadays, many people from Africa, China and Brazil live in Portugal but a large number of them face difficult economic situation due to lack of qualifications and difficulty in finding a job.

For these reasons a part of these immigrants live in self-made homes or in Council houses where some social problems are more evident like criminality, economic difficulties, unemployment, school abandon, etc.

In respect of working rules of the organisation, all youngsters have the right to maintain anonymous and secrecy must be respected, in order to protect their privacy.

Volunteer principles that are promoted in Casa Pia are:
- Solidarity: responsibility of all citizens in volunteer in Casa Pia;
- Participation: intervention of volunteers and promoter entities in social fields;
- Cooperation: gather efforts and projects of promoter entities of volunteer;
- Complementarily: the volunteers don't substitute the others human resources in the organisation;
- Freeness: the volunteers aren't paid for the activity;
- Responsibility: the volunteer is responsible for its commitment in order to fulfil the expectations;
- Convergence: harmony between the culture and objectives of the volunteer and Casa Pia.

Duties of the volunteers in Casa Pia:
- Respect the ethic code of volunteer activity;
- Observe the rules that regulate the work of Casa Pia and the programmes and projects where the volunteer will be involved;
- Act diligently and with solidarity;
- Participate in the volunteers programme trainings;
- Ensure a good use of resources and equipments available;
- Collaborate with workers of Casa Pia, respecting their opinions and following their instructions;
- Do not assume a representative role without previous authorisation of Casa Pia;
- Assure the regularity and development of the work based on the agreement between the volunteer and Casa Pia;
- Use the Volunteer ID during the activities.

The presence of a coordinating organisation in this project is important for the success, mainly because the hosting organisation don't have experience in EVS projects.

Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara is involved in a lot of projects and activities where EVS volunteers can be involved and have large experience and a motivated team that will give the necessary support to the volunteer.

ProAtlântico has high experience on EVS projects and will take care of the administrative and practical issues, in order to make this project fulfil all the expectation of all partners.

Concerning the stay of the EVS volunteer, the coordinating organisation ProAtlântico - Associação Juvenil will provide the lodging in a flat or in a hosting family. The volunteer might have to share the room with another volunteer.

A monthly allowance is provided by the coordinating organisation to cover food expenses out of the working time. During the working time the hosting organisation will provide meals or an allowance to cover food expenses of the volunteers. The volunteers may find a variety of eating choices in Lisbon (commercial centres, small local restaurants, supermarkets, local food markets, etc.). The Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara members will help him/her become familiar with these resources.

A monthly local transport allowance is provided by the hosting organisation to the EVS volunteer.

A monthly allowance (pocket money) is provided by the coordinating organisation to the volunteer.












PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR EVS VOLUNTEERS:

In Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara the EVS volunteers will be able to develop several competencies, in order to improve their performance. Therefore, the host organisation will provide the opportunity to EVS volunteers to have learning opportunities in different fields, such as:

o approach to the tasks of the project: develop responsibility for the project; become more open to new ideas; develop the sense of initiative; ability to plan and organize activities to the project; flexibility/adaptability and coping to new challenges; proactive attitude and independent work;

o leadership abilities: develop positive attitude in difficult situations; positive attitude in order to take pride in team performance; team work with colleagues to achieve desired goals; ability to maintain open communication; ability to contribute to an environment of motivation;

o team orientation: work effectively with others volunteers or other members of the team; active attitude to contribute to the achievement of group and organizational goals; acceptance of shared responsibility and ownership of projects; maintenance of open communication among team members; assume commitment to team success; consistent contribution with new ideas to the organization / new projects;

o innovation and creativity: ability to develop and implement innovate ideas to the projects; ability to provide unique/different perspectives to improve activities; ability to encourage innovation in themselves and others;

o Personal characteristics: maintain a positive attitude on the work; ability to act responsibly; ability to share information willingly; ability to make judgement and to make decisions;

o Cultural expression: knowledge about Portuguese culture; willing to show volunteer's culture and spread the multicultural projects;

o Communication in a foreign language: ability to communicate in Portuguese in order to feel more integrated among the others; positive attitude in learning process of Portuguese language; persistence to improve communication in Portuguese language;

In the end of the Activity, the EVS volunteers involved can ask for the Youth Pass in order to get a certification of their learning outcomes.

The volunteers will have the chance to be integrated in Casa Pia de Lisboa and to know an organisation with 200 years with relevant concerns in Portuguese society, giving several competencies, knowledge and sharing values through the presence and daily contact with the beneficiaries. For Casa Pia de Lisboa is an added value resulting from hosting volunteers of different cultures and diverse experiences. This fact will give the chance to the organisation and to the volunteers the opportunity of enlarge their horizons.

In general terms, the EVS volunteers will have to find the best strategy to integrate in a new culture, to learn a new language and to fit in a new reality, but also, will have the opportunity to improve their skills, discover new abilities and talents with a specific target group - social disadvantaged children and young people.

In specific terms, while the volunteers develop their EVS project in Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara, they will have to deal with conflicts among children and young people, rule breaks and other social behaviour concerns.

In this way, the volunteers must have a proactive role, assisting the other members of the team, which are already running this project and help them in their tasks, by taking part in the animation and carrying out activities with children and young people, having always the necessary support, training, orientation in order to plan activities.

The EVS volunteers will be encouraged to implement their own ideas and experiences, according to their skills and interests, having in mind the team's objectives and the organisation possibilities. We believe this topic is important to the volunteer's integration and adaptation to the dynamics of the organisation, in order to make him/her feel part of the group.

The volunteers will learn important issues in the Youth Work field, in order to become more integrated and informed about other cultures and ways of living, the problems of coexistence of different cultures, deal with possible conflicts among them and find the best ways to use mutual understanding as a tool for tolerance.

The Mentor will assist the volunteer in the definition of his/her tasks and give personal support.

The volunteers will take part in many different tasks, according to their interests, abilities and skills that will be planned together with the staff and the mentor. The target group of the project will be children and young people between 8 and 15 years old.
So, the specific tasks that volunteers can be involved in Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara are:

- Supporting the children and youngsters during their study moments: this task includes the supervision of the youngsters, the support in their doubts and most of all motivate youngsters in their studying tasks. The volunteers tasks can be: monitoring and helping the children and youngsters in their homework and study hours, helping in areas where he/she feels more comfortable (for instance: English language tutoring, Maths, Geography…), but also motivating them to study and to complete their objectives.

- Leisure time: this activity aims to animate and implement leisure time activities for the children and youngsters, with an entertaining but also educational purpose. Therefore, the idea is to have a variety of activities where the children and youngsters can learn, have fun and occupy their free time in a healthy way. These activities include cooking workshops, fashion shows, photos exhibitions, thematic conversations, etc.

- Art Workshops: develop techniques with the group such as painting, drawing, building or modelling, cuttings, music, theatre, sports, gastronomy, etc, according to the plan and to the volunteer's skills. They will be stimulated to organise special theme weeks and participate in education activities.

- Meals Time: this is the moment for meals and the "family feeling" shall be in the air. The tasks of the volunteer can include helping in giving the meals to the children and youngsters, but most important, helping in creating a friendly, funny and home environment during the meal time. This can include establishing healthy conversations with the children and youngsters, inquiring about their activities during the day, their problems, their needs, etc.

- Supporting children and youngsters in health routines: help the staff to assure that the children and youngsters take care of their health routines (shower, washing teeth, etc), setting the rules and teaching them hygiene habits.

- Preparation of parties and special events: as in all family houses, in Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara there are moments and occasions to celebrate or to have a relaxed, fun and happy moments. The volunteers will help in plan and creation of these events.
- Preparation and monitoring of outdoor activities: having activities out of the space of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara is also foreseen in the activities plan. It is important for the youngsters to diversify their horizons and to develop their knowledge of the surroundings. The volunteers can plan different activities for these "going outs", visits, define places to go, etc. During the activity, they can also be responsible for monitoring the group and leading the activities.

- Promote European Voluntary Service and other youth activities: the EVS volunteers should give visibility to their own EVS activity, in order to motivate other young people to participate on EVS and in other youth activities as youth exchanges. With this purpose they can organise exhibitions and presentations in schools and in youth clubs, etc.

- Personal project: according to the spirit of volunteering, learning and sharing that sets the philosophy of hosting an EVS project, the EVS volunteers involved in Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara will have the freedom and will be challenged to promote a personal project, like an original idea or whatever they desire that comes in accordance with the regular philosophy of the institution, either in the formerly mentioned areas, or in different ones, for which they can count with support and monitoring from the staff of the hosting organisation and from the technical team ProAtlântico's team.

- Participation in the planning of the work: the volunteers will attend to the planning meeting where the specific objectives and activities are defined on a regular basis. In these meetings they can propose ideas to implement, propose solutions for specific problems, become aware of the working methodologies of the organisation, place their doubts or questions about the work, evaluate, etc.

The tasks weren't designed to achieve profit, because the organization is non-profitable and doesn't intend to make financial gain from its activities.

The volunteers will start Portuguese lessons shortly after their arrival in Portugal, in order to help them to communicate with the children, young people and staff.

The first few weeks after the volunteer's arrival will be considered as a period of preliminary induction, during which the volunteer will be introduced to the project team and will gain familiarity with the new living and working environment.

During this time the coordinating organisation ProAtlântico - Associação Juvenil will welcome the EVS volunteers and create right conditions for the development of the project, giving the volunteers the opportunity to integrate in the new culture, different environment and new language.

ProAtlântico will provide the language course and will create the opportunity to EVS volunteers to establish the first contacts with Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara and with the different projects that will be developed during their stay. At the same time, the EVS volunteers will be introduced in the hosting organization, mainly to the working team.

In this period, the EVS volunteers will have the opportunity to settle down, observe and plan the tasks in which they will be involved. The volunteers will also participate in activities organised by ProAtlântico - Associação Juvenil for the cultural training about integration in the Portuguese culture and dealing with cultural shock.

After this initial adjustment period, the volunteer will work directly in the tasks defined in Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara with the staff of the organisation. Before the beginning of each task, the EVS volunteers will have the necessary briefing and/or training by qualified people to obtain the necessary knowledge to perform well in their functions. During this process all the training will be structured according to the needs of the EVS volunteers and be provided by the staff.

At the first sight, it won't be necessary any formal training, just the practical procedures will be trained. Although, if needed, will be possible to have more formation depending on the volunteers needs.

The team will meet with the volunteer two times each month to evaluate the tasks and to check if the objectives are fulfilled.

The schedule of the volunteer will be 35 hours a week, 5 days a week with 2 days off. The volunteer will participate 6 hours each day in total of 30 hours a week. 3 to 5 hours will be used for personal support with the mentor and Language Course given by a school or by a private teacher.

The schedule will be set between the volunteer and the mentor, considering their interests and the kind of activities developed. The volunteers might have to be available during the weekend and in that case will have free days during the week.

The volunteer will have 2 days of holidays per month for the duration of the project, to be taken in agreement between the volunteer and the team of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara.











VOLUNTEER PROFILES AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS:

In order to receive applications of candidates to this project, ProAtlântico - Associação Juvenil will promote a transparent recruitment process by taking different actions:
- sending information about the project to European networks, to National Agencies by e-mail
- creating a website that can give information about the project and all the selection process.

The coordinating organisation will create a selection group that will make a pre-selection of the candidates, firstly based on practical issues (selecting only the candidates that had the CV, motivation letter, and sending organization details). After reading the CV and Motivation letters, the selection group makes a choice, considering the interest of the volunteers to work with social disadvantaged children and young people, their commitment to volunteering service and the reason presented to have chosen this project.

During this process all the information about the candidates, the selection process and the results will be available in the Internet site. The volunteers will be chosen taking in consideration that can bring something of their own experiences and culture, to enrich the hosting projects and local community.

The project is totally based in free activities to the participants. Therefore, the presence of EVS volunteers can't be at any moment seen as job substitution.

The profile of the volunteer will have general requirements: self-motivated, dynamic, versatile, good mood, flexible, with self initiative, creative, willing to take on new challenges, openned to work with people of all backgrounds and cultures; enthusiastic to participate in the project; mature to work and to relate to a group of young people; willing to develop new activities and with sense of responsibility.

We will look for volunteers who are interested in working with a commitment to volunteering, with interest in social field and had chosen our project because of the experience and development they will gain not only because it's in Portugal.










RISK PREVENTION, PROTECTION AND SAFETY:

The volunteer will work with the team of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara and so it's already provided protection and safety.

Every EVS Volunteer will have a Mentor that will be directly responsible for his/her personal support and to whom he/she can turn in case of problems. The integration of the volunteers in the hosting organisation is responsibility of the mentor. The mentor will have meetings with the volunteers, depending on the duration of the activity and the kind of activities developed, in order to give personal support to the volunteer and identify the obstacles and difficulties that the volunteer may face.

The volunteer will do his/her activity with autonomy and supervision of the organisation's board and mentor, as well as the Central Services. The mentor will be available to mediate conflicts and help the volunteer in his/her needs. To prevent risks, the EVS volunteers will be accompanied by a member of the team whenever possible, who will also help the volunteer to intercede in case of conflicts.

Every EVS volunteer will have special training about: the organisation working methods; relationship and attitude among children/youngsters; prevention of risk behaviours. The volunteers will also inform the team about situations that put the children/youngsters in danger.

In order to guarantee safety and protection of EVS volunteers, they will know the general procedures in case of a dangerous situation. The volunteers will also be informed about the main telephone numbers and localisation of useful services like, national emergency number, fire department, police office, hospitals, and pharmacies. They will also be aware about the contact people inside the organisation like mentor, children/youngsters monitors, etc.

The volunteers will also be covered by health and accidents insurances, in order to guarantee their safety and protection.

In order to prepare the hosting of EVS volunteers will be created a Welcome Guide, which will provide information about the lodging, cleaning of the flat, consumption of supplies (water, electricity and gas), transports available, money issues (food, transport and pocket money), training and formation, extra information: map between ProAtlântico's office, Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara and the flat, services available nearby (restaurants, pharmacies, shops, etc.)

The young people aged 16 or 17 will be protected and be under supervision of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara team. A mentor will be identified by the hosting organisation to assure their full protection, safety and will prevent crises and risks, by taking several meetings during the EVS activity. The volunteers will be informed about rules and procedures of Casa Pia - CED de Santa Clara and also the law in Portugal for young people under 18.

The volunteer will have the support of the Central Services that are responsible for implementing EVS in the institutions of Casa Pia de Lisboa.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=60000121945