CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT:
The EVS volunteers will do their service and will live in the Association. They'll have a bedroom with bathroom to share. They can use the kitchen of the community to cook, if they want to, they can do it with the hosts.
LOCAL COMMUNITY:
The Association is located in eastern Milan. It is well served by public means of transportation even if it is in a peripherical area and it has got a big park.
Milan is the chief-town of Lombardia region, one of the richest region in Italy. Milan is a lively but frenetic town, rich in history, monuments, museums and art galleries. Milan is the most important Italian town for finance; in fact it has got the Italian Exchange, called "Piazza Affari". Most of the Italian companies and firms have got a financial office in Milan. The town is an important centre for finance, corporate societies, publishing industry, advertisement and marketing. Moreover, since the 80s Milan has been considered and important town for fashion. Lots of young people are fascinated by Milan and decide to move to study or work here. The high number of young people created a lively and intense atmosphere during the night: there are many cultural associations, showrooms, cinemas, theatres, discos and night clubs. In the last few years Milan has counted a great number of immigrants that created a rich multicultural environment. Milan is the most important railway-centre in northern Italy and each railway station has got an underground station. Connections between the different parts of the town are good and Milan is well-connected with other Italian cities too. Milan has got three airports: Malpensa, near Piemonte region, well connected with the city-centre by a bus service called Malpensa Express; Linate, in the east of the town, hosts national lines and lots of low-cost flights; Orio al Serio, near Bergamo, mainly used for charters and some low-cost flights.
RULES:
The volunteers are asked to clean and order their bedrooms regularly: it can be an example for the hosts;
It is strictly forbidden to bring in or use any kind of drugs and alcohol in the community;
You are allowed to smoke but only in the specific areas for smokers;
It is very important to have sensibility and respect for the privacy and experiences of the hosts;
In case of visits to the volunteers, the staff must be informed in advance and the guests must be welcomed in the common spaces: you are not allowed to host friends for the night;
Considering that the hosts are all male, we suggest to female volunteers to have a friendly but unimpeachable behaviour. We would like to underline this rule not because the volunteers can be in danger but because ambiguous situations can create problems within the community.

Please explain:
1. What the voluntary service is. First of all we'll offer to European volunteers a concrete opportunity to experience what voluntary service, solidarity and community life mean: they are words that can seem rethorical but in Centesimus Annus they are full of activities, values and joy.
2. Not-formal learning. The volunteers in Centesimus Annus will receive a specific not-formal learning about seevral aspects of the voluntary activities in an host community for foreign workers. All our Evs volunteers will take part to this training, for example Italian classes for foreign people, civic education, hygiene classes, nutrition and many other themes.
3. Evaluation of the competences. Like the hosts, also the EVS volunteers will be supported by a Counsellor through an "orientation plan" that starts from their personal skills and that can be the starting point for the development of a human being. We would like to create the basis for a work that goes beyond the Evs experience and that gives to the volunteers a method of analysis and planning of their future.
4. Adaptation and comparison. Because of its mission, Centesimus Annus will offer to the volunteers the opportunity to experiment different situations and conditions that allow them to meet and compare the diversity: language, culture, country, background, accomodation, role. In the modern context where globalization is an assumed word, the volunteers can experience concretely the meaning of this word that is often defined an "Epopea".
5. European awarness. As a consequence of the daily comparison with foreign people, the EVS volunteers will become aware of the European identity thanks to the differences and similarities that don't exclude but create relations and awarness of the values related to our own identity and to other people.
6. Personal emancipation. The volunteers will have the opportunity to experiment, in a protected context, what means for a young person to leave the native home, to go abroad, to be far from the family, to have new rules and duties, to create new relationships, to have a limited budget .....

As young Europeans, the EVS volunteers in Centesimus Annus are:
a link between hosts and operators: the volunteers are European citizens but foreign people in Italy, so they have something in common with the hosts (not-European but foreign) but also with the operators (European);
an example of social commitment for the hosts, who can think about the motivations and the wish to meet different people, take the challenge, create new relationships, spend time in the Community;
a presence that animate the life of the Hosting House;
a person to rely on. The volunteers must be aware that a project in Centesimus Annus is not an holiday ! We commit ourselves in supporting, respecting and gratifying the volunteers but they must be responsible and collaborative in the House, in their tasks and with hosts and operators.

the activities in which the volunteers could be involved and the activities the volunteers could create in your organisation. Please give examples of typical activities for the volunteers.
In Centesimus Annus the operators and the team of volunteers (already formed) coordinate the project "for a Sustainable Citizenship". We would like to involve the EVS volunteers in the activities of active participation. The volunteers will do their service from 9.00 to 12.30 a.m. and from 7.00 to 11.30 p.m. They'll have two free days a week, preferably not always on Saturday and Sunday since these days the hosts don't work and so these are good opportunities to organise activities all together. The EVS volunteers will accrue two days of holidays each month of service. Here below we explain the activities which the European volunteers can be involved in, according to their interests and skills.
Monday - Friday 9.00 -12.30 a.m.
support the operators in the office (answer the phone, take and divide the mail, bring up to date the files about the hosts;
check the lights, the condition of the bathrooms, of the bar, empty the waste baskets and separate the different kinds of rubbish: these activities can be an example for the hosts;
once a week the volunteers can go to the Tourism and Events Office at the Milan Municipality to get information about exhibitions, concerts and other events to suggest to our hosts;
once a week the volunteers can take part to some meetings in other associations to know the different social realities of Milan and to reinforce the relationships with them (of course we will introduce the volunteers to the operators of the other associations);
once a week they can collect material to organise activities or they can support our staff in planning and developing projects addressed to our hosts. If the volunteers show us interest and initiative, they can realize their own activities or projects with the constant support of the staff.
Monday - Friday 7.00 - 11.30 p.m.
Welcome the hosts: it is necessary to encourage moments of dialogue and exchange;
dissemination of proposed activities and collection of adhesions;
Cross-Booking Point respecting the planned calendar;
participation to the activities with the hosts (thematic meetings, parties, recreational activities)
screening of movies;
participation to tournaments (ping-pong, five-a-side, football ... );
bar;
particpation in the training for the volunteers;
participation in the meetings with the staff to plan the activities.
Saturday and Sunday 9.00 - 12.30 a.m.
cultural, recreational activities. We are open to accept any suggestions regarding new activities which the volunteers would like to commit in order to involve our hosts in the community life;
animation of the lunch with the hosts cooking with them and creating a community around the table.

Saturday and Sunday 7.00 - 11.30 p.m.
Welcome the hosts: it is necessary to encourage moments of dialogue and exchange;
participation in the activities with the hosts (Italian classes, hygene, civic education, nutrition classes ... multiethnic dinners, parties, thematic meetings);
bar service.

We don't ask for specific skills or experiences but we think it is important that our potential volunteers have a flair for being with other people, creativity and a real motivation toward the project without any kind of prejudices. The hosts of the community need friendship and comprehension for their uneasiness: the volunteers should be sensitive to this problem and be active in the safeguard of human rights and in the social inclusion. Other than the comprehension, we think it is very important that the volunteers are able to have an "uninvolved" behaviour (that is not indifference or coolness): this behaviour allows them not to be manipulated and too much charged by the experiences and lifestyles of our hosts. The volunteers must be ready to welcome different lifestyles; for example: the kitchen and the cooking are managed autonomly by the hosts; Centesimus Annus doesn't provide them any tool or ethical code; so each host can cook and eat whatever and however he wants to. We believe in this freedom as a way to respect the culture and the dignity of each host. As a consequence, it may happen that going into the kitchen the volunteers can see people who decide to eat without tablecloth, napkins or place setting. The impact of the diversity in lifestyle may be strong. For this reason we believe it is pivotal to have comprehension and "uninvolvement", critical welcoming toward the hosts. Anyway, we require involvment in the community life and wish to share. We also require flexibility and the availability to accept and respect the few rules of the House.

To guarantee a safe living and working environment for the Evs volunteers we'll take the following measures:
preparation of the community to welcome the new volunteers: information about their countries, duration of the service, activities to develop together. We would like to involve the hosts in welcoming the volunteers, so that they cannot feel to be frightened or confused;
welcoming into the community: presentation of the mentor and of the association, introduction of the hosts, of Italian volunteers and of the activities;
delivery of a folder with useful information about the environment: map of the town and of the public means of transportation, contact details in case of emergency, presentation of our mission, rules and timetable of the Association;
personal and group meeting to deeply know each volunteer: their studies, their jobs, experiences, expectations, wishes. This point is very important to plan the service, which will be organised with the volunteers and the mentor respecting their competences and desires but also the need of the community;
a twice-weekly evaluation meeting with the mentor to dialogue, notice possible negative points or problems and to find new strategies and solutions;
final meeting for a general feedback;
organisation of the final party with a multicultural dinner, songs, delivery of a diary with thoughts, photos, activities and achievements.
We can also provide the volunteers with a Linguistic-Cultural Mediator and some Counsellors who are part of the staff as local volunteers and can support the European volunteers during their experience.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=42000528714