Poraka is one among several centres for youngsters with light and medium handicap that organise daily activities for them. In the centre in Struga there are 8 to 12 youngsters that come each day from the city and the surrounding areas. We organise activities for them that have educational purpose as well as sport activities and excursions. There are 3 employed people working, 2 of which are directly involved in the implementation of the activities. We have hosted so far 1 EVS volunteer from Finland, Mrs. Sini Makinen (1 September 2005 - 1 June 2006).

The project activities mainly take place in the premises of the centre where the youngsters spend most of their time. The centre works from 9 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon. The centre has organised transport for the youngsters that takes then from their homes and also brings them back.
Occasionally we organise sport activities in the nearby sporting fields. Also once or twice per year we organise sport activities that last several days and youngsters from other Poraka day care centres come. These activities are organised mainly in Struga since it's a tourist city.
The volunteer will be involved in organising all of these activities

Macedonia is a country in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula. Our country in the past has been a crossroad for many people and cultures.
Struga is a small town with 20 000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Southwest part of Macedonia, on the famous lake Ohrid. Struga is located on the banks of the Crn Drim river. The river is the third largest river in Macedonia. It comes out from The Lake Ohrid, goes trough Macedonia, Albania and in Montenegro enters the Adriatic sea.

Struga is around 200km from the capital of Macedonia, Skopje and only 14 km from the cultural center of Macedonia - the city of Ohrid. It is 20 km from the Albanian border and 43 km from the border with Greece.

Struga is a multi ethnic town with 62% Macedonians, 21% Albanians, 7% Turks, 5% Roma, 4 Vlah and 1% other ethnic group. Official languages are Macedonian and Albanian (according to the Macedonian constitution every ethnic group that has more than 20% of the population can use as official their mother tongue). 63% of the population are orthodox and 37% Muslims.

Struga is also known as the Town of Poetry because every year many poets are coming on a cultural event called the Struga Poetry Evenings. This town is of great cultural richness with many ancient monuments such as churches 10-16 century, Old Macedonian architecture, antique Christian basilica and so on…
From September 2005 till June 2006 we hosted EVS volunteer Miss Sini Makinen. This was a first experience for us but her stay in Poraka was of great help for us. She adapted in the activities in the centre very fast and was very motivated to work.

For us this was of great help since we got one more person to have support in implementing the activities of the centre that are quite demanding.

The volunteer will share a flat with another volunteer. 

The main objective of the project is for the volunteer to experience and assist in the running of a centre for disabled youngsters. The centre, as a whole, is hoping to make use of the volunteer's skills, abilities and initiative in the implementation of its tasks - providing day-care for children with special needs. In the centre there are already 3 people employed. We believe that by training others and developing the abilities of the international volunteer, we will encrease the work and also will help us in attracting new volunteers from the local community.

"Poraka" has already hosted an EVS volunteer. We are motivated to host European volunteer because we believe that it gives us a new dimension that is added to the project which is working within the local community. It provides a new learning experience for everybody involved within the project including the youngsters that are main target group of the project along with the staff. It encourages the social and occupational integration of these youngsters with special needs into the community and provides them with the opportunity to develop their own skills and abilities.

The volunteer will be completely introduced in the activities of the centre and bout in theory and practice will learn of the work with disabled children. The volunteer will be involved in organising and implementing the planed activities that have educational purpose.

The cooperation with the staff will provide an opportunity for learning about and reflecting on the different approaches in work with youngsters with special needs and various working methods. The volunteer will have the opportunity to learn how to ensure constructive and efficient cooperation in an intercultural working team.

Main tasks will include the following:
1. To assist in the implementation of individual programmes designed to meet the needs of the youngsters (users of the services of the centre).
2. To assist in planning and implementing the day care element of the programme.
3. To accompany/transport the youngsters (users of the services of the centre) to and from their homes.
4. To share responsibility for following the schedule, cleanliness and security of work area.

The responsibilities of the volunteer will be low or moderate, since the entire work on the project is quite demanding. In any point of the engagement of the volunteer he/she will be fully supported by the staff of the centre.

The volunteer will be given the possibility to develop activities within the frame of the scheduled activities of the centre. The volunteer will have full support by the staff of the centre in preparation of these activities that base on his/hers ideas and creativity in order to adapt them the needs of the users of the services of the centre.

The volunteer will also receive a course in Macedonian language. The length of the course will be according to the needs of the volunteer so if needed he/she will receive language course throughout the entire stay.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=66000058270