ENGLISH
Geyserhaus e.V. is a socio-cultural centre. This means that the organization's work, as laid down in its statutes, includes the area of open children's and youth work as well as youth cultural work and (socio-) cultural work. Fields of work are the "Open Meeting Club" (OFT), an area for kids and adolescents to withdraw and experience; continuing course work to particularly foster and integrate sculptural and artistic talents of the participants, and, last but not least, event organization. The latter includes organizing concerts, concert series, exhibits, theatre performances, citizens' festivals and workshops.
The organization aims at improving the social climate and living value of the neighbourhood, the quarter, and finally, the city, by providing various different grassroots-cultural and social-pedagogical offers. Culture, in the widest sense possible, is a key element to this aim.
Target groups are composed accordingly. As we aim to and do address the entire social environment, every age group and every social layer is being addressed. This will vary with the individual offers provided, but as a final consequence all people are to get together again, be it on the Geyserhaus premises or beyond. To name but a few examples, there is a "toddlers' group" for toddlers and their mothers. The Open Meeting Club (OFT) is aimed at kids and adolescents in particular. One section of the Pottery Course is mainly attended by adults in their middle ages, another section by school students. One theatre group at our house mainly reaches an audience (and actors) from university student circuits; the other group is composed of children and often performs at day-care centres. Other groups are focused on other fields and environments. The same variety is true for events. A lantern parade around Christmas time will attract mostly younger families with small children, the graffiti workshop will attract youths from a particular background or from a particular subculture. The neighbourhood festival is designed to address all generations (and that it does!); here you will find young children, families, young people and senior citizens all together. This goes to illustrate our understanding of the concept of "socio-cultural". It involves the population of our service area as a whole (which by nature is difficult to determine). Even though we define target groups for individual offers, we do not wish to separate these groups from each other, divide them and serve them individually. There will always be consideration of how to allow for or even force different target groups to overlap, to achieve inter-penetration if this is sensible and desirable.

Leipzig is the largest city of Saxony and is renowned for its cultural diversity and economic rise after the wall came down. It is nicely located in Saxony's the north western corner. Leipzig is a historic city of trade fairs with international recognition. The city is also home to the media centre of public services broadcasting stations (mdr). Leipzig is renowned for its architectural design, such as the many houses from the period around the turn of the 19th century lending much of its appearance to the city. Also, a major part of Europe's largest riparian forest is located well inside the city and around it. The city also claims to be young and brimming with culture, the former justified by more than 20,000 university students, the latter taken care of by worldwide famous locations such as the Gewandhaus, but also many theatres, hip bars and cultural pubs, arts cinemas, and more. The quarter of Eutritzsch, which is home to our organization, is located in the northern part of Leipzig and thus fairly close to the trade fair. The environment can be described as middle-class. Part of the quarter's park is open to our organization for cultural events.

Open Youth Work
The Open Youth and Leisure Meeting Club (OFT) is mainly a meeting place and leisure club for young people between 14 and 18 years of age. The offers by Geyserhaus e.V. address most different teenagers, as there is, and is intended to be, a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, family constellations, educational levels, means of expression characteristic of youth subcultures etc. Main interests include sports, media and (youth) culture. In addition, the OFT is also frequented by children aged 6-14 during daytime, particularly on Saturdays, which is helped by the special integration of the OFT into the open premises of the Parkbühne Geyserhaus (Geyserhaus Wood Stage). Even adolescents between 19-27 come to visit the OFT, having made good use of the offers of the Geyserhaus e.V. for several years.
Youth work in the context of the OFT aligns with the special needs of adolescence as a phase in life. Central to this are issues of puberty/adolescence, separating from one's family and turning to peer groups. Our offers are meant to encourage and enable young people to develop an autonomous, social and socially responsible personality. The reason for this is our society, which is based upon such persons. We strive for personalities that are autonomous, socially engaged, politically and socially mature and emancipated, and will critically review decisions in politics, never simply accept wrong turns in society, question the media and/or help their friends, neighbours or people in need. It is also necessary to have an influence on the social environment, taking efforts together with the young people to reshape it and keep it alive according to their wishes and requirements.
For details please see the section on the OFT on page …

Children's and Youth Cultural Work
If cultural work, which is also closely linked to education, includes aspects of voluntary, individual self-education on the one hand and opportunities for participation in social shaping processes on the other, it will include cultural offers that stimulate activity along with more receptive types of offers. Cultural work will thus make an essential contribution to the cultural as well as the social competence of children and young people. This is what the offers of Geyserhaus e.V. are intended to do.
Children's and youth cultural work allows to achieve different ways of examining everyday life, the way of shaping and attaching value being of as much interest as the function of acting. The interaction of tradition, artistic expression and the reality of children/young people will have an impact on the self-image and self-esteem of the children and youngsters and will build their competence to act. Youth cultural work will thus contribute to finding meaning and determining one's position in life. Since an active encounter with culture and the arts will always include an encounter with a person's own self and environment, it will stimulate the person's imagination, help develop creativity and sensitiveness, and promote an active examination of society and social processes. It follows that this area of youth work is also a field of social education, where people from different social and cultural backgrounds meet, become aware of different concepts of value and ways of living life and enter into multi-layered communication.
For details please see Courses and Offers on page …

Culture and the Arts, the Arts and Culture
It is central to our events that young and old are addressed alike and jointly, and that there are offers for sampling as well as for acting out culture and the arts. The family dance workshops as part of our Irish Day, followed by performances, and the films produced by young people at the Geyserhaus, which are shown as supports at our Summer Cinema, are but two examples.
A large number of courses (pottery, painting and graphic arts, graffiti, cookery and bakery, children's theatre, youth theatre, guitar, keyboard, drums, Italian for tourists, photography and more), work groups and clubs (SeniorComputerClub, oil painting, English) are open to all age groups. Projects such as "Following Tracks", recording studio and rehearsal room, video lab for filming activities, computer lab, KlangPlanX - the Sound Playground, are realized by mixed-age and interdisciplinary groups. Events (Irish Day, "Puentes - Bridges" - The Spanish Days in Leipzig, the Park Festival and more) always include offers for joint cultural education along with offers for activity. These offers attract more than 400 users per week and a total of 58.000 visitors annually (as of August 30, 2005) to the GeyserHaus, thus hinting at its central function.

   
  

ENGLISH
Generally speaking, this organization's work is based on 2 mainstays. One is youth work, mainly taking place at an open meeting club. This is a low-threshold offer directed at, and used by, young people and adolescents of the quarter.
The second is what we call socio-cultural work. This is about shaping life through culture in this quarter and beyond. At the core of this is event organization, usually offering music, theatre, painting or other arts. Moreover, we aim at extending a mere "serving the consumer" by nourishing interest in this way and, at a later stage, promoting this interest. To do this, we offer a variety of courses in-house where participants can try out and learn such artistic development.
Our intentions to take part in this project are directed at different targets: We hope to facilitate cultural exchange in this way, by getting in touch personally with people of different nationalities, working together and learning from each other. We are looking for better insights into cultural correlations. And we hope for our young people (the users of the Open Meeting Club) that they will continue to get together with people of about their age, but from different nationalities, to learn about their ideas, hopes and personal and cultural backgrounds. Of course we also have a strong interest in organizing intercultural events. Working with the volunteers could lend more authenticity to this even though we do already cooperate with artists from different nations. It should also be mentioned that we will benefit largely from the practical help a volunteer can provide, facilitating our work, which again may help to further improve the quality of our work.

We hope to use the European volunteers' service to extend the cultural scope of our organization. Therefore the major task for the volunteer will be to develop and implement his or her own project, which will be related to the volunteer's home country on the one hand, and to cultural differences and common grounds on the other. Another field of activity will be assistance in the organization of other projects in the house, as well as contributions to the open children's and youth work. During the getting-to-know phase the volunteer will be involved with the open youth work because this offers the best opportunities for assistance, as well as the easiest access to a person. As the volunteer's project gains shape, the focus of activity will be moved away from the open work to enable the volunteer to focus his or her work on realizing the project. This will mean in particular a shift of working hours from afternoons/evenings to mornings/afternoons.
Typical tasks during the first phase of service will be participation in and realization of leisure time activities; the normal course being short-term perspectives in weekly periods. In the second phase the volunteer will work on an event which will be staged during the last month of his or her service. To do this, the volunteer will work together with cooperating partners, other volunteers, artists and others. The volunteer's work will be completed by a cultural programme/event on our open air stage Parkbühne, or the surrounding premises. During these activities, the volunteer will also take part in other events of the house as an assistant, or maybe as co-organizer.
Weekly working hours are normally 40 hrs, with a flexible approach. It is understood that overtime will be balanced by time off work. Holiday arrangements will be kept in line with the recommendations by the national agencies and the EVS.

Project description: Please summarize the aims and activities of this EVS project.
Our scope of cultural events will include several events focussing on Europe, or European countries, or countries of the world. For these, we would like to have volunteers from European countries participating to further support the authenticity of these events.
For example, we have for a number years successfully organized the "Spanish Days - Puentes -Bridges" which is intended to introduce the spiritual and socio-cultural range of the Spanish-speaking world. To do this, we organize exhibitions and video installations, show films, traditional dances (rumba, flamenco, salsa, tango) are performed on the organization's Parkbühne stage, as well as concerts by renowned artists from Spanish-speaking countries, and more.
Another well-established event is the "Irish Days". Again the intention is to bring traditional Anglo-Celtic culture in a global context to new audiences within and beyond the folk circuit. We think that music is the best means to fulfil this intention. It is placed within an environment of traditional pub atmosphere.
This year will see two new major themes for the first time. One will be the "Black Weekend" (draft title) focusing on the Black African continent with its ancient and more recent traditions that are now reaching out far into the western world.
Second novelty is the "Indian Summer" (draft title). We have been able to gain partial experience from previous festivities, in particular children's fêtes. The event will centre on the presentation of the cultures of (North) American natives, to provide a lively experience (even though this can only be a hint of it all) of how native Americans may have lived - such as, how they cooked, dwelled, celebrated, etc.
All this can be seen as a framework programme for the EVS project.
It should be mentioned that with regards to contents, this project will be linked to our socio-cultural work, which features regional/native traditions as well as various different cultural expressions in this country.
The point of the overall project is to raise understanding for different ways of life and other cultures, demonstrate foreign traditions and thus also raise questions about one's own ways to go through life and one's own ideas of the way of living.

Jobs for the Volunteer
What exactly the volunteers will do will of course depend mainly on themselves. We have the idea that they ought to get involved as much as possible into the organization of events, as detailed above. Areas of work will include:

Finding ideas
During the planning phase of events we have to gather ideas and align them with the overall concept. This will mean for the volunteer (as well as the staff of the organization) to look about and at what may have been done elsewhere within a similar context, what offers already exist, which resources our house offers, which resources the person himself/herself can add. In a discussion among the team (which the volunteer is a member of) the layout of the event will be determined.

Preparation
Before an event can take place, it has to be prepared thoroughly. We would suggest to trust the volunteer with one area of responsibility, or to assign the person to a particular organizational unit, such as sound & light. The steps of preparation will derive from this assignment. If, for example, a stall for making plaster masks is to be put up, preparation would include organizing/buying an adequate amount of materials, planning the layout of the stall (required working surfaces, tools, auxiliaries, etc.). All of this must be organized and agreed in advance. This is similar in other fields of work.

Realization
Realizing the actual event requires manifold activities. It will largely depend upon the volunteers themselves which tasks they will be assigned. For example, some personnel is required for the catering area. This would include serving the visitors with food and beverages, looking after tableware and cleanliness, cooking, cooling or heating beverages, and more.
Another area of work is looking after the artists. Catering for the artists has to be prepared, and the backstage area has to be prepared and looked after. If artists are interested, we also offer to show them around the city of Leipzig.
Another area of work is taking responsibility of stalls. If there are stalls at an event (info stalls, stalls for workshops etc.), they will have to be looked after. The way this has to be done depends upon the nature of the stall. If it is stall where plaster masks are made for and with children, the person in charge is responsible to provide materials, instructions and assistance.
People in charge of admission will sell tickets and be ready to answer questions from the visitors. In addition, whoever is in charge here will also fulfil a certain security function by assessing what type of audience will attend an event and how this will impact the process of the event.
Should the volunteer wish to work with the sound & light required for an event, the person will be responsible for putting up sound & light equipment, checking it for operativeness, monitoring its use to an optimum during the event and performing rapid changes between acts.
All in all the aim is to take on partial responsibility for making the event a success.

Post-Event Phase
The day after the event will mostly be spent with tidy-up work. Everything that has been used must be put away. In the catering area working surfaces must be cleaned of dirt, tableware must be cleaned, as well as tables, chairs, etc. Empties must be returned and waste must be disposed. The artists, if they have been cared for and have stayed overnight, must be taken from their hotel to the railway station, airport, etc. The backstage area, too, must be cleaned thoroughly. The staff in charge of stalls will also need to tidy and clear up. The stalls must be dismounted, any working materials left over must be sorted and stored, tools must be cleaned and any works that may have been left by visitors will be collected. The technical staff will dismount sound & light equipment, clean cables, speakers, microphones etc. Finally, the stage itself will be cleaned. All staff members not busy at the moment will now tidy up the premises (collecting litter, putting away tables and chairs etc.)

After this, preparations for the following event will start.

A schedule of the week will look like this:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 2 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Tidy-up work of last Friday, if any Planning, shopping, cost estimation for working materials for following Friday As before + start of setting-up work Realization of the event

Weekly working hours are 40 as scheduled, but this can be handled individually. Should the volunteer wish to work 32 hours only, this can be arranged without problems. If events take place at the weekend these additional working hours will be balanced by hours off work. Everyone is entitled to vacation according to their work contract, work practice contract or other relevant contract. Anybody who wants to take their vacation will announce this at our staff meeting (usually on Tuesdays), then the jobs on hand will be reviewed to assess if the team can cover for the absence. This is usually possible. It is important, though, to inquire about a vacation in time, which is about 4 weeks before the beginning of the vacation, to be able to develop strategies for covering the absence.

Catering: Please describe catering arrangements for the volunteer/s.
The volunteer can make use of our catering facility if he wishes so. It is also possible to pay out a meal allowance, or to find a mixed solution. This will depend upon the volunteer's preferences.

   

ENGLISH
Good basic command of the German language, must be open-minded, tolerant, helpful, team-spirited, autonomous, creative, friendly, fond of children, responsible, flexible, interested in culture (music, theatre, photography, films, etc.)