Ravensburg is the biggest city and at the same time county seat of the correspondent administrative district in the southern region of Upper Swabia. The former free imperial city is located in the valley of the river Schussen, 17 km north-easterly of the Lake of Constance. Ravensburg is the high-order-centre of the region Upper-Swabia-Lake of Constance in the border triangle Germany-Austria-Switzerland with a total population of about 500.000 inhabitants.
In 1402 one of the first paper mills north of the Alps was installed in Ravensburg, later water mills were used for industrial purposes. Based on this grew a manifold mechanical engineering industry. From the middle of the 19th century the new constructed railway Ulm-Friedrichshafen was conducive to the industrial boom.
In the nineteenfifties the town expanded in all directions through new housing areas. Today about 48.000 inhabitants are living in Ravensburg, the town has 34.000 workplaces, about 19.000 people from the region are commuting every day to the town.
The historic Old Town with its southern atmosphere shows the long tradition of commerce, artisanry, services and industry.
To ensure regional mobility European Volunteers get a monthly ticket which is valid for the City Bus Ravensburg-Weingarten Company in the whole agglomeration.
European Volunteers are expected to keep the rules of our work with handicapped people:
- acceptance of handicapped people in their particular personality
- ability to cope with strain by challenging behaviour
- full cooperation with staff members
- loyal and responsible acting according to the particular objective of our work
- to be motivated to develop future prospects for handicapped people
- to be courageous to act creative and flexible

B.
Learning opportunities:
During their activities volunteers will learn about social and emotional necessities of disabled people.
Volunteers will gain competences in social care for disabled people.
Having sole responsibility for design and realisation of leisure facilities will enhance self-assurance and self-confidence of volunteers.
Integration in a foreign culture and the self-determined life of the local community will afford volunteers a personal orientation and increase the development of future perspectives.
Participation in internal professional development activities will provide volunteers with specialised knowledge of the health care and nursery system.
Volunteers can take part in a language training for European Volunteers arranged by the coordinating organisation. The aim of the language training is the command of oral every day speech with a special focus on the terminology of social care. Through language training the volunteer should be enabled to manage typical situations of daily life they will be confronted with during their voluntary service.
Tasks:
Volunteers get the opportunity to contribute - under guidance of staff members - to the support and leisure time program of the vocational training center and the living groups. Volunteers can introduce their own ideas and abilities like computer literacy, graphic design, mechanical skills, music playing etc.
In the beginning the volunteer will only assist the groupleaders, later she/he will take on responsibility - as far as admitted by legal liabilities.
Emphatically volunteers are invited to bring in their own ideas. Staff members will appreciate all initiatives to develop additional proposals for leisure time activities and will support planning and realization. Volunteers could develop their ideas for new games, activities or stories into a personal project if they so wished - creative ideas are always welcome.
Volunteers are expected to accomplish a fulltime voluntary service of 35 hours per week. Overtime doing will be balanced by additional freetime.

C.
The volunteer should have an interest in social work and should be open to interact with disabled children and young people who are threatended with social exclusion. Previous knowledge of work with disabled children and young people could be helpful.
It's necessary for the volunteers to be sociable and outgoing, to have enthusiasm, and to be tolerant to foreign cultures. Volunteers should be able to act on their own initiative, but also cooperate in a team.
Volunteers should have a basic knowledge of German and the willingness to learn german language.
A driving license class B would be helpful.
Candidates should describe their motivation for a voluntary service in this project in a detailed motivation letter.
Important are neither national or social background, gender, language skills nor level of education, but a convincingly motivation.

D.
Volunteers with special needs could be accepted after consultation with the hosting organisation to find and to agree appropriate opportunities of volunteering activities.

E.
The host organisation provides continuous monitoring, including easy access to the contact person (Tutor), regular dialog with the volunteers, in which the options for personal development and the interests of the volunteer are being discussed.
In terms of risk and crisis prevention it is very important to keep all persons involved in the project informed to be able to act immediately in the case of a crisis.
To prevent crises from occurring in the first place, volunteers will be given any training necessary for them to carry out their tasks.
Volunteers will be informed about their rights, regulations in the host organization, consequences of unacceptable behaviour.
However if problems occur, volunteers have different people to contact and discuss problems with. The different people are pro-active in seeking area of concern and actively finding solutions to the issues arising.
The line manager in the respective working group is on hand daily for problems, the director of the hosting organisation is accessible for volunteers every day and the co-ordinator is available by e-mail and phone at every time but meets the volunteers weekly or biweekly during language training.
Weekly during language training volunteers can meet participants from other EVS-projects from the region to exchange experiences.
Volunteers wil have the opportunity to stay in contact with their family and sending organization via e-mail or telephone at least on a weekly basis.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=6001693117