A.
The Catholic Primary School is situated in the rather centrally situated in Cologne-Lindenthal. There is a bus stop to get into the centre is in front of the school. The tram station is within walking distance. Lindenthal is a very green estate surrounded by parks ans a canal. The population is rather wealthy, mixed with students due to the nearness of the university. The kids in the school are open-minded and curious. Cologne has got a million inhabiants and is one of the biggest cities in Germany. It is situated in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germans region with the highest population. Belgium and the Netherlands can be reached in an hour by car. For it locates important industries it has been a magnet for workers from all over Europe, so it hosts people with many different cultural and national backgrounds. Cologne is a university city with more than 50,000 students. So it offers a wide range of cultural activities and alternative subcultures. The inhabitents are considered as open-minded and well-humored.

B.
The volunteers get integrated into the team. They have a tutor who introduces and explains the schedules and the tasks. They get to know the projects and areas of the OGTS: Homework club, free games, Sports- and Games, Preparation of meals (food gets delivered), different projects and workshops offered to the kids. They can actively join the different workshops and take over active parts. The have the possibility to discover and develop their own skills and interests such as their creativity. They can offer their own activities with the help of the tutor and the other members of staff. They can learn what they are good at and what they like. Through their commitment they will gain new experiences and gain more self esteem. They always get feedback from the members of staff as well as from the kids. They get to know teamwork, team meetings, planning and organising activities, trip, etc. All the volunteers get encouraged to think of their own little project and supported by running it. The volunteers get to know the German school system, they taste German food and recipes. Our aim is also that the volunteers learn more about the different ways of living and getting to know the living conditions of children and families here. Through the children they also get an insight in how the families live here. They practice dealing with children in general and with colleagues. They learn how to develop their own projects, how to fill the children with enthusiasm and how to motivate them. Last but not least they learn German. IN VIA always hosts more volunteers at the same time. Therefore the vounteers in the OGTS will also meet other volunteers from other countries and also learn about other fields of work. The volunteers work additionally in the project. They support the work according to their skills. They are additional "adults" and people of interest for the children. The kids invite the volunteers to play and paint with them. They are curious and would like to find out more about the volunteers and their background. The volunteers are not alone in the project. They do not take over responsibility.

C.
We are open for hosting volunteers from all partners. For us it is important that the volunteers are interested in working with children. It would be good if they had practical or theoretical experiences in this range. The sending organisations with which we want to work together, should give us information about the need of support of the volunteers, so that we can decide if we are able to give this support in this period of time.

D.
In the day care centres we have the possibilty to host volunteers with special needs because we have big teams there. They are open-minded and experienced in general contact with volunteers. We are experienced in hosting disadvantaged volunteers and know what that means. The children are curious and approach the volunteers without prejudices. The volunteers are supported by staff and other volunteers. In their accomodation the pedagogical staff provides a 24 hours service. That means that the voulnteers would have a contact person in case of need. Local volunteers take the volunteers out for free time activities. There are students who can offer private german lessons. We always have many volunteers, also longterm-volunteers. Our experience shows that they also support each other.

E.
The volunteers and sending organsiations get all important information so that they do not come here with wrong expectations. We can also arrange a prep visit. We make reports and pictures from previous volunteers available. They also shall get in contact with other volunteers who are already in this project (phone or eMail).We make sure that the volunteers feel comfortable , that rooms are clean and in order etc. We give them a list with phone numbers of the tutors and a plan for the first week. The volunteers have different tutorsfor different circumstances: The guiding person in the project as well as a person at the same age as a contact person for leisure time and coordination of the project and also the german teacher. Alongside the volunteers have contact to the sending organsisation. They take part at all seminars that the german national agency provides and there they will meet staff of the german national agency.