A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community
As a non-profit-oriented youth organization established for and by young people we believe that young people should be more involved in social issues regarding themselves and other segments of the society. In our view, young people should be able to participate to the decision-making process in their communities and act as responsible active citizens. Avoiding from political confrontations and from unrealistic utopist ideas, we aim at taking every possible action for social and personal development of youth, particularly of disadvantaged local youth.
Although we understand the concept of "youth" in social and cultural terms, not in biological terms, our primary target group is the youngsters aged between 15 and 30. GESOGED aims at taking a pioneering role in organizing every possible action towards social and personal development of its target group. It believes in the power of youth in creating a better world to live in. It has 25 active members at the moment but it has strong contacts with many youth groups in Balikesir.

Our major activities include, but are not limited to, the following typical activities toward disadvantaged young people:
" Organization of youth exchanges within the framework of Youth/action 1. We organized a youth exchange project on traditional arts in August 2006.
" Organization of seminars, conferences, and youth initiatives projects on the dangers and threats (substance-use, violence etc.) waiting for children and young people.
" Offering leisure activities and social and cultural integration activities for disadvantaged children and young people. In this context, members of GESOGED have organized amateur music concerts for young people under state protection. In addition, we played an active role in the organization of a nation-wide youth festival which took place in September 2006.
" Creating awareness and sensibility among local people and administrators about the worsening life conditions of disadvantaged children and young people. In this sense, we have planned a series of awareness raising conference to take place at Balikesir University.
" We also take active roles in determining youth policies at the local level. In this sense, we are a member of the Supreme Committee of Youth Services of Balýkesir, an official institution led by the governor of Balýkesir.
" Involvement in EVS projects both as a hosting and sending organization. Members of GESOGED, as stated earlier, are very experienced in EVS projects. Now we are informing as many local institutions as possible to encourage them to host EVS volunteers. We are also informing young people in all over Balikesir to encourage them to benefit from EVS.
The project proposed will take place in Balikesir city, an under-industrialized town with a population of 250 thousand people. It is surrounded by seas, mountains, and forests. Its economy mainly depends on agriculture and tourism. Despite the fact that the city has a quite high rate of educated people, poverty and unemployment continue to be the major problems of the inhabitants of the city. Related to those, the numbers of dysfunctional families, single parents, and of children and young people who are substance-depended, who are run-away from home, and who are involved in violence and crime are increasing everyday. The city suffers from the lack of investments but is in quite well shape in terms of transportation, communication, accommodation and entertainment. After being neglected for many years, the city is now being restructured by the pioneering role of the current mayor. Thus, there are many road constructions in the city, which means that the volunteer should be ready to see a lot of mud on the streets. As far as public transport is concerned, there is a good network especially by busses and trains.

It takes only 2-3 hours by bus from Balikesir to Izmir and Bursa, two of the biggest cities of Turkey. Living in Balikesir is considered to be very cheap and easy. Especially in the summer time, Ayvalýk and Edremit, two provinces of Balikesir, are full of tourists because of their beautiful beaches and mountains.
Most of our current members have already got serious experience in YOUTH/EVS either as a coordinator or as mentors. So far, we organized and implemented 5 EVS projects as the host organization and 9 projects as the sending organization. Thus, we already know how EVS volunteers make very significant contributions to the personal developments of children and youngsters.
The volunteers of the proposed project will be working in three kindergartens run under the administration of local National Education Directory and one private kindergarten. These kindergartens are named as: 1) Zübeydehaným Anaokulu (see the web site www.zubeydehanimao.com , 2) Mobil Anaokulu, 3) Kýz Meslek Lisesi Uygulama Sýnýfý (www.kizmeslek.8k.com), and 4) Þeker Portakal Anaokulu. 5- Süreyya Ana Çocuk Evi. There are about 50-150 children in each kindergarten aged 4-6 years old. Each kindergarten has 3-6 teachers plus several helpers. Each kindergarten possesses sleeping rooms, activity rooms, kitchens, gyms, library, administrative rooms, and gardens.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers

What do we offer to international volunteers?
We offer placements where a volunteer has got many possibilities to join different activities and do meaningful work. The members of staff are very open-minded and interested in working together with a volunteer from a different cultural and national background. They will facilitate a good learning and motivating working environment for the volunteer.
We will have two kinds of training program for the volunteers: First, we will provide Turkish lessons taught by an experienced private teacher. And second, we will provide training on education of pre-school children, which will include weekly field trips to other kindergartens and to the institutions where the needy -including children under protection - live in. Throughout this training and their service, the volunteers will gain direct knowledge and experience about Turkish system of pre-school education.
We offer the volunteers to participate into our meetings and express their opinions and suggestions for the issues at hand. We encourage them to take active roles in all our activities.
Additionally, the volunteers will have numerous chances for cultural activities taking place around our organization as well as in and around Balikesir city, where, especially in the Spring time, many concerts take place. Furthermore, the volunteers will be able to participate into picnics, trips to nearby towns, and tournaments organized by our organization as well as by our local partners. If interested, the volunteers will also be able to join to Turkish folk music and Traditional Turkish dance courses. All members of the organization will be looking for opportunities by which the volunteers can be integrated to local people. To be able to do that, the project and the volunteers will be introduced to the public via the media.
The volunteers will have a mentor who will be ready for consultation and help all the time. Besides the mentor, almost all members of our organization are willing to help out the volunteers whenever necessary.
The volunteers will share a flat with other volunteers. We offer a room-for-one for the volunteers (a room-for-two might also be the case). In addition, we will provide Internet service for the volunteers during their stay.
Besides, we will create opportunities for the volunteers to benefit from the utilities of the university and to interact with university students in our city, especially with those students who are involved in the University's Society of Volunteering Elder Brothers and Sisters.
Finally, the volunteers will have food three times in a day in their work places in addition to enough money for local transportation. Of course, the volunteers will also get the pocket money, which is 85 Euro for Turkey per month.

The Roles of the volunteers:
The volunteer will work in a combination of three different environments. These environments consist of: a) kindergartens for pre-school children, b) the university and c) our organization, GESOGED. The biggest proportion of the volunteer's time will be used in a kindergarten. However, s/he will be asked to spend some portion of his/her time with members of our organization and with socially and economically disadvantaged students of higher education as well. The goal in spending time with the latter is to inform university students about Youth program so that they could widely benefit from that program.
The tasks of the volunteer in terms of the approximate rates of his/her working time in general will be as the following:
1) Educational, cultural, artistic, and sportive activities for kindergarten children, who are the main target group of this project: % 50
2) Interacting with parents of kindergarten children: % 10
3) Participating to the meetings and activities of GESOGED: % 10
4) Working for and interacting with disadvantaged university students: % 10
5) Working with the project coordinator: %5
6) Learning Turkish language and culture: % 10
7) Training on youth work and education of pre-school children in Turkey and all other necessary activities: % 5

The draft of volunteer activities in a typical week will look like what follows:

Monday morning:
" Turkish language course (2 hours).
" Meeting with the project coordinator (2 hours).
Monday afternoon:
" Workshops for and with university students (3 hours).
" Intercultural learning (1 hour).
Tuesday morning:
" Participation to the activities of GESOGED (2 hours).
" Work at the regular kindergarten (2 hours).
Tuesday afternoon:
" Work at the regular kindergarten (3 hours).
" Interacting with parents of the kids at kindergarten (1 hour).
Wednesday morning:
" Informal training on preschool education (2 hours).
" Workshops for and with university students (2 hours).
Wednesday afternoon:
" Work at mobile kindergarten (3 hours).
" Interacting with parents of the kids at kindergarten (1 hour).
Thursday morning:
" Turkish language course (2 hours).
Thursday afternoon:
" Participation to the activities of GESOGED (2 hours).
" Intercultural learning (1 hour).
Friday morning:
" Work at mobile kindergarten (3 hours).
Friday afternoon:
" Work at the regular kindergarten (3 hours).
" Interacting with parents of the kids at kindergarten (1 hour).

The volunteer will be working a total of 35 hours/week (language course included). No work is involved at weekends. The descriptions of all those activities are explained below.

A) Work at Kindergartens:
There are two regular kindergartens and two mobil kindergartens (in a big bus). The mobile type is for the children of poor families. The wolunteer will work in both types in different days.
Schedule of a tipical day in the kindergartens:
The kindergarden is open between 08.00 and 17.30 from Monday to Friday.
The children arrive between 08.00 and 08.30 am.
All children have lunch at 12.30 pm.
All children have a nap between 13.30 and 14.30 pm
The children leave between 17.00 and 17.30.
Before and after the meal the children are involved in indoors or outdoors in the garden by games and creative activities using a big range of toys and material. There are seasonal activities organised by members of staff e.g. preparing for national holidays and presents. The activities depend on the group situation and group process.
While working in a kindergarten, the tasks of the volunteer will depend on his/her interests and abilities. The volunteer may take role in many possibilities. Those possibilities might be the followings:
Games: The children play their own games by themselves or in groups indoors and outdoors. The volunteer can join in, invited by the kids. S/he can also offer game ideas to the kids to animate their creativity. There are all kind of games, toys and materials to be used.
Sports: The children can use the gym for sport games and also the school yard with its equipment. The volunteer will encourage the kids and help the members of staff by running different sports activities and competitions.
Music:The volunteer joins the music activities offered to the children. S/he will have the chance to learn Turkish songs as well as teach songs in his/her own language to the children. During these activities the kids can try out music instruments or invent their own instruments (maybe two spoons, a bucket, a pot, etc. ). The volunteer can also read out or tell a story and the children accompany it by providing the sounds either through their body or using again objects. The aim is always to involve the children as much as possible. Sometimes the children just want to listen to music to relax. Then the volunteer can offer that and join the kids.
Books: The volunteer can read out books to the kids.
Meals: Like the other members of staff the volunteer helps on certain days to maintain the meals: S/he helps setting the table and preparing the meals, joins the meals and helps cleaning afterwards also teaching the children how to do it.
Arts and Crafts:The children like painting and doing handy crafts. The volunteer can either animate and support
the kids or offer art activities to them, e.g. to make hand-made gifts for mothers day and fathers day.

Trips/ Gardening: The volunteer accompanies either a member of staff or a volunteer (usually a parent) during trips (e.g. to the zoo, local library). S/he can join the groups in gardening activities.

Decoration: The volunteer can also help decorating the rooms of the kindergarten. Here s/he can also work out his/her own ideas. S/he can also prepare the crafts sessions by collecting the materials.

Support for the volunteer in the kindergarten:
In the induction period the volunteer can join the professional staff during activities. Through observing and model learning the volunteer can become familiar with the project. Then s/he can actively join in the activities. In order to allow the volunteer to learn the most, the tasks will depend on the volunteer's skills and interests. Every day, the volunteer will discuss her tasks with the tutor. With the support of a member of staff, the volunteer in the long run can develop his/her own activities and games and offer them to a group of children. S/he will be encouraged and supported by running his/her own projects. The staff and children are open to any kind of new idea. If any problem appears, the mentor and members of GESOGED will try to find a solution that would work for everybody involved. The volunteer will never be left alone with the children for safety reasons. When s/he is with the kids there is always a member of staff in the same room. Also when s/he is outdoors.
B) Interacting with Parents:
An important aim of the project is to contribute to the development of European awareness among local community. Interaction of the volunteers with parents of kindergarten children might be a useful way to reach at this aim. In this sense, the volunteers will have plenty of chances to have conversations with the parents especially in the mornings and evenings when they bring their children to the kindergarten and when they take them to home. The volunteers may talk about daily activities and newly developed skills of the kids. The daily mood of the kids might also be part of the conversation. Throughout such conversations, the volunteers may get to know the kids and their families more closely on the one hand, and they may get a better understanding of Turkish family relations on the other. The parents, too, would benefit from this experience in several ways. For example, the parents would have chances to learn and understand about foreign people and cultures while developing probably a positive attitude towards European Union.

C) Participation to the activities of GESOGED:
The volunteers will be working, in certain days and hours, in our association as well. We usually make a weekly meeting with all the members and we organize various activities for the local youth. The volunteers will be welcomed to participate to these meetings and activities. Throughout their participation to our meetings and activities, the volunteers will have a chance to intensify their knowledge and skills about youth work, to get a better understanding of NGOs in Turkey, and to develop closer relationships with our members. The volunteers will work with our members toward the planning, preparation and realization of future projects and they will be encouraged to share their ideas and suggestions with us.

D) Workshops for and with University Students:
We will provide opportunities for the volunteers to contact with the students of Balikesir University so that they can interact with Turkish university youth. In the context of this work, the volunteers will be asked to introduce the youth program of the EU, especially EVS. They will also be asked to guide to those students who are interested in EVS and/or in action 1 and 5. They may guide by training the students on how to write a CV and motivation letter and how to find a hosting organization, etc.
E) Work with the Project Coordinator:
The volunteers has got the possibility to help the coordinator in the office and also to accompany him during project visits and team meetings. In order to keep the track and effects of the activities the volunteers organized, the coordinator will ask monthly written reports about them.

F) Intercultural Learning:
The volunteer will have chances to attend several courses on traditional Turkish arts such as Turkish folk dances, Turkish Country music, Turkish handcrafts, Ottoman recipes, Anatolian wearing styles, etc. Furthermore, throughout his/her interactions with university students the volunteer will have many other possibilities of cultural learning. We will create suitable conditions for the volunteer to participate to cultural activities that student groups at the University organize. On the other hand, if the volunteer wants to organize cultural activities - either for the kids at kindergartens or for student at the university - that reflect his/her own culture then we will do our best to make those activities possible.

G) Turkish Language Course:
The volunteer will get Turkish language course at least 4 hours in a week by an experienced private teacher.

C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
The volunteers should have a mature, open-hearted personality. They should believe in and enjoy helping younger children because this is the major type of persons they will be working for. The project is open to both sexes. Candidates who are students or graduates of pre-school education, psychology and social work are preferred. Candidates also should be non-smokers and should wear moderate clothes. Because of the nature of the work we are unable to host a volunteer in special needs. Some knowledge of Turkish language and culture might be helpful but is not compulsory. We would appreciate it if the sending organization would be willing to accept volunteers from our organization in return.
To ensure an open and transparent recruitment process as well as the overall accessibility of EVS to all young people we will announce this project and our free placements in a number of cyber places including EVS Works, which is known to have a wide audience.

E. Risk prevention, safety and protection

Before their arrival to the Project environment, volunteers will be well-informed, through the Internet and telephone calls, about how to travel to Balikesir safely. They will be picked up by our members from the bus terminal to the apartment flat where they will be staying in. After the welcoming party, we will introduce them to the mentor, project coordinator, and other staff in our organization. Additionally, we will give them some material like city map, rules of the flat, important numbers of key persons and places. Furthermore, we will organize an orientation program for the volunteers. During this orientation, we will teach and show them how and where certain things are done in the city.
In the first week, we will also explain, to the volunteers, what the aims and objectives of the project as well as the rules of the working place are. Then we will give them a work schedule and answer the questions they may have.
Starting from the very first week, we will provide an intensive Turkish language course for the volunteers and teach them some important aspects of Turkish culture. However, especially during the first a few weeks, we will make sure that several young members of our organization spend enough time with them in order to overcome possible communication difficulties.
On the other hand, we will inform our local polis about the arrival and duration of stay of our volunteers in Balikesir. This way, the police will be aware of the existence of the volunteers in the city and they will be supportive when necessary.
In addition to their monthly allowance, we will provide enough money for the volunteers to get food and cook for themselves. Before their arrival we will ask them if they have any special needs and any allergies to any food. Male and female volunteers will stay in different flats where there will be hot water for 24 hours and where we will have first aid material ready. We will also take necessary measures against the risk of fire in the flats.
In the work places too we will have first aid material ready and take necessary measures against the risk of fire in the flats. The volunteers will never left alone with children in the kindergarten. They will be working under the guidance of the staff.
Given that a conflict between volunteers themselves or between the volunteers and the staff may arise any time, we will train the volunteers, in the first week of their arrival, about conflict analysis and ask them to inform the mentor and/or the coordinator about such cases. We will encourage them to point out such situations in the weekly evaluation meetings we will have with them. Besides, for the whole duration of the project, we will have a hierarchy of crises management that will be applied whenever necessary.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=76000255519