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.
" Research and Documentation on Youth: We are very much interested in making research on youth and youth work.
" 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 project place is a school for mentally disabled children and young people run under the local administration of National Education Directory (MEM). Here the volunteers will be working in a backyard (of this school). This school was opened, in 1994, for the purpose of training mentally disabled children and youth. It has 17 classrooms, 1 conference room, 1 dinning room, 1 TV room, 1 infirmary, 3 administrative offices, 1 teachers' room, in addition to a carpentry workshop and a hothouse. The school has a student population of 109 mentally disabled. A total of 47 personnel are working in the school.
Students in first 8 grades of this school get training on self-care abilities (toilet needs, washing hands and face, eating, brushing teeth, wearing cloths, etc.) and on social adaptation skills. They are also taught the subjects of reading, writing and simple mathematics. Students older than 16 are given occupational trainings on subjects such as making souvenir, wood work, and growing vegetables in hothouses.
One of the most important needs of this school is to order its backyard in a way that would allow students to do some out-door activities. The volunteers will take active role in the building and ordering of the backyard of this school.

There might also be another choice of work in upcoming years. The volunteers might be offered to work for the renovation of some schools and kids' parks in poor neighbourhoods and/or villages in our region.
The volunteers will have to follow three main rules during the project:
1) They will never be alone with the disabled children/youth in work place.
2) They will avoid from all behaviours that might risk their own security or the children/youngsters in the institutions.
3) They will never leave the workplace or the accommodation place without informing the mentors.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
The project intends to strengthen physical and spiritual health of disadvantaged segments of society such as the disabled and/or the poor youth. It intends to do this by creating opportunities for out-door activities for such social segments. More concretely, the project is based on the idea of renovating backyards and/or activity rooms of local institutions serving to the disabled, the poor youth (and maybe the elderly).
Another aim of the project is to contribute to the personal development of the volunteers by offering the following activities and opportunities for them:
" Turkish language course for 6 hours in a week by an experienced private teacher.
" Information on the Turkish system of social services and youth work
" Visits to institutions of social services in our region (hostels for the elderly, the children and youngsters under protection, and the mentally disabled).
" Trips to historical, touristic, and natural places in and around our region.
" Opportunities to participate in artistic and cultural activities taking place in and around our region.
" Opportunities to benefit from the sportive facilities in our city.
" Activities and training on gardening, wood work, and painting.
" Training and workshops on healthy life.

The Roles of the volunteers:
We will get the opinion and suggestions of volunteers on the needs of garden design or renovations of the institutions where mentally disabled youth and poor students (and maybe elderly people) live or study in. After they visit and examine the institutions, they will be asked to take active role in the planning of garden designing and renovation.
The volunteers will put those plans into practice. They will participate in every stages of those plans both with their ideas and labours. Those plans will cover the activities of bulding a hothause and watering system, planting some vegtables, and fertilizing. Additionally, the plans will include some activities such as cleaning of wild grasses, caring of trees, planting flowers etc.
In the backyard of the institution for mentally disabled youth, volunteers will also build a hobby garden, two open-air classrooms, a playing ground, and a plant labyrinth.
Volunteers may also want to take role in the painting of some walls in the institutions. Here they may use their skills in grafitti art, if they have any. They can even teach the children of the institutions how to make grafitti.
Furthermore, volunteers will have the opportunity of spending some time (playing games, chatting, entertainment activities etc). with the disabled youth and poor students of those institutions.
Finally, volunteers will participate in the Turkish language courses and they will learn about some aspects of Turkish culture. They will be offered to learn Turkish folk dancing and traditional ebru art.
In all of the above-mentioned activities, volunteers will work under the guidance and control of professional staff. Each volunteer will have the chance of working in an activity of his/her own interest. Each will take role at least in one of the activities disribed above.

A DRAFT OF WEEKLY ACTIVITY PROGRAM FOR VOLUNTEERS
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
08.00-09.00 B r e a k f a s t B r e a k f a s t B r e a k f a s t B r e a k f a s t B r e a k f a s t Trips to historical, touristic and natural places in and around Balýkesir
Trips to historical, touristic and natural places in and around Balýkesir

09.00-10.30 Turkish Course Turkish Course Turkish Course Training and workshops on healthy life Turkish Course
10.30-12.00 Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs
12.00-12.30 Break Break Break Break Break
12.00-13.00 Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs
13.00-14.30 L u n c h L u n c h L u n c h L u n c h L u n c h L u n c h
14.30-15.30 Sports/games Sports/games Training and workshops on healthy life Sports/games Sports/games
15.30-17.30 Work on garden design/
renovational needs Visits to institutions of social services Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs Work on garden design/
renovational needs
17.30-18.30 Artistic/cultural lessons
(folk dancing course) Artistic/cultural lessons
(ebru course) Artistic/cultural lessons
(folk dancing course) Artistic/cultural lessons
(ebru course) Weekly evaluation meeting
RESTING/
FREE TIME
18.30-20.00 D i n n e r D i n n e r D i n n e r D i n n e r D i n n e r
Total working hours 7 7 7 7 7

Our offers to the volunteers:
We offer placements where a volunteer has got many possibilities to join different activities and do meaningful work. The staff members 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 three 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 social services in Turkey, which will include weekly field trips to a hostel for the elderly 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 social services for the disadvantaged people. Third, we will offer courses of Turkish folk dancing and traditional ebru art for the interested volunteers.
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 the planning of garden design and renovational needs.
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. We will offer them to learn Turkish folk dancing and/or a traditional art (ebru). 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. 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.
We offer a room-for-two for the volunteers (a room-for-three might also be the case). In addition, we will provide 24-hour-Internet service for the volunteers during their stay.
Furthermore, we will create opportunities for the volunteers to benefit from sportive and cultural utilities in our city. And we will have several trips to historical, touristic and natural places in and around our region. We will let them have some nice time in our beautiful beaches and mountains.
Finally, the volunteers will receive food or food-money three times in a day 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.

C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
The volunteers should be willing to work outside and to do some manual work such as wall-building, carpentry and painting. They are expected to have the ability of team work and adaptation to intercultural environment. Some knowledge of Turkish language and culture might be helpful but is not compulsory.
The project is open to all youngsters including those who have little or no resources. Those who have some disabled youngster or elderly persons in their family or close relatives would b a reason of preference.
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 in EVS Works, which is known to have a wide audience. The volunteers will be selected according to the balance of gender and origin of citizenship. We will select at least 20 % of the volunteers out of those young people who have little or no resources.
Concerning the sending organization, our main criteria will be that the sending organization is a serious and experienced organization and that they are willing for a long-standing and mutual cooperation.

D. Special needs (if applicable)
We are open to offer placements to all kinds of youth (regardless of their socio-economic statuses) for this project. Thus we can accept disadvantaged volunteers having social, economic, educational, geographical and cultural difficulties. But because we do not have sufficient specialized staff, we are unable to accept volunteers with special health problems.
Our organization has enough accommodation and support systems for disadvantaged volunteers. We have sufficient experience in working with such volunteers. We implement local, national and international projects with disadvantaged youth. Our organization has members who are specialized in sociology, psychology, special education, and youth work. Those members in our organization can provide physical and educational support to the volunteers of this project. Our organization also has close relationships with many trainers and other professionals who would help us whenever necessary.
If any handicapped volunteer applies to take part in this project, we will ask detailed info about the handicap of the candidate and have an interview with him/her, and then discuss the possibilities of offering him/her a placement in this project.

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. Volunteers will stay in 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 place, the volunteers 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 or monthly 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=76000255501