A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community

" Outline the project environment for the suggested voluntary activities, including the local community where the project will take place (e.g. geographical, social and economical environment).
" If the host placement is located in a live-in community, please include the rules and conditions that apply also for the volunteer.
Community: Latvia is an Eastern European country near the Baltic Sea, with 2.5 million inhabitants. Rezekne is a middle - sized Latvian town located in the Southeast of the state. The distance from Rezekne to the state capital Riga is 242 km. Some 42 thousand people inhabit the town. They have different nationalities, the most part of them are Latvians and Russians. Rezekne is rich in nature's gifts. The area of the region is famous for its lakes and planted hills, parks and woods that are a decoration for the town and excellent opportunities of recreation for visitors and inhabitants. There is a Higher Educational Institution, Music College, Art College, and theatres in Rezekne. Rezekne is famous for its unique ceramics, handcrafts and its traditions.
In our Centre, seniors meet each other, talk about important events, enjoy themselves with meeting and listening to interesting people, celebrating birthdays, state celebrations, Christmas and Easter. The main objectives of the elderly centre are to provide help and also human contact. As a consequence of the interaction between the young volunteers and the old residents there is a mutual enrichment which constitutes the basic aim of this activity. The project gives the opportunity to these old people to get to know other cultures, customs and languages and at the same time the European volunteers can get a deeper knowledge of Latvia's past. It will also provide the pensioners with a sense of accomplishment at being both a teacher and a student.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers

" Describe what you can offer to volunteers in terms of service and learning opportunities.
" Please, explain what will be the role of EVS volunteers in the host organisation.
" Describe the activities in which the volunteers could be involved and the activities the volunteers could create in your organisation. Give examples of typical activities for the volunteers.

The main objectives of the day care centre are to provide help and human contact. As a consequence of the interaction between the young volunteer and the elderly residents there is a mutual enrichment which constitutes the basic aim of this activity. The project gives the opportunity to these old people to get to know other cultures, customs and languages and at the same time to provide the European volunteer with a deeper knowledge of Latvia's past. It will also provide the pensioners with a sense of accomplishment at being both a teacher and a student.
By hosting young Europeans, we hope to extend their views on Europe, to allow them to get a better view of a newly entered EU country and what it means to enter into the European Union. It is also a chance for them to be part of a new community, adapting to a new language and allowing them to travel again or for the first time, providing them with a different outlook on Europe.

Role of the Volunteer

The volunteer will help the staff in the general running of the centre, to help in particular with the preparation of discussions and meetings which are organised on Tuesdays. They will also develop relationships with the old people through helping in and creating activities such as:-

o Organizing art workshops: painting, drawing, handicraft.
o Gentle fitness activities or sports games maybe to try and organize excursion to the swimming pool
o Playing music
o Organizing decorations for parties: Christmas, Easter, Valentine…
o Doing some handicraft: weaving, knitting, dying material..
o To go on excursions such as picking mushrooms, helping with the gardening, going to museums
o To provide language lessons around some games (nothing formal)
The work time of the Pensioner Daytime Centre is from 8.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m., 5 days a week, weekends are free. The volunteer will invest himself/herself in working with pensioner 6 hours a day, from 9.00 till 12.00 a.m. and to 1 to 4 p.m.
On arrival at the centre the volunteer will be given training and provided with an intensive language course in the first month that the volunteer must attend. After this if he/she desires we can organise regular language lessons twice a week.
The volunteer will have continuous aid during his/her voluntary project, because he/she will need a bit of support while he/she is working here in order to be able to know what to do and how to behave in certain situations. There is no specific course, but the volunteer learns through day to day activities. The volunteer will have the support of the tutor in his/her activity and a mentor who will help him/her with other issues such as accommodation, money, problems or adaptation to the community, this person is also responsible to provide any changes that the volunteer might need and will meet with him/her on a regular basis.

C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process

Please describe the profiles of volunteers you would like to receive in your organisation. Include information on how you ensure an open and transparent recruitment process as well as the overall accessibility of EVS to all young people. Consider further information about the type of sending organisation you want to cooperate with. This information can help the match-making between volunteer candidates, sending organisations and your organisation.

We will be very glad to welcome a young European, boy or girl, from 18 to 25. She/he will have to be able to establish a real relationship built on empathy, integrity and considerateness and most important trust with the residents and the staff.
We would like him/her to be dynamic and enthusiastic, to have sense of responsibility, ability to raise interest, readiness to become a friend and a listener for old people, ability to use own skills and experience. To organise his/her own activities, the volunteer should be able to plan his own work and to be autonomous.