LOCAL COMMUNITY

Trbovlje town is located in the middle of Slovenia in Zasavje region. One can take a daily well organized bus or train to the capital city Ljubljana and both take 50 minutes. Trbovlje is best known for coal mines that are now in closing. After World War II Zasavje region started to develop, but most of the factories that used to be very successful are slowly shutting down, meaning that we are facing mass unemployment which lead to lower social status of inhabitants. Trbovlje is 7 km long and has 18.000 inhabitants. One can find hills and mountains well covered with trees which enable numerous sport activities (hiking, biking). You can also spend your free time in various locations in town such as football stadium, basketball and handball courts, swimming pools and others. One can enjoy cultural happening such as cinema, theatre, gallery and library. There is well organized public transportation as well as public services such as Hospital, kindergarten, schools in Trbovlje town. Trbovlje is also well connected with neighbour towns Zagorje and Hrastnik, not only geographically but also socially and politically.


PROPOSED ACTIVITIES

People of MCT are striving to succeed in EVS project, meaning that we offer as much personal and professional support to volunteers as they need. We work together toward carrier managing; helping volunteers to develop different work related interest as well as their personal interest. Every volunteer will have its personal mentor whose job is to help volunteer to cope with everyday problems in new society and will be available to volunteer any time. This mentor is not a part of MCT employees which enables distance from work place and better integration to local culture. We want volunteers to gain certain new or at least to upgrade the existing knowledge; therefore every volunteer will be assigned to professional leader with enough experiences on the work field. Volunteers will have plenty of time to learn and develop their own hobbies, because they will be enabled to join language course and participation on other useful courses and workshops within our own program or other program. We expect volunteers to bring their own experiences, ideas and know-how's to MCT. We plan to learn from them as well to gain intercultural experiences. Volunteers will be participating on different work fields such as project planning, work with technology and so.

Volunteers will cooperate and co create MCT`s program. They will help with all short term projects that youngsters will develop with MCT or on their own. That is how volunteers will promote EVS project and educate themselves on professional as well as personal and social filed.

Sometimes volunteers will merely be participants and sometimes they will be independently leading the project. Here are five fields of work the volunteer will act on:
* Program work (40%): The main goal of the project in media production (video production, especially documentaries, internet and newspapers), therefore volunteers will work with the group that produces videos and documentaries about happenings in MCT and Trbovlje per se. These monthly documentaries are published on two regional televisions but are also seen in other region being part of regional TV exchange. They will also publish their articles in our monthly fanzin Budilka (Alarmclock) and contribute to the English page on our website. Program work demands a great support to a program manager with planning and organizing activities (creative workshops, concerts, theme evenings, educational courses, etc. Volunteers are also expected to help with youth activities for those who spend their free time in MCT`s info spot such as sport and social games etc. If volunteers have any extra abilities and initiative to be youth mentor within any project, they are welcome to do so. We wish volunteers to be highly self motivated and be ready to participate in a colourful program of MCT. Let me mention another important job for volunteers: taking care of archive (video and photography).
* Cooperation with other youth organizations (20%): Grammar school wishes volunteers to prepare different program/course for students on their school, teaching them culture and language.
* Organizational help (15 %): In this filed of work we include smaller tasks concerning office work, especially computer work (homepage, sending notes through e-mail, etc.). We also expect volunteers to work in info spot occasionally offering youngsters different information, helping them with the computer.
*Education (10%): Beside language course, volunteers will be able to participate in any workshop or course MCT will organize (language course, drawing class, photography class, etc.) and also any other necessary courses for volunteers to be able to work their work (video editing,etc.).
* Personal projects (15 %): If the volunteers have interest and motivation to create and develop their own personal project, MCT will offer full support and means to run that.


VOLUNTEER PROFILES

We want our EVS volunteer to be a kind of a person that is interested in projects we offer, to find challenge in them and to be ready to develop personal activities. It is not necessary for volunteer to already have knowledge in media, but it is advantage. People of MCT are looking for person who can speak Basic English, has motivation to work with youth, and is ready to share their own culture and skills with others. Gender is not an issue for us, but we do wish volunteers to be older than 19, because that fits to the profile of other volunteers and target group.
MCT has a coordinator for EVS projects answering to all questions. Narrow selection is presented to the whole team of workers. They decide according to unanimous questionnaire all candidates received beforehand. We wish to cooperate with organizations that are working on the same fields of work and will be able to have fast communication as well as possibility to develop some other projects in the future.


RISK PREVENTION

A common practice in MCT recommends organizing the preparatory meeting for the whole team (workers, part time workers, other volunteers, families if necessary, mentors, etc.) to present the project and person behind the project in detail, to talk about specialities of EVS project and volunteers, cultural differences between our and their culture. We get ready to be extra available to volunteers for the first few days, thinking about arrival, welcome party and accommodation. We also distribute our tasks for next few weeks to support volunteers until they create their personal and social network of friends. Prior to volunteer's arrival we distribute friendly note to neighbours letting them know, that another person is arriving in their centre.
Volunteers are given a handbook with all important phone numbers and addresses to keep them (Police, Emergency, MCT staff, Embassy, National agency, etc.). Mentor is taking volunteers to Hospital to introduce volunteers to ER staff and to the nearest neighbour.
During the project MCT staff especially carefully observes possible mood swings in volunteer to prevent any larger problems. MCT prepared plan in case of crisis connected to EVS.


PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

Volunteers are located in an apartment block. The apartment has a bathroom, kitchen with dining room and additional room. All rooms have window, kitchen even has a balcony. Apartment is equipped with all necessary facilities even washing machine, TV and offers internet access. Nobody enters this apartment without volunteer's permission. In case we host different gendered volunteers, one of them will be placed with hosting family with its own room that can be locked and unlimited access to kitchen and bathroom.

Volunteers will have their own personal account opened in nearest store, restaurants or in school cantina. We will reimburse food expenses if they eat in other town or place.

We will assign one mentor and one leader to each volunteer. Mentor doesn't work in MCT but is connected to it. Mentor is taking care of social integration and general satisfaction of volunteers, while leader is in charge of integration into work and for activities attached to the program. At the beginning mentor and volunteers will meet regularly once per week. Later they can meet when necessary and in informal places enabling friendly atmosphere. Main evaluations will be made with mentor at the beginning (expectations, fears and opportunities), in the middle and at the end of project. Mentor makes notes at every meeting so he/she can follow the process.

Throughout the project volunteers are meeting their leader weekly to evaluate and plan activities for the week. They make notes and check if things are done or not and where are problems. This is how we follow the process of learning and participating.

Mentor and leader consult if necessary. Mentor is chosen according to hers/his involvement into MCT, but we train him/her for this job before volunteers arrive. In case mentor is not present, mentorship is taken by one of workers in MCT that is not fully working with volunteers.

Working along with volunteers in all areas is done by workers of MCT. Giving pocket money is accountant's job. Other administrative tasks are done by administrator, director is responsible person for the whole project, leader of the project is taking care of project documentation and contract followings and also communicates with the sending organization and national agency and taking care of work activities done by volunteers. Personal support and easier integration and none the less for solving all possible problems is mentors job.

Before EVS volunteers arrive MCT calls up a meeting of whole MCT staff, part time workers, other volunteers and all people that are going to be in contact with EVS volunteers. The reason behind is to prepare everyone to arrival (arrange accomodation, party, etc.) and to distribute tasks for voluneer`s care for first couple of weeks until they create their own social network of friends. Neighbours are also informed about arrival of volunteers.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=66000083501