Project environment

YYap Zonguldak Association is located in our Rainy Town (Zonguldak). The province along the western Black Sea coast region of Turkey. Population is around 558,645. The city was established around 550 BC by Doric clans under the name of Mariandyn. Around 560 B.C. Megara and Boiotia people established a strong Greek colony there changing its name as Herakleia Pontika. The origin of the city's Archaic name is based on Heracles, the legendary hero of Greek mythology. Rainy Town is a green, small town on a hill which has 5-6 days rain per a week. But most time of a day is sunny.

Yap Zonguldak Association is a registered EVS and EU project office and Table Tennis Complex with 3 full time youth worker staff, 3 Turkish National Table Tennis players (Burcu Sufi Demirturk, Burcin Aygun, Mehmet Deniz), Over 20 children and many part time Turkish members and volunteers. We are not only working in the table tennis field. We develop and promote Youth in Action projects at the same time. We are sending organization for EVS and European Union Exchange projects. Our target group is people who are interested to work as leader for young people.

As hosting organization, The volunteers will work in our club and sometimes also in office with members. Our guest volunteer can be:

Assistant trainer in table tennis.
Assistant officer.
Assistant project leader to develop and improve Youth in Action projects.
Assistant teacher in native languages.
Assistant during tournament and matches in table tennis and other sports.

Monday
08.00 - 10.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.
10.30 - 12.00 Language lesson.
13.00 -13.30 Work as a youth worker in the clubs office.
14.00-16.00 Physical training.
19.00-20.00 Athletics in theory and physical.

Tuesday
08.00-10.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.
10.45-12.00 Turkish lessons.
13.00-14.00 Athletics on the school yard with the pupils.
14.15-16.00 Leadership and society lessons.
16.45-18.30 Table tennis training for young people in Yap Zonguldak Association.

Wednesday
08.00-10.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.
10.00-11.30 Work as a youth worker in the Karaelmas University.
11.45-12.45 Table tennis during the lunch for the pupils in Kapuz Ýlköðretim Okulu.
13.30-15.00 Study visit in the society.
15.30-16.15 Society lesson.

Thursday
08.00-10.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.
10.45-12.00 Turkish lessons.
13.30-14.30 Voluntary meeting at the club.
14.45-16.30 Leadership and society lesson
16.45-18.30 Table tennis trainer in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club.

Friday
08.00-10.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.
10.30-11.30 Language lessons.
12.15-13.25 Table tennis during the lunch for the pupils in Kapuz Ýlköðretim Okulu.
14.00-17.00 Table tennis in Yap Zonguldak Association TT Club. Assisting trainer.

Primarily the volunteer will spend their 30-35 hour working week at activities in their project. This may also include 5 hours Turkish language and role training, volunteer team meetings, staff team meetings or team days, etc. Timetables/rotas are agreed in consultation with the EVS volunteer, the project manager/supervisor and the coordinator/mentor. Annual leave entitlements accrue at the same rate as a other project team members (i.e. EVS volunteers get approximately 2 days of annual leave for every month volunteered, and also are entitled to take Bank Holidays). He/she will have full accomodotion. They will live in a small apartment in a private house (close to the complex) with other volunteers or hosting family. Volunteers will have a supervisor and a mentor. They will also have the support of Yap staff and the youth leaders, all of whom are experienced at working with inclusion groups. Volunteers will have an orientation training and 24 hour emergency contact cover. Where volunteers need additional support, We will apply for an accompanying person to attend.

The volunteer will be acting as an assistant to our table tennis trainers and office members. We have a table tennis team who are between 10-18 years old. Some are professionals, others are new players. Whoever thinks to improve herself/himself with table tennis through education through sport and outdoor activities, This sitiuation would help to her/him. The volunteer would learn different techniques, new hits and meet a new culture. Their role will be help to table tennis traniners, to play table tennis with local children, to travel with children for the table tennis tournaments in Turkey cities, to develop and to promote youth in action projects, to teach their native languages to our youth local volunteers. The volunteer will gradually be more independent and learn to take responsibility, trying out ideas of his/her own. Sometimes we arrange courses and special activities, like language courses, festivals. We would like the volunteer to help out with this and hopefully come up with some new ideas. We believe the more opportunities and outlooks we expose our young people to, the more rounded their experiences will be - taking part in this project is part of that desire to develop our organisation's environment and the personnel within for young people to learn from.
We are looking for a volunteer who has an open mind and likes playing table tennis with young people and children. This person will be expected to show initiative and to help out with new ideas. It is an advantage that the volunteer takes interest in sports and can work independently after a period of introduction. He or she must be motivated to learn Turkish as this is crucial to function well in the project. All young people interested in our project will first send us an email. On the basis of the information received, the candidates will be contacted, first by mail and then by phone before we make the final decision. We have no special preferences concerning country of origin or gender. We are open to working with any kind of Sending Organization.
We have the capacity to host 10-20 volunteers at the same time. But specially for the first year, We would like to host 1-2 volunteers.
Our area is quite safe, there is hardly any violence. There are no risks involved in the working environment, except the normal ones concerning sports injuries. Our volunteer will live in a small apartment in a private house close to the complex. Our approach to risk prevention and crisis management is having a close follow-up of the volunteer, on the work level as well as the personal and social level. It is important to be able to discover potential problems before they escalate, and the mentor is a key person in this respect.

Motivation and EVS experience

Yap Zonguldak Association is motivated to participate in EVS and EU projects as we find this projects as important and efficient way to promote European cooperation, intercultural understanding and youth cooperation in various fields. We truly do believe that if everyday we do the best we can, things will work out the way they are supposed to. Even if we can't always see it. As Yap, We did send more than 15 volunteers to EVS projects. Sending volunteers is the best way to learn from each others experiences, to share knowledge and skills, to gain experience from other people with different social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds as well as opportunity to be part of multiethnic and multicultural team. Volunteers come back a more relaxed person with a different view of the world all of a sudden, things that used to make them really stressed don't affect them as much because they realize how many other things are going on in the world. However, We believe that the value of having foreign activists among the local ones for a longer period of time is rewarding for both the newcomers and the experienced. Therefore, As Yap Zonguldak Association, We would also like to host volunteers who are interested in table tennis and social responsibility. Our philosophy is that outdoor education has much to offer to all people and that, for children particularly, it should be part of their mainstream education. Yap caters mainly for groups of school children but also works with other youth groups, adult community groups, business/corporate team-building events, and international youth groups. We would like to host one volunteer per one year.

Description of the organisation

We are based in Rainy Town (Zonguldak) and we specialise in increasing cultural awareness and understanding. Since 2009, We have been breaking down barriers to mutual understanding by bringing together people from different cultures. Apart from our involvement with EVS we have a range of programmes which involve people of all ages from a variety of different communities and backgrounds. We have a track record of working with young people, both nationally and internationally especially those with fewer opportunities. We are currently expanding this area of work and in particular programmes which improve community cohesion and integration. This is achieved through partnership working with like-minded organisations.