The orthopaedagogical institute Sonnenhalde in Görwihl is an institution for children and young people in need of special care of the soul. Its curative educational and social therapeutical work is based on the anthroposophical idea of man propagated by Rudolf Steiner. It accommodates children and young people from the age of 6, who are mentally or psychologically handicapped (e.g. Autism, conspicious behaviour, multiple handicapped). The schooling in the affiliated Special School comprises twelve years, from the 9th grade pupils attend at sheltered workshops like woodworking, pottery, weaving mill. According to their abilities residents can also work in house keeping, gardening or horse grooming. The residents are living in small groups which are cared by qualified staff. The institution is surrounded by a vast garden, which is subdivided in a park resembling part with playground and swimming pool, a kitchen garden for self-sufficiency and a third part for accommodation of therapy horses.

Qualified staff members are supported by students from the university of cooperative education, conscientious objectors and volunteers from the german Voluntary Service Year program.

Görwihl is a village, situated at an altitude of 610 m above sea level on a plateau on the southern side of the Black Forest. The High Rhine Valley, some kilometers southward, marks the border to Switzerland. Altogether there are living 4.600 inhabitants in the community of Görwihl. The gainful occupations of the inhabitants of the community are determined by natural conditions. Besides tourism agriculture and forestry is the most important economic factor. Tourists will find a well developed infrastucture for multifarious sorts of summer and winter sport activities. Essential for the public life of the municipality is the well developed diversity of local clubs and associations. At present there are 30 active societies, which vitalise the sportive and cultural life in Görwihl. There are several music and sports associations, a traditional costume and a carnival association etc.By public transportation the towns of Bad Säckingen, Waldshut and Basel (Switzerland) can be reached within 50 to 90 minutes. Furthermore there is a well developed bus traffic system via Waldshut or Bad Säckingen to touristic centres of the higher Black Forest.

Rules and conditions that have to be respected by volunteers:From Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical point of view mental or physical handicaps are not seen as a deficit. Handicaps very often appear as specific tendencies that have grown dominant, which can be reduced or adjusted by specific pedagogical measures. Each child is seen as an individual. Educators, teachers, therapists and physicians try to find for each child a special support, education and medical treatment. Self-confidence and independence enable to some extent the integration into the society.It is thus important to give firm structures to space and time in the curative education organism, e.g. a rhythm of life that sustains the children, on the one handrelieving stress and on the other giving orientation in the progress of time where otherwise confusion may arise.

Volunteers get the opportunity to contribute - under guidance of staff members - to the support and leisure time program of the orthopaedagogical institute Sonnenhalde. Volunteers can introduce their own ideas and abilities like computer literacy, graphic design, mechanical skills, music playing etc. In the beginning volunteers will only assist staff members, later they should take on responsibility - as far as admitted by legal liabilities. Emphatically volunteers are invited to bring in their own ideas. Staff members will appreciate all initiatives to develop additional proposals for leisure time activities and will support planning and realization. Volunteers could develop their own ideas for new games, activities or stories into a personal project if they so wished - creative ideas are always welcome. Major tasks in which volunteers can be actively involved are: Assistance and support for residents in all day chores and leisure time;·occupational therapy like doing handicraft, singing, playing music;·attendance at excursions and study trips.

Volunteers are invited to participate in internal vocational training seminars.The assignment of volunteers will be discussed with staff members. Volunteers are expected to accomplish a fulltime voluntary service of 35 hours per week. Overtime doing will be balanced by additional freetime.

Volunteers can take part in a language training for European Volunteers arranged by the coordinating organisation. The aim of the language training is the command of oral every day speech with a special focus on the terminology of child care. Through language training the volunteer should be enabled to manage typical situations of daily life they will be confronted with during their voluntary service.

Apart from language learning the language training serves as a weekly meeting for European Volunteers from several EVS projects situated in the region. Every month a day of studies will be organised vor the volunteers, where the volunteers can seek advise for their choice of occupations in future, meet counselors from universities and colleges, go on excursions, or take part in cultural events. The content of this program will be discussed by the group and participation is left up to the volunteers..
Volunteers are not expected to have a special previous knowledge but they should have an interest in working with handicapped people. They should be open-minded to work with children and young people in need of special care of the soul. It's necessary for volunteers to be sociable and outgoing, to have enthusiasm, and to be tolerant to foreign cultures. They should be able to interact well with different groups of people. An enthusiastic, responsible and flexible attitude towards the work is very important. Experiences in youth work or help for disabled people would be helpful, but is not a prerequisite. To get easily in touch with the staff members as well as the children and their parents, a basic knowledge of german language would be helpful. Volunteers should be able to get involved into the staff and to contribute to the work. They should be interested to deal with german culture and to learn to manage everyday situations in german language. The sending organisation should assure a good preparation for an assignment of the volunteer in a foreign country. A preparatory visit would be helpful
Volunteers who are not selected can ask for detailed information about the reasons.
olunteers with special needs could be accepted after consultation with the hosting organisation to find and to agree appropriate opportunities of voluntary activities.
Risk prevention and support for European Volunteers will be provided on several levels. In the institution volunteers are attended to by the director and a personal tutor to ensure the integration into the host organisation and the local community. They will hold at regular intervals meetings with all volunteers and trainees to discuss care activities. Furthermore the tutor is at the volunteers' disposal to discuss personal matters. In addition, volunteers can meet weekly during language training participants from other EVS-projects from the region to exchange experiences.
Furthermore, the coordinating organisation offers regular mentoring throughout the volunteer's stay, providing personal and operational support (to help volunteers cope with living arrangements, day-to-day tasks, etc). To prevent crises from occurring in the first place, volunteers will be given any training necessary for them to carry out their tasks.
The hosting organisation offers the candidates to spend 4 or 5 days in an preparatory visit on-site so they become familiar with the projects program and understand their responsibilities. For this preparatory visit, the hosting organisation pays food, lodging and an allowance of 100 Euros to cover travel expenses. After this visit the candidates can decide without any obligation whether they want to participate in the project.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=6001151332