The association for youth welfare services and social work (JuSeV), located in Fürstenwalde in the eastern part of the federal state of Brandenburg, provides services for the whole regional commu-nity in the fields of youth work, non-formal education, culture, social training and individual support for children, youth and their parents. Actual emphasis is put on the prevention of violence and ac-tions against right-wing extremism.JuSeV is organised in five departments:
- support for young people without school qualifications to enter the professional world
- international youth work (e.g. group exchange programmes, workcamps, teamer trainings, volun-tary service)
- youth clubs, playing grounds, mobile youth work, internet café, workshops, social work at schools
- non-formal education (social, cultural, political learning); this includes to run a training center for young people
- individual counselling and support for children, youth and their families.
JuSeV actively contributes to different political boards on local, regional and state level. Coopera-tion with partner organisations is a basic part of the idea. The different fields of work are related to each other.Since 2001 JuSeV is hosting and sending organisation in the EVS and since 2004 supporting or-ganisation for the Samariteranstalten Fürstenwalde (a home for elderly people). This year it started to run a training center for young people, offering seminars in philosophy and ethics, ecology and nature studies, cultural, sociological and political themes, as well as training young people to be-come group leaders for different tasks and levels, primarily within the protestant youth organisation. It arranges international group exchange programmes, workcamps, meetings and conferences for both, youth and specialists in youth work.

Fürstenwalde, where the association is located, is situated in the Oder-Spree district of the Federal State of Brandenburg, about 60 km from downtown Berlin to the east, not far from Frankfurt(Oder) at the border to Poland, between many forests and lakes. The town has about 34 000 residents and an efficiant train connexion to Berlin (a regional train leaves every half an hour and reaches down-town Berlin within 30 - 40 minutes).The manifold structures of industrial production, trade and ser-vice enterprises stretch as far as tires, paint, measurement and test engineering, safety features and equipment, chemical plant engineering and construction as well as synthetics, with more than 5 500 employees.In Fürstenwalde there is a waterpark, various sport centers with bowling, tennis and inline skating. Not far there is the spa of Bad Saarow with a lot of attractions, hot springs, a huge lake with many kinds of water sports, golf etc. Many cultural places you can find in Fürstenwalde like the "Club in the Park" with concerts and disco or a sociocultural center with theater and music workshops, exhebitions and the public library.

Tasks

In the development of the European unification process, it is important that adolescents and young adults share their experiences and contribute their personal suggestions. They also need to de-velop skills in the languages and cultures of the other EU-member states. Our intention is to give young people from other countries the opportunity to gain experiences in our local community, to foster their personal development and to facilitate new ideas and interests.

The living accomodations of our volunteers are in a flat that is shared with other volunteers. Accordingly, they do not only get to learn about German culture, but also about the cultures of the other volunteers currently involved in the project. In addition, they learn a lot about community and cooperation by living in a common flat.Volunteers are offered language training courses according to their level of language proficiency in order to improve their German language skills.Our organization regulary offers a "volunteers' day", which is planned and implemented with the vol-unteers. On that day, all the volunteers the organization is hosting come together for a day of shar-ing experiences and getting acquainted. On this day, a specific aspect of of German culture or his-tory is also introduced.

Social work at schools includes working in comprehensive schools and schools for handicapped young people as well in a related after school care club. The target group are deprived children and youth, those with learning disabilities and physical or mental handicaps in the age betwenn 6 -18 (in the club between 6-12).
Social work at schools has become an important link between school, youth work and individual help schemes. In the cases of physically handicapped children there is additionally some support in their daily life (meals, changing clothes, going to the toilet) necessary. As these children cannot write manually, they are supported to work at the computer. Integration aides also support teachers with certain school projects.
Through the direct contact with children and youth the volunteers get a good insight into the living and family situation, the value system and the lifestyle of youth in Germany. EVS and their diverse cultural background always offer the opportunity to question one's own views and expectation, for teachers as well as for children and youth, for staff members and for the volunteers themselves.

The working time is 30 - 35 hours per week. Weekends are usually free, except for school excursions and certain leisure time activities. In this case the volunteer will have two free days in the following week. The additional holidays of 2 days per month should be realised during school holidays. The volunteers will be integrated into the duty roster according to their motivation and their abilities. They are participatin in staff meetings and continuing education.

There are the following fields of work:
a) after school care club: conducting sport programs and relaxation exercises, support with homework, creative workshops (doing handicrafts, painting, dancing, music, theater, carving, pottery, etc.)
b) in the schools: talks, leisure time activities (in the pauses), gender-related activities, support of socially deprived children and youth and persons with learning disabilities during lessons, counselling and moderation in conflict situations.
c) supporting pupils and teachers during school excursions and leisure time acitivities in cooperation with schools.

Target group

In principle, we are open to cooperation with all sendig organizations. However, our main focus lies in the cooperation with central and eastern European countries. The projects are open for every interested volunteer. No special skills are required, but he/sche should be open-minded, empathetic and interested in other people´s development. He/she should be selfconfident with the abilty of selfreflection and the capability to communicate with others. Particular interest in supporting and guiding children and adolescents is also desirable. German language skills are helpful, but not necessarily required.

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=6000708969