October 2011

I’m Cécile and I have just arrived in Subotica in order to be a volunteer at Local Democracy agency for the European program: European Voluntary Service from August 2011 to May 2012.

I’m graduated in philosophy in Lyon, in France and I was a volunteer in some organisations in the fields of world cultures, poverty and loneliness, and in the ONG Handicap international. I think that EVS program is a great opportunity for young people to discover another country, culture and to feel useful and a European citizen.

September 2011

On-arrival training is the perfect time to meet other volunteers and create a network. If you join EVS, on the training, you will probably meet people from Poland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Finland, and Germany who are volunteering in Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Bosnia. More than a work experience, the EVS is a human experience. You share your life, your culture. You learn from differences. You are definitely more open. This is all the magic things about EVS…

For the on-arrival training, we discovered Bosnia and Herzegovina and particularly the city of Sarajevo. Bosnia is a nice country with beautiful landscapes and we visited some places like the old Sarajevo.

June 2011

Time flies and our mid-term training in Belgrade some time ago marked the beginning of the second half of our EVS. As you could already read our first impressions about the life in Subotica on this website, we would like to share how we feel here after more than a half of a year has passed.

So, firstly, during this time we had a chance to meet lots of new people not just in Subotica but other cities of Serbia (Niš, Belgrade, Novi Sad) as well and to learn many things about the life in this country. We have also traveled a bit around the region and got a deeper insight in different aspects of life in Serbia.

Hello! Sveiki! Bonjour!

We are Gabriela, Gregoire and Agnes - second wave of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) volunteers at LDA Subotica. From October, 2010 to the end of July, 2011 we are staying in Subotica implementing European awareness projects. Our main activities here include on the one hand, contributing to the LDA’s current projects related to the promotion of minorities' rights and local democracy and on the other hand, developing youth related projects.

While living in Subotica, we are very pleased with the hospitality of local people, cultural diversity, rich historic architecture, cosiness of town, sunshine, beautiful sunsets and specialities of the region that we found here. We feel very lucky to get this intercultural experience here in Subotica as well as in Serbia.

EVS as a learning opportunity for NGOs and the local community

EVS is the short word for European Voluntary Service, a programme supported by the European Union, giving young people out of whole Europe the opportunity to volunteer from 2 to 12 months for an NGO or social institution in another country. There has been talked a lot about what are the benefits of an EVS for the young volunteers, but what is EVS about for an NGO and the local community, that receive the volunteer?

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EVS

What does this stand for?

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July 2009

From the 22nd to the 26th of June an EVS-midterm-training for EVS volunteers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yougoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia took place in Ohrid, F.Y.R.M. After the Pre-departure-training and the On-Arrival-training the Midterm-training is the 3rd training the EVS-training-cycle.

Ohrid is a wonderful place to relax and offers many interesting sights, historical churches and monasteries to visit and an amazing landscape. I really enjoyed the view over Lake Ohrid and the mountains around and going to swim every day. But of course the Midterm-Training is much more than just relax: It gives EVS-volunteers an opportunity to share experiences in their host countries, to make a first evaluation of their EVS-project so far and to think about solutions for problems and ideas to improve their EVS projects.

July 2009

With the financial support of the Council of Europe and the Agency for youth and sport of the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia the Youth Council of Prilep organized an international training course for young youth leaders on the topic of “Involving Youth in decisions making processes”. The 30 participants came from seven countries of South Eastern Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. The aim of the training was to increase knowledge and skills of youth for their participation in local and regional life in the SEE countries. The training sessions were dedicated to the following themes: European Charter and local youth policies, presentation of models of co-operation in the area of decision making process, Advocacy and networking for involving youth in decision making processes, sharing experiences about models and examples of involving youth, reflecting about obstacles for involving youth and how to overcome them.

The European-Voluntary-Service (EVS)-Programme includes several trainings. The first one is the pre-departure-training, usually in your home-country where you get prepared for your EVS, talk about fears and hopes and motivation to be an EVS-volunteer. The second one is the On-Arrival Training in your host country. For the countries of South Eastern Europe, to which Serbia belongs, the situation is a little bit special, so all the EVS-volunteers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia met in Sarajevo for their On-arrival-training.