5. DAY: Inspiration from S.T.O.P., volunteer expectation management

The day started with review of previous day. The previous day was field activity which includes study visit of Ostrava. People were divided in group of 4/5 and asked to explore city. Couple of groups was given a task to explore and visit local NGOs and municipal services.

The trainer Cosmin asked about local nonprofit Organization NGO named ADRA, Alessandro and Beston explained the objectives and activity of ADRA

From this review the next activity was pretty much related. A successful local NGO named S.T.O.P was invited as Guest to share the idea and experience of their organization

Mgr. Ivona represented her Organization S.T.O.P. and talked about basic ideas of freedom/tolerance/equality/opportunity which makes the basis of their organization. She explained the projects which includes lectures/Education for children of socially unstable/poor conditioned families. The volunteers visit their homes and with consent of parents and STOP officials, start helping in subjects of socializing/science/language/mathematics/music and sports etc. Anything which can improve the learning process of kids and providing the material to make it happen. The annual Budget of organization started from 10,000/ euros in 2001 and is around 80000/euros now. Most of Budget comes from government/Ministry of Interior. Outdoor activities and travelling for kids are also added on monthly basis.

The 2^nd part of the day was dedicated to conflict management and expectation management. The idea was made adventurous and interesting by trainers Cosmin/Suren by simulating conflict situations in lack of communication scenarios (chair acquisition/tasks conflicts). Participants were told about real life situations and stages of conflicts, when and where to intervene as volunteer coordinator and avoid/stop conflicts

The day ended on high note by a thought provoking talk on art of listening. This day was awesome and informative in all possible ways. From real life story of STOP to challenges of conflict.

Authors of the article: Jan (Italy), Paulina (Poland)

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3. DAY: Recruiting the volunteers, supervision

We started our third day with a game of energizers activities, to be well awake :). The game consisted of our ability to act quickly and accurately. We went on to the subject of recruiting and selecting where we learned the basic way of interviewing someone and what is important to keep in mind when interviewing a volunteer. After this first period we had our pause for coffee . After the break we were divided into groups and each one was given a task, in which we would somehow have to put up an advertisement for the hiring of a volunteer (newspaper, radio, Facebook etc). Before lunch each group presented their work. At one we had our lunch break . In the afternoon, and after our announcements we prepared ourselves to interview our candidates with real interviews. After all groups were done Cosmin gave us his feedback, with tips to improve the way we interview our volunteers. Before the afterno...

Evaluation meeting in Brno

Maybe you remember, that in November we spent some time at the castle in Bartošovice. During the Volunteer Boost training course, we dealt with the topic of volunteer management and coordination. Since that time, two months passed, so we met again in the middle of December with 12 of our lovely participants and trainers to evaluate our progress in given field, this time in Brno. The evaluation meeting lasted two days, during which we found out the impact of the training on our daily work within our organizations while using various non-formal methods of learning. Nevertheless, it was no the only task we had. As we created very well working team, it would be a pity to not continue in this cooperation. That is why we spent one whole afternoon by follow-up planning of future projects. Moreover, you can expect the booklet full of advice and tricks on how to effectively work with volunteers, which is coming very soon, also via our Facebook page. The official program took place in our s...

4. DAY: Make a research in Ostrava!

The group departed for Ostrava for a study visit and a bit of city exploration. We were separated in 5 teams and we were assigned to interview random local people from different ages groups, asking them 3 questions regarding volunteering to find out if they were familiar with the term or if they had volunteered by any chance. Each group had an extra different task like visiting a hospital, a local NGO etc. and ask if they need volunteers to cover their activities. Every unique group had different experiences and their own challenges. We also had free time to enjoy a decent cup of coffee. The bad weather didn’t distract our great mood and we continued enjoying our trip. Getting back to the venue, the majority was exhausted while other took the advantage of the free evening to play board games. Author of the article: Filipe (Portugal)

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