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Friday, February 28, 2014

Conference

Hello everyone

On the 28th of February, in the Biblioteca Antim Ivireanu, we gave a conference to officially present ourselves and our project to the community. 
We were all very afraid that nobody would care and that the conference room would be empty. But thankfully we were mistaken and the seats were all occupied. 


This was our poster for that day. As you can see it has the pictures of all of us.


Our very attentive audience.



The final touches before the beginning. 




Our coordinator Georgeta was the translator, so that everyone in audience could understand who we were and why we were there.






We all presented ourselves one by one. 


And we also presented some of the activities that we had already done.

When we noticed the presentation was already over. In order to interact with people present we let the audience ask some questions to us. At the beginning they were a bit shy, but eventually the questions started coming.




Thank you all so much for coming. It was a pleasure to meet you.






Thursday, February 27, 2014

Article - Digi24

Hello everyone

We went national!

Digi24 sent a team of reporters to interview us and to go to the some of the schools we would be working.
It was a very important moment for us. It means that our project is being talked about and that we are doing something to grab the attention of the media.

Digi24 - 26-02-2014


Thank you very much Digi24 for taking the time to get to know us and our project.





Wednesday, February 26, 2014

First time on TV

Hello everyone

Some of our volunteers have became so famous that they were invited to participate in one of the TV programs in the local TV station Valcea 1.


Our ladies look really good, don't they?


This is in the studio just moments before the start of the show, that was streamed live in the channel's website.



Here you can watch the whole show through the YouTube links


Our Janet was so pretty, don't you all agree?


Our girls with a host of the show.


Martyna was very happy to be on TV.

In this program we explain what our project was about, and showed some of the activities that were already prepared.
Thank you Valcea Unu for the invitation.




Thursday, February 20, 2014

Article - viatavalcii

Hello everyone

Has you all must have noticed there are quite a few articles about our project.

Here is yet another one.

This time it's from ViataValcii.

viatavalcii.ro - 19-02-2014

Voluntari de pe trei continente vin în sprijinul romilor din Vâlcea

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voluntari-19022014Zece tineri din Europa, Africa şi America de Sud au început un stagiu de voluntariat finanţat de Comisia Europeană, prin care vor încerca să rezolve problemele romilor din judeţ. „Creative Youth Entrepreneurship in Roma Communities 539896-2-RO—2013-R1 ” este numele noului proiect de voluntariat ce a debutat la începutul acestei luni în Vâlcea. Coordonată de către Asociaţia ATRV Vâlcea, iniţiativa propune un stagiu de voluntariat european pentru un număr de 10 tineri din Polonia, Turcia, Portugalia, Zambia şi Uuguay. Pentru un an, voluntarii străini vor lucra în comunităţile rome din judeţul Vâlcea, unde vor realiza o serie de activităţi inovative menite să sprijine cu precădere tinerii romi aflaţi în dificultate. Folosind experienţa lor anterioară, dar şi sprijinul organizaţiei coordonatoare, voluntarii vor pune la punct o serie de programe educaţionale remediale pentru tinerii romi. În parteneriat cu Inspectoratul Şcolar Judeţean Vâlcea vor organiza o grădiniţă de vară pentru copiii romi şi vor ajuta la implementarea activităţilor în cadrul acestei iniţiative. De asemenea, tinerii voluntari vor co-organiza activitatea „Şansa a Doua”, dedicată tinerilor şi adulţilor din comunităţile rome ce nu au avut oportunitatea de a merge la şcoală. Astfel, voluntarii vor desfăşura acţiuni de informare despre comunităţile europene, drepturile cetăţeneşti şi importanţa participării la alegerile europene. Ca parteneri în proiectul Creative Youth Entrepreneurship in Roma Communities sunt următoarele organizaţii din străinătate: Audele – Uruguay, Universitatea din Zambia şi Unza Radio din Zambia, East West Mutual Understanding din Polonia, Asociaţia de Tineret ProAtlantico din Portugalia şi Canakkale Goza Genclik Dernegi din Turcia. Proiectul este finanţat de către Comisia Europeană prin intermediul Programului Tineret în Acţiune, Acţiunea 2 – Serviciul European de Voluntariat. Informaţiile ne-au fost oferite de doamna Georgeta Mureanu. Mihaela Muscă




Article - 1 Billion Rising

Hello everyone,

During the first few weeks of our stay we received a lot of attention from the local media.

Here is the article about our participation in the 1 Billion Rising.

eurovalcea.ro - 18-02-2014







Violența împotriva femeilor, temă de campanie pentru voluntarii europeni

VoluntariVoluntari
Vineri, 14 februarie 2014, zece tineri străini, voluntari în cadrul ServiciuluI European de Voluntariat, au atras atenția asupra fenomenului violenței împotriva femeilor. Totul s-a desfășurat sub egida mișcării internaționale "One Billion Rising".
Tinerii voluntari, membri ai proiectului CYERC, au luat inițiativa și au organizat un marș dedicat luptei impotriva violenței contra femeilor. Pe un traseu cuprins între Casa Tineretului din Cartierul Ostroveni și zona centrală a municipiului Râmnicu Vâlcea, tinerii au împărțit pliante și au stat de vorbă cu trecătorii, o parte din fetele grupului purtând și semnele violenței prin intermediul machiajelor realizate cu mult talent de acestea. S-a dorit astfel o sensibilizare a publicului la problemele reale ale violenței în familie. Georgeta Mureanu, coordonatoarea voluntarilor explică: "Tinerii au avut această inițiativă deoarece doresc să schimbe mentalitatea în rândurile societății. Au stat de vorbă cu oamenii pe stradă și reacțiile au fost destul de diferite. Foarte mulți au fost de acord cu mesajul nostru și ne-au încurajat. Au fost însă și persoane care au spus că, sunt momente în care femeile merită să fie lovite. Acestui gen de oameni s-a adresat campania voluntarilor, încercând să schimbe aceste mentalități".
Voluntarii străini vin din Portugalia, Turcia, Polonia, Uruguay și Zambia în cadrul unui proiectului împlementat de ATRV Vâlcea și finanțat de Comisia Europeană prin intermediul programului Tineret în Acțiune, Acțiunea 2 – Serviciul European de Voluntariat. Aceasta este doar una din acțiunile pe care voluntarii le vor desfășura de-a lungul unei perioade de 12 luni în Vâlcea.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

First time on the media

Hello everyone

During our stay in Ramnicu Valcea we have became some sort of celebrities.
Some of the local news have approached us to learn about our project and ourselves. They were curious to know why a group of strangers would decide to come to Romania.

This was the first article that was written. It appeared on the online news AGERPRESS, 18th of February of 2014.

Here is the link to the page

Agerpress 2014-02-18

And here is the actual article.

Vâlcea: Voluntari din Polonia, Turcia, Zambia şi Uruguay într-un proiect european pentru comunitatea romă

Marţi, 18 Februarie 2014 12:33
Un număr de 10 tineri voluntari din Polonia, Turcia, Portugalia, Zambia şi Uruguay au început în judeţul Vâlcea un proiect finanţat de Comisia Europeană, în cadrul căruia vor realiza o serie de activităţi inovative menite să sprijine cu precădere tinerii romi aflaţi în dificultate.


Foto: (c) ALEX TUDOR / AGERPRES ARHIVA 

Acţiunea de voluntariat este derulată de către Asociaţia Tinerilor Romi din Vâlcea, a precizat coordonatorul proiectului, Georgeta Mureanu. 

"Folosind experienţa lor anterioară, dar şi sprijinul organizaţiei coordonatoare, voluntarii vor pune la punct o serie de programe educaţionale remediale pentru tinerii romi. În parteneriat cu Inspectoratul Şcolar Judeţean Vâlcea, vor organiza o grădiniţă de vară pentru copiii romi şi vor ajuta la implementarea activităţilor în cadrul acestei iniţiative. De asemenea, tinerii voluntari vor co-organiza activitatea 'Şansa a Doua' dedicată tinerilor şi adulţilor din comunităţile rome ce nu au avut oportunitatea de a merge la şcoală. Astfel, voluntarii vor desfăşura acţiuni de informare despre comunităţile europene, drepturile cetăţeneşti şi importanţa participării la alegerile europene", a precizat Mureanu. 

Proiectul este finanţat de către Comisia Europeană prin intermediul Programului Tineret în Acţiune, Acţiunea 2 - Serviciul European de Voluntariat. 

Friday, February 14, 2014

1 Billion Rising for Justice

Hello

In 14th of February is the day of a very special celebration. 
No, it's not Valentines Day. 
It's the international day against violence. We decided to take part in the 1 Billion Rising Movement and we went to the streets to help stop violence against women.
We created some flyers, posters and prepared a small play in order to try to change some mentalities. 
This a world wide movement that tries to create awareness to violence problems. Last year it was violence specifically against women and girls. Since it was so well received in the whole world, this year there was an upgrade and it's 1 Billion Rising for Justice.

During our performance in the streets of Ramnicu Valcea it was visible that it's a very difficult matter to approach and that there still a lot of people believing that if the woman is abused it's because she deserved it. In other words, that is still a long way to go in this department and that mentalities are very hard to change.


"Break the Chain. Talking is the first step"

"Violence is not only bruises. Stop the harassment"



If you want to know more about this movement, go to www.onebillionrising.org
There you can find all the information about the movements and videos of this year manifestation.

Here is the video that we created for this day.




Seara Romanesca

Hello

In order to thank us from our intercultural night, some students from the community decided to prepare a Romanian evening.

They prepared for us traditional food and drinks, teach us how to do typical Romanian dances and also presented us with videos that shown us how beautiful a country Romania is. With a lot of things to see, feel and experience.


Our table was very beautiful with so many different products from Romania.


It looks delicious right?! We had it all, from tsuica, wine, typical deserts made by the students and their families, home made bread and jams.




The evening went on with lots of dancing and funny moments.

Thank you all for this wonderful night.






Thursday, February 6, 2014

Intercultural Evening

Hello

To introduce our team to the community, we organized a intercultural evening. Since we all come from very different countries each of us prepared a small presentation to show what Romanians could see when they visit each of our countries.


This was our poster for that night

The first pair to present was Martyna and Kuba from Poland.





Video of history of Poland in animation

Next, was the pair from Portugal, Ana and Nuno.





Video from tourism in Portugal



Our audience very well composed and attentive. Thank you all for being present.


After Portugal, it was time for the Uruguayan pair, Virginia and German





Video from tourism in Uruguay

Next It was the Turkey pair, Burcho and Mehmet.


Video from tourism in Turkey

Last but not least, Valerie and Janet, from Zambia.




Video of our girls teaching African dances

Our ladies gave quite the show. Don't you think?

It makes you want to learn African dances, I know we all wanted to learn a little bit.

This a great night and opportunity to greet the community and get to know then a little bit.

And we thank you very much for coming and spending this time with us.











Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Introductions and thoughts

Hello

We are a group of strangers that got together in the beginning of this month. Until a while ago we didn't know anything about each other. The one thing in common was that we got selected to do an EVS project in Ramnicu Valvea, Romania.

We are ten strangers that, together with Asociatia Tinerilor Rromi Valcea (ATRV), will try to change some mentalities and stereotypes in the Rroma Communities. By working with the population and the media for support, improving the social integration of the Rroma.

We are ten strangers from five different countries. They are Poland, Portugal, Uruguay, Turkey and Zambia. Ten very distinct strangers that so far have made a great job of getting to know each other and start this project with fresh ideas and creativity.



Now that 12 days have passed since our arrival, we are no longer strangers, we are a group of friends that wants to make a difference, help the community, have fun and travel but most of all discover about oneself.

As a way of introduction each of us prepared something so that you get to know us a bit more.

From Poland we have Kuba and Martyna:

"I didn't have much time to make a decision about my participation in this project. Now, after spending two weeks in Rumnicu Valcea, I'm glad to have made this decision. At first I was really afraid about the people, the communication between us and of course of the project. What I can tell you now, is that my concerns were unreasonable. I met wonderful people, who are with me, part of our project. Of course there are problems with communication, but what you can expect when there are people from 5 different countries. My expectations and ambitions for the project get bigger and bigger every day. I wan't to be part of our creativity group in the work and getting fun together".
Kuba, Poland

"When I got the message that I had been selected to take part in EVS Program in Romania, I had only two days to make up my mind. It was really hard to decide if I really wanted to spend one year somewhere far away from home with people I didn't know at all. As far I think it was the best choice I could have done in that moment. People here are really kind and it doesn't matter who is speaking in which language. We are just a group of people who want to do something for others. We have big hearts and heads full of ideas. If we keep our attitude, probably it will be the best year in our lives!"
Martyna, Poland

From Portugal we have Nuno and Ana:

"My name is Nuno from Portugal and I am a volunteer of EVS in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. It´s almost two weeks since I arrived in Râmnicu Vâlcea and until now I am discovering new different things from Romanian culture but also I am learning new things about other people´s culture. My impression from the city is being very good as I am amazed by its natural landscape and all the white snow that covers the city. I am also finding very friendly people who are helping me with my adaptation. So far this has been a new experience for me but also very challenging and enriching due to the intercultural environment. One of the things that I wanted before coming here was to meet people from other countries and I am having that opportunity which I am appreciating. I am enjoying learning Romanian language which I intend to get better and doing the activities and games with other volunteers. I also intend to travel through Romania and knowing it better."
Nuno, Portugal

"I'm Ana, from Portugal. I found this project while I was searching for a job back home. I had no knowledge of the EVS program, but the more I read about it the more I felt that it was something that I needed to do. Obviously I was scared. I would be with total strangers for one whole year. What if we didn't get along, what if I didn't like the city and culture and project. What if and what if. In the end I realized that there's no point in "what if's", I would just live it to the best of my abilities and take as much as I could learn from this experience. That is what I have been doing, while loving every minute of it. So far I've learned a lot about other countries and also about Romania. I expect to make a great project and have the best time of my life with all my fellow volunteers."
Ana, Portugal

From Uruguay we have German and Virginia:

"My name is German, I am from Uruguay and I am 24 years old. I am actor and musician. I knew about this voluntary project from my sister, who participated in an EVS project last year. I like to know a lot of types of cultures, to travel, help the others etc. I like the group which was formed here and I think we became a team despite the language barriers. I am very enthusiastic and I have a lot of expectations for work with the group and the organization. Now I am in very nice city called Rm Valcea, I like the people here and their customs."
German, Uruguay


My name is Virginia, I am from Uruguay and I am 30 years old.
I am specialist in company’s administration management and human resources. These were my tasks before coming in Romania. In 2013 I have decided to start a new career, as a teacher of Informatics.  This last, has determinate me to take the decision to participate in the project.
What motivated me to come here, was the necessity of a big change in my life, change the place where I spent the last years, a period of loss and shocks.
I feel that this experience will allow me to know myself, overcome one of my biggest difficulties which are speaking another language and overall, will help me in the “learning to learn” process.

Is very difficult to be far from my home but since my arrival the people working in the organization and the other volunteers made me feel like home, helping me every day to overcome my limits. 

From Turkey we have Mehmet and Burcu:

"On our arrival we were greeted by a very warm atmosphere. This was the sign for all preparations to be done with a very good group. At the beginning the mutual understanding was very important. I watched during the course for 3 or 4 days the behavior of pretended friends (hidden friends).
Then we made an evaluation of the team. I was a  „ face to face” evaluation.
Through these activities, we become closer to each other. The people I met here and the activities that I attended have proven to me that I am in the right place. I’m happy that I’m here. Thank you !"
Mehmet, Turkey

"Hello. I am Burcu. In Cyerc I work as volunteer. I feel very lucky to be able to participate in this project. Here I can successfully study and learn with the other volunteers, I believe we can do a lot of things. I have memories i will not forget of this first week."
Burcu, Turkey

From Zambia we have Valerie and Janet:

"Romania..... My imperfect yet so perfect world..... It has not been a fortnight since I for the first time came to Romania yet my experience may somewhat suit one who has spent a lifetime here. Coming here was to be my most exciting experience ever and so I came in the highest of spirits. But to my astonishment, it become one of the most depressing decisions I have ever made. My country Zambia is quiet small with a population of 14million, it's a third world country and I may add the obvious fact that it's in Southern Africa with the majority of course being African people or as you may call them black people. Romania on the other hand has few or no "black people" and so our presence in Valcea county has and continues to attract a lot of attention. Attention ranging from laughing, staring, insulting and for the most part people moving out of paths simply because we are on it. The weather in Romania is also quite different from that of my country and this has been another depressing factor because we are in winter and the country is experiencing freezing temperatures unlike the warm weather in my country. This is my 10th day in Valcea county, half my days are spent with the other volunteers and the other half in our apartment. Loneliness has caught up with me and I always feel like screaming because at this point, being home sick is inevitable. Despite the feeling of not belonging, I am convinced that any person would feel the exact same way I feel if they came to my country, though they would have different experiences, am certain each and every one of our experiences would have a down side whether in Australia, Africa, North America, South America, or Asia because where ever one goes there will be shortfalls because no one is perfect and no place is perfect either. And so my title Romania.... My imperfect yet so perfect world because even for people to be complete, the all sides have to be added and because no one is perfect, I guess there are no exceptions for countries either Xoxo!!!!"
Valerie, Zambia

"Hi my name is Janet from Zambia. My first days Romania was a living hell because of the weather and the people around me who made me feel uncomfortable because of the stares and the insults from the locals.
I hope to have a great time in Valcea and EVS despite my first experience in Romania not being so good at the beginning."
"The Lord is upright; he is my Rock and there is no wickedness in him."
Janet, Zambia



Our project officially began on the 4th of February. That was when all of us got to meet each other for the first time. We started with an activity to learn some information about each of us. With all the alphabet letter spread across the floor, we were asked questions about our names, countries, hobbies, likes and dislikes.

Other activity was to create our own planet/world, we had to name it, describe it and to define what morals and values would be part of it.












During this first week we did a grand variety of exercises to know each other and to became familiar with the project and the ideals of voluntary work. Like what is the Ideal Volunteer.

This what we believe it to be:







This way, now you know a little bit about each of us, what we have been doing and what we expect of this year in Romania.