B.R.I.G.H.T FUTURE

Smokinya Foundation

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Organisation:

Smokinya Foundation

Country:

Bulgaria

About organisation:

Smokinya Foundation contributes in creating a world that works for everyone out of love, care and cooperation.The organization serves as a learning platform for individuals who are ready to commit to their own learning and development needs. We create opportunities and provide space for people to learn, contribute and grow by participation, volunteering and leadership.Our approach is heuristic – a method for empowering a person to discover or learn something for themselves. Smokinya provides an alternative context of learning – experiential, ‘hands-on’ or learning by doing.Smokinya Foundation realizes its vision and values through youth work. Youth work for us is providing contexts and playground for exploration and discovery of the inner spirit of youth that individuals, groups and organizations posses.It started in 2013 as online blog for popularising youth mobility. Combining EVS experience, youth work and experiential learning with the energy and drive of young professional

Contact person:

Tihomir Georgiev

Title of the project

B.R.I.G.H.T FUTURE

Start date:

May 31, 2023

End date:

June 29, 2023

Source of funding:

ESC and Erasmus+

Objectives:

The project took place in a small village in the Plovdiv district (with less than 100 inhabitants), where a group of volunteers from across Europe stayed in an eco-friendly camp. During the project, the participants did a number of activities that promote: community building, environmental action, leadership and cooperation skills; network with peers and development of ideas and projects related to ESC and Erasmus+. During the first week, the volunteers began the onboarding, orientation and team building, in order to prepare them for the coming days. The second and third week consisted in local actions, such as clearing unkept weeds that affect the village. A lot of public spaces, such as roads and fountains were cleaned in order to help the community. A variety of activities were also performed, such as a basic First Aid course by the Red Cross, a small workshop on how to build baskets, collecting roses and a lot of cooking classes, to teach everyone about the food of the different cultures. The main job, however, involved the abandoned school owned now by us. The volunteers began work in renovation and cleaning of the building, which Smokinya aims to one day turn into a Youth Center. The renovation involved the removal of tiles and grass from the facility and the construction of new structure for the school, such as benches. As for entertainment, we hosted a variety of board games nights, a lot of travels in the nature and we even built a volleyball and a swing for fun.

Why does it correspond to the thematic category:

By participating in this project, the young people get to experience a environment full of different people from different backgrounds, and they get to cooperate together in a common goal, which also provides benefits to the village and it's inhabitants. The volunteers were also able to learn a lot of different skills, being by working with the locals on different jobs and chores, or by participating on the workshops and planned events. Overall, by engaging with both different young people from across the world and with the local villagers, we hope the participants have learned the importance of helping each other no matter whom, as well as gaining the communication and leadership skills required in today's world

The impact the initiative had on young people and the local community:

Everyone involved had a great experience and loved the camp interaction and activity. The volunteers felt a sense of companionship by the end, and a lot of friendships were made during the month. They felt like they'd grown as people and would never forget this experience. As for the local community, they where overjoyed by seeing their village gain new life with the young participants. They were so happy with our help in cleaning the village and also in helping locals with a variety of problems, and they said they hoped to see us again the next year. We feel like this projects are so important for both parties involved, and their importance to small villages specially cannot be ignored

How it ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk:

This project was a first for a lot of volunteers, and by giving them a good image of these types of programs, as well as by teaching them about the different opportunities that can be found in Eurodesk, we feel like we ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk. We always promote Eurodesk projects and the website itself on our social media in order for youngsters to keep being informed about it.

How it respected the green principles:

The volunteers were encouraged to follow and respect Eurodesk green principles. The participants cleaned trash out of the village, created compost in order to ensure future plant's growth, worked with environmentally friendly materials and also recycled everything that was going to the trash. The volunteers were incentivized to also partake in green travel when coming to the camp, so to make their trip more environmental friendly. By partaking in these methods of travel, a bigger reimbursement would be receive at the end of the project. Overall we believed to have successfully followed Eurodesk's green principles

The project took place in a small village in the Plovdiv district (with less than 100 inhabitants), where a group of volunteers from across Europe stayed in an eco-friendly camp. During the project, the participants did a number of activities that promote: community building, environmental action, leadership and cooperation skills; network with peers and development of ideas and projects related to ESC and Erasmus+. During the first week, the volunteers began the onboarding, orientation and team building, in order to prepare them for the coming days. The second and third week consisted in local actions, such as clearing unkept weeds that affect the village. A lot of public spaces, such as roads and fountains were cleaned in order to help the community. A variety of activities were also performed, such as a basic First Aid course by the Red Cross, a small workshop on how to build baskets, collecting roses and a lot of cooking classes, to teach everyone about the food of the different cultures. The main job, however, involved the abandoned school owned now by us. The volunteers began work in renovation and cleaning of the building, which Smokinya aims to one day turn into a Youth Center. The renovation involved the removal of tiles and grass from the facility and the construction of new structure for the school, such as benches. As for entertainment, we hosted a variety of board games nights, a lot of travels in the nature and we even built a volleyball and a swing for fun.