Miteinander Ausgabe 7 (August 2013)

Issue 2 / 2013 Das Magazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.

Special issue 2013

MMiitteeiinnaannddeerr

Content

Miteinander das Magazin von

Issue 2 / 2013

Content

Editorial

Projects

The network FamilienLebenVilshofen

ROCK YOUR LIFE! Passau e.V.

Sprachpaten project

TatennetzEveryone who wants to help is

welcome!

ALZHAUSER CAFÉ

Tempo para Dar - Time toGive!

APAV - Associação Portuguesade Apoio à Vítima(Portuguese Victim Support

Association)

The Federation of PortugueseFood Banks

Banco de Tempo - The Time

Bank

HEKVA

Provincial Directorate Of

Family And Social Policy Of

Istanbul

TOG - Community Volunteers

Foundation

ALZHAUSER CAFÉ – Saronno (Varese - Lombardy, Italy)

A voluntary social organisation promoting an active old age for the elderly

Imprint:Miteinander – das Vereinsmagazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen inEuropa e.V.

Editor: Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. , Leopoldstraße 9, 94032 Passau;Fon: 0851 – 213 2739; Fax: 0851-213 27 39;Mail: [email protected] editorship: Perdita Wingerter, Anastasia Stokes; editorial work: Anastasia Stokes; layout: KatharinaGrimbs, Franz Szabo, Anastasia Stokes; V. i.S.d.P. : Perdita Wingerter, Geschäftsführerin GLL;Miteinander erscheint unregelmäßig. Text- und Bildkopien nur mit Genehmigung.

The network FamilienLeben Vilshofen

The projects aim is to visit famil ies and support them

unbureaucratical ly in order to ease the famil ies' burden.

Another aim is to improve the children's l inguistic abil ities by

reading stories to them in kindergarden or school. In

general, the goal is to support famil ies in their everyday life

and provide them with information concerning their

children’s education to support the children’s development

from an early age on.

Sprachpaten projectIntegration and language support for children and youths

Speech is the key to integration. Due to this reason, it is

very important to give children and young people the

chance to learn German as early as possible. Thereby their

educational opportunities as well as their entire standart of

l iving wil l improve significantly.

APAV - Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima

(Portuguese Victim Support Association)

APAV is a Portuguese volunteer organization that provides

support to victims of crime and their famil ies and friends.

The Federation of Portuguese Food BanksAgainst hunger and waste

This Grundtvig Learning partnerschip

"Volunteers for famil ies" has been

founded with the support of the European

Commission. This magazine reflects the

views of the authors and the Commission

cannot be held responsible for any use

which may be made of the information

contained therein.

Imprint:Miteinander – das Vereinsmagazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen inEuropa e.V.

Editor: Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. , Leopoldstraße 9, 94032 Passau;Fon: 0851 – 213 2739; Fax: 0851-213 27 39;Mail: [email protected] editorship: Perdita Wingerter, Anastasia Stokes; editorial work: Anastasia Stokes; layout: KatharinaGrimbs, Franz Szabo, Anastasia Stokes; V. i.S.d.P. : Perdita Wingerter, Geschäftsführerin GLL;Miteinander erscheint unregelmäßig. Text- und Bildkopien nur mit Genehmigung.

Editorial

Dear readers,

European citizens struggle with a

wide economic crisis that is

accompanied by a social crisis

which is changing the role of the

state in the provision of services.

Due to the lack of resources to

sustain the welfare provision,

many governments are involved in

re-assessing the European Social

Model and in many decisional

areas the idea came up that

voluntary activities could and

should replace the state’s role. Al l

across Europe, there is an

increasing number of volunteers

who are wil l ing to share their

expertise and time when and

where it is needed. Their

volunteer work can be performed

in a formal, non-formal or

informal way. To give an example:

some of the most profound family

support services in Europe are

provided to famil ies by non-profit

organizations. With their natural

financial restraints and natural

involvement in active citizenship,

these organizations frequently

rely on volunteers to develop their

actions and services on behalf of

famil ies at the lowest possible

cost. So, volunteers can help and

support famil ies in various ways.

Their work is beneficial not only

for the famil ies, but for

communities and society as a

whole.

To give you a glimpse of how

volunteers can support famil ies in

practical terms, four voluntary

organizations working in

Germany, Italy, Portugal and

Turkey got together, col lected

their good practices on a national

level and shared their expertise as

well as know-how. This magazine

is one of the results of the

Grundtvig learning partnership

“Volunteers for famil ies”. We

choose the good practices we

think are transferable in different

settings.

As much as we promote volunteer

activities though, we want to

clarify and emphasise that this

social, human and

intergenerational capital of

volunteers is NOT performed to

replace state financed social

services due to the economic

cuts. We agree with the

“European Year of Volunteering

All iance 2011” which believes that

“l imiting the value given to

volunteers and volunteer-involving

organizations to merely

replacement vehicles for delivery

of services previously provided by

the State demonstrates a failure

to appreciate the role, value and

ultimately the impact of the

sector…Volunteering plays a role

as a complementary feature of

the European Social model and

should not be harnessed as

integral feature of it” (P.A.V.E.

2011)

Having this in mind, we hope that

our ideas and good practices

inspire lots of other organizations

across Europe to fol low our

examples and implement new

volunteer services for the benefit

of famil ies in need!

Yours sincerely

Perdita Wingerter (Germany)

Sofia Silva (Portugal)

Nedim Kaya (Turkey)

Clara Bassanini (Italy)

Editorial

Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.

The network “FamilienLeben Vilsho-

fen” and the local branch of the “Kin-

derschutzbund” came to life as a

result of too many families not being

able to cope with their problems in

everyday life any longer. In order to

provide help for them from the be-

ginning on (if possible) and in this

way providing better chances for

their children’s future, a local net-

work for families has been founded

in the small town of Vilshofen in

Lower Bavaria.

The projects aim is to visit famil ies and

support them unbureaucratical ly in order

to ease the famil ies' burden. Another aim

is to improve the children's l inguistic abil i-

ties by reading stories to them in kinder-

garden or school. In general, the goal is to

support famil ies in their everyday life and

provide them with information concerning

their children’s education to support the

children’s development from an early age

on.

The formal volunteer activity therefore

consists of providing direct help and sup-

port to those famil ies who are in need. At

the moment there are 19 family suppor-

ters who visit the famil ies as wished on a

more or less regular basis. The mentors

visit famil ies after the birth of a child in

order to inform them about their network

and provide them with general information

on how to raise a child. They offer help

and support to the famil ies over a longer

period, if so desired. There are also 13

volunteers who visit kindergardens as well

as schools and read to the children. This

helps enhancing the children's l inguistic

abil ities. To enhance their competence and

to ensure a good quality of work, the vol-


The networkFamilienLebenVilshofen

Contact details

Netzwerk Famil ienLeben

Vilshofen

Brigitte Pollok-Wil l

([email protected])

Stadtplatz 27

94474 Vilshofen

Website:

www.famil ienleben-

vilshofen.de

FamilienLebenVilshofen

unteers are prepared for their

tasks by a six-day training. The

entire activity has been develo-

ped by local partners and is em-

bedded in a local strategy to

support famil ies on a regional le-

vel.

This project helps famil ies to

strengthen their parental skil ls

and their abil ity of coping with

everyday issues. Al l in al l, it as-

sists them to structure their ever-

yday family l ife. Moreover, the

project helps building social and

neighborhood networks, while it

brings benefits to famil ies who

are in need.




„This individual partnership between students and pupils,who can learn together as well as from each other is moreproductive and sustainable than any donation.“

Emilio, 21 years old

The project ROCK YOUR LIFE! , which was

founded in November 2011, is an initiative

managed by students from the University

of Passau. In form of a university group,

they act as coaches for pupils from 12 to

16 years of age who have problems fin-

ding a job after graduating. The aim of

the project is to minimize the differences

between pupils of different school types

concerning their training maturity, create

equal chances for every pupil, improve the

pupils’ employment chances as well as

their self-esteem and self-awareness.

Meanwhile students of al l fields accompa-

ny over 100 pupils of the secondary

schools Salzweg and St. Nicola along their

way of l ife.

The students (coaches) meet with the pu-

pils at least every two weeks over a period

of two years in order to prepare them for

working life.

Some parents do not care about their

children's school achievements. The coa-

ches help pupils with their school home-

work and support them in organizing their

future steps. They also assist pupils in fin-

ding an internship.

Every student is first and foremost a con-

tact person whether for school questions

or for private concerns. The activities de-

pend on the relationship between coach

and pupil as it is not defined what they

wil l be doing together before the couples

meet. Al l activities depend on individual

preferences. Some coaching couples do

sports together or go to the movies and

others work on the pupils’ homework.

The tasks and duties of the volunteers in-

Contact details

ROCK YOUR LIFE! Passau

e.V.

Lukas Hauser, Emil io

Walter

Pustetweg 12

94034 Passau

Email:

passau@rockyourl ife.de

Website:

http: //passau.rockyourl ife.

de/


clude assisting pupils in apply-

ing for a job and accompanying

them in the last two years of

school. Most of the volunteers

work as coaches but there is al-

so the possibil ity to work in the

organization team.

This project is a good practice,

because it provides equal chan-

ces to al l pupils, involves young

volunteers and supports peer-

to-peer-volunteering.


Rockyourlife

„There are many projects and institutions in which one can getinvolved, but only very few of them have the ability to improvethe society in such a sustainable way, as we would like to pictureit. ROCK YOUR LIFE! is one of them.“

Emilio, 21 years old

„The program speaks for itself, theachievement is measurable and

discernible. We won’t get a better yieldthan by investing directly in people.“

Speech is the key to integration. Dueto this reason, it is very important togive children and young people thechance to learn German as early aspossible. Thereby their educationalopportunities as well as their entirestandart of living will improvesignificantly.

To provide and support this chance, ournon-profit organization “Gemeinsam leben& lernen in Europa” (GLL) has initiated theproject “Sprachpaten” (language mentor)in close collaboration with the vhs-Passau,which is the leading institution in the fieldof “German as a foreign language” in theregion. Another supporting partner is theeducation authority Passau, which takesover the coordination with theparticipating schools. This project, led involuntary work, wil l support children withl ittle or no German language skil ls andlead them to a more fulfi l led l ife.

Every child or adolescent with problems inspeaking German is supported by onevolunteer language mentor for a period ofat least one year on a no-cost basis. Thementors are trained professional ly andespecial ly mediated to their own child toensure a certain quality level. Through theunique training, which is led by the vhsand GLL, didactical, pedagogical andintercultural contents are mediated.

Also the mentors are provided withlearning material on child-orientedlanguage teaching.The skil led mentors wil l then practiceGerman individual ly with their “godsons”at least once a week in a playful andenjoyable way.

Through this very personal companionshipand language support the “Sprachpaten”project brings many benefits to youngpeople with a migration background. The“Sprachpaten” project wil l help to increasetheir chances and possibil ities in educationas well as integration considerably.Participating mentors have the chance toget in touch with a new culture and widentheir personal horizon by helping a youngperson to reach educational success whichwil l lead to a better future.


Sprachpaten project

Contact details

Gemeinsam leben und lernen

in Europa e.V.

Perdita Wingerter

Leopoldstraße 9

94032 Passau

Email: info@gemeinsam-in-

europa.de

Tel: 0851 - 2132740

Website: www.gemeinsam-in-

europa.de

Integration and language support for children and youths

Pro

jectTatennetz

Volunteers are needed in many different

fields of activity. Whether people want to

get engaged in a social, cultural,

environmental field or in sports, their

commitment is important and valuable in

every possible way. To help interested

people to find the volunteer work they

desire most, the project Tatennetz was

founded in October 2009 by the non-

profit organization „Gemeinsam leben &

lernen in Europa e.V“..

Tatennetz provides an internet-based platform for

volunteers in the region of Passau. This website

provides women and men of al l ages and social

status with the chance to find a suitable and

personal al igned volunteer activity. On the website

www. tatennetz. de, non-profit, social, cultural and

other organizations can claim their need of

volunteers in the form of a job description.

With this platform, the organization promotes

volunteering opportunities for everyone and wants

to raise awareness for social injustice and problems

through volunteer activities. The aim is to promote

those - also for famil ies - by supporting different

organizations that work for famil ies to recruit new

volunteers and to motivate people to contribute to

society and get involved themselves.

“Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa” provides

various types of social/volunteer activities, especial ly

activities that aim at reducing inequality in chances.

The volunteer positions available cover al l forms as

well as fields of volunteer activity.

Everyone can contribute: the activities of the

Tatennetz motivate people to become volunteers,

encourage them in their volunteer work, connect the

various organizations working with volunteers and

also support those organizations by helping to find

new volunteers.

Tatennetz Project


Everyone who wants to help is welcome!

Volunteers are needed inmany fields of activity!

Contact details

Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa

e. V.

Perdita Wingerter

Leopoldstraße 9

94032 Passau

Email: info@gemeinsam-in-europa. de

Tel: 0851 - 2132740

Website: www. gemeinsam-in-europa. de

It took a few meetings in the

Alzhauser Cafè to turn things

around him. It is important the

friendly welcome, the kisses and

hugs, handshakes cordial, some

activities with volunteers: a

return of innocent friendship, a

personal and exclusive space that

looked lost and suddenly found

himself.

Auser Regionale Lombardia (founded in1990 in Milan – Italy) is a voluntary socialorganisation promoting an active old agefor the elderly and helping to develop oftheir role in society, in order to counteractsocial isolation, improve quality of l ife,encourage solidarity and participation, anddevelop solidarity and exchanges betweenthe generations.Auser Saronno is one of local Auser inLombardy and organizes and manages theinitiative cal led “ALZHAUSER CAFÉ”. Theinitiative contributing to the constructionof relationships and a net of mutual aid:one of the main problems thatcharacterize the actual conditions ofelderly people – and above all thesituation of elderly people that suffer fromthe Alzheimer’s Syndrome – is the socialmarginal ization.The Alzhauser Cafè is a support for bothpatients and family members who look

after them, by providing relief momentsfrom the daily commitment of care andassistance. The project offers l isteningpoints, evaluation meeting, group ofmutual help in which family caregiverscan exchange their experiences and feelmore equipped to face the il lness and theemotional stress. Alzhauser coffee gives

the possibil ity to informal caregivers to goout from the close family ties andobligations, to keep personal relationships,to testify their l ife experiences in a groupactivities. The project aims to relievesuffering connected to decay of mentalfaculties caused by old age and mentaldiseases. “Alzhauser café” offers activitieswith the help of a group of Auservolunteers, well trained, and the supportof a psychologist and a music therapist.


Contacts details:

Maurizio Carbonera, AuserRegionale LombardiaVia dei Transiti, 21 – Milan(Italy)Tel. 00390226113524maurizio.carbonera@auser. lombardia. itwww.auser. lombardia. it

Saronno (Varese - Lombardy, Italy)

Alzhauser Café

"I've never done thesethings ..."

Mario, 73 years old

Tempopara

Dar-Tim

eto

give

“Time to Give” is a Project run byCoração Delta, the association born ofDelta Cafés corporate socialresponsibility commitment. It aims toallow local organizations an increasednumber of volunteers for their elderlysupport activities by providingvolunteer work by Delta Cafés’ willingstaff, during work hours.

The volunteers are involved in activities such asaccompanying elderly people in externalactivities (going to the supermarket, doctor,post office, etc), organizing elderly’smedication, helping with administrative tasks(fil l ing out requirements, social securitydocuments, etc), taking elderly out for a walkor to the garden, read the newspaper tosomeone with sight impairment, among others.However activities aren’t previously defined anddiffer according to the elderly person’s needs.

In order to gather participants, the project wasadvertised internal ly and interested workersregistered for participation. Afterwards ascreening interview took place, fol lowed bysuccessful completion of training prior toinitiating actual volunteer work, comprised of2h per month during work hours.

This project brings benefits to the beneficiariesof the volunteering, in this case the elderly; it isvery well received by the volunteers themselvesand doesn’t interfere with other schedules as itis done during working hours; brings benefit tothe company that has seen this project widelyadvertised in multiple media, local national andinternational ly.

Tempo para Dar


Contact details

Name: Associação Coração Delta

Address: Rua Brasil, 4, 7370 Campo Maior,

Portugal

Phone number: +351268 699 450

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.delta-

cafes.pt/pt/sustentabil idade/responsabil idade-

social/projectos-deresponsabil idade-social

http: //centroeducativoalicenabeiro.org/frontend

(Time to give)


APAV is a Portuguese volunteer organization thatprovides support to victims of crime and their familiesand friends, offering them quality, confidential and freeservices, aiming to contribute to the improvement ofprivate and public social policies, focused on the statuteof victim.

Its main “visible” activities are le-gal, psychological and social sup-port offered confidential ly to thevictims seeking support; also im-portant and available for volun-teers is administrative support tothe organization as a whole and totraining activities.This is a volunteer organizationand they managed to become re-cognized nationwide as the organi-zation of reference in victimsupport and victim related investi-gation and knowledge in Portugal.

"It is very motivating to be awarethat with these pieces of ourselvesthat we offer we are actual lycontributing to strengthening the

work of organizations with avaluable mission providing servicesto society. My tasks are statisticalanalysis of APAV’s training projectsand this al lows me to be a Pro-Bono Volunteer/Friend, whichmeans I can volunteer from home.This is very important for me interms of time management as Ihave a ful l time job. All of us, ascitizens, have skil ls that we canuse on behalf of others, aiming fora common good. It doesn’tnecessarily mean a commitment ofa lot a time, it doesn’t discriminateon age, gender, race or academicqualification as the contributioncan be offered in several areas."

Andreia Marques, Sociologist

Contact details

APAVAddress: Rua JoséEstêvão, 1 35 A, Pisos 1 /2,1 1 50-201 Lisboa, PortugalPhone: +351 21 358 79 00Email : [email protected]:http: //www.apav.pt

Portuguese VictimSupport Association


"What led me to seek vol-

unteer work at APAV was

the need to feel I was hel-

ping and positively and

actively contributing to so-

ciety, while at the same ti-

me I am acquiring

experience in my Profes-

sional area, al lowing me

to evolve and develop as a

psychologist. (…) The

work of APAV with its be-

neficiaries, victims of cri-

me, is extremely

important as more often

than not it is the only or-

ganization providing sup-

port to these people in

their time of need. It is al-

so very rewarding to see

the people rebuild tjeir l i-

ves, creating a new life

project that doesn’t inclu-

ding victimization but well-

being, self-fulfuil lment,

motivation and a great wil l

to get through it and be

happy. Volunteering at

APAV made me evolve,

both as a human being

and a professional, and

daily volunteer work is the

drive of the organization,

it what al lows it to reacj

its beneficiaries, make a

difference and change

their l ives for the better."

Pedro Machado,Psychologist

Associação Portuguesa de

Apoio à Vítima

AssociaçãoPortuguesadeApoio

àVítim

a

Portuguese VictimSupport Association


The Federation of Portuguese Food Banks

In 1990 the first PortugueseFood Bank was created inLisbon. It was based on JohnVan Hengel’s original 1967Food Bank, in Arizona, USA,that initiated a worldwidemovement which reachedEurope in 1984, throughFrance and Belgium.

Over the years, other food bankswere created in Portugal and onFebruary 19th 1999 the PortugueseFederation of Food Banks AgainstHunger was founded, aiming tocoordinate the procedures andpractices of the severalindependent food banks thatexisted and also to promote thecreation of new food banks in otherareas of the country, in order tocreate a structured network thatactively fought against waste andreached the people that neededhelp the most.

Over the years the Food BankAgainst hunger managed tobecome one of the best knownnon-profit organizations inPortugal, its name recognized by alland receiving donations fromindividuals as well as big and smallcorporations, gathering probablythe greatest consensus in terms ofpublic recognition by thePortuguese people.

Contact details

Morada: Avenida de Ceuta

Estação de Alcântara-

Terra, Armazém 1 1 300-

1 25 LISBOA

Telefone: +351 21 3 649

655

Email :

ba.federacao@bancoalim

entar.pt

Website:

http: //bancoalimentar.pt


The Federation of Portuguese Food Banks

TheFederationofPortugueseFoodBanks

The intervention of the whole of the Portuguese Food Banks countrywide:

Tons of food collected by the Federation over the

years

Organizations supported by the food banks

Number of people receiving support

Banco de Tempo- Time Bank

This Project was born from theneed to create “mutual helpnetworks” in communities. Thismodel of Time Bank was inspiredin the philosophy of time banksthat appeared in Italy in the early1990s as well as in the work ofAssociation Salud Y Família inSpain. GRAAL started working onthis Project in 2001 and after ayear dedicated to creating theinfra-structure and involvingpeople and organizations, thefirst Portuguese Time BankAgencies were launched in 2002.

The Time Bank works as any otherbank only the currency is time andthere is an obligation to reciprocate.People use and offer hours ofvolunteer work that are “paid” usingtime checks, which can and shouldthen be used as needed. There is nodirect exchange of services: the timedonated by any member isreciprocated by any other member inany other type of service that oneneeds and the other one offers. Every

hour has the same worth: no serviceis more valuable than other. The logicbehind this project is the “goodneighbourhood” helping relationships.The Bank is organized in localagencies spread over different areas.Volunteers are Bank members andone becomes a member by attendingan interview at the agency, receivinginformation regarding the way theBank Works, fil l ing out a MembershipForm (with contact information,references services offered andrequested) and declaring to complywith the Regulation. Members receivea Membership Card, checks and a listof services available in the Agency.

Miteinander das Magazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.

Contact details

Banco de Tempo

Address: Rua Luciano

Cordeiro, 24 6ºA, 1150-

215 Lisboa, Portugal

Phone number: 213 546

831

Email:

bancocentral@bancodete

mpo.net

Website:

http: //www.bancodetemp

o.net

BancodeTempo

There is no limit to the actualactivities members may offerbut the fol lowing are commonand expected:Children: Babysitting, takingto/picking up from school;help with homework; play. Re-creational activities: riding bi-cycle, walking, playingcards/tennis/chess, playingmusic, guiding tours, anima-ting parties. House work: smallrepairs, fixing carpentry/elec-tricity. Domestic help: washingthe car, washing the dishes, gogrocery shopping, go to thepost office/pharmacy; paybil ls, dusting; ironing. Cookingand needlework: Cook a speci-al dish, Cook meals to freeze,dressmaking/embroidery/knit-ting works. Secretarial/bureau-cratic: proofreading, Wordprocessing, fil l ing out docu-ments, fi l ing taxes. Ani-mals/Plants: Gardening, takingcare of animals/plants during

the holidays, helping withcat/dog bath. Company: ac-companying to the doctor, tal-king about a certain subject;walking around town, tel l ingstories, reading aloud, goingto shows/movies/exhibitions.Lessons: teaching how to stu-dy, teaching how to relax, tu-toring; lessons on gardening,computers, languages, music,pottery, painting, cooking, de-

corating, dancing.

The reciprocity is an innovativeconcept in this context and ex-tremely motivating for volun-teers. The basis of this idea issolidarity between members ofa community in a neighbour-hood help kind of way insteadof an assistencial ist/welfareproviding way.


"There can be no crisis at the Time Bank because the time offered

and received is al l the same, it has the same measure. The similarity

to the crisis is in saving, knowing how to use it in the best possible

way. If you have some to spare you can offer it to others. It’s a

matter of management. "

Isabel Aresta

I have been using the time to offer services in domestic

repair, organizing visits to Serra de Sintra and more recently

participated in a high school project to renovate a

classroom. In return I have participated in several cultural

workshops.

Henrique Matias

Children from 1 1 to 1 7 years of ageare supported in the areas of gene-ral knowledge, art, culture andsports, while women receive sup-port so that they have better pro-spects in participating in theworking world. In one project wo-men had for example the possibil i-ties to sel l handmade knittedgoods. Moreover Hekva helps child-ren and famil ies with anger mana-gement.

Hekva reaches out to potential vol-unteers through social and culturalevents, flyers, internet and their

personal environment. After a per-sonal one-on-one talk, volunteerswil l work in areas that they feelmost confident and comfortable in.The organisation is of the opinionthat it is very important to talk im-mediately about any kind of disa-greements that may arise as only ahappy volunteer can make an im-pact as well as motivate others toget involved in voluntary work.Getting a “thank you” from someo-ne you helped raises your self-es-teem which is why their motto is“who helps a lot, gets a lot in re-turn”. According to their belief, it is

HEKVA


Hekva is an organization that especiallysupports financially weak families which havemoved to Istanbul in finding jobs as well asschools for their children. After an inquiry,families get up to one year of financialsupport.

HEKVA

Address: Haseki Sultan Mh.Haseki Cd. No: 33Aksaray/İstanbulPhone number: 0 (21 2)

632 69 76-77

Email: [email protected]

Website:http: //www. hekva. org. tr

Contact details

their duty to help people inneed and not look away.They offer trainings for volunteers

about team work, communication,

conversations, rights and

obligations and office work on a

regular basis.

Hekva is a civil organization and

would l ike to remain independent

from the state. Some projects are

publical ly subsidized and our

organization has a say in draft

bil ls of the Ministry of Family

Affairs.


HEKVA

The Turkish Republic Ministry of Fa-

mily and Social Policies decides soci-

al policies related to family, women,

and children, elderly and disabled

people and the provincial directora-

tes carry out social services accor-

ding to these policies in Turkey. It is

one of the best examples of coopera-

tion between government instituti-

ons and NGO’s, Private Companies,

Universities and other governmental

institutions.

Briefly the social services carried out byour directorate are services for children,for the elders, for disabled people, for wo-men and for al l disadvantaged groups.Services for children include among othersadoption services, protector family ser-vices, services for the elders cover retire-ment homes, elder care and rehabil itationcenters. For disabled people services in-clude family consultations and education,occupational education and rehabil itation,services by the social rehabil itation centeror distributing aid in cash and kind to fa-mil ies of disabled. There are also sheltersespecial ly for women subjected to dome-stic violence. With the new law preparedby Ministry, which came into force atWorld Women’s Day 2012, measures forwomen subjected to violence were expan-ded such as women are put under protec-tion, temporarily cash aid is given, crèchessupport for their children for a specific ti-me is provided, psychological ly, vocatio-nal ly, legal ly and social ly counselingservices are given, etc. . Services for disad-vantaged groups are i.e. “community cen-ters” which are providing service in slumareas. In these community centers child-

ren, young people, women, men, disabledpeople and elder people form communitiescan bring up their needs and claims. Inthis way, they expand their potential tocreate solutions to their own problemswith public institutions, instead of expec-ting whole solutions from state organizati-ons. As a result, al l members of the familyundertake some tasks and fulfi l l social re-sponsibil ities as active members of society.Trough the cooperation’s with NGOs, uni-versities, local authorities, private sectorcompanies in between 2009-2012 manydifferent projects have been accomplishedby T.C., as for example the “ProtectiveMental health Project” in cooperation withthe “”Open Door Social Responsibil ity As-sociation. In cooperation with the Hand in“Hand with Little Hearts Association” someconcerts and shows were arranged andchild homes were opened and managed.The “Dream Project”, “Eti Child Ferry” andthe “From Street to School Project” wereestablished in cooperation with privatesector companies and further activitieswere undertaken with the Maltepe Univer-sity and the Koç University as well as pro-jects with the local authorities.

Contact details:

Headquarters

AİLE VE TOPLUM HİZMETLERİ

GENEL MÜDÜRLÜĞÜ

Tel: +90 0312 705 55 00

Website:

http: //www.athgm.gov.tr/tr/


Provincial Directorate Of Family

And Social Policy Of Istanbul -

Volunteer cooperation with the

Turkish Republic Ministry Of

Family And Social Policy

TOG

The aim is to increase young people’s community

involvement on a voluntary basis. Therefore, the

Foundation supports the realization of over 800

projects and activities implemented by about 35,000

young people in over 100 university clubs. Some

examples of these informal projects are “Behind the

Heart”, “Health Literacy” and “Living Library”.

The official age range for participants is between 17

and 25, with some possibil ities for people over 25,

and the network mainly consists of student clubs –

consequently the target group is university

students. However, there are some informal groups

that are not tied to any university as participation as

a volunteer is not supposed to be tied to a person’s

background. All volunteers actively take charge in

the process of al l activities to be signed by the

association, starting from planning until the

implementation of it.

TOG trains trainers who implement peer to peer

trainings and offers face to face support to

university student clubs. Moreover, TOG supports

young people’s ideas on social problems and brings

them together so that they learn from experience.

The foundation is able to continue its activities

thanks to individual and institutional donations.

Many well known Turkish companies support the

program.

TOG – Community VolunteersFoundation


Contact details

Headquarters

Hobyar Mh. Rahvancılar Sk. No:7 1.Vakıf Han Kat.1

34112 Eminönü/İstanbul

Tel: +90 212 522 10 32

Tel +09 0212 522 10 30

Fax: +90 212 522 10 34

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http: //www.tog.org.tr/EN/home_163

The Foundation Toplum Gönüllüleri

Vakfı, which was founded in

December 2002, contributes to the

personal development of young

people by encouraging them to

participate in social responsibility

projects as volunteers and aims to

realize social peace, solidarity and

change. It is one of the first

foundation directly focusing on

volunteer contribution and training.


ABOUT US

The objectives of this partnership

were:

•To raise awareness for the situation of

volunteer practices in some European

countries

•To map the status of volunteer practices

in some European countries

•To verify training and learning opportuni-

ties for volunteers

•To increase lifelong learning opportuni-

ties for volunteers intervening with and

for famil ies

•To increase lifelong learning opportuni-

ties for workers of organizations promo-

ting volunteer work on behalf of famil ies

•To promote the practice of volunteer

work in al l the countries involved

•To collect best practices of volunteer

work on behalf of famil ies throughout Eu-

rope

•To disseminate broadly the best practices

in the field of volunteer work found by the

partnership’s research

•To promote contents and innovative

ways to stimulate To promote the volun-

tary commitment and communication bet-

ween generations in a dimension of

solidarity and social cohesion.

To attain these objectives, several

actions took place:

a) Each partner researched the situation

of volunteer work on behalf of famil ies in

their own country. One of the levels of

analysis shal l focus training demanded

and provided to volunteers as well as the

supervision and evaluation of the volun-

teer work. Also the type, quality and spe-

cific actions of services on behalf of

famil ies that are based on volunteer work,

were analyzed. Training provided prior

and during volunteer work was compared

and non-formal learning opportunities

available to active volunteers were veri-

fied.

b) Additional ly each partner organized a

study visit for the other involved partners,

including the presentation of national and

local good practices, so that they get ac-

quainted with the national and local si-

tuation of volunteer work.

c) By providing access to good practices

in the field, this project promoted change

in each country that is touched by this

project - directly or through the dissemi-

nation activities - by providing practical

reflection on how the good practices

shown can be adapted and implemented

in another country.

d) Partners planned to promote volunteer

work on behalf of famil ies through the

use of data and expertise collected. They

wanted to create an easily accessible and

usable tool for dissemination of local con-

texts and best practices and to experi-

ment with different ways of promoting

new ways of intervening and voluntee-

ring. The idea was to spread and dissemi-

nate the shared experience, results and

products at national, European and

worldwide level.

To reach this goal the partners agreed on

a final product, which is a compilation of

the national situations and best practices

discussed and verified during the project.

It is published on an eBook, which can be

downloaded at

https: //www.smashwords.com/-

books/view/318449

This magazine is the result of the Grundtvig LearningPartnership “Volunteers for families”. Partner orga-nisations were ANJAF from Portugal, Pari e Disparifrom Italy, the International Volunteers Associationfrom Turkey, and Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Euro-pa from Germany, all of them providing services tofamilies.


ANJAF is a non-profit association that aims to encourage solidarity in famil ies and the community, in order to

promote equality, justice and progress, carrying out activities that contribute to socio-professional integration

and socio-cultural development of al l exposed groups. ANJAF is a certified training entity, providing training

prioritarily to at-risk target groups and staff that work with these groups. ANJAF also has a myriad of family

support services such as GAF (with psychological and social support provided to famil ies in need), CACI (hel-

ping people in their path to finding a job); Domicil iary Support Service (providing food, personal hygiene and

house cleaning services to dependent elderly). ANJAF also has a local Volunteer network that would benefit

greatly from gathering ideas on how other countries and other institution organize their volunteer work.

ANJAF is involved in local, national and international networks and has a wide experience in European pro-

jects, namely at the coordination level. www.anjaf.pt

Pari e Dispari srl is an agency which is special ized in project on positive actions and on equal opportunities

between men and women. It was conceived by women and its main activities are research, planning women

centres and new services for women, training and vocational giudance, communication and organization of

seminars, meeting, interviews. It works on a country level (Italy) and offers, al igned with the European de-

velopment trends, ideas and services to handle equal opportunities policies between men and women, elderly

women and elderly men, gender mainstreaming and famil ies –social policies. It joined several european pro-

ject within equal opportunities and ageing. Pari e Dispari is involved in local, national and international net-

works and has a wide experience in European projects, namely at the coordination level.

www.pariedispari.it

About the partners

International Volunteers Asso-

ciation is an NGO, which aims

to organize, support and coor-

dinate individual Volunteers

and Volunteering NGO’s, edu-

cating them and gather their

support in volunteer services.

It main activities include the

mobil ization and coordination

of volunteers in implementing

MDGs especial ly in fighting po-

verty, to support mother and

child care and family issues, as

well as educational programs

for famil ies and society. They

mobil ize volunteers during and

after men made and natural

disasters and in environmental

chal lenges, and organize medi-

cal campaigns in disaster areas

and less developed areas.

Their activities include also re-

search work, organisation of

seminars, conferences and

educational programs; to make

material and motivational aids

to the people in need, open

and support health centres,

soup kitchens, orphanages,

kindergartens and homeless

rehabil itation centres. They al-

so organize summer camps

and educational programs for

(young) volunteers and orga-

nize educational exchange

programs; and do necessary

publications, video films and

documentaries on its issues.

www.volunteersint.org

The NGO "Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V." (GLL) is a private non-profit network-organi-

sation in the region of eastern Bavaria, with its head office in Passau. The main emphasis of GLLs work is to

initiate cooperation, activities and projects among the different individuals, organizations and communities

who are al l working to eliminate discrimination and inequality, wherever it appears. So there for members of

the organisation are local communities, districts, social organisations, private companies, decision makers

and citizens. The promotion of equal opportunity for everyone is combated by projects and mainstreaming

activities in the field of a) promotion of l ifelong learning, b) fighting discrimination and racism by promoting

tolerance and diversity, c) advancement of volunteer work within the community, d) the support of disadvan-

taged target groups, e) educational work, f) gender mainstreaming activities and g) innovative form of main-

streaming activities. GLL promotes mutual understanding and learning of each other as well as cooperation

between all age groups as well as the people in Europe. The main target groups of GLLs activities are mi-

grants, social ly disadvantaged people, older people, less-qualified workers, unemployed, migrants, as well as

immigrants, women, famil ies, disabled people or people with health restrictions, because they are particularly

affected by discrimination and inequality. GLLs goal is promote their integration into society by means of the

activities and measures of their association and active involvement of the various target groups. As an expert

in the field of volunteer work GLL provided the partnership with some innovative measures for promoting and

supporting volunteer work within the community: GLL runs an online platform on volunteer workplaces, pro-

vides training as well as advice and support services for volunteers, and initiated/supported some volunteer

services for famil ies, such as volunteer family coaches, setting up a community network for famil ies, volun-

teer mentors. Some of its member organisations like pro famil ia offer direct services for famil ies.

www.gemeinsam-in-europa.de

Aboutus

Documents

Miteinander Ausgabe 7 (August 2013)