Youth Volunteer Center“Sodrujestvo”

Workcamps program 2014

Sodrujestvo is an organization for volunteers which was founded in 2003.

Every year volunteers from all over the world, regardless of gender, culture, nation-ality or religion, are invited to take part in our projects.

The main goal of all our projects is that every participant can get new specific knowledge about some actual topics and improve skills which are important in life.

We promote volunteering, positive attitude and optimism.

What is Sodrujestvo?

Where is Sodrujestvo?

The organization is located in Cheboksary, the capi-tal of the Republic of Chuvashia in Russia. Chuvashia is a small local ethnicity in the Volga region 600 km to the east from Moscow.

Cheboksary is a provincial city, and although Chu-vashia has a long and rich history, not so many foreigners come here. That’s why there are not a lot of possibilities for youngsters to meet other cultures and have interna-tional friends. Sodrujestvo is trying to fill this gap.

Fountain at the Cheboksary Bay in summer, picture by Alexandr Demyanov, www.21foto.ru

What does Sodrujestvo do?We make short and long-term cultural and social projects for the local community, for example:• intercultural summer and winter camps

for kids in Chuvashia; • weekly intercultural communication club

in the local orphanage; • weekly intercultural communication club

for secondary school kids; • weekly intercultural communication club

for students;• ecological projects in the Volga region.

Winter camp for children

Ecological project “Clean city” Intercultural communication club for school kids

Sodrujestvo is also a hosting organi-zation for EVS and LTV volunteers. Summer camp for children

At the social center for kids

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RU-SOD 5.4 Small World KIDS

June 01 - June 30Vols: 6Age: 18-99Introduction:Our partner – NGO “Language for success” the language school existing since 2007. They pro-vide high-quality courses of foreign languages, organise different events about languages and intercultural communication. Foreign volunteers work together with Russian volunteers as counselors and organize cultural and educational activities for the participants (local school kids – aged 8-16).

Work:• Making intercultural and educational workshops (about

the volunteers’ native countries, ecology, water resources, human rights, antiracism, etc);

• Teaching foreign languages to the participants (in the form of playing games, singing songs or improve their language skills through discussions);

• Organizing some sport activities, strategic games, shows and handycrafts.

The work is done 5 hours a day, two days off per week, for the days off sightseeing excursions are planned.The camp will take place right in the city, the kids will stay in the office of the language school from 9.00 to 14.00, each working day. Volunteers can spend their free time in the city.

Requirements:The volunteers are expected to have some ex-perience of working with kids and organizing activities, intercultural experience is very wel-come. Motivation letter is required. Certifi-cate of no criminal record is required.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location:Cheboksary, prospect Lenina 12B

Accomodation:The volunteers will be hosted in host families and youth hostels in Cheboksary. The food will be provided. No sleeping bags are needed. Volunteers can come for any two weeks of their choice

RU-SOD 5.5Arman KIDS

June 25 - July 3Vols: 4Age: 18-99

Introduction:This camp for Chuvash kids takes place on the bank of the wonderful river Sura. Foreign vol-unteers work together with Russian volunteers as counselors and organize cultural and edu-cational activities for the participants (school kids – aged 8-16).

Work:• Making intercultural and educational workshops (about the volunteers’ native countries,

ecology, water resources, human rights, antiracism, etc); • Teaching foreign languages to the participants (in the form of playing games, singing songs

or improve their language skills through discussions); • Organizing some sport activities, strategic games, shows and handycrafts. The work is done 8 hours a day, one day off per week.

Accomodation:In the camp for children “Surskie Zori”, in wooden houses; counselors live together in male, female, mixed rooms. Showers are avail-able all the time.Requirements:The volunteers are expected to have some ex-perience of working with kids and organizing activities, intercultural experience is very wel-come. We especially welcome those who can swim as this season is normally hot here and we swim a lot with the kids. Motivation letter is required. Certificate of no criminal record is required.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location:Cheboksary

RU-SOD 5.3, 5.6, 5.9 Language for Success-1, 2, 3 KIDSMarch 23 - March 29, June 13 - June 28; August 01 - August 16Vols: 8Age: 16-45Introduction:This camp for Russian kids takes place every year on the bank of the lake Shap in the mid-dle of the pine forest. Foreign volunteers work together with Russian volunteers as counsel-ors and organize cultural and educational ac-tivities for the participants (local school kids

Work:• Making intercultural and educational workshops (about the volunteers’ native countries,

ecology, water resources, human rights, antiracism, etc); • Teaching foreign languages to the participants (in the form of playing games, singing songs

or improve their language skills through discussions); • Organizing some sport activities, strategic games, shows and handycrafts. The work is done 8 hours a day, one day off per week, for the days off sightseeing excursions are planned.

Requirements:The volunteers are expected to have some ex-perience of working with kids and organizing activities, intercultural experience is very wel-come. We especially welcome those who can swim as this season is normally hot here and we swim a lot with the kids. Motivation letter is required. Certificate of no criminal record is required.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location:Cheboksary

Accomodation:In the camp for children “Shap, in wooden houses; counselors live together in male, fe-male, mixed rooms. Showers are available all the time.

RU-SOD 5.7, 5.8 We Are Different, but We Are Together-1, 2 KIDS

June 28 - July 13; July 16 - July 31Vols: 8Age: 16-45Introduction:This camp for Russian kids takes place every year on the bank of the wonderful lake Shap in the middle of the pine forest. Foreign volunteers work together with Russian volunteers as coun-selors and organize cultural and educational activities for the participants (local school kids – aged 8-16).

Work:• Making intercultural and educational workshops (about the volunteers’ native countries,

ecology, water resources, human rights, antiracism, etc); • Teaching foreign languages to the participants (in the form of playing games, singing songs

or improve their language skills through discussions); • Organizing some sport activities, strategic games, shows and handycrafts. The work is done 8 hours a day, one day off per week, for the days off sightseeing excursions

Requirements:The volunteers are expected to have some ex-perience of working with kids and organizing activities, intercultural experience is very wel-come. We especially welcome those who can swim as this season is normally hot here and we swim a lot with the kids. Motivation letter is required. Certificate of no criminal record is required.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location:Cheboksary

Accomodation:In the camp for children “Shap”, in wooden houses; counselors live together in male, fe-male, mixed rooms. Showers are available all the time.

RU-SOD 9.1 Chuvash Culture Camp “Haval” CULT

July 07 - July 14Vols: 2Age: 18-99Introduction:The Chuvash language is one of the minority languages of Russia. And as all the minority languages, it has it’s problems. NGO „Haval“ is trying to solve these problems by organising different cultural and educational events. The summer camp is one of them. The main goal of the camp is to create the Chu-vash language environment, as well as learn about the culture, history and traditions of the Chuvash people through lectures, discussions, trainings, exercises.

Work:Participating in the camp activities; making presentation about your country and national culture; it would be especially appreciated if the volunteer knows any original language (or minority language) and could present it. The following activities are in the program of the camp: • Chuvash language lessons for anyone who

does not speak it or speak not good enough; • thematic lectures and seminars; • workshops. Specialists in Chuvash folk

crafts show and tell about folk embroidery, costumes, woodcarvings and more;

• sport activities; • sitting by the fire, and much more:)

Requirements:The volunteers are expected to be interested in languages and ready for making presentations. We also expect the volunteer to be motivated for getting aquainted with Chuvash language and for learning it.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location:Cheboksary

Accomodation:In tents provided by the hosting organiza-tion (own tents are not needed, but volunteers should bring their sleeping bags); access to shower; food will be provided in the canteen of the resort nearby.

RU-SOD 9.2Language Festival CULTOctober 10 - October 22

Vols: 4Age: 18-99Introduction:This international language festival is organized by our project partner – NGO “Youth Esperanto Association of the Chuvash Republic”. This year it will be the 18th Festival in Cheboksary. It’s main aim is to draw attention to language diversity and em-phasize its value.

Work:• Helping in preparing the festival; • Presenting the volunteers’ culture and lan-

guages during the festival; • Taking part in the festival activities.The work is done 8 hours a day, one day off per week, for the days off there are planned sight-seeing excursions.

Requirements:The volunteers are expected to have some ex-perience of organizing activities and ready for making presentations. Intercultural experi-ence is very welcome. Knowledge of Espe-ranto is required.

Meeting point:Cheboksary train station

Location: Cheboksary

Accomodation:The volunteers will be hosted in host families and youth hostels. The food will be provided. No sleeping bags are needed.

(Dates to be confirmed)

Winter camps“We Are Different, but We Are Together” and “Language for Success”January 03 - January 11Every year during the New Year holidays “Sodrujestvo” makes the winter camps for the kids. It’s a great opportunity for the volun-teers to experience Russian winter!

Work:• making intercultural and educational workshops (about the volunteers’ native countries,

ecology, water resources, human rights, antiracism, etc); • teaching foreign languages to the participants (in the form of playing games, singing songs

or improve their language skills through discussions); • organizing some sport activities, strategic games, shows and handycrafts.The work is done 8 hours a day, one day off, for the day off sightseeing excursions are planned.

Accommodation: In the recreation center, in a heated brick house; counselors live together in male, female, mixed rooms. Showers are available. No sleeping bags are needed, food is provided in the cafeteria.

Location: The workcamp is situated in Cheboksary, Russia.

Additional infoOur LTV/EVS projects:• Intercultural communication club for

youth in Cheboksary• Promotion of volunteering in Che-

boksary• Promotion of volunteering in Kazan

Extra possibility of learning Russian:If you are interested in learning some Russian before the camp, you can come to the project several days in advance. Our partner – NGO “Language for suc-cess” – organizes high quality intensive Russian language course for our volun-teers. This will also give you a chance to get to know better the culture of the lo-cal community. The price of individual language course: 50 Euros a day including 4 hours of studies and accommodation in a hostel or host family.

Languages: The working language of our projects is English, but we welcome all other lan-guages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Esperan-to etc. Knowing Russian would be helpful.

Sodrujestvo team

Alexandra PhilippovaPresident

Nastia RizovaIncoming placement

Olga GrigoryevaOutgoing placement

(Cheboksary)

Polina ArtemievaOutgoing placement

(Kazan)

Johannes PeplowEVS volunteer

Lisa PoggelEVS volunteer

Feedback from our volunteersMarko Funkl, Slovenia:I was in two summer camps of Sodrujestvo, for me, it was pure and wonderful experience to meet Russian children and to see their little and big problems through learning, spending free time and living together. I met there a lot of wonderful people and we already did some projects with them.

Manuel Ott, Switzerland:The volunteers and management of the camps are top motivated, they put a spell on that everybody is included and participating, they are highly attentive that participants and volunteers are do-ing well and that everybody is included.

Heidi Nicholson, Scotland:I spent two weeks at one of the Sodrujestvo summer camps. It was a wonderful and inspiring experience: I was amazed by the kids creativity, by how they achieved so much out of so little. They re-minded me how important friendship and imagination are.

Jörn Schoolmann, Germany:The thing I liked the most was the team and the kids, it didn’t feel like we were the leaders of the whole camp, just felt like a big “family”.

Ruoyin Zheng, China:I like the philosophy of this camp most. It’s an intercultural camp and I do learn a lot about russian culture, european culture and culture of other countries a lot. I’ve been very interested in inter-cultural communication and this camp provide me and I believe all the children and conselors a chance to know other’s cultures.

Victor Alvarez Guzman, Spain:I have learned so much, from how to manage a viral infection on kids, until planning the day after, games, how to make kids happy, (that’s the best thing I have experienced in the camp).

Maylys Papaport, France:I spent two amazing weeks in a great atmosphere. Open-mind-edness, curiosity to the different volunteers, willingness… I think everybody (the camp leaders and the children) tried to present their own culture and knowledge but meanwhile discovered the others’ one. So all that I can say is: “It was amazing, don’t change!”

Mai Goyashiki, Japan:I’ve learned many things from this camp... Russian culture, differ-ence between Russia and Japan etc.

Fedra Panny, Belgium:Everyone was very friendly and always ready to help with a smile. Also the kids were smiling all the time and very eager to get in contact with us, even when they didn’t speak English. It is true that language is only a small part of communication; if you really want to, you can get along with everyone, no matter their language or background.

Steve Banbury, England:The group of counsellors, Russian and international, which works very hard every day to finesse and prepare all of the activities also recognises potential amongst the children and issues invitations to be semi-counsellors to older children who have shown excel-lent leadership potential.

Our contacts

+7 902 287 32 00

sodvo-office@yandex.ru

www.sodvo.ru

Postal address:Russia, Chuvash republic,

428000 Cheboksarypr. Lenina, 12b office 212

WE ARE DIFFERENT BUT WE ARE TOGETHER

Cheboksary 2014