Over the years volunteering has been incorporated into the work of our NGO. Voluntary work is not very popular in the countries of the former Soviet Union, that do not have the same traditions of volunteering as Western or Northern European countries.
By hosting volunteers and students from Germany, Austria, Moldova, Italy, Switzerland and other countries our organization tries to cultivate an attitude of volunteering. The young volunteers from aboard in most cases serve as an excellent example to the new Ukrainian generation. After a couple of years the young people who attend the day care centers very naturally adopt this attitude. About 50% of the work of “Living Hope” is now done by young Ukrainian volunteers. But they are not only serving in our foundation; some of them are also finding other places where their help is needed and were they can make a difference. This may be in their schools, in church communities, in their neighborhoods or in other projects, even in other countries thanks to EVS and FSJ.
By receiving the accreditation for hosting and sending long term volunteers within the “Youth in Action Program” and by becoming a member of EDYN in 2012 we have done the next practical steps for growing in this field. Thanks to this we are able to host 2013/14 four long term volunteers from Italy and Germany and we have sent out 7 young Ukrainians mainly to our partners from EDYN (www.edyn.org).
Over the last years the number of volunteersin Living Hope is growing and we are happy that we can work within the EU program “ERASMUS +” giving more young people the possibility to discover volunteering in many European countries.
Please contact us for more information.
