The EVS project 2010/2011 “Learning from the past – acting for future”

A Report on the
European Voluntary
Service 2010/11
“Learning from the
past – acting for
future”
in the
Foundation Polish-German
Reconcilliation
Contents
•
What is the European Voluntary Service (EVS)?……………….…………… p. 3
•
Voluntary service in the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” (FPNP) ……………………………………………………………………… p. 4
•
The EVS project 2010/2011 “Learning from the past – acting for future” ... p. 6
♦
Jördis: Photo project with volunteers and elderly …………………….. p. 7
♦
Friederike: Organization of a meeting ride …………………………….. p. 9
♦
Patrick: Redesign of the FPNP homepage ………………………….
p. 11
•
Tips for a life as an European volunteer ..................................................... p. 13
•
Sources …................................................................................................... p. 15
"Voluntary service means to perform not only good deeds to the elderly, to give your
time the sick, poor and homeless people. It is primarily a certain vision of humanity,
of freedom."
Archbishop Józef Zycinski at the International Volunteer Day 2005
This project has been funded with support from the European Union within the
framework of the Youth in Action Programme. This communication reflects the
views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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What is the European Voluntary Service (EVS)?
The European Voluntary Service is a project in the framework of the “Youth in Action”-programme by the European Commission, which covers the 2007-2013 period.
It offers young people an opportunity of taking part in a non-profit-making, unpaid activity for the benefit of the general public in a country other than their country of residence (e.g. EU, EFTA and EOG).
Essential elements of the EVS are the preparation and follow-up activities in the
country of residence, as well as the constant pedagogical, personal and task-related
support like training activities in the host country. The EVS is carried out in a partnership between a young volunteer (aged between 18 and 30 years), an organization in
the country of residence (sending organization) and an organization in the host country (host organization). The duration of stay can be 6, 9 or 12 months.1
Youth in Action is a programme set up by the European Union for young people. It
aims to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance
among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the Union's future. It promotes mobility within and beyond the EU's borders, non-formal learning and intercultural dialogue, and encourages the inclusion of all young
people, regardless of their educational, social
and cultural background.2
In 2009, for example, more than 13000 young
polish people participated in the "Youth in Action"
programme, of which there were more than 800
polish EVS participants.3
More information can be found on the website of the “Youth in Action“ programme:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.php.
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Voluntary service in the Foundation “Polish-German
Reconciliation” (FPNP)4
The Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” is a non-profit organization founded
in 1992. Its objectives as listed in the standing rules are to preserve the memory of
the victims of the Second World War, to initiate and support the dialogue within society and works on the international reconciliation and understanding. That is accomplished by the sections of publishing, research and educational work. The Foundation
carried out several large exhibitions, several dozen publications with memories of former forced or slave labourers and prisoners of German concentration camps, novelettes, biographies, albums and historical studies. There are also historical lessons for
young people, competitions and international conferences and educational meetings.
Since 2001 the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” has run many voluntary
programmes. Since 2009 the Foundation is an accredited organization within the
European Voluntary Service and since 2010 it also has the status of a sending/
coordination organization. That means that the Foundation not only hosts volunteers
in Poland but also may send Polish volunteers to other countries.
Altogether for over 19 years the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” offers
help and care to Polish victims of the Nazi persecution. Approximately half a million
people already benefited from the help, among them prisoners of concentration
camps and ghettos, forced workers of the Third Reich and victims of medical experiments. The intention of these projects is to aid victims of the Third Reich. The circle
of those in need will grow in their advancing age. Nowadays there are still between
200.000 and 300.000 former slave labourers and victims of war in Poland.
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Scope of task “Social work”
That is why the volunteers of the foundation are involved helping elderly people who
had suffered because of the Nazis. This is not meant in terms of giving aid as a nurse
or medical care. The crucial factor is the contact to the older generation itself. The
volunteers help older people with shopping, small housework or accompany them to
go for a walk. Additionally on one day during the week some of the volunteers also
visit a senior’s home to accompany the people living there. However, there are th
close relationships between the younger and older generation, which sometimes result in friendships that constitute the extraordinary role of the voluntary work. This
convergence of the generations is a valuable experience for both sides. It helps the
young people to have a better understanding of Polish history and the elderly enjoy
the meetings and the comfort.
Scope of task “Office work”
The volunteers also support the daily work in the office, e.g. in organizing conferences, exhibitions and
meetings, and participate in our programme “Database
for Polish Nazi victims” (www.straty.pl). The coordinator seeks in accordance with the volunteer interesting,
exciting and of course useful tasks corresponding to
his or her skills, expectations and interests. Another
important part of the scope of tasks is the work in the
Foundation's archive. There the volunteers receive an insight into the nature of archives. This work represents a bridge between the projects of the Foundation and the
victims of war, because there are a lot of original documents to file, which are the
Foundation's basis of many educational projects, exhibitions and publications.
The voluntary service enables to apply existing knowledge, make friends, gain experience and masters new situations.
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The EVS project 2010/2011 “Learning from the past – acting
for future”
Each year the EVS project in the Foundation "Polish-German reconciliation" has a
different theme. In 2010/2011, the motto was "Learning from the past – acting for future". That means at first that the volunteers use their knowledge and experiences
with history – especially about the Third Reich – for creating the future. It is important
that the future keeps in touch with the past. The young people have no more direct
responsibility for the events of the Second World War. The contact to the contemporary witnesses is important in order to prevent past from repeating itself. And that issue affects not only Germany and Poland but Europe as a whole.
Within all EVS projects the Foundation primarily puts emphasis on the exchange of
experiences between the generations. The volunteers create awareness and sensitivity for the history of the Second World War and for the consequences for the victims and work as well at the development of intercultural and cross-departmental understanding.
In all cases the volunteers' individual tasks – besides the social work – dependent on
their own proposals and interests, their experience, ambitions and ideas. In this year,
the projects of the three EVS volunteers were very different, but all were aimed at
one goal: “Learning from the past – acting for future”.
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Jördis: Photo project with volunteers and elderly
I am Jördis from Leipzig, 25 years old and I
worked for nine months as an European volunteer in the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation”.
During my studies of social work I developed
my plan to go abroad for a voluntary year in
Poland. Especially the opportunity to occupy
with the history of Poland and Germany during the National Socialism and to visit victims of the Nazi regime and support them in
their everyday life confirmed my intention to apply as a volunteer in the Foundation.
For me it is particularly important and interesting to learn about the people's personal
and individual experience.
As my own activity, I developed a photography project with the elderly people and the
current volunteers. The photos are hanging now on the walls in the Foundation's corridor. I tried to put the relation between these two generations into the focus of the
observer. There are several photographs, which present the two people in different
situations. It is meant to show a short impression of the work, the time spend together and the different activities, they are doing together. But all in all, it also leaves
space of interpretation about questions like: What makes the opposite people so precious? Which role plays the ageing? What can we learn from each other? Maybe the
project could show, how important the importance of the time spend togehter, even if
you know someone for a long time and the affection of each other grows – independent from one’s age.
What I have taken home
The time in Poland and especially in the Foundation gave me
an opportunity to live for a long time abroad and therefore to
venture a little adventure. I was able to collect impressions and
experiences away from my familiar environment and to meet
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Many new, nice and open-minded people. In conversations with people from Poland
and from all over the world I have got to know better the differences and similarities
between the various cultures. The office work and the time with the elderly allowed
me to get a deep insight into the individual experiences of the survivors and also expanded my knowledge about National Socialism. Similarly, I consider the discussions
with the colleagues of the Foundation as a particularly valuable and enriching time.
What I will never forget is the time with the elderly woman I visited. She spoiled me
with her culinary skills and gave me some private “Polish lessons”. Our understanding language was Polish – despite of my limited language skills. We often sat together with cake, tea and the dictionary and tried to find the right words. I lost my fear
to speak in a “bad” Polish, because I noticed that communication doesn't only depend on the real spoken word. Respect and the trust you have for each other are developed by the way you interact with the other person. I realized, that it is not necessary to speak the same language, to show
someone, how important this person is for
you.
The time allowed me to develop my skills by
organizing an own project that I always
wanted to do. I enjoyed the experience I got
in the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” and Warsaw.
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Friederike: Organization of a meeting ride
My name is Friederike. I am 20 years old and I come from Leipzig (which is called
“Lipsk” in Polish).
After finishing my school – what happened just before I moved to Warsaw – I realized, that I will need some distance from my own flat, my daily habits and the people
around me. I always wanted to have some experiences with living abroad as well.
These are the general reasons why I decided to take part in the EVS programme. I
like history and politics as well as working with people. In Germany I am a member of
a political children and youth organization, where I organized several youth camps
during the summer. To combine the current politics with history and to work in the social sector is the perfect mix. So the work in the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation” for seven and a half months was the best I could do.
I worked mainly in the social sector. Most of the
time I visited the contemporary witnesses at
home. There I helped them with the daily housework. But for example I also went for a walk with
"my" elderly, accompanied them to the bank,
took care of a bird and explained them the world
of the internet. On the side I also worked in a
seniors home, which was also an interesting experience.
I was going to organize and perform a stay in
Warsaw for a German group. In April 2011 a
youth group of the north German from the so called “THW” (Federal Agency for
Technical Relief) visited Warsaw and their host, the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation”. I created a programme suitable for fourteen- to seventeen-aged youngsters and their adult companions. Among other things this included verifying the museums of Warsaw, to make several reservations for the group, to create a city game
with the other volunteers and to develop a walk through the former ghetto. At any
time I was the contact person for the group in Warsaw.
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What I have taken home
What makes me happy is the fact, that I really
could help the elderly in so many areas of
every day's life, and that they have been looking forward to my next visit. One of the best
events were dancing swing in the kitchen and
cooking “barszcz”. In general I learned to cook in the typical Polish way, and this
wasn't easy for me as a vegan. But I can transfer the recipes from Polish into German and will cook this at home. All in all I learned a lot from “my” elderly and I know,
that they took something from me. I will carry this knowledge in my heart.
I also enjoyed the conversations with them. We were not just sitting and listening to
each other, it was rather a really deep exchange of knowledge and experience. We
talked about the past time and especially about what happened at that time to the
contemporary witnesses in detail. We also argued about the current politic and had
some controversial discussions. So I also have taken home the feeling of a “everyday-babcia” because my own grandparents in Germany are living far away from me,
so we rarely see each other. During my time as a volunteer I had the chance to have
a feeling for a grandparent-grandchild-relationship.
Furthermore I had the experience to be on the move all by myself in a foreign country. I travelled a lot through Poland. I learned to handle my strengths and weaknesses which I discovered during my stay and I
saw, that some are completely typical German.
Of course I learned (thought not enough) a completely new language, witch with I mastered my
daily life. In general I can say, this EVS stay
made me stronger!
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Patrick: Redesign of the FPNP homepage
I am Patrick from South Germany and I have been in Warsaw for 9 months as an
EVS volunteer in the Foundation “Polish-German Reconciliation”.
My motivation for EVS in Poland was to learn Polish in
order to improve my professional opportunities and
competences. The EVS offered me an insight into a
non-governmental organisation. I could identify with
the character of the project of the Foundation "PolishGerman Reconciliation": the work with the elderly, the
exchange of knowledge (particularly the expansion of
knowledge about the Polish history during the Second
World War), and moreover the possibility to attend a
Polish language class.
During my stay in the Foundation I was always able to contribute my thoughts to the
work of the Foundation. My EVS project was to realize useful ideas for the Foundation's internet homepage. I created a user-optimized applications design for the new
purview of the Foundation as a sending organisation. I thought about new themes
and questions that should occur in the applications. Furthermore I redesigned the
part about volunteering and I made a few changes and suggestions concerning the
user-friendliness and structure of the homepage.
Unfortunately I was not able to cooperate intensively with the Polish computer specialists due to language barriers, for example, and the contact persons were not always present. Therefore I could not accomplish my desired original plans.
What I have taken home
I liked the diverse tasks which I had during my project. I
got to know the responsibilities and duties of the EVS
project coordinators in the Foundation. The Foundation's very close contact with political events in Warsaw
gave me a feeling of involvement, which was a very
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enriching involvement, which was a very enriching experience. There were many opportunities to inform myself in-depth about the Second World War. Above all, the personal contact with Nazi victims and my visits of many historical memorials improved
my detailed comprehension of backgrounds of the subject. I got the attitude that we
are especially appointed to show ambivalences and different perspectives of this
time to amend facts of the case in order to
fight prejudices and unilateral views of history. In my opinion the contradictions of the
NS-ideology have be to shown and the absurdity of justifications and felonies has to
be exposed.
Furthermore I learned a lot about people, cultures, national consciousness and national pride. I enjoyed the range of possibilities I had. In the end I really felt like being
a part of Warsaw. Due to the central location of Warsaw I saw a lot of other places,
for example Ukraine. The contact with people from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus has
awakened in me a strong interest for the Eastern European countries, their culture
current political affairs.
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Tips for a life as an European volunteer
Before the trip
⇒
write down emergency contacts
⇒
make a copy of all important documents
⇒
it may be useful to learn some Polish in advance
⇒
compile a collection of pictures of people who are important to you
⇒
let your friends give you their favourite music and good books
⇒
exchange some money in advance
⇒
make a list of what you will do in case of becoming homesick and stuff you will
need for compensating it
We recommend as well to take with you:
⇒
passport – for the case you will travel in a country, where you will need it
⇒
sleeping bag and camping mat for travelling – you will need it a lot!
⇒
a gift from your home, for example as a present for the host organization
⇒
find out if you need an adapter for your host country
During your stay
⇒
the first time you should always have a dictionary and a map by your side (a
guidebook is also recommended)
⇒
sometime you can eave the map at home and discover the city by yourself:
there are so many beautiful and interesting places which are not listed in a map/
guide
⇒
join all the tourism attractions to get to know the city
⇒
write a diary
⇒
maintain old habits (sports, music,...)
⇒
read books on the subject
⇒
and at last but not least: talk Polish! It doesn't matter which level you have, because somehow you will understand – really, just do it!
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Especially for Warsaw
⇒
if you want to exchange money in an exchange office, then do not take a
“kantor” nearby the railway station but rather an exchange office in a mall, like in
the “Hale Banacha“
⇒
many swimming baths are only allowed to be entered with tight swimming
trunks (for men) and a swimming cap
⇒
when taking the buses of the public transport be prepared for late arrivals
⇒
if you want to open a polish bank account, Bank Zachodni WBK is recommended, where you can also recharge your mobile phone online, no matter
what provider you use (our tip: "Heyah")
Useful web pages:
⇒
http://www.wrszw.pl (about the city)
⇒
http://warszawa.jakdojade.pl (about the traffic)
⇒
http://www.aktivist.pl/warszawa (about the activities)
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Sources
1.
template for the Youthpass
2.
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/programmeme/about_youth_en.php
(examined on 16.05.2011)
3.
Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji, Narodowa Agencja Programu
“Młodzież w działaniu” (editors): Program “Młodzież w działaniu”. Raport
2009. Warszawa, 2009.
4.
http://www.fpnp.pl/pdf/evs.pdf; http://www.fpnp.pl/wolontariat/index_de.html
(examined on 18.05.2011)
Edition notice
Editing
Photos by
Christin Kühne
Foundation “Polish-German reconcilliation“
Jördis Krap
Private archive of the volunteers
Friederike Jahn
Jördis Krap and her photo project
Patrick Skrobanek
Łukasz Kajzer
Kamila Wujec
Annina Frasch
Contact
Foundation "Polish-German Reconciliation“
ul. Krucza 36
00-921 Warszawa
Internet: www.fpnp.pl
Contact person: Kamila Wujec
Phone: +48 22/6959950
E-mail: kwujec@fpnp.pl
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