Volunteering is a great way to help local communities, both in your home country and abroad, while developing new skills and making friends.

The European Voluntary Service (ECB) offers opportunities for volunteering in other European or world countries. All young people between the ages of 18 and 30 can participate. It’s not paid, but it covers all expenses.

Do you see yourself as prepared, and are you able to volunteer abroad for 2-12 months? If the answer is yes, keep reading.

To go abroad with the European Voluntary Service, start looking for which projects are actively looking for volunteers in the volunteer database. If you can’t find a project that fits your interests, you’ll need to find a shipping organization. If you don't know one, you can search here:

• National agency in your country.
• Your regional SALTO resource center, only for projects in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and the Euro-Mediterranean region.
• Database of accredited organizations.

Your shipping organization will help you make your project work, find a position that meets your interests, and take you through the time you have available. It may not be easy, but keep holding on and you’ll see how worthwhile it is.

Next steps

Finding a project is just the beginning. A lot of preparation needs to be done before embarking on your new adventure.

• Contact alumni associations. They can give you an idea of ​​how a project is done, what to expect, and how to better prepare.
• Find out about the necessary procedures, both in your country and for the project: visa, residence permit, medical insurance, etc.
• Go to previous education. It’s a good opportunity to get to know future members.
• Make a collection of information about your destination country. The more you know about this place, the better.

European Voluntary Service

BZE-SVE is an association between two or more promoters who are responsible for selecting volunteers for their project.

Volunteers participate in the BZE-SVE in the country where they live through a sending organization, and through a receiving organization, which receives and hosts them during the mission.

The projects last between 2 and 12 months and you can work as a volunteer in many areas: culture, youth, sports, childhood, cultural heritage, arts, animal welfare, environment, development cooperation, etc. At the end of your service period at BZE-SVE, you will be given a certificate confirming your participation and describing your project: "Youthpass".

You will receive accommodation and food for free, insurance and pocket money. You may need to make a small contribution to your travel expenses.

If you devote time to reflection, planning, and maintaining your motivation, there will be much less risk of disappointment during the project.

Difficulties

Volunteering and participation have many and varied difficulties. The following is a summary of:

• Low visibility: Attempts have been made in recent years to visualize the role of volunteering and participation in society, but it is still not fully understood what they are, what they work for and what contribution they really make to the development of society and democracy.
• Poor communication: Social organizations have not addressed this issue properly; that is, to communicate and communicate well. In fact, with few exceptions, they do not communicate or do wrong. Either the communication is aimed at attracting associates and funds or, at most, raising awareness. In this area, organizations face three difficulties.
• Lack of funding: The crisis and the cuts in subsidies, agreements and other formulas for public aid are considered a difficulty. But, it goes beyond that; in fact, what really stands out is that there is an over-reliance on administrations and organizations to have great difficulty in finding their own resources, which will lead to the development of activities that will lead to the income of private contributions.
• Atomization: Social movement and volunteering are divided into many structures, with very different settings and sizes. This is seen as a positive a priori because it reflects the diversity and richness of the ways in which it participates, but it is also seen as a difficulty.
• Low social base: According to studies carried out in recent years, the volume of volunteering in the Basque Country is high. In any case, experts believe that the social base that is truly committed is not so broad. This is reflected in the fact that, on the one hand, organizations have a low capacity to bring people together and, on the other hand, that there is not enough people to keep the organization together.
• New lifestyles: Instability and feelings of danger (fear) do nothing to help us achieve stable commitments, neither to causes nor to organizations. We live flexibly and, as a result, it is difficult to incorporate or implement a commitment to volunteer work in a particular organization, and it makes it difficult to involve people beyond regular collaborations. It is very difficult to manage this situation because today’s organizations follow the ways of the previous society.