Uncovering the full potential of EVS

From the 17th to the 19th August SALTO YOUTH organized a training in Tunis Village, Fayoum, for all EVS volunteers in Egypt. Our colleagues Elena and Roxane took part in it.

SALTO YOUTH stands for Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities within the European YOUTH programme. It is a network of eight Resource Centres working on European priority areas within the youth field. It provides youth work and training resources and organises training and contact-making activities to support organisations and National Agencies within the frame of the European Commission's Youth in Action programme and beyond.

Our colleagues Elena and Roxane, together with Cédric and Christelle, two French volunteers from MiHi, a social enterprise in Alexandria, got the chance to gather in the welcoming and cosy Art Center of Fayoum to get to know more about the EVS program and all its opportunities.

Over three days, the trainer Amr covered the main aspects of the EVS program and gave the volunteers the opportunity to think about what they expect from the time to come in Egypt and their learning objectives. Through discussions, games and artistic creations, all of them had the chance to think about the reasons that drove them to participate in this adventure and to define their main objectives. The project of each one of them might diverge, but discovering Egypt and getting to know the cities they live in, the people they will share their lives with and learning Arabic were found in everylist.

Roxane, volunteer in our office says :

This is a real privilege to be provided with time to think about ourselves and our objectives. The real added value of this week-end has been to be able to share with other young social actors, involved in the same experience and process, our expectations and enthusiasm and to build together a strong and dynamic network for mutual support.

Wandering around the village to discover its beautiful graffitis, the volunteers also had the opportunity to make a pottery course and experience themselves Fayoum’s characteristic activity. They left the village with a masterpiece in process of creation!