ESC WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN ITALY

Associazione L’Arca – “Il Chicco” is currently looking for one ESC male volunteer to help with people with mental and/or physical disabilities.

Who: 1 male volunteer aged 18-30 from EU countries or Ukraine
When: for 9 months starting in June 2024 (dates and duration can be slightly flexible)
Where: Ciampino (Rome), Italy
Hosting Organisation: Comunità L’Arca – Il Chicco
Deadline to apply: April 21, 2024

Activities:

• Artistic workshops (ceramics, music, theatre…)
• Sports
• Agriculture and gardening
• Recreational activities (games, walks, visits…)
• Keeping company to people with disabilities (watching a film, having a chat, sharing daily life activities)

Support:

Food and accommodation will be covered by the European Commission; volunteers will have health insurance and pocket money (6 € per day). Travel expenses will be refunded up until a fixed amount  (180 € from 100 to 499 km distance, 275 € from 500 km to 1999 km, 360 € if more; budget is higher if the trip doesn’t include flights, in order to encourage environmental sustainability). Volunteers will be accomodated in single rooms that are located in the community houses, on a different floor from the common spaces with people with disabilities, where privacy is guaranteed. They can have meals in the common canteen, or use the common kitchen to cook their own meals.

Volunteers will work 35 hours a week with two consecutive free days per week (not always Saturday and Sunday). These hours include 1 hour for a meeting with the responsible of the activities, that coaches the volunteers on their tasks, 1 hour for a meeting with the mentor, that evaluates the volunteers’ project, satisfaction and learning process, and the Italian language course, that will take 4 hours a week for the first 2 months.

You can read articles of previous volunteers at this links: Alex and Maris.

Criteria:

• 18-30 years old
• Male (for gender balance)
• Currently living in an EU country or Ukraine
• Careful and respectful towards people with disabilities
• In order to protect the people with disabilities hosted in the structure, volunteers must be already vaccinated for COVID-19
• Basic English level
• Eager to learn Italian to communicate with people with disabilities
• Able to work in a team
• Past experiences with people with disabilities and related studies (psychology, sociology…) are welcome but not necessary
• For the specific nature of the project, and in order to keep the people with disabilities safe, volunteers must not have mental health issues, infectious diseases or criminal records. We will ask for a health certificate and criminal records.
• Registered in European Solidarity Corps portal (if you haven’t registered yet, you can do it for free by clicking here).

How to apply:

Fill in the online form below and send your CV to [email protected] before April 21, 2024, writing “Application for Chicco” in the object of the email. The pre-selected candidates will be contacted for an online interview.