Description

The volunteering activities will take place in a Residence for people with disabilities. The Residence has also the day center where residents and no-residentes take part in it.

All the activities in the morning are mandatory for the beneficiaries, but in the afternoon there are some mandatory and some voluntary activities.

Mandatory activities are all related to personal hygiene, caring for belongings and premises, and creating and maintaining satisfactory personal relations and a social climate.

Volunteer Tasks
The volunteers will participate 5 days/week and have 2 free days per week. The collaboration may be on weekdays or weekends, but they will always have 2 free days/week.

Volunteers will support workshops organised in the residence (with wood, flowers, music, painting) and leisure activities (cinema, restaurants, theatre, youth festivals, trips to the mountains,...). They will be asked to supervise users as they take a shower 5 days / week. The volunteer's tasks in these cases are to motivate the users and to give an added value to the project.

Example of daily schedule:
Activities During the Week

The volunteers will collaborate during weekdays in the workshops, such as: carpentry, sewing, painting and flowers. These workshops are carried out from Monday to Friday. The volunteers may decide where they want to collaborate. During the first month, they may rotate through all of them, in order to decide.
The volunteers will carry out a support task. If the volunteer has any ideas about carrying out a particular workshop, they will meet with the staff and will receive all needed resources to do so. For example, if a volunteer wants to carry out a workshop about ceramics, he/she will be allowed to do so and will receive all personal and material resources.

The volunteers will be supported by a mentor who will have a meeting with them once a week to talk with them and see if they need support with other matters.

Sample time-tables. These are flexible and should be taken only as a sample. In this project initiatives from the volunteers are welcome and highly valued.

The Foundation believes the importance of hosting a volunteer is based on the exchange experience it provides to the life in the Residence, which results in the enrichment and the bringing together of people from all over the world.
Contact with another culture and language is stimulating for the residents of the centre , while at the same time, it provides the volunteer with an opportunity to be immersed in the Spanish culture. We believe the interaction with people from different cultures enriches them and this is the objective we aim to achieve with the presence of the volunteers.

Highlights

The Residence is located in the city of Madrid (6,000,000 inhabitants), which is located in the province of the same name. There are a lot of advantages in living in such a big city as Madrid: a variety of activities and opportunities: cinemas, theatres, exhibitions, museums, restaurants, discos, etc.

The residence is in the City Centre, 500m. from the Underground. It is well connected with metro to the city-center, a fact which makes the integration of the volunteer in the city easier.

Qualifications

* Over 18 years of age.
* An interest in working with disability.
* Active people with initiative.
* Willing to co-exist with other volunteers
* Aware of disability.
* Open to experiencing a new culture, language and way of life here in Madrid.
* A Sense of humour and humanity (this is essential).

Languages

• English
• Spanish

Cost in US$:

Please Contact Us for updates.

Cost Includes:

• Food
• Housing
• In-country orientation/Training
• In-country staff support
• Registration fees

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

• Adult Education
• Community Health
• Disability Issues
• Handicapped
• Health Care
• Recreation

Age Range

over 18

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Dormitory

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

Independently

Application Process Involves

• Letters of Reference
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

1-2 months

AFAIJ's Mission Statement

AFAIJ reach its goals:
* Stimulating national and international voluntary service of youth in the social, civil and cultural field.
* Organizing intercultural activities like training courses, seminars, national and international youth meetings, fair tourism trips.
* By promoting and spreading studies related to problems and the reality of youngsters.

Year Founded

1999