SOS 4 EVS training course in Spain

SOS 4 EVS was an international training course on conflict resolution held in Caravaca, Spain, between February 14 and 22. It was organised by the Youth Association of Cazalla within the European Voluntary Service (EVS) programme. Its aim was to explore conflicts of the involved actors in this programme as a tool for improving the quality of EVS projects.

Throughout this week, youth leaders from organisations, with or without experience in the field, EVS co-ordinators, mentors and volunteers from several countries who had been giving a voluntary service came together to share their experiences and knowledge and learn about EVS and the YOUTH programme in general. Malta was represented by Nathalie Farrugia and Christine Cassar, active National Student Travel Foun-dation (Malta) alumni.

An EVS project is a complex one involving people from different backgrounds working together towards common goals, where differences need to be overcome. Many organisations working within the EVS programme are dealing with these kinds of conflicts in their daily work.

This training course helped different European youth NGOs to come together and develop international co-operation between organisations that are developing or want to develop EVS projects, sharing the best practices, improving the quality of these projects and creating an e-mail network to enable participants to contact each other and trainers to find solutions for their obstacles and to exchange views.

Although the training course was very hectic, the working method did not allow a dull moment, since the activities varied from interactive lectures to experiential learning to learning-by-doing methods, which undoubtedly gave participants the motivation to develop new ideas within youth work and youth projects.

During the evenings, activities helped participants to develop close friendships with young people from different nationalities, thus strengthening multicultural awareness.

This was definitely highlighted during the International Night where every participant presented food and drinks of the 12 countries represented. Another interesting evening was the workshop given by a professional Ecuadorean teacher on Spanish dance.

This training helped the participants to develop and understand the importance of multicultural awareness, tolerance and solidarity among young people as well as the skills required to develop youth projects within various communities, on a European and even on an international level.

The National Student Travel Foundation (Malta) offers the possibility to Maltese youth to participate in activities through the Youth Programme, including youth exchanges, seminars and training courses. For further information contact Maria Schembri at nstfyouthexchanges@nsts.org or tel. 2558-8249.