Project Description:
Placed in the suburban districts of Berlin, our organisation welcomes youngsters for their free-time activities. Our youth centers represent open and safe spaces where young people spend their free time with other peers and fulfil it with creative activities, such as graffiti painting, cooking, making music, playing Ping-Pong and “Kicker” and many more. Through the informal education approach, we stress that this space belongs to young people and they manage it according to their interests in cooperation with our team; this way, they socialise with other young people, check educational possibilities and maximise their talents. Next to it, we promote international offers for the local young people to take part in. The volunteer will support this work with the local working team and with youngsters in all our four youth centers and one international participation center (30-35 hours per week).
The mobile youth center “mJZ Langer See” is a special kind of mobile youth center—it’s a boat. This means that we travel on the water in southern Berlin (Köpenick), regularly visiting three districts. We are usually on the water from Tuesday to Friday, approximately 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. In addition to the above-mentioned offerings, we offer activities on and in the water, gender-specific projects, and projects on local history. The young people who visit us
are approximately between 11 and 15 years old.
The team is eager to hear about your ideas! See more about us on this web page, Instagram and our YouTube
Accommodation, food and transport arrangements:
A shared apartment is located in the Hellersdorf district of Berlin and it is the place where volunteers will live. Volunteer will have their own bedrooms and shared common spaces with other volunteers. It will provide equipment for comfortable living, such as a complete kitchen, a full bedroom and home furniture, central heating and Wi-Fi.
Volunteers will prepare their own meals and will receive funds for it based on the German NA standard for the project year. Volunteers will receive funds to buy a monthly ticket for public transport in the city and also the option to use a bike. This may be necessary since mobility in a city like Berlin is very important and also since volunteers will for two days in a week be able to support other projects of Roter Baum Berlin UG.
Training during the opportunity:
Volunteers will have annual access to the Online Linguistic Support platform to improve their German skills. An option to attend to language school course may be offered during the year (two courses). This process is very long and requires a lot of patience from volunteers due to the school’s regulations and rules so which is why we encourage volunteers to use OLS and other platforms (Duolingo, etc.) for learning and preparing basics in advance.
Volunteers will participate in an On-arrival and Midterm training/seminar, organised by the German National Agency.
Also, we will offer continuous volunteer support during the volunteer year. The staff of the project will provide extra support and will guide volunteers more specifically throughout the daily activities, especially if they show interest in some of the specific youth work areas or find a good environment with local youngsters to implement their own project ideas.
At mJZ Langer See you will also learn skills related to driving a boat, behaviour on water and other boat-specific things (knots, maneuvers, etc.).
Participant profile:
We are looking for volunteers who are energetic and motivated to work daily with teenagers. Should be independent but also ready for teamwork, flexible, communicative, open to other cultures, open to challenges and to improvements of skills. The applicant needs social skills, and to be interested in working with youth in social exclusion. Interests in creative fields will be much appreciated. The volunteer must be ready for afternoon activities and local travel, since our youth centres work after school time, and sometimes work on weekends as well. In order to have better integration with the youngsters, basic German skills would be highly appreciated.
Participant is requested (by regulation SGB 8, StGB) that the applicant does not have a previous offence in the areas of neglect of children and other, sexual abuse, child abuse, abuse in general, human trafficking, kidnapping, stalking, harassment, exhibitionism, sharing of pornography, violence or narcotics. This shall be proven by an appropriate document from the participant county.
Furthermore, it is important to know that plans can change at short notice at any time, as we at the mJZ Langer See are naturally highly dependent on weather conditions and, for example, in strong winds or ice, it is necessary to react spontaneously and replan.
Applying only through the European Youth Portal
