Around one year ago I was newly arrived at Padova, on the northeastern part of Italy, a 40 minute ride from Venezia. I was going to spend nine months in that universitary city due to the European Volunteer Service (EVS).
EVS was created by the European Union under the programme Youth In Action. It’ directed to young people aged 15-30. Short-term and long-term programs are available in a broad and varied areas ranging from Events Organization to Human Resources. The program is mainly directed to projects within Europe, but may also be extended to countries like Uruguay, Brasil, Peru, just to name some.
Benefits like health insurance, round-trip for and to your home, accomodation, pocket money, training before, during and after the program are available to the volunteer. And last but not least, a mentor to support you facing the new adventure.
There are also other reasons behind the choice to do a SVE, and they do vary substantially from volunteer to volunteer: some want to clear their minds before deciding what better to study at the university; others want to try different areas to work in or a shift on their careers; to work in an NGO; to have an experience abroad and learn or improve a different language or set of skills; and the list goes on.
So, you may ask who to contact in your country or region in order to ask for more information and to candidate to a given program. These are called the sending and host organizations, which organize all that is needed for a good developing of the volunteering. Sometimes positions are advertised on newspapers and on the organizations sites. Click here to learn more about it.
Differently than other programs, no fees are required from you. The EVS is totally free and where money is asked – to pay for trip, for example – it shall be returned to you.
My reasons to do a EVS were mainly connected to learn and develop new skills and to expand my comfort zone. Altough I lived before in Italy, I felt nervous and anxious before getting there. My mind was full of doubts of wheter was that a good decision. Despite that I dived into a new adventure and got at the end of that great experience stronger than before.
Do you dare?
Sul Sousa
