Profile information
Host rating
65 %
Last replied
6 Feb 2024
Feedback
-
Email verified
Details
Description
We are a foundation based in Viscri, Romania, that acts for the sustainable transformation of the local community through education and conservation initiatives. Our mission is to coagulate people around common values such as participatory democracy, equal opportunity, multiculturalism, ecology.
We strive to identify and carry out practices that harmonise heritage and environmental conservation with healthy community development.
We regularly host art camps, workshop and exhibitions, yearly UNESCO World Heritage Volunteers camps, and we operate an education center for children from Viscri.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Teaching
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
First of all, you will have the opportunity to work with local children, in a UNESCO village, on a daily basis.
You will get to know the local culture but you will also meet numerous visitors coming from all over the world. Viscri welcomes 50.000 tourists every year and more than half of them come from abroad.
You will get the chance to attend many cultural events that take place in Viscri and the surrounding villages.
You can discover other projects done by our foundation and other NGOs active in Viscri and surrounding villages on community development, cultural and natural heritage conservation, inclusive education. You will meet other volunteers or local people involved in projects in the village.
You will learn about all the initiatives taking place in Viscri that aim to create an inclusive, healthy and sustainable community. Viscri is not only a UNESCO Heritage Site, but was also nominated a best practice for the application of the Faro Convention by the Council of Europe. We are therefore working closely with UNESCO and with the Council of Europe on strategies aiming to use heritage sustainably for the benefit of the local community, on the development of inclusive education projects or on tackling issues such as mass tourism.
Viscri is not a regular village, it's a vibrant community with a lot of educated young people that came here to develop entrepreneurial initiatives and to create a healthy community where they can live together with their families.
You will have a nice balance between being part of a traditional community, an international environment of like-minded people and your individual time.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Our foundation operates an education center in Viscri that is open every day for local children. The activities at the center are attended by a little over 20 children aged between 8 and 14, most of them coming from families with reduced financial resources or from marginalised ethnic groups. One of our colleagues works with the children on a daily basis on homework and school subjects, supporting their progress in reading, writing or basic math.
In order to broaden the horizon of these children we are looking to also provide non-formal education with the help of volunteers coming from varied cultural backgrounds.
We are therefore looking for people who enjoy spending time with children, who are patient and inclusive, who are calm and able to set boundaries with kindness and can also teach arts, crafts or sports. With your help we hope to create opportunities for the children to discover and develop their talents.
We believe that learning to express through music, painting, photography, sculpture, pottery, running, biking or other such activities will support the children's growth into healthy and happy human beings that will in turn be able to give back to their future families and communities.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
German: Beginner
Spanish: Beginner
Italian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
We provide accommodation in one of the authentic houses we own in the village, in a separate bedroom with shared bathroom and a shared kitchen. The house used to host tourists until last year and, starting this year we are using it to accommodate volunteers. You will be expected to prepare your own meals and to share cleaning with other volunteers. In summer heating is not needed. In colder seasons heating is done with fire wood, which we provide. We will provide bed sheets and towels.
There is no TV but there are many social and cultural activities in the village.
Smoking is allowed only outdoors.
We cover the food and groceries costs for the workawayers but they need to cook by themselves.
What else ...
There are several festivals taking place in Viscri and the surrounding villages over the summer. One is called Haferland Woche and there are concerts, balls and other cultural events in several villages over one entire week. Another one is called Sonoro, a series of classical music concerts that take place in Transylvanian villages. You can look online for events in the Transylvanian Highlands and find the event calendar for the entire year.
You can also visit the surrounding landmarks, such as Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu, the Fagaras Mountains, Peles and Bran Castles and so on.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
