Here is the story of Viveca. She is doing an European Voluntary Service (EVS) in France. EVS is one of the projects under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission to give young people in Europe a chance to volunteer abroad.
I started my 12-month long EVS journey in June 2016 in the beautiful town of Hendaye on the French side of the Basque country region. My EVS project is about assisting in mobility projects such as youth exchanges in cooperation with the local twinning committee, assisting in communication about cultural events in the region, and participating in organizing events about Europe especially in May 2017 during the Month of Europe.
I first heard about EVS during a university fair in Glasgow, which led me to get in contact with Xchange Scotland. For my current EVS I applied for in January 2016 through the EVS database. The application process was fairly simple. I applied, had an interview with the coordinating organization, kept in contact with Xchange Scotland, and got accepted for the project approximately a week after applying. The project itself, however, took a while to get accepted for funding and, hence, I was kept on my toes until everything was finalized couple of months later.
This project has been absolutely amazing so far. I have made loads of new friends, participated in interesting projects and seminars, and learned plenty of things about the Basque country, youth mobility, and the process of organizing events. To top it off, I have learned French, and even a little Spanish and Basque. I cannot emphasize enough how great of an opportunity EVS is for people to do something interesting and beneficial for themselves and the communities.
Thank you for sharing with us your story Viveca! 🙂
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