Project environment
1. Project environment
The programme will be implemented in Skopje, the capital of R. Macedonia, city with over 700.000 inhabitants, the industrial and economic centre of the country. Being surrounded by mountains, Skopje offers opportunities for outdoor activities all year round. For less than three hours one can arrive to the most distanced parts of the country, to swim in the Ohrid lake or to ski on mountains Mavrovo or Popova Shapka.
Skopje is unique because of the mixture of traditions, different cultures, religions and rich cultural heritage all united in a beautiful combination of the old and the new. In one place one can experience the Orient and Europe mixed in an exciting amalgamation, synthesis of the sounds of the City church bells and singing from the Mosque in the Old Bazaar.
FEJS Macedonia's office is situated in the city centre of Skopje. In only a 10 minute walking distance from the main square and 5 from the city park, it is an ideal working place. All volunteers that will be hosted by our organization will be accommodated in apartments being maximum 20 minute walk from the office.
Living in an apartment in or near the city centre, volunteers would be expected to respect their neighbours and house rules.
Compared with many European metropolises, Skopje is a very safe city. One can walk in almost all city neighbourhoods even at night without being afraid that one can be attacked or harmed. More than 90% of the students study in the capital, giving the city an image of a place designed for young people. Nightlife is excellent, but more important there are many possibilities such as movie and theatre festivals, exhibitions, gym facilities, etc.
2. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
The EVS volunteers will have the opportunity to work with a very young but also very professional group of people, who already gained valuable experience in project management, working and participating in many international youth projects. Each of the volunteers will have his/her own computer, 24 hours internet access and all necessary office requisites, including fax, printer, etc.
The volunteer will have an opportunity to learn a lot about project management, writing projects, locating funds, implementation of the project (from preparation to report). Moreover he/she will learn how to update a web page having in mind that volunteer/s also will work on the update and promotion of FEJS Macedonia, www.mladiinfo.com as well as on the online magazine South East European Online Voice. So the volunteer interest in internet and multimedia will be crucial.
First two months volunteers will have different classes with the FEJS Macedonia staff. In this period they will learn some basic elements for online writing, how to design their own web page and how to maintain a web page, what are the main elements of project writing, etc.
Two days a week he/she will have Macedonian language classes. During these classes provided by Lea Linin professor of English and Macedonian language and member of FEJS Macedonia, the volunteer will learn not only the basic elements of the Macedonian language but also something about Macedonian history, culture, tradition, etc. During many international projects implemented by FEJS Macedonia in the future, he/she will have the chance to be involved in the organizations and the logistics which will presume communication with many young people from various countries, many new contacts and friendships.
FEJS Macedonia projects are always reflecting the multicultural spirit characteristic for Macedonia. Following our motto: Diversity is Beautiful we managed to build multicultural environment inside the organization. Our members are young people from different national, cultural and religious backgrounds. In such an environment we believe that the EVS volunteer will not find difficult to fit in. Moreover he/she will have chance to meet peers from Macedonia who practice different religions, have different traditions and at the end are still sharing similar interests and attitudes. This offers a complete picture of Macedonia and answers the question why this country is so special and beautiful. We are happy that we are in position to offer this privilege to our future EVS volunteer.
What will be the scope of volunteers' activities?
" He/she will work on updating and bringing new contents of FEJS Macedonia web page www.mladiinfo.com. Mladi Info is an informative web portal, an enthusisatic attempt to group in one place all studying possibilities, scholarships, grants, trainings and conferences, various calls, working and internship opportunities available for the young people in Europe.
" He/she will coordinate some of the European/regional projects implemented by the two networks FEJS Macedonia is part of, FEJS (www.fejs.org) and European Youth Press (www.youthpress.org).
" He/she will be involved in the implementation of the forthcoming FEJS Macedonia projects.
" He/she will be provided with the opportunity from the very beginning to initiate his/her own project/activity which will be supported by FEJS Macedonia who will help for securing the necessary funds.
The volunteer's engagement will vary from 30-35 hours per week. They will have two days off per week and three weeks holiday for the six month voluntary work.
He or she will be supervised by the project coordinator of FEJS Macedonia, Antoaneta Ivanova, with whom he/she will communicate every day. She will determine the volunteers' obligations and responsibilities, and will follow the volunteers' progress, his/her needs. Moreover, Antoaneta will be responsible for the accommodation and showing the nearby convenient stores and grocery markets. Finally, she will help the volunteer in organizing his/her free time, weekends, breaks, etc.
Volunteers will be accommodated in an apartment near the city centre and will receive monthly allowance for the meals.
3. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
FEJS Macedonia is looking for young enthusiasts, opened for new experiences in life. Cheerful, open-minded, eager to learn a lot, but also ready for new friendships and party. The only requirement is to speak English and to show interest in internet and multimedia, having in mind that in this area their participation will be prevalent.
However, at the beginning of their voluntary activity they will receive short coordination training for all activities where their involvement would be expected.
4. Number of volunteers hosted
FEJS Macedonia at this moment has a possibility to host two volunteers. This means that we are in a position to guarantee highest possible standards for these two volunteers. According to our calculations and projections, if we continue to develop as an organization with this pace, we believe that after one year we will be in position to host more than two.
5. Risk prevention, protection and safety
The volunteer will be accompanied and supervised by his/her mentor Antoaneta Ivanova, who will be responsible to take care of his/hers needs and all private necessities, including waiting at the airport, arranging apartment, assisting in some bureaucratic formalities such as the residence permit, etc. The mentor will also help the volunteer to accommodate, to organize his/her free time and free activities.
The Project Coordinator of FEJS-Macedonia (Mihajlo Lahtov) will be responsible for organizing all professional duties of the volunteer. He will organize the coordination training and will give assignments and follow the work of the volunteer further on.
The mentor will inform the FEJS Macedonia Managing Board for all the urgent needs of the volunteer, unexpected or unwished situations. The board will coordinate for all the necessary activities that will be taken in such situations.
EVS volunteers will be provided with a health insurance for the duration of their stay in Macedonia or abroad.
Motivation and EVS experience
FEJS Macedonia is a youth organization established back in 2003, focused mainly on the exchange of journalism students. As a youth organization many of its projects were implemented by the journalism students on a voluntary basis. Even though voluntarism in Macedonia is a rather new experience, in the case of FEJS it happened to be a very successful way, not only for implementing the foreseen activities, but moreover to involve young people in doing something useful for themselves as well as for the community. The possibility offered by the European Voluntary Service corresponds with our needs especially in this period when FEJS is especially active internationally, providing activities whose range goes beyond the borders of the country.
Unfortunately we have not used the EVS possibility so far, even though on several occasions we have got in contact with organizations that were hosting volunteers and with some of the volunteers as well. Both the host organizations and the volunteers were unanimous in the impression that this is a very positive experience and a very useful one as well.
As a youth organization we strongly believe that the exchange of students and young people, the fluctuation of different ideas and various views is very important for bringing "fresh air" in our environment, and a necessary component for building healthy, tolerant and open-minded organization. These were the main reasons why we, as FEJS Macedonia decided to submit an application a host and sender organization accreditation through the EVS-YIA Programme. To share the experience, to learn from the other's best practices.
We are sure that the volunteers which will decide to join our organization will have many opportunities to learn a lot about the work in youth organizations. They will enjoy the working atmosphere and the time spent with many young journalism students.
Also we believe that the volunteers sent by FEJS Macedonia will have a unique experience which will have a huge influence on their further educational and professional decisions in life. Moreover, having in mind the fact that young people in Macedonia, mostly because of the Shengen wall, have little or no opportunity to travel abroad and to communicate with their peers from the other European countries. This situation corresponds with the growing nationalism, intolerance, discrimination, raising prejudices and is reinforcing stereotypes in Macedonia. It is very important for young people from Macedonia to be provided with the opportunity to travel, to see how other young people think, what they do, where they work, it is important for them to work in a different environment and to bring this experience back and apply it in their own country. The European Voluntary Service is excellent opportunity for this.
Description of the organisation
FEJS Macedonia was established in 2003 as a non-profit, independent organization dedicated to the exchange of information between journalism students and young journalists. This organization promotes and mediates the communication between journalism students, professional journalists and media in general.
FEJS Macedonia is a member of two European youth networks, FEJS (www.fejs.org) and Youth Press (www.youthpress.org). Youth media organizations belonging to these networks work together on various international projects on issues relating to media and journalism. These projects involve activities for promoting cooperation between journalism faculties/schools of journalism on national and international level, as well as providing support for various exchange activities and work experience possibilities for journalism students. Moreover, FEJS and Youth Press could be seen as an international platform for young journalists facilitating their efforts for exchanging ideas and experience.
Since its founding, FEJS Macedonia along with its European partners organized a number of conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures focused on some important issues contemporary journalism deals with, such as journalism and minorities; professions in journalism; reporting diversity; digital photography, online journalism, communication relations between Europe and developing countries, etc. Hundreds of journalism students and young journalists from all around Europe participated in those events. Here, we will mention only some of the implemented activities:
- Training for Digital photography, Ohrid, October 2004;
- Human Rights Reporting Training, Skopje, May 2006;
- "Be Fine Online"-training and web page for online communication about cultural diversity, Skopje, August 2007;
- Youth Regional Conference "Information Society and its Impact on the Development of Youth Media", Skopje, September 2008
Moreover, many young journalism students, as FEJS-Macedonia members, took advantage of the opportunity to participate in various trainings, conferences, workshops, festivals, all around the world.
At the moment FEJS Macedonia has 40 active members. Most of them are journalism students from the state University "Cyril and Methodius" and private universities in Macedonia. The membership is rather diverse, meaning the gender, national or religious background of the members. We have members with an Albanian, Macedonian, Roma, Serbian, Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim ethnic background. And it cannot be different if we have in mind that one of FEJS Macedonia's primary aims is to promote diversity as something beautiful, something that adds value to society, cohesion and development in any aspect.
Ten to fifteen active members are involved In the implementation of FEJS-Macedonia's projects, depending on the project activities. All of them are active mainly on a voluntary basis.
FEJS Macedonia's office is composed of five people working on the daily activities of the organization. Even though all of them are working on a voluntary basis, they are devoted young professionals, all of them speaking several languages, with various interests and hobbies. We work in a very friendly environment, with flexible (more or less) working time, with democratic decisions about all main issues.
Being all young we share similar interests and visions, we often hang out after work, organizing parties or different social activities. We all love nature and very often go on weekends in different places across Macedonia. We are sure that EVS volunteers that will be our guests will have no problem fitting in. Posted by: Ivan
18.02.2012, 19:43
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