Progetti di Volontariato Europeo

Il 9 Agosto la nostra volontaria SVE Maryna è volata in Ucraina dopo 10 mesi di attività ed emozioni con noi. Ha tanti progetti per il futuro, tra arte e Sicilia, e ci ha lasciati con la promessa che sarebbe tornata a trovarci :) Adesso che si riprende il lavoro dopo la pausa estiva, la sua postazione vuota mette un pò di malinconia, al posto di Maryna solo qualche cartellone per il nostro prossimo scambio che ci ha preparato prima di partire... Ma ci ha lasciato un regalo prezioso, una raccolta di immagini del suo Give and Take con Uniamoci Onlus:

The nine-month course of painting in the organization has ended. We tried a lot of techniques during this period - various painting techniques, various textures, drawing, mosaic, wax painting, graphics. The themes were very different - traditional Ukrainian technique Petrikovka, landscapes, portraits, logos, etc. The guys showed themselves on the best side and each of them is special in the creative way. Someone has shown himself in helping others with drawing, someone has a very specific style, someone has the ability to draw portraits, someone abstraction, someone very painstaking in work but someone is very temperamental. But certainly everyone is talented and everyone deserves praise.

Art of inclusion is an Erasmus+ Project about the art as an instrument of learning and sharing of artistic techniques for people with disability. It lasts from 2016 to 2019. They did some watercolour painting, they played the drums, they visited abroad the ateliers of some artists, and they shared their experience and their work with the guys, they realized some glass paintings, some performances using the topic of the labyrinth as a metaphor of life, they also did some research about some Sicilian artists, about their life and their work and they interviewed some of them, you can find these videos on their YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/user/Uniamocionlus08 I created this mask for a performance about the labyrinth I helped to create this labyrinth with scarves

The association "Uniamoci Onlus" recently achieved and then celebrated with a party, the 10 years of activity. For us it was a great success that was attended by all the volunteers and the guys enrolled in the association that Davide and Eleonora have known over these years. At the party we had very good food and the excellent wine, have entertained the evening a music band, and the evening went very well.

Once a week, I give art lessons for the boys and girls of the association, trying different techniques, with the typical and traditional Ukrainian arts, such as "Petrikivka" and "Pisanka", or with the mosaic arts. They are very good! At the end of each lesson, they exhibit their work.

Since March, the association "Uniamoci Onlus" has welcomed four new Spanish volunteers - Jesus, Angustias, Maria and Marian, They will be doing their Erasmus + project here for three months. These guys have included new activities, such as the Spanish language course, Spanish dances, sharing the culture of the Spanish culture with us, and of course they will help with the existing activities which we already have in our space.

One of our projects in which I participate is Palermo Green, a project created to help solve the problem of dirt in the streets and the neglect of some green areas, developing the sense and civic commitment of citizens for their city. I met the various volunteers active in the project, immediately resulting in friendship and mutual cooperation, and few days of the week I meet Martina and the other guys and we work hard! The activities consist in cleaning the degraded green areas, also in planting flowers and plants and taking care of the different flower beds we love to take care of! At this time the areas in which we are working are many and varied including: the area around the Central Station, the Zisa Castle, the various flowerbeds of Corso Tukory and along the beaches and green areas of Via Messina Marina.  I will update you about the activities of the vegetable garden, a part of  Palermo Green project.

Today, February 13th, the carnival day decays. Together with the professors, teachers and children from the elementary school of Brancaccio, with the guys from the association "Uniamoci Onlus" the carnival ended with a carnival parade with floats, colored masks, music and dances. Despite the bad weather and the rain we did not give up and with a smile we made this day shine with a lot of solidarity and joy. Finally we celebrated with traditional games and dances inside the headquarters of our association :)

Today I would like to present the daily activities of members in organization. For my mind one of the most important thing that they have possibility to learn another languages as English, German and Ukrainian. New knowledge each of participant  implement into the computer work, updating their social networks, taking a reading course, a cinema and golf critics. For more, they study a theater course with a final show at the end, during the dance course guys have opportunity to learn some addatable movements, instead the artistic journey brings a lot of new meetings and discussions. For example, they work with web radio " Senza barriere " that broadcast every Saturday, during which they read and comment some newspaper articles. Sometimes some guests join to them to talk about the european projects which assosiation take part in. There is a newspaper for descrbing more widely done work. I will write more info about other projects outside of organization very soon. Uniamo...

So at the moment I am a EVS volunteer in Palermo in the Uniamoci Olnus organization, which is interested in the social inclusion of disabled people, volunteering, active citizenship, European mobility, also EVS projects and besides they work with many different projects such as Palermo Green, City Garden, etc. I will describe those in which I am taking part and had the opportunity to join ....

For a long time, I have been interested in becoming involved in the European Voluntary Service programme, and when I saw project "Give and Take", I knew this was the perfect opportunity. The activities of Associazione Uniamoci Onlus are an ideal match for my experience, skills, and interests. In 2016 I participated in the Erasmus+ project “Be Active, Be Europe” (a bilateral exchange between Italy and Ukraine in Polizza Generosa, Sicily, Italy) where we helped to create a new community for children without parents. It was at this time that I firmly decided that I wanted to spend my EVS on this beautiful island.

Un pò di ansia per il visto che non voleva arrivare e allora non volevamo neanche creare false speranze tra i membri dell'Associazione, così abbiamo parlato poco di lei e solo una settimana prima del suo arrivo. Con entusiasmo abbiamo trascorso due mattinate a preparare un cartellone di benvenuto e l'abbiamo aspettata, preparando ciascuno la sua presentazione in inglese: qualcuno ancora chiedeva "ma quanto resta?""10 mesi""Miiiii".  Eravamo così quel primo giorno: Adesso sono passate quasi due settimane in cui Maryna si è perfettamente integrata col nostro gruppo e da questa settimana inizierà anche a gestire delle attività: in questo momento sta tenendo una lezione di Ucraino per i nostri utenti e volontari e venerdì sperimenteremo una tecnica pittorica ucraina, perchè Maryna è un'artista! Ma ci ha molto aiutato anche nel lavoro d'ufficio, compilando e sistemando tabelle, aggiornando il blog del nostro progetto Art of Inclusion, h...