“Shine 4 You(th) ” is an one year EVS project that took place in Baia Mare and rural surroundings, Romania, with the activities that started in October 2011 and hosted by YMCA Federation Romania. The project was centered around 4 volunteers from Ukraine, Austria, Spain and Turkey, who were interested in having a learning experience through Art and Outdoor activities, eager to share and improve their knowledge. Our aim is to create challenges for the volunteers so they can reach their own goals, to learn and develop themselves, to reach success. In order to achieve that we offered them the opportunity to create and coordinate their own workshops in art and outdoor activities, involving in our youth programs, creating, participating and helping in local and international trainings organised by YMCA Romania. One of the most important aspect of the project was social inclusion, the tools achieving this were music, dance, arts&crafts, theatre, flashmob, photography, outdoor activities.

We supported them to discover how life shines when we are aware of our own cultural identity in a global context, how 4 very different culture can work together, share and improve, how important is to be aware about the world outside our own community, learning to accept diversity, interculturality, to show tolerance and solidarity. Creativity, responsibility, teamwork, leadership were encouraged and supported in order to develop all kind of skills, to understand and promote volunteering and community work, being an exemple of active citizens for our community but also their own.

“Shine 4 You(th) ” brought  the opportunity for the EVS volunteers also to understand and promote social inclusion and to use inclusive methods to design activities for a group of disadvantaged kids (ages between 7-14) from the poor neighbourhoods, roma communities and rural ones.