Hello our dear volunteers and partners!

We are starting this mini book by wishing you WELCOME TO ROMANIA !!!

We know very well that leaving your home and coming in a foreign country, especially for a long period of time, its a difficult thing to do. But we understand also, that each one of you was well aware of these things and you thought very well before you said YES and accepted to be an EVS volunteer. We want to congratulate you for making this decision and we want to ensure you that you WONT REGRET IT. We are here for you to, to make you feel like home and to make your staying here as pleasant as it can be. All that we want is to create here a big family and your role is essential in doing this. This project is going to be a challenge for both of us, for you as volunteers working to complete the assignments assumed in it and for us as a hosting organization responsible with you. For the period of your staying here we want to make sure that you have everything that you need and for this thing we are asking you to communicate with us, let us know what are the problems that you are confronting with your fears and your expectations. Be sincere and dont be afraid to let us know whatever your problems might be. Together we can find solutions for everything. The project has a lot of challenging tasks that you are going to do. BE SERIOUS AND HARD WORKING to complete them and we promise you that together we are going to have a once in a life time experience. We know that you joined the project because you want to get new abilities, to make new friends, to learn more things about other cultures and many other things but most of all TO HAVE FUN. Working together we are going to achieve all of this and more other. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, BE OPEN MINDED and dont be afraid to ask questions. So, again, we are finishing this introduction by wishing you WELCOME TO ROMANIA

The activity for the project ANIMAL WELFARE INITIATIVE will take place in Romania, in the region of ARAD COUNTY. The project is applied in the field of European Voluntary Service and contents two subjects- animal welfare and media and communications/ youth information. The projects objectives are: During the 9 month EVS stage (03.04.2013 03.01.2014), the 3 volunteers fron Jordan, Poland and Italy will have the following activities: creation, organization and maintenance in the local communities of a Volunteer Club for Animal Protection and a Centre for Encourage Activities of Young Journalists.

- Promote in Arad/Romania and online: (a) volunteering in the favor of increasing life conditions of abandoned pets/animals; (b) adoptions of homelss animals; (c) the rights of pets/animals. - Develop enterpreneurship and employement skills necessary to overcome economical difficulties of everyday life.

Basically, the project involves: 1. Creation, development and management of a Club Volunteer for Animal Protection 2. Creation, development and management of a center for bolstering young 3. Own Initiaves tasks and other

The project idea was taken from volunteers Institutului Transfrontalier Pro Dezvoltarea din Sannicolau Mare (Judetul Timis) which currently carries similar action in the animal shelter in the city. Two young men in our organization (which are also part of the team responsible for developing this documentation) participated in July in volunteering Arad Arad (local public awareness campaign on animal rights animal shelter maintenance, prgatirea puppies for adoption, etc.). Upon returning to Arad, the volunteers presented the activities and organization of such a project promoted the development of transnational partnerships.

Youth in Action is the EU Program for young people aged 15-28 (in some cases 13-30). It aims to inspire a sense of active citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the Union's future. The Youth in Action Program aims to achieve the following general objectives: Promote young peoples active citizenship in general and their European citizenship in particular; foster social cohesion in the European Union; Foster mutual understanding between young people in different countries; Contribute to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organizations in the youth field; Promote European cooperation in the youth field. Develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people, in particular in order to

Mentorship is a personal development relationship in which a more experienced or more educated person helps to guide a less experienced or less educated person. However, true mentoring is more than just answering occasional questions or providing ad hoc help. It is about and ongoing relationship of learning, dialog In this project each volunteer will benefit of mentorship service. The hosting organization will provide a mentor for each volunteer; the mentors will be persons from the local community and their services will be supply during the stage. They already have experience in youth work and mentorship.

Local community
Europes oldest remains of modern human were discovered in the Cave With Bones in present day Romania and is estimated to be 42,000 years old. However the first written history of the country was about the Getae tribes and dates back in 440 BCE. In the Ancient years the land was inhabited by Thracian tribes from Greece who established the state of Dacia. The Dacians suffered many conquests made by the Romans eventually becoming under their rule. The area and its people where then subject to a complete Romanization, enforcing the Latin language onto the people. This was the beginning of the formation of the Romanian culture. Romania has been a rather worn-torn country throughout it's history. Due to its location the country has had to encounter many invasions from its neighboring nations migrating through the area. Through these battles and invasions many brave heroes arisen defending their lands. Notable is Vlad The Impeller's (The legendary Dracula) rein in Transylvania and Walachia against the Ottoman Turks and the Hungarians, and Stephen the Great in Northern Romania. As the centuries past and the World Wars raved havoc through the land the country had to deal with another ordeal, the communist rule of Nicolae Ceausescu. His dictatorship literally destroyed the country's economy and resources with his absurd giant building projects. Under his rule the people were forced to live a rather low standard of life. Despite this a revolt raised in 1989 in Timisoara soon was spreading all over the country. The dictatorship was overthrown and democracy political system was reestablished. This victory by the people allowed Romania's economy to return the European market and rejuvenate their cultural status. Nowadays, Romania is rapidly integrating with Western Europe and becoming a popular spot for tourism. Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, European Union (EU) membership has been the main goal of every Romanian Government and practically every political party in Romania. Romania signed its Europe Agreement in 1993 and submitted its official application for membership in the EU in 1995, the third of the post-Cold War Eastern European countries to do so after Hungary and Poland. Along with its official EU application, Romania submitted the Snagov Declaration, signed by all fourteen major political parties declaring their full support for EU membership. During the 2000s, Romania implemented a number of reforms in order to prepare for EU accession, including the consolidation of its democratic systems, the institution of the rule of law, the acknowledgement of respect for human rights, the commitment to personal freedom of expression, and the implementation of a functioning free-market economy. The Accession of Romania to the European Union took place on 1 January 2007. This date was set at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003 and confirmed in Brussels on 18 June 2004. The country reports of October 2004 also affirmed the 1 January 2007 date of accession for both Bulgaria and Romania. The Treaty of Accession was signed on 25 April 2005 at Luxembourg's Neumnster Abbey. The 26 September 2006 monitoring report of the European Commission confirmed the entry date as 1 January 2007. The last instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession was deposited with the Italian government on 20 December 2006 thereby ensuring it came into force on 1 January 2007.

Geographic location: South-East of Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, in the Lower Danube basin, bordering on the Black Sea. Time Zone Area: Seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 2) Borders: East: Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and the Black Sea South: Bulgaria; West: Hungary; North: Ukraine. Climate: Temperate continental, with oceanic influences from the West, Mediteranean from the South-West, excessive continental from the North-East. Mean annual temperatures: ranging between 8C in the North and 11C in the South. Average annual rainfall does not exceed 700 m. Demographic structure: Romanians - 89.47%; Hungarians (plus Szecklers) - 7.12%; Gypsies 1.76%; other nationalities - 1.65%. Administrative division: 41 counties and Bucharest municipality (with a county status), 260 towns (out of which 57 municipalities), 2,688 communes (with about 13,000 villages). Main cities Iasi, it rests near the border with Moldova and has 348,000 inhabitants. It used to be the seat of the Moldovan princes during the 16th century and became their capital city during the 17th century. The city is rich in architectural monuments, mostly churches built in the Byzantine style. It had been an important commercial and cultural center of the Greek Diaspora from the 17th to the 19th centuries. According to scholars, modern-Greek enlightenment started at the Greek printing presses of Iasi. Today, it is an industrial center, specializing in medicine, textiles and agricultural products processing. Cluj-Napoca, historical capital city of Transylvania, with 333,000 inhabitants. It is a cultural center with impressive gothic and baroque monuments. It also has many museums (arts, history and folk), while it is also a university and industrial center. Constana, the main port of the country rests on the Black Sea and has 340 000 inhabitants. It is a renowned transportation junction and hosts an important museum with findings from the Hellenistic, roman and early Christian eras. Also, it houses metallurgic and ship-building industries. Timioara, lies in the Banat province and has 328,000 inhabitants. There is notable cultural and industrial activity.

Galati, is home to a trans-danubic port at the eastern part of the country, with 328,000 inhabitants. It is and international rail junction and has an important industry specializing in metal processing and shipbuilding. Flag of Romania : Three vertical stripes : red, yellow and blue. National day: December 1 (anniversary of the 1918 union of all Romanians into a single state). The currency of Romania is the Leu, with one Leu plural Lei equalling 100 Bani. The recently introduced New Leu is now the dominant currency, through the Old Leu can still be used until the end of 2006. Notes come in denominations of Lei 500, 100, 50, 10, 5 and 1, with coins coming in denominations of 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1 Bani. To get the value of the Old Leu in comparison to the New, simply add four zeros to the end of the number. Note: As of 1 July 2005, Romania's legal tender, previously coded as RON, has been redenominated so that Lei10,000 are exchanged for 1 new Leu (RON).

ARAD

Did you know that Arad is situated on the West part of Romania, 50 km far from Hungarian border? Did you know that is the 13th bigger city from Romania, with around 200.000 citizens? But did you know this? Mure is the river that crosses Arad and its the second biggest river from Romania (after Danube, of course) and we have a wonderful fortress here and in the past Arad was called little Vienna because the architecture from the center of the 2 cities were quite similar.

Accommodation there will be 2-3 persons/room, you will have access to a bathrooms (common bathroom and showers/floor), kitchen (1 kitchen and you will receive cutlery and pots also) and other utilities. Meal the volunteers will receive a monthly food allowance and they can either buy food, either cook for themselves. Transportation in case that the accommodation will be 20 minutes by walk far than the working place of volunteers, hosting organization will provide bikes or season ticket for tram/bus. The volunteers will have access to internet at the place of work of the volunteers (office).

The behavior
Dont misunderstand us, but we have to tell you also about the behavior. Please take into consideration that the people from Romania are very hospitable, they are always welcoming their guests. But there is one aspect, though: when you meet people from a different culture than some of you are used to, it may take a while to integrate fully. So, our suggestion is for you to be a little reserved at the beginning and to have patience until you get to know the people because an action of yours may have an impact on the whole group.

Luggage
Its not necessary to take a big luggage, because you will have the possibility to wash your clothes. We suggest you to take some warm clothes, but also clothes for warm weather. Dont forget to take with you some casual clothes !

Tasks for the volunteering stage:

1) The creation, development and management of a Club Volunteer for Animal Protection 1.1 Recruiting more young people in community housing (creating a group of 20 local volunteers) and preparing them to work in the Centre (team-building activities, theater workshops); 1.2 Organizing a local campaign to promote the benefits that participation in a Club Volunteer activities for animal protection (1 photo exhibition, a project website featuring self puppies detained and articles on pet rights, creating a local event type "street theater" on "combat pet abandonment and mistreatment towards them"); 1.3 Organization of local campaigns to attract local stakeholders for participation in the protection of animals (mainly a campaign of raising resources for Animals Adapostuo with the development and distribution of various materials for promotion: wall calendars, posters, brochures); 1.4 Local activities regarding animal protection (involvement in maintenance, feeding, walking and training of pet animals retained the animal shelter.

2) Creation, development and management of a center for bolstering young journalists 1.1 Making deseign's video reports - photographic and drafting / posting them by volunteers (4 documenting each 15 minutes each, from different perspectives on the tragedy of dogs and cats abandoned by owner) 1.2 Creating and managing project web site; 1.3 Making a magazine for the project (at least 2 numbers and 4 supplements); 1.4 biweekly courses in journalism and computer processing of data at the local Voluntary HO, developed in the context of the overall theme proietului "companion animal welfare." In the course delivered / received by EVS volunteers will be conducted numerous experiments in community journalism hosting and around it, and at the end of the internship will be a public presentation of the results. Together with young people in the local community, volunteers will set up a Centre for Young Journalists Activities Encourage, where they make video reports, photographs and articles published in the Journal of the Action and the local and national media about the activities of the Animal Protection Club Volunteer. During their training period, volunteers will conduct at least 12 video reports and photographic reportage 7 and 2 issues of the magazine internship. 3) Own Initiaves and other tasks 3.1 During project will ASIG, compliance with the rules set out in the document "EVS Agreement"; 3.2 Mandatory participation in training modules and assessment-PDT, OAT, MTM, FE and training measures initiated by trainers project; 3.3 Demonstrate appropriate behavior correlated with general landmarks hosting community; 3.4 Prohibition of excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages; 3.5 Measures of risk prevention and crisis management; 3.6 Volunteers will always carry a valid ID; 3.7 Confidentiality of personal data acquired during EVS stage; 3.8 Responsible use of movable and immovable property of the project promoters and community members welcome; 3.9 Participation for the visibility of the current project; 3.10 Active participation in the activities of dissemination and exploitation of project results. Club Volunteers for Animal Welfare aims, among other things, encourage local community participation acivitile by volunteers to save abandoned animals. This center aims at sensitizing the local community and the problems these animals, problems are determined by the indifference of people. Center for Young Journalists Activities Encourage mission is to present the results of volunteers, the problems they have encountered and methods of solving these problems.

Various practical issues - Work hours: 7 hours per day (5 days a week) - Holidays: weekends and legal holidays sites - Holidays: 2 days to every month traineeship (except for the first month when it provided a single day holiday) - Catering: a food allowance will be paid monthly or bimonthly volunteer, volunteers will buy and prepare their products;

All journalistic materials has to be the prove of the volunteers work. Animal Welfare Initiative project is referring at different teaching lessons that the volunteers will gain like: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)
developing / practicing competent leaders and other competencies (knowledge / skills); boosts self-confidence and motivated to develop a balanced lifestyle that will accelerate the personal and social development; provides multiple learning opportunities experimental / non-formal and informal; provides a framework for putting into practice their own initiatives for reflection and (self-) evaluation, offers various opportunities dissemination / exploitation of results and follow-up; develop teamwork capacity; develop attention, ability concentration and learning; develop a better understanding of the importance of respecting sets of rules.

These are the activities that need to be organized during the 9 months of stage. All the activities written have to be accomplished; but there can be modification/switching in the timetable because we depend of the people (major, resource persons, stakeholders etc) from the local community. Also we encourage the volunteers to involve in other activities that can develop themselves and which fit to their hobbies or personality, but only after the daily schedule is accomplished. The volunteers will participate at several trainings: as the On Arrival Training organized by the National Agency from Romania; these training will help the volunteer to:

SEE YOU IN ARAD !!!