With the aim of reaching and recruiting larger numbers of young people and fostering their intercultural and non-formal learning experiences, Maailmanvaihto – ICYE Finland is working to enhance the visibility of long-term international volunteering through social media. Using a creative approach, ICYE and Finnish volunteers will be recruited, trained and supported with tools and opportunities to narrate their stories, adventures and learning processes in and through volunteering in blogs and posts on social media.

The Maailmanvaihto team will also record volunteer experiences in two videos of one minute each, which will trace the volunteers’ experiences month after month through the course of their service period. The videos will be presented at events that Maailmanvaihto hosts and participates in, and also on social media, e.g. YouTube and Facebook.

TIME TABLE:

• 11.-14. of May: (Exact date to be decided.) Publishing the video at the pre-departure training camp of next season’s volunteers. The camp is also a final evaluation camp for foreign ICYE volunteers. The video will be shown to both Finnish and foreign volunteers. It will work as a part of training material for blogging and other sharing of the voluntary work experience.
• 11.-14. of May: Publishing the video online in Maailmanvaihto’s YouTube channel and other social media channels.
• 11.-14. of May: Training the next season’s volunteers for blogging at their pre-departure camp.
• 27.-28. of May: Showing the video at the stand of Maailmanvaihto at World Village Festival, the biggest multicultural, development cooperation and NGO event in Finland.
• Later in the summer the video will be shown in other summer events, which are still to be agreed upon.
• 14. of May until the end of project: Recruiting new bloggers.

EVENTS/ACTIONS:

Making promotion video

Together with the communication work group of Maailmanvaihto, volunteers from Finland and other countries made a video that is featured on YouTube. It was launched at an ICYE camp on the 13th of May during a communication workshop. Based on feedback from the workshop’s participants, a few changes were made and the final video was posted online on the 17th of May 2017.  The video shows volunteers sharing their personal stories from their voluntary work experiences and aims to inspire young people from both Finland and abroad to volunteer with ICYE. The video will be shown at volunteer trainings, at the stand of Maailmanvaihto at World Village Festival in Finland and shared on social media.

See below the video in English. To watch the Finnish version click here: FINNISH VERSION 

Pre-departure/final evaluation camp

On the 11th- 14th of May ICYE Finland/ Maailmanvaihto had a pre-departure-/final evaluation camp for ICYE Volunteers. Attending the camp was 12 Finnish volunteers and 15 international volunteers.

“Pick a word, share a memory”- campaign

During the camp, the volunteers also started a new action in the visibility campaign called “Pick a word, share a memory”. The helped volunteers to reflect on and share their learning experiences as well as to collect ideas and information that could be used in the campaign. The volunteers each picked a word that reminded them of what they learnt during their time as an ICYE or EVS volunteer and then shared a memory. The camp will be shown on Maailmanvaihto’s social media pages during May and June. Here are a few shots of the campaign:

#discover

”For me this volunteer work abroad wasn’t only about discovering a new country and culture but also discovering new parts of myself. Eight months in Ecuador taught me a huge deal of humanity and how a person truly is a product of its environment regardless of where each one of us has grown. Discovering this new reality forced me to look at myself through different eyes, and the impact of a new culture showed me features of myself I didn’t even know existed. How could we ever reach our full potential and find all that we have inside of us if we never left our comfort zone?” – Veera Isotalo from Finland volunteered in a music oriented school for people with special needs in Ecuador.

#opportunity

”Volunteering has been a good opportunity to get to know cultures. I have learned about Finland and my home country as well as Afghanistan since I worked among students with an immigrant background. It has been an opportunity to make a lot of friends. They’re like a family to me. Volunteering has also been a good opportunity to find myself.” – Emika Fuchigami from Japan volunteers in a folk high school in Finland.