Europe Cares is a young and growing humanitarian organization supporting people on the move and standing up for human rights at the European external borders.
On Lesvos, we operate the community center Paréa Lesvos located within walking distance from the CCAC (or Mavrovouni refugee camp). The center offers a safe space where residents of the camp, locals, and international people can meet freely to spend time in a peaceful environment with many recreational activities and sports, a Women Space, a cafeteria with free drinks and daily lunch. Our center hosts another 10+ partner organizations offering a wide range of services to our visitors including MHPSS, legal support, NFI distributions, informal education and integration support.
Our Child Friendly Space Volunteer is responsible for supporting the Protection Officer for the activities in the Child Friendly Space (CFS). Alike other volunteers, you might be involved in the other programs run by Europe Cares in Paréa depending on our capacity.
The full-time volunteer role is based in Lesvos, Greece. We are looking for these volunteers on a recurring basis.
The main tasks involve:
- Designing and facilitating the activities in the Child Friendly Space, with children aged 3 to 5;
- Organizing activities for children over 5 years old, including arts & crafts, music, sports, games;
- Distributing snacks and lunches to the children in the Child Friendly Space;
- Participating in bi-weekly program meetings, with the supervision of the Protection Officer and the Project Coordinator.
And depending on our capacity and needs:
- Running the Café & lunch distribution;
- Running our daily programme of activities in Women Space and Paréa Club, including arts, music, sports, self-care workshops, etc.;
- Joining our security team to provide help & guidance to the visitors;
- Helping organizing tournaments & community events;
- Contributing to the maintenance and development of the center.
What we are looking for:
- At least 20 years old
- Fluent in English & (ideally) any context-related language (French, Greek, Farsi, Arabic, etc.)
- Able to commit for (at least) 8 weeks
- An enthusiastic team-worker
- Open-minded, flexible, & cross-culturally aware
- Aware of the refugee context & (ideally but not necessarily) with previous experience in working with people on-the-move
- Able to provide a clean Criminal Check Record
- Committed to respecting our Code of Conduct & policies
- Educational background in relevant fields of study (social Work, pedagogy, psychology, child care) and/or previous experience working with children with age group of 3 -12 years
- Experience working with children from vulnerable communities is a huge advantage.
What we offer:
We want to make your time as a volunteer as safe and valuable as possible. Our Volunteer Coordinator will be there to support you during your stay. Our volunteer program includes:
- Endless amount of coffee, as well as daily breakfast and lunch during working days;
- Support finding accommodation on the island;
- Induction session on humanitarian field work & the context on Lesvos, as well as training sessions on child protection, safeguarding, safety, the Greek legal system, psychological first aid, etc.;
- Regular focus groups & team building activities with our team;
- Monthly individual check-in chats with our Volunteer Coordinator;
- Bi-weekly Sharing Circles open to all the volunteers;
- A week off every 8 weeks (for volunteers staying longer than 8 weeks);
- A wide network of partner organizations to learn & be inspired by;
- Recommendation letter (upon request);
- 100 EUR reimbursement every 4 weeks (only for volunteers that commit for a minimum of 12 weeks);
- An inspiring community of alumni you can stay in touch with after leaving the island.
We are looking forward to your application!
How to apply
You can apply at any time through the application form on our website. Please specify from when you would be available to start and that you are interested in joining as a Child Friendly Space Volunteer.
We consider all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We strongly encourage qualified people with a refugee background to apply.
Please note that Europe Cares cannot provide documents to enable your stay – we can only accept applicants who do not require a visa or residence permit to stay in Greece.
