Dobrovoľníctvo
The River
Volunteering Teams project
24. July - 6. August 2023, Prenčov, Slovakia
Description of project
The River was a 14 days solidarity project focused on topics of climate changes, active citizenship and creativity and culture. 25young people from whole Europe met together for local action – strenghtening theriver banks for prevention of floodings.
Decades of changes in the surrounding country has changed the regime of local small river. In the summer the water often disappear from the surface, while during wet seasson and stronger rains the riverbed is full of later, commiting floodings from time to time.
During this project, young people strenghened the river banks by river stones, deepened the riverbed and build few small damms upstream in the forest, where eventual flooding makes no damage. By this and following educational and artistic activities young people fostered resilience of local community. Artistic activities was focused on site specific theatre and landart.
Result of the project was better protected riverbanks, small artistic gathering/perfomance with educational elements.
What the volunteers experienced
- · How to use the Dragon Dreaming for
working in the teams - Basic and principles of Permaculture
- How to influence society by art
- How to work with water at home, in the city, in the countryside, in the country
- Friendships and Contacts for the future.
What did they get
- Land art, music, theater
- Physical work in nature
- 2 weeks living close to wild nature
- International community environment
- Excellent and tasty vegetarian food
- Lots of fun and deep moments
- An unforgettable experience for a lifetime
Venue
Our organization is located in Prenčov, a small village in the middle of Slovakia, in the region of Banska Bystrica, under the hill of Sitno and surrounded by beautiful natural landscapes. The village has many folkloric houses, a rich cultural heritage and living traditions. Life in the village is strongly connected to the nearby town of Banská Štiavnica. This town is a part of the UNESCO cultural heritage and it is one of the most popular destinations in Slovakia especially in summer, with many cultural events throughout the whole year.
The region of Hont, where we are settled, is mostly rural with a lot of small traditional villages and a beautiful environment, but a lack of work, educational and social opportunities. Sadly, consumerism is becoming the leading motivation thus making traditional, rural methods and crafts slowly disappear. People are losing the relationship and the contact with the soil, nature and with themselves. As a result, rural areas are losing productivity with a rising level of dependence on national budgets or EU grants. The lack of working opportunities leads young people to passivity, migration to cities or abroad which leads to depopulation. We are reacting to this situation with our long-term goal to explore possibilities of sustainable lifestyle in the rural area and the role of the individual within the community . We want to support the process of change in our region towards a modern rural sustainable lifestyle, with an emphasis on interconnecting cities and rural areas.
Volunteer profile
We are looking for volunteers who are willing to participate actively in all the process, who are open to work and learn in a wide range of activities ready to work physically and be responsible for the duties and agreements. We search for volunteers who are looking for living and working in a rural area connected with nature and community, who feel concerned about climate change issues and are willing to learn and live responsibly. We appreciate it if volunteers have some manual skills of using working tools, or other skills needed in rural areas, but it is not required. However some preconditions for rural and community life is needed.
We want to support volunteers in becoming skilled and competent in a variety of tasks that are important for living in rural areas and in a community.
We want to encourage and develop their creativity and entrepreneurship as they discover the potential and the different sources offered by this natural environment in order to enable people to live in a more meaningful and respectful way in rural areas.