In July, the children of Slovaks abroad not only improved their Slovak in Slovakia. The program of the Summer School for young compatriots also featured a stimulating lecture on the European Year of Development and the possibilities of its support - for example, in the form of volunteering.
The Center for Further Education (Language and Vocational Training Section for Foreigners and Compatriots) of the Comenius University in Bratislava organizes the Summer University in Modra-Harmónia every year in July for foreign Slovaks from Ukraine, Hungary or Serbia. It is an educational event for young compatriots - secondary school students, speaking Slovak, who may be studying at universities in Slovakia in a few years.
Their rich program, full of indoor and outdoor activities and improvement of the Slovak language, included a visit to the Representation of the European Commission in the Slovak Republic in mid-July, and above all a lecture on the goals and activities of the European Year of Development in Bratislava's European Information Center (EIC). We have to start with ourselves
Two students from Serbia, six from Hungary and nine from Ukraine, aged 17-19, learned at the EIC during the lecture information about the functioning of the European Union (EU), about study opportunities through the Erasmus+ program, but the core of the lecture was information about the European Year of Development - about its goals, activities and opportunities for involvement. Few people realize that the EU is the largest provider of development aid in the world. Thanks to the commitments of EU member states to official development aid - the contributions lead to an improvement in the quality of life of approximately 1.2 billion people in the world's poorest countries. The program countries where Slovakia implements its development cooperation projects include Kenya, Afghanistan, Moldova and South Sudan.
The year 2015 is crucial as the European Year of Development for several reasons. This year, the deadline set by almost two hundred countries at the UN for the fulfillment of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will expire. From autumn, the original eight MDGs will be replaced by the new 17 Sustainable Goals. Finally, more people are realizing that understanding and fulfilling the given goals is not only about so-called countries. Third world. It is important that we do not hide behind some larger group, but that we start from ourselves - the slogan 'think globally, act locally' is not a phrase, it must be taken really seriously.
According to the results of the Eurobarometer survey on the European Year of Development (ERR2015), up to 89% of Slovaks did not know that 2015 was declared the European Year of Development. It is interesting that up to 53% of respondents in the Slovak Republic agree that the fight against poverty in developing countries has a positive effect on EU citizens as well. Up to 83% of EU citizens think it is important to help in developing countries - countries with lower incomes. At the same time, 44% of EU citizens do not know where their money is going and how their money is used (their country's contributions as part of official development aid).
During the lecture, the young participants of the Summer School for expatriates asked how the European Year of Development can be supported, or how to join it. All you have to do is think a little and come up with something simple. Some students mentioned that their parents buy Fair trade products. Fair trade, supporting local food production or visiting farmers' markets are, of course, considered good ideas. Other students mentioned sorting waste and saving resources. Another possibility is self-education (acquiring knowledge in the field of international development) or active involvement in the activities of community centers or non-governmental organizations - volunteering.
Development volunteer opportunities
The participants of the summer school for young compatriots in the Slovak Republic correctly defined volunteering as the activity of people who voluntarily and without financial reward are involved in a specific project for the benefit of someone/something else. Long-term volunteering at home or abroad can positively change a young person's ranking of values and plans for the future (not to mention the acquisition of new skills, experience, language skills or contacts).
Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 can experience volunteering in the EU, but also in selected developing countries through the European Voluntary Service (EVS), financed from EU resources. For experienced experts over 30 years of age, there is, for example, a Program for sending volunteers to developing countries within the framework of official development assistance of the Slovak Republic, which is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Slovak Republic. In 2014, as many as 11 Slovak institutions sent 43 people on a 3-6-month development cooperation project to 16 developing countries (half of the experts were sent to Kenya). This mostly involves participation in projects in the field of social work, community development, health care or education (providing services to the local community, conveying know-how, passing on experience).
Whether a person is in their thirties or later, they can still pass on their experiences and, on the contrary, gain others precisely through development volunteering.
Text: Bozena Markovič Baluchová