First days of EVS in Lisbon (Tom Green).

On January 24th 2015 I arrived in Lisbon to start my journey as a new EVS volunteer at Associação Spin. My project commenced properly on February 9th, but my early arrival allowed me to take some time to familiarise myself with my new surroundings before the project started. I instantly noticed the contrasts between my home country of Wales , and my new home that was now Lisbon. I had left my home in its winter state, murky skies and short cold days. Lisbon seemed so different. I didn’t feel like I had travelled only 2h30m on a short EasyJet flight from my local airport of Liverpool. I saw the bright blue skies and was instantly jolted with the nostalgic thought that summer was on the way.

Lisbon so far has been extremely welcoming. I have done many travels in the past, but the folk of Lisbon are so easy to warm to. Since my arrival I have been treated to some of the local culinary delights that Lisbon has to offer. Whether it is a little Bifana from a street cafe or perhaps some homemade Bacalhau, the city has something to offer any taste. Arriving in a new city and country made me realise what I take for granted when I’m at home, simple things like setting up a mobile phone, finding the metro station I need for work and learning the language are some of the challenges that have arisen.

The first day of my placement was a fun greeting session. We met with all the volunteers that are being coordinated by Spin at the office in Bairro Padre Cruz, on the very edge of Lisbon. It was an enjoyable day, with a full explanation of Spin´s origins, current programs and what the future holds. During the lunch hour we all sat outside and ate together in the sunshine. I have always enjoyed meeting people from all over Europe, so this was a great occasion for that. During my first few days at Spin, I was shown around the complex. This gave an insight into the different departments of the organization, from the office, the hostel and our partners. A meeting was conducted which showed us how the tasks where dictated each day, and how we are supposed to log down our progress. The first tasks included familiarising ourselves with the systems in place at Spin, also creating an email account specifically for the job. One of my first tasks was an English language check-over of a recipe book created by a former international exchange held by Spin. It was interesting to read the dishes and find out more about European tastes. I already have some tasks laid out for the coming days at Spin, including a session organized with the local community to converse in English with them. Spin is involved in some exciting projects, and it feels great to be apart of this for the next 9 months. I’m looking forward to my time in Lisbon, and the learn more about what it’s like to be apart of a NGO like Spin. Adeus!

Tom Green

Testemunho da Olga sobre o curso de formação em Sevilha

Como se dá testemunho de uma semana tão intensa como a que vivi em Sevilha? Não vai ser tarefa fácil de certeza!

“Training + for Youth” foi a minha primeira experiência Erasmus +. Nunca antes tinha participado em nenhum evento, pelo que tudo seria novo para mim. Confesso que estava com algum receio pois nunca confiei na minha capacidade de falar inglês, mas passados alguns minutos, todos os meus medos desapareceram!

E sem medos, tudo é positivo! Este TC era bastante teórico pois o seu objetivo era passar informações acerca do novo programa Erasmus +. E com um tema destes, seria de prever muito tédio! Mas nada disso! Todos se esforçaram para que o tempo estivesse preenchido com atividades dinâmicas e muito tempo para descansar (a famosa “ciesta” espanhola). Não tenho como comparar, mas pareceu-me que a relação entre os vários países participantes foi excelente, o grupo era muito unido e participativo e todos promoviam a integração do próximo!

Trabalho feito por participantes de Alemanha, Turquia, Portugal (eu) e Suécia

A realidade é que foi difícil dizer adeus após uma semana de muita aprendizagem e amizade! E isso só pode significar que a organização Gantalcalá está de parabéns pela maneira como tudo decorreu!
Espero continuar a participar neste género de atividades e aproveitar todas as potencialidades que o programa Erasmus + me poderá trazer!

Olga Azevedo

Novo vídeo da Spin!

Vejam aqui a maravilhosa prenda de aniversário oferecida à Spin pelo nosso voluntário Ângelo! Parabéns ao Ângelo pela iniciativa e também à Spin (pois no final de Fevereiro fizemos 5 anos)!

Aproveitem e partilhem com os vossos amigos! :)

Take a look at the wonderful birthday present that our volunteer Ângelo has made for Spin! Thanks to Ângelo for his great idea and Happy Birthday to Spin (we are 5 years old)!

Enjoy! And don´t forget to share the video with your friends! :)

Fraternité 2020

Fraternité 2020 is a European Citizens Initiative for more EU exchange programmes like the European Voluntary Service or Erasmus. It aims to gather 1.000.000 signatures and thus force the European Commission to propose a legislation in favour of European Union Exchange Programmes (Like Erasmus and EVS). 

Please, DO, take action: Sign and share this Initiative until Thursday, November 22. On that day the European Council will meet in Brussels to decide how much money will be spent on EU exchange programmes for the period 2014-2020, whereas it is still uncertain what the future of those programmes will be from 2014 on.

You may visit the webpage and read the Initiative in any of the official languages of the European Union.

All of you who have participated even in one of those exchange projects you can understand quite well the importance of these in the promotion of intercultural dialogue, in the quest of knowledge, in the effort of understanding ourselves and in a wide range of sectors of people’s lives across Europe and beyond.

Association Spin aligns with this effort and considers it of crucial importance for the future of the Youth in Action and other European mobility opportunities. We would like to emphasize once more that we invite every single person who has attended any of those programmes, either through Association Spin or through any other medium, to join the cause by signing and sharing the news as much as possible.

If you choose English as your desired language you may sign here!

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE UNTIL 22 NOVEMBER!

Erasmus Placement: a Ewa na Associação Spin

My name is Ewa and I am doing the last two weeks of my Erasmus Placement in Associação Spin.  I am very glad that I had such a great opportunity to spend a magnificent time with fantastic people!  My internship was invaluable experience and allowed me to write my own project which I hope will be approved! I really enjoyed coming to Spin’s office and to see my gorgeous tutor and other volunteers. The time here was incredibly fruitful and I learnt a lot! I will come back to Poland with new ideas and excellent experience which I would like to apply in my future endeavors in Poland.

In addition to working in Spin, I had an extraordinary rich social and cultural life. Lisbon is a wonderful place which has much to offer.  Twenty four hours were often not enough considering the variety of ways to spend my free time! People I met here were very open and we had an amazing time together.

My adventure started three months ago, it seemed to me that it is a lot of time. Now, I really regret that the time passed so quickly. Thank you Spin, thank you my friends, thank you Portugal!

Ewa