Meet Zeynep !
Volunteer at Egyesek Youth Association, in Hungary.
While being a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps in Hungary, Zeynep put in place her own initiative of solidarity : “I am learning my rights! active citizenship and equality workshops.
The project aimed to raise awareness among high school students in Northern Hungary about their rights and responsibilities and to inspire them to become more active citizens within their community.
The project included both practical and theoretical components, and it included a visit to the Hungarian Parliament and the Egyesek Youth Organization’s office in Budapest, as well as three weeks of in-class sessions in Szent Imre High Schoolin Balassagyarmat. In total, the project had four main sessions. The target audience consisted of two classe s: one of final-year students (average age 17–18) and one of second-year students (average age 15–16), a total of 30–35 students. The topics that are focused on during the educational sessions included introductions to concepts such as “equality,” “citizenship,” and “rights”; the study of needs, rights, and wants; the Sustainable Development Goals; and different types of responsibilities, including “personal,” “social,” and “civic” responsibility.
Throughout these sessions, students were encouraged to share their personal experiences, and the session structure often required group discussions, enabling them to learn from each other’s perspectives. For example, in the session on “responsibilities,” students formed groups to list their responsibilities, then switched groups to review others’ lists and discuss the similarities and differences. In the session on the Sustainable Development Goals, each student connected a goal with its definition through teamwork activities. The goal was always to create a comfortable atmosphere for students to openly discuss these topics.
In the final week of the project, the students were allowed to take a day for the trip from Balassagyarmat to Budapest, for the project’s Parliament visit. They had a guided tour of the Parliament building at 11:00. Afterward, they gathered at the Egyesek office in Budapest for lunch, where students had the chance to ask questions about ESC, work camps, volunteering, and more.
“Looking back on it, I think I gained a blend of both hard skills (such as youth work techniques, pro-ject management, capacity building) and essential soft skills (like adaptability, communication,lead-ershipand problem solving). My mini project was also very essential for my further academic career. I have currently started my Master’s degree in Development Studies and with all these skills I have obtained through my mini project, I am now able to able to see even deeper connectionsto what I study.“
This initiative was supported along the CLIC project. C.L.I.C. for “Coordinating Locally in order to Increase More Changes with the European solidarity Corps” is a cooperation partnership we participate in with 9 other like-minded organisations from 9 European countries. Together, we want to increase the impact and the visibility of the European Solidarity Corps in our communities, while providing young people with a strong educational value along their volunteering projects.