Volunteering Project

Information Pack

Dear participant of the ESC Volunteering Projects

It will be a pleasure welcome you in Palermo and join the activities related to the ESC
Volunteering Project “Be Present 2.0”. With this info pack we would like to provide you
with some information that will help you to be prepared for the project as well as for your
arrival and stay in Palermo.
 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Our project will take place in Palermo from March2022 to December 2022 and will last 9 months.
It is expected to involve 6 young people between 18-30 years (2 for each partner organization).
The general objective of our project is to increase the awareness of young European NEETs on the
value of non-formal education, as an instrument of active participation and social inclusion,
providing them with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
The specific objectives of our project are:
- To aim theincrease, the levels of well-being and opportunities for educational growth for
minors from the Ballarò, BorgoVecchio and Zen neighbourhoods of Palermo, in situations
of social, cultural and economic fragility, involving schools, families, third sector and
institutions.Over the years, we have been committed to fighting child poverty in its
educational and training aspects and in the field of social networks, increasing the levels of
civic, political and social participation of minors. civic, political and social participation of
disadvantaged minors and their families.
- To enhance the knowledge and skills of young volunteers on the issue of gender
empowerment, countering all forms of violence and gender stereotypes. For several years
and in different contexts, Per Esempio has been implementing activities that ensurethe
empowerment of women. Both at local and European level we have provided activities
promotingthe autonomy and labour insertion of women from disadvantaged
neighbourhoods with fewer opportunities. We are promoters of socialisation and listening
activities in order to guarantee all-round support.
- To promote the inclusion of young migrants, through: work inclusion; housing autonomy
and creation of stable social network. For years Per Esempio has been committed to
stimulating, in a logic of Community Welfare, the construction of a public-private
partnerships towards the inclusion of young immigrants. On several occasionswe have
accompanied young immigrants in individualised educational, professional and personal
growth paths that aim at autonomy.This is possible thanks to the creation of stable and
lasting conditions that facilitate/allow the permanence of foreign minors and young adults
living alone in the national territory.

We will offer the young participants the opportunity to live an important experience of personal
and professional growth.
The intervention aims to focus on young NEETs to get started of opportunities that may break the
extreme mistrust of young people and trigger a process that brings their vitality and desire back
into play.
The volunteers we want to welcome in our organization will be characterized by a strong will to
collaborate, communicate, get involved, strongly motivated to know the territorial context and its
problems. The selection will take place following a simple and specific criterion: the strong
motivation to work in groups and in difficult socio-cultural and economic contexts.

ACTIVITIES
Volunteers will support our educators in the centres as well as in some local initiatives.
They will be actively involved in the realization of:
- group and individual school support
- artistic and creative laboratories;
- city tours, excursions;
- scientific, artistic, creative laboratory groups in the schools and English course.
They will work in our center to combat gender violence gradually approaching this complex
subject, strongly connected to youth and childhood problems.
They will support the staff in the realization of:
- free game and/or artistic and creative activities in the nursery of the center;
- expressive-creative laboratories addressed to the mothers, focusing on strengthening parental
skills;
- outdoor activities involving families visiting places of historical and cultural interest and sharing a
recreational experience;
- activities carried out in the neighborhood schools.
In the Ludoteca, the volunteers will be involved in activities of:
- support during the reception of the child and parents in the morning;
- support in the administration for breakfast, snack, and lunch;
- free-play activities and / or artistic-creative activities of a manipulative, graphic-pictorial nature;
- psychomotor activities and body awareness;
- outdoor recreational activities for children and their families.
In our office, the volunteers will be engaged, based on their aptitudes and skills, in one of our
"work units": communication, administration, and project management.
Volunteers will also be involved in the design and implementation of different cross-cutting
activities: information banquets, parties and fundraising events, voluntary recruitment campaigns,
city events aimed at promoting issues related to anti-discrimination, social inclusion, integration,
equal opportunities, youth participation, active citizenship, in participatory planning activities,
visibility, and dissemination of project results.
Furthermore, we foresee the involvement of the volunteers in activities carried out by other
realities active in the area, with which Per Esempio has collaborated locally for years.

Before the mobility, the volunteers will receive by the Sending Organization a specific preparation
according their needs and learning opportunities and in line with "Training of Volunteers:
Guidelines and minimum quality standards of the European Commission". The pre-departure
training will be needed to evaluate and analyse, together with the volunteers, their motivation,
their fears and their expectations, identifying individual needs. A session will be focused on the
intercultural preparation and crisis management. During the pre-departure training the volunteers
will deepen the knowledge of the European Solidarity Corps program, its objectives, and of a
Volunteering Projects project lifecycle. Some activities will be dedicated to reflect on learning
objectives and become familiar with the Youthpass certificate.
We will provide the “Info Kit for Participants” with the document "What to expect from European
Solidarity Corps", both parts of '' Volunteering Agreement. " The volunteer will get specific
information about the project, in particular about the tasks to be performed, accommodation,
training, and support, but also about the hosting culture, the local community, the Hosting
Organization. Young volunteers will receive support for language training through the online tool
(OLS - Online Linguistic Support) provided by the European Commission.
 REIMBURSMENT INFORMATION
In order to get your reimbursement, please pay attention to the following procedure. Remind to
use always the cheapest solution for any kind of travel.
First of all, keep all the tickets you get to prove your expenses (bus tickets, train tickets, electronic
flight ticket, travel agency reservations, etc.).
Second, keep all your flight boarding passes (round trip flights).
We cannot reimburse you if we do not receive the details and proofs of your expenses.

During the project we will ask you to provide hard copies, please bring it directly with you:

- All tickets, receipts and reservations that proof the amount you have spent
- Boarding passes
- Photocopy of your ID card or Passport

You will live in an apartment in the centre of Palermo (Sicily), near the Central station. The address
is via Cesare Battista 18. You will share the flat with other European volunteers. Please bring with
you some the bed sheets and the towels.
The activities will be realized in different places:
- Per Esempio Ufficio: Piazza Sette Fate, 90134 Palermo
- Centro Donne - Center to fight gender violence: via Rocky Marciano 15, Palermo
- Il Giardino di Madre Teresa: Piazza dell’Origlione 10, 90134 Palermo
- Santa Chiara, Piazza Santa Chiara, Palermo
- Ubuntu, via Fratelli Cianciolo 14, Palermo
- Le Giuggiole, via San Basilio 37, Palermo

The volunteers will be involved in some local activities, carried out by other realities active in the
area, with which Per Esempio has collaborated locally for years.
Of course, activities may change due to the pandemic.

FOOD ALLOWANCE AND POCKET MONEY

You will receive a pocket money for your personal expenses and a money contribution for the
food. The payments of the pocket money will take place more or less on the 15 th of each month
and its amount is 150 EUR per month. Moreover, the volunteer will receive a food allowance of
135 EUR per month. The first payment will take place the following month to the arrival of the
volunteer (04/2022). The money will be given directly to the volunteer by the receiving
organization via a bank transfer, to the Italian volunteer’s bank account. The outbound travel
tickets will be reimbursed after one month from the volunteer arrival, the return one after the
return to home. The maximum total amount for the travel costs is 275 EUR.
 HOW TO REACH PALERMO

 From Palermo airport

Once you are at the Airport, go out and turn right, follow the poster where it is written PRESTIA &
COMANDE’, it is the name of the bus you should take. There is a bus every half an hour and the
ticket costs 6,30 euro. In order to spare money, we suggest you to buy the round trip bus ticket. It
costs 11 euro. You can buy the ticket at Prestia e Comandè desk that you will find before to leave
the airport. After 07:00 pm you can buy the ticket on the bus. The bus takes 50 minutes to arrive
to Palermo city centre, last stop is where you have to get off, Piazza Giulio Cesare/ Stazione
Centrale.

For Further information about the time schedules of the busses see the official website of the bus
company: http://www.prestiaecomande.it/

I wish you to have a good trip, and to have a good arrival in Palermo. See you soon!! Ciao

FROM STAZIONE CENTRALE (CENTRAL STATION) TO THE HOME AVENUE

The accommodation venue is very close to the Palermo Central Station and it is possible to reach it
by feet (see the map above). Anyway a pick-up of the volunteer will be organized by the staff of
the hosting organization, according to their times of arrival.

INFORMATION ABOUT SICILY AND PALERMO

• About Sicily

Sicily (Italian: Sicilia) is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea; along with surrounding minor
islands. It constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, and it is officially referred to as
RegioneSiciliana (Sicilian Region). The island has a typical Mediterranean climate and has a rich
and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine and architecture. It
also holds importance for archeological and ancient sites such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the
Valley of the Temples and Selinunte. To get more touristic information about Sicily visit the
website: http://www.regione.sicilia.it/turismo/web_turismo/

• About Palermo

Palermo is a city in Insular Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the
Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing
an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. It was founded in
734 BC by the Phoenicians as Ziz ('flower') and underwent different dominations (Greek, Roman,
Arab, Byzantine, Norman, Spanish) until the Italian unification of 1860. For that reason, Palermo
has a large and multicultural architectural heritage, in which stand out numerous churches
scattered throughout the city.

Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the
Tyrrhenian Sea. Its population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, while
its metropolitan area is the fifth most populated in Italy with around 1.2 million people. In the
central area, the city has a population of around 650,000 people. The languages spoken by its
inhabitants are the Italian language and the Sicilian language, in its Palermitan variation. To learn
more about Palermo please visit:
http://www.palermotourism.com/datas/Operatori/Download/opuscoli/file/Mich_ENG_b.pdf

• Climate

Palermo experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Winters are mild and wet, while
Summers are hot and dry. Palermo is one of the warmest cities in Europe (mainly due to its warm
nights), with an average annual ambient air temperature of 18.5 °C (65.3 °F). It receives
approximately 2,530 hours of sunshine per year. For the daily weather forecast see the website:
https://www.meteo.it/meteo/palermo-82053

• Phone calls

The national city code for Palermo is 091. If you call from abroad dial +39 091 (…)
 ESSENTIAL ITALIAN SENTENCES AND WORDS FOR TRAVELERS
Italiano Inglese
Benvenuto! Welcome!
ParlaInglese? Do you speak English?
Grazie Thank You
Prego You are welcome
Per favore - Per Piacere Please
BuonGiorno Good Morning - Good Afternoon
Buona Sera Good Evening
Buonanotte Good Night
Come sta? (singular) How are you?
Come state? (plural) How are you?
Miscusi / Scusi Excuse me
Ciao Hello / Goodbye
Quanto costa? How much does it cost?
Arrivederci Goodbye
Dov'è ... ? Where is ...?
Come possoandare a... How can I go to....
Qual è la strada per... Which way for...
Accettate carte di credito? Do you accept credit cards?
Possopagare in anticipo? May I pay in advance?
Posso pagare al check-out? May I pay at check-out?
Il conto, per favore. Check please.
C'è la connessione ad internet nella Is there internet connection in the
stanza/hall/albergo room/lobby/hotel
Fermata dell'autobus Bus stop
Aeroporto Airport
Stazione Train station
Farmacia Pharmacy
No grazie No thanks
Sì grazie Yes thanks

See you in Palermo!!!!