Volunteering Abroad

The search for the perfect project can take time, so it’s worth starting at least three months in advance. You will get access to the database of volunteering projects for which recruitment is currently underway after registering here. When you notice a project which you find interesting, you need to apply by sending your CV and writing a few words about the reason why you want to take part in a given project. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get an answer right away! If the organization likes your application, it will probably invite you to an interview via one of the online messengers and, on the basis of that, will decide whether to accept you for the project. In order to volunteer, you will need a sending organization (such as LEVEL UP, we will gladly undertake this task!). From this moment, you can start preparing for the trip: refining tasks with the host organization, planning the trip and applying for a visa, participate in a pre-departure training organized by the sending organization, packing your suitcases and saying goodbye to your family and friends 🙂

It is worth starting your search earlier, especially when you want to go on a project to a country outside the European Union and the Schengen Area – in this case you have to add the waiting time for a visa, which can last even several months.

The accommodation of the volunteers depends on each project – it is the responsibility of the hosting organization to provide it. Volunteers usually live in an apartment shared with other volunteers or other people, in a dormitory, etc. They can have an individual room or share it with another person. When talking with the host organization of the project you want to apply for, be sure to ask about the housing conditions.

Yes, as part of ESC volunteering, people with fewer opportunities, including those with disabilities, are particularly supported. Therefore, you can count on more support from your sending and hosting organisation, including financial support and/or an assistant.

As a Volunteer you are guaranteed:

• reimbursement of travel costs: the amount of it depends on the distance from your town to the project location;
• food and accommodation: throughout your stay abroad on the project, the host organization is obliged to provide you with accommodation (it can be a room in a larger apartment that you will share with other volunteers, a host family or a dormitory – there are many possibilities) and meals;
• pocket money: its rate is set by the European Commission. You get pocket money every month and you decide what you spend it on;
• insurance: on the basis of an agreement between the European Commission and an insurance company, each volunteer is supported by a group insurance program. So you can easily use health care in the country to which you will go on ESC and do not incur any costs;
• learning the language of the country where you are staying: if you want to learn a language, the host organization is obliged to provide you with language support (it can be carried out in the form of a language tandem, individual lessons with a teacher or a course at a language school);
• a series of trainings: before departure, you are prepared by the so-called pre-departure training (a pre-departure training in the sending organisation). When you arrive at the project site, you take part in the on-arrival training, i.e. a training introducing you to a new cultural and social reality. About halfway through your stay on the project, you participate in the mid-term evaluation, which helps you reflect on what you have already accomplished on the project, what challenges lie ahead of you and how you will manage your career after the end of the project.

After returning to Poland, you meet with your sending organization again for the final evaluation of your project.