What is STAR?
The STAR: Story Tours Alternative Roots project, is a collaborative initiative involving six associations over a period of 30 months. The primary objectives are to enhance organizational and management skills, foster meaningful collaborations between participating countries, create impactful youth programs, and teach participants crucial skills such as budget control, time management, and effective project execution.
The motivation behind STAR stems from the lack of opportunities for young people to engage meaningfully with different cultures and environments. By promoting social inclusion, the program aims to help participants develop leadership skills, understand diverse cultures, and prepare for their future roles. The project enhances partnerships and NGO capacity for impactful youth programs using a digital, inclusive, and sustainable approach. It focuses on developing project management skills, fostering collaboration among partner organizations, researching educational walking tours as a youth development tool, and advocating for policy change.
The associations participating in this project include SCI Italia, SCI Catalunya, Space for Sustainable Development from Jordan, Projekte Vullnetare Nderkombetare from Albania, Center For Intercultural Dialogue Association from North Macedonia, and Volonterski Centar Vojvodine from Serbia.
STAR is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ programme and supported by Agenzia Nazionale per i Giovani
Orsi’s Experience
Orsi is a volunteer from Serbia, particularly involved in the work of the Volunteers’ Centre of Vojvodina organisation. She is currently participating in the STAR project through a three-week job shadowing experience at SCI Catalunya. Here’s a glimpse into her journey:
I am a journalist, currently working for an independent newsroom, and I am also very involved and passionate about community work. I am from Subotica, a city in the North of Serbia, and I’m part of the Hungarian ethnic minority group. I joined the STAR project as part of a job shadowing initiative. My sending association is VC Vojvodina, while SCI Catalunya is hosting me. I am here to learn about the organization’s operations, the work culture, and how activities are conducted. Moreover, I am particularly interested in learning more about how to manage Long Term Volunteering (LTV) programmes, as well as the European Solidarity Corps (ESC).
The job shadowing experiences are part of the project STAR: Story Tours Alternative Routes. In total there will be three people involved in this kind of activity: me, at SCI Catalunya, a participant from Albania at SCI Italia and a participant from Jordan at CID Macedonia.
Orsi and the SCI Catalunya Team
I discovered this project because the VCV’s coordinator mentioned that to me and I thought it was a very interesting and exciting learning oportunity, and because in the future I will have a more active role in the organization. I wanted to learn more about volunteering management, as in the future I would like to be in charge of that for my organization, so I couldn’t miss this chance!
The experience with the SCI Catalunya team was short and intense, but very enriching. I tried to make the most of my time here although it was only twenty days; I received a lot of information and it’s true that I will need some time to process it all, for the long run I will be very useful for my sending organization’s work.
I also had a great time in Barcelona. I met with lots of nice people, and I also had the chance to spend a lot of time with the local ESC volunteer. This was not only helpful for me to learn more about their volunteer experience, but it was also very fun to share time with them and visit the city. I had an opportunity to participate at the Nights of the Museums, so I had a whole night to visit museums and events in the city. From visiting the Sagrada Familia to getting tanned at the beach, my time in the Catalan city will be something I won’t forget.
I also participated in the STAR training in Manresa. The week was intense, but useful since it gave me an insight from the trainers perspectives on how to organize the training at the venue and how to reflect on the team dynamics and needs.I will be an active part of organizing the training in Serbia, and now I feel more confident that I will be useful there as well.
Orsi at the Leadership In Youth Work Training in Manresa (May 2024)
Now that I’m about to get on my flight back to Serbia, I am thinking about what I am going to bring back. For sure, I go back knowing that I deepened my knowledge about international and local volunteering, I had the opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and get to know different organizational cultures and structures, and I know that I have friends in Barcelona that will keep in touch with me.
Moreover, I now have a clearer vision of what our country can do and how to promote youth participation in this project, and I feel very motivated. I know that what I learned is going to be useful for our team in Serbia as well.
Finally, as I usually work from home, I really enjoyed working in a physical office, feeling the warm and enthusiastic atmosphere of the nine people who are part of the SCI Catalunya team.
Fins la propera!
