Volunteering in Russia 2012
What is “World4U”
History
World4U is a non-profit NGO. It began to exist in 1997-1998 like a group of young enthusiastic people with a vision that international communication among youth has a tremendous potential in raising intercultural understanding, tolerance and creation peaceful life in the world-wide community. In the summer of 2000, Voluntary Exchange Russia World4U started to exist as an official NGO.
Now we are one of the biggest voluntary organization in Russia World4u represents about 2500 creative and bright individuals who are united by the idea of volunteering and cross cultural understanding. We have the partners in many regions of Russia.
Activity& Aims
World4u manages international volunteering exchange - organizes international projects in Russia and sends Russian volunteers abroad. Our aims are:
to promote different types of activities particularly among young people, which help to make our world a better place
to attract wide public attention to the various environmental, social, cultural problems
to promote awareness openness, friendly attitude to different cultures and various life paths
to wide knowledge about various countries and cultures among young people
to incorporate people of different cultures and lifestyles for getting common good experience in multicultural community
to change negative image of Russia in the world
The specialties in volunteering in Russia
Invitation & Visa to Russia
As the most of the foreigners need an entrance visa we recommend international volunteers to send their applications 1 or 2 months before the project begins.
Our organization provides official invitation letter for getting a visa, which we forward by post or fax to thesending organization of a volunteer. Volunteers can visit for a full list of addresses and telephone numbers of Russian embassies and consulates and find there all the rules and necessary documents to apply a Russian visa.
Wide stretches of Russia
It would be quite a blatant remark, but Russia is a truly vast country. Normal average travel distance here is “one night train ride”, which means about 7-9 hours by train in any direction from Moscow, the main railway hub in the west of the country. The train transportation in Russia is cheap comparing to Europe, and we’ll also make estimation on the costs in the travel directions of the infosheet.
Please, appreciate huge Russian distances and plan to arrive in Russia 2-3 days before the project starts to get the meeting point on-time.
Language
Foreign volunteers should be ready that English is far less the case in Russia than in Europe . Also remember, please, in Russia it is used Cyrillics alphabet and the most of road signs has no Latin equivalent
Workcamps Terms:
Our summer international workcamps usually consist of mostly 6-20 international and one or two camp leaders.Most of the time the group of international volunteers integrates into a big group of Russian volunteers.
Camp types:
Most of our camps in Russia are multi-type camps – combining different activities and communication with different people.
RENO – renovation/restoration work, usually connected with masonry, manual work, painting, carpentry and other minor assignments without any special professional requirements
SOCI – social work with socially disadvantaged people/children/orphans
AGRI – work in agriculture, mostly help for monasteries and orphanages. Volunteers work in the gardens, help in harvesting and cleaning the fields, grass cutting, preparing firewood etc.
ENVI – ecological / environmental work – cleaning forest, setting up ecological signs, recycling master classes
KIDS – working with children, usually 5-16 y.o. as animator or organizer of free time activities, games or language workshops
FEST – work as a part of a prep-team / technical group of some festival / celebration / exhibition
ART – project connected with arts and crafts developing activities
Age limits are usually from 18 y.o. and older, without any upper limit, but in some particular projects there can be special age requirements.
Insurance is NOT provided by World4U, but basic medical assistance is always available. Anyway it’s good idea to have all the medicine you are used to from you home country as you know all the weaknesses of your health and what pills normally help you.
Workcamp language of all World4U camps is English, and, of course, the knowledge of Russian is welcome.
List of “World4U” workcamps 2012
Camp Code / Name / Place / Type / Camp DatesW4U01 / The Kings’ Valley-1 / Tyva / ARCH / 31-May / 28-Jun
W4U02 / The trail of Knyazhes Volkonsky / Moscow region / ENVI/CONS / 15-Jun / 6-Jul
W4U03 / The Kings’ Valley-2 / Tyva / ARCH / 30-Jun / 28-Jul
W4U04 / The North theater / Karelia region / LANG/KIDS / 2-Jul / 11-Jul
W4U05 / “L&L” –Share your Love and Light / Samara / ANIM/KIDS / 6-Jul / 26-Jul
W4U06 / Golden cupola / Yaroslavl region / RENO / 9-Jul / 3-Aug
W4U07 / Voluntary Forest Firefighters Camp / St.Petersburg region / ENVI / 15-Jul / 5-Aug
W4U08 / The Kings’ Valley-3 / Tyva / ARCH / 30-Jul / 26-Aug
W4U09 / Sacred Island-1 / Valaam Island / AGRI / 12-Aug / 2-Sep
W4U10 / Sacred Island-2 / Valaam Island / AGRI / 2-Sep / 23-Sep
W4U-01 Expedition field camp «The Kings’ Valley-1» (Tyva)
31 May - 28 June or 02 June -30 June 2012 (there will be two excavations sites next each other, the work in the second sites starts two days later),ARCH/HIST;30 int. vols; 170 Russian vols; age 18-30
Language: English, Russian is welcome
Location:Siberian Federal district, the Republic Tyva (between the city of Kyzyl and the town of Kuragino).
Tuva is an ancient land of herdsmen and nomads. Stone, clay, ferruginous slit, ringing tile, salt, tin, bronze… Whistling arrows of countless armies… The Scythian, Sarmatians, Turkic people, Uigurs, Kyrgyz… The largest center of shamanism in the very heart of Asia – at the crossroads of the times and worlds. The mysterious land of Tuva, so alluring and beautiful. Eternity, silence and men…
Here you can find monuments of different historical periods - from early man sites to mysterious medieval towns. This land is well known to archaeologists and historians around the world. A lot of nations migrated across these territories since the Paleolithic period. Archeologists found here unique multilayer sites of the late Stone and Bronze Ages and the oldest monuments of the Stone Age created 200-100 thousand years BC. In 2006, they found a tomb that was about 2700 years old.
Work:The expedition is closely related to the construction of the railway route that will connect Kyzyl - the capital of the TyvaRepublic - and the transport nodal point of Kuraginio in the KrasnoyarskTerritory.
Before the railway building, scientists studied the construction area and detected more than 80 archeological monuments and objects (burial mounds, sites, petroglyphs) in various parts of the territory. All these objects belong to different times – from the late Stone Age up to the ethnographic epoch – and are of a great scientific interest. Some of them are situated right on the construction site.
30 international and 170 Russian volunteers will take part in the expedition. Volunteers will be involved in archaeological excavations and geographical studies under the guidance of professional historians, archaeologists and geographers.
Free time activities:The daily camp life also includes research and education activities (excursions, lectures, meetings, lessons in different languages), cultural events and entertainments (discos, fests, and evenings of amateur performances), sports classes and competitions.
Accommodation:Participants will live in tents in special expedition field camps equipped with everything necessary for life and work. There will be a field kitchen (meals 3 times a day will be provided), bathing tents, medical and rescue teams.
Transportation:Participants will assembly in Moscow on 31nd of May or 02nd of June (depends on camps dates volunteer had chosen) in the morning. Then they will be taken to the city of Abakan by plane and after that to the camp sites by bus. Volunteers come back to Moscow after the camp on 28th or 30th of June in course of day.
Transfer from Moscow to the camp site and back to Moscow will be covered by the grant of the Russian Geographical Society. Foreign volunteers have to pay only the transfer from their country to Moscow and back from Moscow to their country.
Requirement:! The most important thing is that the expedition participants should be vaccinated against encephalitic mite before camp.
The applications can be submitted by students, postgraduates and young scientists under 30. Students of the archaeological, historical, geographical department are preferable.
Candidates should have no medical contra-indications, be interested in the expedition work and be ready to work in the field.
W4U-02 “The trail of KnyazhesVolkonsky” (Moscow region)
15June -06July 2012; PENO; 10-15int. vols; age 18 +
Language:English; French and Russianare welcome
Location:Sukhanovo is the former manor of the nobility, that was owned by the family of knyazhes Volkonsky. Among the members of this family there were great Russian generals, who took part in the war with Napoleon in 1812 year, One of them was used by Lev Tolstoyas a prototype of knyazh Andrey Bolkonsky in the novel"Warand Peace."
Now "Sukhanovo" uses as holiday center. The mainor is under the oversight of the Russian Union of Architects, which makes some restoration work on its territory.
"Sukhanovo" is aparadisefor those wholove antiquity and nature. It is situated in the forestarea on thepicturesque banks ofthe cascade of three ponds. The heart of the estate is unique architectural monuments: palace of knyazhes Volkonsky, family’s crypt, guesthouse, kitchen wing. There is a colorful apple garden, springs with pure drinking water and a tennis court.
This magical placeis locateda few kilometers south of Moscow,between citiesPodolskandVidnoye.
Work:Threespringson the territory of the estate need to be restored and equipped.
These springs give pure drunken water, which is used by local people.
The work of volunteers will consist in cleaning and strengthening of the watercourse, arranging the ramp to the springs , constructing the footbridges for taking water. As the workwill run in the forest area, it is necessaryto bringmosquito spray.
Accommodation:Dormitories(2-4person),toilet and showeron the floor,three meals a dayin the canteen in five minutes' walkfrom the workplace(vegetarian food is possible).Moreover a separate kitchen may be used by volunteers for theevenings of national cuisine and gatherings with tea.
Free time activities:On the territory of the estate volunteers may enjoy playingtennis or billiards, walkingin the forest, swimmingin the pond, fishing, warming up in the sauna.
In the evenings national cuisine parties, bonfires with the talesabout the history of the estate and the Volkonsky’s family, visits in theoldfamilylibrary,
Excursions to Moscow(Red Square and other attractions including night Moscow ) will be organized.Moreover volunteers might share different activities with the students ofthe ArchitecturalUniversity.
Requirements: Nospecial skills are required,but high motivation and interest in Russian history.
Transportation:From any airport/railway stationin Moscowabout 40 minutesby subway, then 15 minutes by bus ortaxi
W4U-03 Expedition field camp «The Kings’ Valley-2» (Tyva)
30 June - 28 July or 02 July-30 July 2012 (there will be two excavations sites next each other, the work in the second sites starts two days later), ARCH/HIST; 4 int. vols; age 18-30
Language: English, Russian is welcome
See the description in W4U-01
W4U-04 «Northern Theatre» (Republic Karelia)
2-11 July 2012, LANG/KIDS; 4 int. vols; age 18+
Language: English, Russian is welcome
Location:Karelia is a unique area of Russia where outstanding natural beauty meets a great cultural heritage, included into the UNESCO list. Pitkyaranta is a district centre of republic Karelia. The town is pretty close to the border, so long time ago this territory belonged to Sweden, then to Russia and later to Finland. Changing of the countries and people have led to interesting mix of cultures in this region. High steep rocks together with coastal water-meadows, pine forest that grow on meager soil, and dense broad-leaved trees and tillage together with fresh groves present beautiful contrasting nature. With its rich nature this area is considered to be the best in Russia for hiking and hunting.
Work:This project is for those who love kids and would like to spend lots of time with them, as all the activities are based in local school. Volunteers will give master-classes of English and other languages for kids, so that they can improve their language skills and learn about different countries the volunteers are coming from. Other part of the work will be preparing a theatre-play in English with local kids, so by the end of the project volunteers could give the performance. We will be busy 5-6 hours a day, but time will be split between morning master classes and evening events.
Accommodation:Participants will live in the well-equipped school or in a hostel. There is a toilet and a shower. In the evenings we can go to a traditional Russian sauna “banya” placed in the same building. We will cook breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served in the canteen.
Free time activities:First you will have a pleasure to observe “white nights” – a very special northern phenomenon, when it is twilight during the night. We will have evening program in the sphere of international communication: meetings with locals, sport activities, outdoor games, fishing, swimming and boating – we have a beautiful lake nearby (the Ladoga lake is the biggest lake in Europe). We can visit Ruskeala marble canyon and Natural park “Ladozhskie shkhery” which landscape was formed by a glacier in the ice age. And depending on group decision we can also visit Valaam island with the monastery which is one of the most important holy places in Russia and attracts thousands of pilgrims.
Distance from Moscow:14-16 hours by train from Saint-Petersburg to Petrozavodsk, then 3-4 hours by bus or by car to Pitkyaranta
Or from Saint-Petersburg – 8-9 hours by bus to Pitkyaranta.
W4U-05 “L&L” - Share your Love and Light (Samara)
2-20 July 2012; KIDS/CULT;10 int. vols; 18 +
Language: English, Russian is welcome
Location:Samara Region is situated in the midland of Russia. Long rows of Zhiguli Mountains stretch along the biggest river in Europe - Volga. Samara was founded in 1586 and nowadays the city is famous for its cultural life and as one of the spiritual centers of Russia with lots of monasteries, churches and chapels.
Work: This project was designed for those who like to spend time with kids. Every day (except weekend) international and Russian volunteers will go to different children orphanagesand summer camp in Samara region with animation program, prepared by themselves. This project is a chance for Russian children to get a glimpse of different cultures, and,on the other side, to show Russian culture to foreign volunteers.
Accommodation: Comfortable rooms for 3-4 persons in a student hostel of Samara State University of Economics. Meals 3 times a day + coffee break in the hostel, children camp or in the student’s cafe depending on the program of the day. The group will be responsible for cooking breakfast and dinner.
Freetime activities: Local student organization has prepared a great sightseeing program, you will visit the Bunker of Stalin, Volzhskaya Hydro Power Station, beautiful national park “Samarskaya Luka” and so on. There will also be interesting lections about Russian culture.
Transportation: The nearest terminal is in Moscow. From Moscow you can come to Samara by train (time spent traveling 14-16 hour).
W4U-06 “Golden cupola” (Yaroslavl' region)
9 July -3 August 2012; 15 int. vols; 18 +
Language: English, Russian is welcome
Location: Yaroslavl isone of the beautiful cities of “Golden Ring” of Russia. The Golden Ring (Russian: Zolotoye Kol’tso) is a number of towns surrounding and including Moscow. Yaroslavl is located250 kilometres northeast of Moscow at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. Yaroslavl is a city with 1000 history.Itshistorical part is one of the World Heritage Sites.Population of city is 606,000 people.
Work:This project is a part of Social renovation program, which isorganized by regional government and has been running since 2004. During that period the following objects had been repaired by the volunteers: the Orphan home (2009), the House of mercy (2009), pensioner’s apartments, parks of 1000 anniversary of the Yaroslavl city (2010).
This year volunteer will continue to repair pensioner’s apartments and the other social objects (the socially-rehabilitation centers, schools, monuments of architecture. Volunteers will work together with Russian participants of the camp. Work 6-8 hours a day except 1 day in week.
Accommodation:Volunteers will live in the dormitory, located not far from the work place, 4-6 people in the room, toilet and bathroom on the floor.Meals 3 times a day will be provided by the school canteen (food is not vegetarian).
Free time activities: Volunteers could enjoyswimming in the Volga river, the beach is not far from campsite, hiking around the camp’s area, where are many churches, beautiful nature landscapes and the other place of interest, make picnics. Volunteers could visit the Yaroslavl during the days off.
Transportation: 4 hours from Moscow by bus or train.
W4U-07“VoluntaryForest Firefighters Camp”
15 July –05 August 2012, ENVI, 4 int. vols, 18+
Language: English, knowledge of Russian would be helpful
Location:Ladoga is one of the biggest fresh water lake in Europe. It is situated in the Republic of Karelia in the north-west of Russia. The islands of the lake have unique vegetation. It is home for many rare species animals and birds.
The Ladoga’s skerries suffer from forest fires in summer time. It is great problem, because it takes several hundred years for a burnt island to recover fully from fire.
We welcome to join us anyone who would like to make a difference in the situation with forest fires on Ladoga and at the same time have a holiday in one of the most beautiful places in the Republic of Karelia.
The camp is based on the island Pieni-Hepposaari. It is organized by the Voluntary Forest Firefighters Society which yearly sets up a camp on the shore of lake Ladoga and takes care of the islands and forest around