Kuulutused

Vaunières Prantsuse Alpides

The association Village des Jeunes, the regional delegation of Solidarités Jeunesse in Provence Alpes Côted’Azur, is an informal education association recognized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Through itsactions, the Villages des Jeunes aims to promote :

• The voluntary participation of everyone, especially the youth and the underprivileged, in local, national and international life.
• Local development that keep in mind individuals, the environment and cultural heritage.
• Communication between people from different countries and different generations.
• The concrete construction of peace.

Toward this aim, the association organises short and long-term international programmes, integration actions, trainings, international solidarity actions, and manages three hosting structures in rural environments, including the hamlet of Vaunières.

In the early 1960s, Vaunières was an abandoned village. Thanks to a renovation project and internationalyouth work camps, the hamlet has become an national and international meeting centre. Vaunières is situated 7 km from the village of Saint Julien en Beauchêne at the bottom of a valley in the Alps, at an altitude of 1,200 m. The hamlet is made up of 6 buildings on 80 ha, which allows us to accommodate up to 150 people at a given time.

Collaborating closely with the community of Saint Julien en Beauchêne and the local authorities, the association promotes actions in these areas that foster activities in the following areas:

• Fighting social exclusion: The goal is to have a hosting and meeting centre for people of different social and cultural backgrounds. Vaunières is for many an important passage in their lifetime, a place where citizenship is learned and demonstrated. The centre welcomes many people who are marginalized and in difficult situations, enabling these people to participate in day-to-day life, to maintain and renovate the centre, giving them the possibility to have a role in other people’s lives. Toward this end, every year, the village welcomes many groups, families, young people in difficult situations, isolated people, international volunteers and hikers who come to participate in the life of the hamlet for various periods.
• Cultural action : Thanks to the presence of international volunteers and to the many residents, Vaunières is the ideal place for organising cultural gatherings, artistic projects, concerts, balls, shows, and country parties attended by people from the villages nearby.
• Acting on the local environment : The renovation and maintenance of the site is ongoing, and is the means by which hosted people are led to meet each other and carry out something useful. In 2005, Vaunières began to organize and host international work camps in the surrounding villages in order to support local projects. The revival of this hamlet and the special care given to its maintenance protect the area both from an environmental point of view and from the standpoint of the architectural heritage.

Throughout the year, the hamlet of Vaunières is managed by three permanent employees and a team of volunteers (5 persons including two EVS) who help implement the project. The association also includes 15 administrators and about thirty volunteers who come to help in the organisation of the different activities on a regular basis.

Permanents, volunteers, administrators and hosted public are all responsible for the daily life in the camp, and to ensure that the rules are respected. This means that everybody takes part in the maintenance, upkeep, cleaning and cooking. Volunteers who wish may also attend board meetings.

The association les Villages des Jeunes aims at welcoming different types of people, especially the young and the underprivileged. As the association evolves, the continued presence of volunteers of all nationalities, along with the presence of French people from different social backgrounds has become essential to the association. It ensures an intercultural exchange which is the foundation of our association, and represents an important lever for our local development actions.

The objectives which lead us to welcome volunteers are the following :

• Enhancing current actions and starting new ones;
• Promoting peace by confronting different ideas;
• Proposing a real intercultural exchange to the hosted public;
• Fighting deep-rooted prejudices in the local population through our actions;
• Giving the hosted volunteers the opportunity not only to give but also to be on the receiving end of

exchange as they meet the local population.

The volunteers will participate in the following activities:

• The project/work camps: This category describes the ongoing work that occurs at the farm. It is the area in which education takes place, and where people can exchange through work. It concerns environmental projects (cleaning rivers, clearing brushwood), cultural heritage projects (working on a old Chalaisienne abbey), restoring and improving projects of buildings in villages or in the farm. In agreement with the paid staff, the volunteers who want to may become pedagogic activity leaders on these projects.
• Hosting: The hamlet of Vaunières has space to welcome groups, families and individuals who are on holiday and/or desire to participate in projects. The volunteers will be encouraged to participate in leading these activities (cooking, organising cultural nights, games, hikes in the mountain).
• Cultural activities: We strongly encourage the volunteers to join our team in designing and organising cultural activities which take place in Vaunières or in the nearby villages. The team of the hamlet has put specific tools in place which will enable the volunteers to appropriate this aspect of life on the site. Personal projects are seen as a way to reflection, discovery and personal enrichment for the volunteers, and to this end, after an initial period of settling in, the volunteer will have the chance to carry out one or more individual or collective projects that go along with the goals of the overall project. French lessons can be arranged according to interest.

To take part in this project, the volunteer must:

• have a genuine interest in the proposed activities;
• be willing to live in a group for several months;
• be aware that the hamlet of Vaunières is located on a mountain in a very isolated place.

Volunteer has to pay for her/his own travel costs and insurance but once on the project, we provide food, accommodation.

To take part in this project, the volunteer must:

• have a genuine interest in the proposed activities;
• be willing to live in a group for several months;
• be aware that the hamlet of Vaunières is located on a mountain in a very isolated place.

Project fee: 1759 EEK (includ EstYES membership fee)Volunteer also has to pay for her/his own travel costs and insurance but once on the project food and accommodation is provided.