Smokinya Club

Since July the Smokinya Club is progressing and we are happy to have weekly meetings during the evening to share and invite the young people of the community to have a good time around fun activities.
 

Here's a quick plan of what happened in March, and what's coming up in April!

As you know, in Smokinya Foundation we work with international volunteers in order to help youth to find European opportunity and now, we are looking for young people who want to get new working experience as an intern in an interesting environment by making their first step to a career of their dream! If you join us, you will be introduced to the organisation and will be trained how we work. You will be supervised and mentored in a way to set your own goals and learn, practice, develop and master some important life skills and competencies; team work, cooperation, learning to learn, time management, communication and coaching skills, project initiation from A to Z and much more! It sounds great, right? Then click in the following link and become part of the team!

In Smokinya Foundation we know if you are here reading these words, it is because you are interested in the European Union and what is happening there. For these reasons, and taking advantage the European Year of Youth, we are more than convinced that you will find the following tips provided by the Eurodesk platform about how to find and apply to opportunities abroad particularly interesting. So do not wait any longer and take a look now! And if you have not heard about Eurodesk, do not worry, click on the button and discover a new horizon of possibilities!

What about spending five days in Austria surrounded by people from more than eight different countries? Are you interested in improving and developing your entrepreneurship skills? Then this is for you! Apply now to this Youth Exchange and start to learn about self-awareness and resolution strategies for personal and professional challenges, intrinsic motivation, teamwork and decision-making techniques. Hurry up, vacancies are flying!

Writing and project management, organisational skills, conflict resolution, team building... These are all highly valued skills in today's job market. However, there is another characteristic extremely demanded by employers in most sectors that is difficult to have, and even more complicated to acquire; Leadership. Now, thanks to the Erasmus+ Programme you have the opportunity to participate in a 9-day Training Course abroad specially focused on personal development through self-reflection, ingenuity, responsibility and self-knowledge, as key points that will show you the way to improve your leadership skills and become a true leader in your professional and personal life. In addition, it is also available in April, June and July in the Czech Republic, France and Hungary, respectively. It is time to make a change, apply now!

The world we live in is in danger and change is needed. Not in a decade, not in five years, but now, today. For this reason, we at Smokinya are very happy to announce the opportunity to participate in an eight-day training course in Argos (Greece), focused on supporting youth workers to understand climate change and empower them to take action to become climate friendly, thus making the first steps of creating a climate campaign and becoming a climate changer. So if you care about renewable energy, pollution and global warming, maybe this could be the experience that will help you personally and professionally change your life. Apply now!

Green fields, high mountains, quiet lakes, welcoming people... That's the image that comes to mind when you think of Slovenia, and now you can make it a reality! According to the European Solidarity Corps programme, there are some vacancies open at Zavod Bob, a youth centre located in Ljubljana, to work there as a long-term volunteer. Promotion of non-formal education, personal and professional growth, ecological awareness and natural balance are some of the topics and tasks the chosen applicants will be involved in during this unique multicultural experience abroad. How does it sound? Check our website for more details, we promise it will be worth it!

Europe is bursting with opportunities thanks to the European Year of Youth, and Slovenia is on fire! In addition to the above ESC project, Zavod Bob has announced that they are also looking for long-term volunteers for a digital position, interested in logistical and technical support, social media management, digital photo and video editing and online content development. So if you think your profile and above all your taste go in the same direction get ready because this professional adventure starts very soon. What are you waiting for? Apply now! 

Are you a social worker or are you interested in working with people with disabilities abroad? Because if the answer is yes, you are in luck. AMPROS, a non-profit organisation, is offering you the opportunity to work with them for eight months on social activities as a European Solidarity Corps volunteer. And if helping people in need of support is not enough motivation, let us tell you that the project will take place in Santander, one of the most beautiful regions on the northern coast of Spain. Click on the link below and join them today!

Do you like to travel? Maybe you think your future lies abroad? Or do you just like to have fun in good company? Then you are in luck, because our international team has recently created "Smokinya Poadcast", a digital and online radio show that will touch on many different youth-related topics such as employment, entrepreneurship, studying and working abroad, life experiences and much more. During this first season, we will talk about volunteering and the European Solidarity Corps with Valentina, David, Vicky, Svitlana and Loïs as representatives of this programme in Plovdiv. Are you going to miss the opportunity? Click on the button below and enjoy, learn and laugh.

Every day we hear about European institutions, bodies and agencies, EU legislation, economics and policy that have a great influence on national development in all Member States. But what do we really know about the European Union and how it works? In order to provide our followers with the right information to answer their questions and satisfy their curiosity, we at the Smokinya Foundation have organised a programme of fun facts about the EU that we will publish on our social networks twice a week. Keep an eye on our stories and learn while having fun!

In Smokinya Foundation we defend that another world is possible, a better place that works for everybody out of love, care and cooperation, and we are pursuing that goal. Nevertheless, we cannot do it alone despite the effort of our international crew and the inestimable confidence of our followers. Thus, during the last weeks our volunteers, with the help of our new interns, have been visiting as many places around the city to spread our vision of the world and try to move people to participate in our cool activities. It has been funny and rewarding, and actually not so difficult; when people see the pictures of our guest laughing and enjoying every Thursday in Smokinya Club, all of them want to join us!

We all live so focused on our daily routines at work, we are so busy with our business, that sometimes we do not take a break wen we need it to breath, think and ask ourselves; is this what I really want to do? For these reasons, and regarding the celebration of the International Day of Happiness on 26 March, Smokinya decided to take our cameras and mics, going to the streets of Plovdiv and just ask our neighbours one of most simple and deep questions ever. “What makes you happy?” We could advance you the answers, but we believe you will enjoy watching them by yourself and wondering you the same question. Maybe you will realized about something that you do not expect!

Determined to help those people who need more support, Masha, our motivated volunteer from Saint Petersburg keeps on working every week with Parallel’s World, a very active association located in our city of Plovdiv where young people with different kind of disabilities learn, play and fight for a better world which fits for everyone. In this way, Masha has prepared many teamwork games related to music, dance, drawing and physical exercise to show everyone that being different does not mean nothing bad! Besides, they only problem is that they have such a big heart that is difficult to leave them after the events.

Taking care of environment is a common duty more important now than ever, regarding the global warming and the serious fight against the climate change. As you know, in Smokinya Foundation we are firmly compromised with the EU strategy for 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals, which drove us to take the lead in Plovdiv and try to make a change, a real and visible one, starting locally. In this way, our crew planned a cleaning event to pick up as much rubbish as possible from the riverside of Maritza River aiming to become this polluted part of the city in a green safe area where children, young people and the elderly can spend their time in a healthy way now that the Spring is here and the Summer time is getting closer. We thought of it and we did it, but it could have not been possible without the strength and neverending support from our international followers, who took the same gloves and bags than us to make the world a bit better.

The secret of a good life is not so complicated; fresh food, good company, sleeping well, exercise your body, have a future goal and laugh as much as you can. In other words, healthy mind in a healthy body. Regarding this, from Smokinya Foundation we though that the best formula to offer this option to the youth was to organise a public event in the open, so we did it! Thanks to Masha and her background as a personal trainer, all our working staff and for sure, our beloved followers spent a beautiful Saturday morning dancing, moving and socializing with our free Zumba class in the Maritza riverside, were surrounded by the spring smell and good people, they found the appropriate balance for a fantastic mood. Do not less the next one!

There is nothing as magic as the end of Winter cold and the arrival of life with the first flowers of Spring. Regarding this beautiful moment of the year, in Smokinya Foundation we organised a very cool activity where our participants could learn not only about deep and ancient Bulgarian and Slavic traditions like Baba Marta, but also have fun together by preparing their own handcrafted Martinitza bracelets while developing new personal ties between them and our team of volunteers. It was a Spring event that for sure they will never forget!

It can look be easy to socialize with other young people but… Is it really so simple after the consequences of these times of pandemic and isolation? We already know the answer, and precisely because of that Vicky, our Austrian volunteer decided to accept the challenge and prepare an amazing event for one of our Smokinya Club. This time, our followers had to deal with different games which forced them to open their minds, listen and not only hear what the others say about themselves and above all… Be engineers! It can sound strange, but if you want to make an egg fly, you must change the need into an opportunity for imagination. If you do not know what we are talking about do not worry, come to the next event and find it out. For now, let us say they need to reinforce their knowledge about physics.

If Smokinya Foundation is known for something, it is precisely for its international nature. We work everyday shoulder to shoulder with people from all Europe, with different cultures, life perspectives and academic backgrounds, which helps us to grow and advance. However, despite our travelled minds, sometimes is really complicated to live free of stereotypes and that is why our volunteer David decided to plan an activity focused on breaking all the fake prejudices, besides contextualising the true ones. In this way, our guests laughed, enjoyed and made new friends for two hours thanks to drawing and quiz activities, but they also learnt a lot! Nothing like a dose of reality to widen our thoughts and release them from previous ideas.

All of us have little poet inside our heart, someone who move us to be better people, to rethink about life, love and freedom and who make us feel happier when we are sad. For these reasons, the Smokinya team thought it would be a nice idea to celebrate a literature evening taking advantage of our already famous Linguistic Coffee. In this way, our dear guest came to the office to spent a magical time in a warm international atmosphere where they recited the most beautiful poems from their own countries at the same time they tried to explain its meaning using drawings and mime. An encouraging, inspiring and cultural activity that seein the smiles in people’s faces, we have to repeat again!

April 2022
 

April can be a month where the weather is unpredictable; rain, wind, cold, heat, sun... However, what is certain is that at Smokinya Foundation we have prepared a lot of fantastic activities and events that you cannot miss. Conflict resolution, artistic drawing, communication and culture are just some of the topics that we will deal with. Be ready because the party starts now!