Teams of the Training Camps

In our training camps, the participants orientate for international volunteering and reflect and share their own experiences. Join a camp team!

In a training camp team of Maailmanvaihto, you will get to train your skills as a trainer or in the kitchen work. In it, you also see how a camp is executed and get to know our people.

“It has been very fulfilling to discuss and learn about the differences and similarities in cuisines all around the world” – Essi Laine, member of the camp kitchen team

We organize the foreign volunteers three camps during the voluntary work year: an on-arrival camp in August, a mid-term camp in February, and a final evaluation camp in May. For these camps, we are looking for camp instructors and members of the kitchen team.

For the Finnish ICYE volunteers, we organize a pre-departure training camp in May and a meeting of the returnees in October. For these camps, we are looking for instructors and members of the kitchen team.

What do the camp team members do?

Camp instructors (camps for the incoming volunteers) participate in planning and leading the camp activities and gather for an evaluation meeting after the camp. The team usually meets up 3-5 times before the camp. The camp in August lasts for 10 days and the rest of them for four days (from Thu to Sun).

Coaches (training camp for the outgoing volunteers) lead activities and afterward give small feedback. The training (from Thu to Sun) is usually organized together at the same time as the foreign volunteers’ final evaluation camp. Coaches meet up at least twice beforehand.

Post-return meeting (for the outgoing volunteers) instructors lead activities in the meeting (from Thu to Sun). The instructors meet up beforehand and give out small feedback after the camp.

Members of the kitchen team (all camps) cook the camp’s daily meals and also help the kitchen team leader in planning the menus beforehand. We hope that kitchen team members can stay for the whole camp, but it is also possible to participate for a shorter period.

From Feeding Volunteers to Making a Living

Hungarian Ildikó Lászlóffy came to Finland to volunteer four years...

For whom?

Camp instructor: We hope you have good cooperation and interaction skills as well as enthusiasm and genuine interest in working together. Prior experience in leading camp activities and in foreign cultures is a benefit but not necessary.

Coach: This task requires personal experience in volunteering abroad (preferably outside of Europe) or knowledge about adapting to a foreign culture acquired through other means. The coaches are also required to have skills in leading groups.

People in a circle are playing a game with their hands.

Instructor (for a meeting of the returnees): This task requires personal experience in living in a foreign culture and returning adaptation. We are primarily looking for people who have also participated in the volunteers’ training camp. This task also required skills in leading groups and an interest in the experiences of the volunteers who have recently returned from abroad.

Member of the kitchen team: Basic knowledge of cooking is a benefit, but no special skills are required. Most important is the motivation to cook for a large group of people throughout the camp.

Training?

Camp instructor: The team members will receive instructions on their tasks in the planning meetings. In addition, Maailmanvaihto organizes a camp team training usually in October or November. The training lasts for half a day.

Coach and instructor for the meeting of the returnees: Maailmanvaihto’s secretary general will brief the coaches during the planning meetings or individually at some other time. In addition, we organize a camp instructor training every autumn.

Member of the kitchen team: The aim is to gather the kitchen team members before the camp for a planning meeting in which they will get instructions on their tasks. The leader of the kitchen team informs the team members about practical matters.

How to apply?

Contact us early enough at maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi by sending a free-form description about yourself and your motivation in participating in the camp team. We inform about the upcoming camps in the news section of our website.

Three people are making snowballs outside.

Further information

Programme coordinator Mari Takalo
training camps for outgoing volunteers
+358 (0)44 318 0888
hosting@maailmanvaihto.fi

Secretary General Anni Koskela
training camps for incoming volunteers
+358 (0)50 452 5660
maailmanvaihto@maailmanvaihto.fi