ESC in Bitola

The tasks will differ depending on the topic of the volunteering project that the participants would choose. Here are some examples of these topics:

– Art and Culture
– Recycling and Upcycling
– Digital competences
– Quality youth work
– Volunteering and Activism
– Enhancing employability skills of youth

Regardless of the topic chosen, the participants will carry out tasks such as:

• Organizing educational workshops and informative campaigns
• Engage in intercultural dialogue with the local community through different types of activities
• Promote volunteering and active citizenship through the organization of different actions and activities with the local youth
• Work with other local and international volunteers
• Work on the social media pages and website of Sfera international
• Work on Canva and create posters for promotion of their events
• Promote European values and European citizenship.

Young people from 18 to 30 years, who show the following qualities and interests:

– motivation to work with youth with fewer opportunities, coming from a difficult social and economical background or living in remote areas.
– motivation to contribute to the local community development
– interested in working in a multicultural environment
– ability to initiate, develop and implement their own activity ideas.

IMPORTANT: For a project longer than 3 months, the volunteers are required to get a visa for their stay (Eastpackers will help you with this).

Food
The volunteer will receive 110€ as food allowance each month.

Accommodation
The volunteers will be lodged in an apartment not far from the city center, the office and the school where the activities will take place. The apartment is located in an area with good infrastructures and transport connections. The volunteers will be accommodated in a rented apartment, living in single rooms or sharing rooms with participants of the same gender. They will be provided with common areas such as kitchen / bathroom, and they will have access to the internet.

Public transportation that is needed for the volunteering activities will be covered by the organisation. In addition you will receive some pocket money that you can save for longer-distance trips on your free days.

The volunteer will be provided with private lessons in Macedonian language once a week from the first month of the project till the end. The lessons will be interactive and amusing with non-formal methods.

Normal working hours: From 10 am. to 4 pm., from Monday to Friday. The week-end is free and each volunteer gets 2 extra-days of holidays per month.

A typical work week:
Monday: Office work, work on Sfera’s local projects
Tuesday: Office work, work on social media posts and blog articles
Wednesday: Office work and Macedonian Language lessons
Thursday: Work on preparing personal workshops
Friday: Work on preparing personal workshops, Mentor meeting

With more than 100,000 people, Bitola is the second largest city in North Macedonia. It is the university town with several faculties and it has an important student population. The river Dragor flows right in the middle of the city and it divides the old Turkish town from the 18th century in two parts. The beautiful architecture from the 18th and 19th centuries has been preserved in some parts of the city. You can also find nice Ottoman architecture in the form of mosques, covered markets and bathhouses. The main street of Bitola offers many options for going out at night, eating local food and watching the locals go about their daily activities. In summer, there are many cultural festivals with music and art. Above all, the multicultural city gives you a taste of the Orthodox, Islamic and Roma traditions. Thirty minutes’ walk to the south is the impressive site of the ancient city of Heraclea Lyncestis. Founded in the 4th century BC, it has an excavated amphitheatre, baths, basilicas and some impressive mosaics.