Co-funded: European Union, Erasmus+ Program – Key Action 1, Mobility of young people
Period of the project: 01.03.2018 – 31.08.2019
Mobility dates: 12 months, 01.05.2018 – 30.04.2019
Place: Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
Context: P.O.D. Association has been tackling the subject of a healthy lifestyle for a while now, both with activities at local and European level. We have organized a few awareness activities regarding healthy lifestyle for the local community of Puerto de la Cruz, but we think that a more constant approach will be more effective in order to address these problems:
– High level of obesity in the Canary Islands – mostly among young people and young adults
– Eating habits based on sweets, fried and greasy food- Substance abuse among young people
– Lack of physical activity and sports practicing
– Low interest and attention given to body weight and how it affects ones’ health at a national level, in schools, in families etc. (something that leads to heart problems, weight problems, neurological problems – spine deficiency for example)
Through this project, we aim at improving the quality of life of local youngsters from Puerto de la Cruz through education and sports. We want to use non-formal education, to give a fun approach to sports and healthy lifestyle and promote it among the youngsters.
Objectives:
1. Offering opportunities for developing personal and basic professional competencies (communication, teamwork, time management, self-organizing) to one volunteer for a period of 12 months.
2. Equipping the volunteer with specific knowledge about a healthy lifestyle for a period of 2 months.
3. Equipping the volunteer with specific competencies for using non-formal education methods in raising awareness for a period of 2 months.
4. Promoting for 4 months a healthy lifestyle through stimulating young people to get involved in recreational sportive and out-door activities, non-formal educational activities, and activities of spending their free time.
5. Collecting information using field research about the sports installations and opportunities in Puerto de la Cruz and the north part of Tenerife for a period of 1 months.
6. Creating promotional materials and activities for the area/ community for a period of 4 months.
7. Inform, educate and raise awareness among 1000 youngsters and young adults concerning the risks of unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activities, substance abuse, and their effects.
8. Create contexts for education and promote sports practicing in the community (sports clubs, workshops, street animation events etc.).
Partners:
Journal of the project:
May – June 2018
Introduction and orientation meetings: in order to get him familiarized with the Association – activities and members, but most importantly for him to get to know the surroundings and get into a routine. For this, we had introduction meetings with the other local volunteers and collaborators, but also some informal team building activities for him to get to know some of the local volunteers (meetings over coffee, barbecues etc.)
The on-arrival training course, organized by the National Agency in Vic, Barcelona, between the 4th and the 9th of June 2018. This activity was helpful for the volunteer to make a visual presentation of his project, its objectives and main activities. He talked about his expectations and about his learning process. He found out more about his rights and his obligations regarding the project, about the conflicts that might appear and he had a lot of fun during those days.
Specific training for the activities:
- The Circles of a Healthy Lifestyle (Los Circulos de la vida saludable, Estrategia de Promoción de la Salud y Prevención de Enfermedades No Transmisibles del Gobierno de Canarias) – he received information and materials in order to understand the research behind this 5 circles (without tobacco, eating healthy, daily sport activity, reduce alcohol, and rest – reducing stress) http://circulosdelavida.es/
- Non-formal education techniques – although the volunteer had a lot of experience in non-formal education, being a social animator, we did an introduction of the methods we normally use in our activities like flash-mobs, theater, team cooperation etc. This was used also for the volunteer to hear the terminology in Spanish.
July – August 2018
Understanding the local youngsters – being summer it was difficult to organize activities which involved a lot of people, that is why the volunteer made a list of activities, which he tested with a reduce number of people: activities on the beach, bike rides, hikes, dance workshops, food workshops, participated in a few marathons etc. This way to test which can be used with larger groups of youngsters and which not.
Specific training for the activities:
- Nutrition – During a Youth exchange, we organized on healthy lifestyle we invited the volunteer to join the session where we had an expert talk on Nutrition and healthy snacks. Additional to the medical information he was also involved in a practical workshop to create healthy menus for different meals of the day and to prepare a healthy snack.
- Video and Graphic design – during the same youth exchange our volunteer Saul Abreu, which is studying video and graphic design, held a session on this topic for the participants, where Vlad was invited. During the year Vlad was in constant contact with Saul for every editing and graphic project he did – posters, stickers, videos and also worked with him on making the promotion videos of the app.
September – December 2018
Dance workshops – we organized two workshops in the Youth House of Puerto de la Cruz (last weekend of September and middle of November) where 27 youngsters participated, ages between 16 -25 years old. To attract the people, the volunteer designed a poster, which was printed and put up in the Youth House and local gyms, made Facebook events and used online platforms to promote it.
The one-day tour of the Island by bike – which took place on October 20, 2018, for which several preparation meetings were held, during the months of September and October, where more than 50 people joined. This preparation phase helped in designing the route, which was initially thought for 2 days in the middle of the month and in the end was done in one on the 20th of October.
For this activity, also a poster was designed by the volunteer and spread around the city. A Facebook event was created and a lot of online promotion was made.
In the final activity of the one-day tour of approx. 250 km, 6 people participated, with ages between 22 and 35 years old.
Mid-term evaluation: organized by the National Agency in Rascafria, Madrid, from the 26th until 30 November, where the volunteer received information that helped him understand better how to deal with the things that might appear in the second part of the project.
Mountain hikes: four hikes where organized, one in each month, with 76 young people involved, activities for which the volunteer also managed the promotion and the organization. He made online Facebook events to promote it (for the first hike) and WhatsApp groups with local volunteers and their friends in order to communicate:
- 15th September 2018, Parque Rural Anaga – The path of the senses, where 19 youngsters with ages between 17 and 23 years old participated
- 6th of October 2018, Parque Rural Anaga – Chamorga , where 9 youngsters with ages between 25 and 35 years old participated
- 10th of November 2018, Los Realejos, where a group of 36 people with ages between 17 and 33 participated
- 8th of December 2018, Malpaís de Güímar, with 12 youngsters, ages between 17 and 25 years old.
January – April 2019
Talks in the Telesforo Bravo High-school of Puerto de la Cruz – on the 29th of January the volunteer had talks to 42 students (age of 16-17 years old) with the purpose to increase their awareness on the lifestyle they have – about the positive and negative aspects of everyday activities, the way they eat, the vices they have, and last but not least, how they see their future by taking into consideration all these aspects already mentioned.
Making and promoting the app – Do Sports in Puerto de la Cruz
-participating in workshops on the topic: mapping (types of maps, how to take coordinates etc.), apps (structure, design etc.) and using gadgets and apps for doing sports
– working with the programmer in making the app and giving feedback on its functionality and design
– working on making the investigation protocol for the map’s content
– participating in the field investigation to collect all the information needed for the app
– making a promotion plan for the app – designing and filming short videos to promote the app, designing stickers and posters to be distributed around the city
– promoting the app and the project: he participated on April 5 on a radio show for youth on the regional radio channel Ycoden Daute
May 2018 – April 2019
Integration into the local community – joining a local gym, a local percussion group (batucada), participating in local marathons, going to local festivals and traditional parties (San Juan, Romerias etc.), barbeques with local volunteers etc.
Spanish lessons – additional to the online Spanish course, the volunteer has been speaking in Spanish from day one with the local volunteers and members of the NGO, which helped him, improve his language skills very fast. He had an A2 level when he arrived and a C1 when he finished his project.
Meetings with the mentor – he met with his mentor or spoke with him on the phone almost every week. They also had meetings where they cooked together, run or just hang out over coffee.
