Hello!

In September 2013, MOJU - Associação Movimento Juvenil em Olhão became stronger and welcomed four new volunteers. We are Nese from Turkey, Ewelina from Poland, Linda from Austria and Nikola from Serbia. We started our voluntary service under the project VEhYcLE - Volunteering as an Engine (for social inclusion) of Young peopLE under the frame of Youth in Action Programe of European Commission.

All of us are living together in Olhão, a small but lively fishing city located on the south of Portugal in beautiful Ria Formosa lagoon. It has a nice old town, a vibrant fish market and wonderful long beaches on the nearby islands.

In spite of all these beauties, Olhão has a lack of opportunities for young people which leads to their social exclusion. Many youngsters are living in unstructured families struggling with economical difficulties. They are at risk of dropping out of school and future unemployment. This is the environment where Mais Sucesso project was implemented and where our EVS project was set. In the nice atmosphere of our social living room, youngsters can develop their creativity and ideas. Together with the experienced MOJU team, we give support on the implementation of several activities, such as, creative recycling workshops, thematic parties, English classes, playing sports, helping with homework and personal projects. During school breaks we help with the organization of summer camps and excursions to different parts of Portugal.

At international level, we are involved in all stages of MOJU projects’; from writing an application till the project implementation and reporting of youth exchanges and training courses. On the last deadline of the YiA Program we wrote a project for a bilateral youth exchange with our Polish partner, CIM Horyzonty, and recently it got approved by the Portuguese National Agency.

All in all, MOJU is a big family and now we are a part of it. We are glad to be here and to have the opportunity to learn more about youth work, the Portuguese language and culture. To sum up, we are enjoying our Portuguese and Olhanense life over here, but unfortunately the time is passing by too fast.

Nese, Ewelina, Linda and Nikola

MOJU EVS Volunteers