Mob’inclus project - Upcoming departure for 4 young volunteers from pas-de-Calais

Published the 11 July 2018

Second part of Mob’inclus project, started at the end of 2016, sending young people from Pas-de-Calais abroad as international civic volunteers in ESI partner territories is planned on 17 July. This project involving several European Straits Initiative partners benefits from the support of the French Ministry of Europe and foreign affairs, Erasmus+ programme and French agency for civic service.

Through this project, ESI network is engaged to work on a new public policy, international mobility of young people, to contribute to active inclusion of these young people.

• A mobility of engagement through international civic volunteering

If the first part of Mob’inclus project was dealing with a short learning mobility (6 weeks), the objective of this second part is to encourage engagement of young people on a longer period (6 months).

The International civic volunteering is a tool of the French State enabling young people from 16 to 25 years old to get engaged in a general interest mission abroad for 6 to 12 months.

The spirit of this civic volunteering is to be opened to any young person wishing to get engaged, without condition of diploma or experience. Pas-de-Calais County Council chose to add to the 6 months abroad a period of 1 month within its own administration, to prepare the departure and the mission. This period of 1 months will be renewed at the end of the mission abroad, to valorize the experience lived abroad and make sure it can be decisive in the volunteer’s life journey.

• Young volunteers with a variety of profiles have chosen Italy

If several ESI partners had answered Pas-de-Calais proposal to welcome young volunteers, the 4 young people recruited for this volunteering have all chosen the Province of Lecce as their destination, on the shores of the Strait of Otranto. There, they will carry out a mission within the tourism information centre of the city of Lecce.

The 4 young volunteers have very different profiles. Manon, 22 years old, freshly graduated of a master degree in art, has chosen to become a volunteer to “take a step back and make [herself] useful”. For Yassine, 19 years old and without any diploma, this will be the first experience abroad. When asked about his motivations, he mentions “the discovery of a new culture”, “the human experience” and the “empowerment”, just like Etienne (20 years old) and Corentin (21 years old).

These 4 young people have been identified by and benefit from a support from the County Council staff, especially the integration department. Less than a week before their departure to Lecce, they are all very impatient to discover Italy!

To be continued…