On April 9th 2016, hundreds of young volunteers will have the opportunity to make a difference in Warsaw during the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) Annual General Meeting (AGM), the largest student conference of its kind in Europe focusing on the theme of mobility.
As mobility does not only consist of traveling and studying abroad, ESN has been implementing SocialErasmus since 2010: a project that involves young citizens during their mobility experience through volunteering activities that take social action and foster change in the society. SocialErasmus aims to enrich the international experience of young people abroad with volunteering activities that allow them to understand society’s problems and to work on the solutions, and provides an opportunity for international young people to get to know other realities and learn how they can contribute to improve society as citizens of the world.
During the International Infomarket, the most comprehensive study fair organised in Poland that will be held on the campus of Warsaw School of Economics on the 8th of April, SocialErasmus will be manning a stand where it will be possible to not only to learn more about the project and the great opportunities it provides to international students, but where it will be also possible to deliver postcards with words of encouragements that will later be given to hospitalized children.
The objective of this initiative is to provide AGM participants the chance to take part in SocialErasmus in Warsaw, the host city of the event, and to have a positive impact on the local community.
After AGM, on the 20th of April, ESN volunteers will gather Erasmus+ participants living in Warsaw and, with the support of Ronald McDonald House Charities, our partners for this initiative, will visit a local children’s hospital to deliver the postcards and spend some time with the kids. This group of young volunteers will organize cultural visit full of fun, including presentations about countries, colouring books with famous landmarks of their countries and other activities.
Every year, more than 3000 social activities are organised by ESN volunteers all over Europe as part of the SocialErasmus project, engaging more than 20 000 international students. This initiative in Warsaw will enable young people to experience something new and gain an all-encompassing new perspective on internationalisation and its impact on society.