KADIS Meeting by Eleanor Crawford

After an early start in Glasgow we arrived at our hotel late afternoon and after a quick change we headed to the city centre where we managed a quick visit to the castle and surrounding area before meeting up with the rest of the groups for an excellent dinner at Restaurant Most.

Next morning we went to the KADIS headquarters where the day’s meetings were to be held.   The first item of the day was a presentation by Tina Divjak from CNVOS , an organisation which seeks to empower NGOs in Slovenia.  This is done through lobbying, enforcement of regulations and communication between government and NGOs. It is reckoned that in a country of 2 million, half are involved with NGOs and 90% of these are volunteers.

After a break we had a short presentation by the Polish group about SUTW, an organisation for volunteers who work with the elderly and young people, especially young disabled people.  Also work in a centre for pre-school children where the volunteers are regarded in some cases as substitute grandparents.  They have also formed a choir and a theatre group and we were shown slides of these. 

The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Nina Kravanja a medical student who had been part of a medical humanitarian expedition to Zambia.  She showed a series of slides to illustrate how basic the living conditions were for the volunteers, but were better than those of some of the locals.  They took with them a large supply of drugs and medical equipment and set up a new physiotherapy unit which will be a lasting  testament of their visit.

An enjoyable lunch at Via Bona followed.

The afternoon session consisted of 3 workshops, and we each attended one of these.  I was involved with one looking at the website.  After a plenary session and a short video by the group from Barcelona, we finished for the day around 4pm and headed back into the city to explore a bit more and visit Tivoli Park.

Our evening meal was again very enjoyable in the beautiful setting of the Pr’ Noni restaurant.

The next morning started in the hotel M, where we were staying, with a talk about Slovene Philanthropy whose aim is to increase the quality of life in the community and advocacy for the socially weak and encourage volunteering as means of achieving this.  Much of the work is concerned with the welfare of migrants – help for those without paperwork, and therefore no access to work or healthcare – and intergenerational cooperation.  This organisation feels that the value of volunteering in Slovenia is not high and reckon that 180,000 volunteer regularly and 275,000 on any one day.  This is rather less that suggested by CNVOS on the first day.  Their motto printed on the front and back of a T shirt is

Good work does not need a promotional T shirt

Good work needs you

We then travelled across the city to visit a neighbourhood youth centre at Črnuče.  Here we were told about the work of the centre and 2 young volunteers, one of whom had travelled from Spain to work in the centre for a year, told us about their experiences.  The aim of the centre, which is one of a group around the city, is to keep young people busy and channel their energy with indoor and outdoor activities.  Again, much of the work involves working with migrants and helping the young people integrate in Slovenian society.  Their motto is turning youthful energy into positive energy.

We then returned to the city centre for lunch at Vodnikov Hram. 

Unfortunately we had then to travel to the airport for our journey home.

I was left feeling that my personal contribution to volunteering was not very significant compared with the excellent work being done by others in the group both abroad and here in Glasgow. 

I also was most impressed that everybody made their presentations in excellent English and apart from the 6 of us from Glasgow, all the delegates were working in a foreign language.

Overall, the meeting was very well organised and the food and hospitality were excellent throughout.  Thanks are due to the organising group from KADIS in Slovenia, especially Marusa and Viktorija, and also to Lynda Scott for inviting me to be part of the project and her very efficient organising from the Glasgow end.

Eleanor Crawford.