Youth Volunteer Center Sodrujestvo

Youth Volunteer Center Sodrujestvo is an organisation for volunteers which was founded in 2003. The organisation is located in Cheboksary, the capital of the Republic of Chuvashia in Russia. Chuvashia is a the small local ethnicity in the Volga region 600 km to the east from Moscow. Cheboksary is a provincial city, and although Chuvashia has a long and rich history, not so many foreigners come here. That’s why there are not a lot of possibilities for youngsters to meet other cultures and have international friends. Sodrujestvo is trying to fill this gap. Every year volunteers from all over the world regardless of gender, culture, nationality or religion are invited to participate in the organised projects. What does Sodrujestvo do? We make short and long-term cultural and social projects for the local community, for example:

• intercultural summer camps for kids in Chuvashia
• a weekly intercultural communication club in the local orphanages
• a weekly intercultural communication clubs for secondary school kids
• ecological projects in the Volga region

Sodrujestvo is also a hosting organisation for long term foreign volunteers The philosophy of Sodrujestvo Our projects are very practical, based on the philosophy of ‘Deeds, not Words’. This way we try to make small but useful changes in our local community. The main goal of all our projects is that every participant can get new specific knowledge about some actual topics and improve skills which are important in life. We don’t preach but try to break down prejudices and stereotypes by living and working together with people of different backgrounds. This way, the participants can experience a world of respect and understanding, in which conflicts are solved without violence. We promote volunteering, positive attitude and optimism. Our special attention goes also to environmental respect, which is a critical problem in the Volga region.