Supporting people with disability at L'Essentiel – Lasne

Looking for one more volunteer

Trip type

ESC Volunteering

City + Country

Lasne, Belgium

Dates of the next project

01 October 2023 – 30 September 2024

Deadline to apply

Deadline 06th of july 2023 (23:59)

Hosting organisation: Essentiel

Essentiel asbl is a non profit organisation whose aim is to accompany adult people with disabilities (regardless of the type or level of handicap) in all aspects of their daily life and of their self development.

The philosophy of the place is led by two main principles. Inclusion : Essentiel wants to answer to the lack of options existing to accompany people with disability once they reach the age of majority by offering an adequate living place. The objective is to create and maintain a social bound between valid and less valid people, from all generations, in the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity. . The activities are co-organised by people with disability, and opened to anyone interested.

Permanent research : Essentiel’s mission goes beyond the life in the centre. It wants to keep being a place of experimentation, global thinking and permanent research about the inclusion of people with disability within the society.

Essentiel is composed of :

– A living place and accommodation hosting up to 30 occupants with disabilities of different levels- A day care where workshops are organised for the residents but also open to people, young or adults, hosted in nearby centres, as well as to valid children through youth movement or outdoor classes for example

– A service « halte-répit » who take care temporarily of children for families needing a break – An inclusive kindergarden, managed by another non profit organisation, who host 20 children, with or without disability

Support organisation: CBB

Check us on Facebook, Instagram and take a look at our website!

CBB is a nonprofit, apolitical youth organisation recognized and financially supported by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. We propose different activities based on volunteering and nonformal education: local and international workcamps, short and long term volunteering services (including ESC), leisure time activities for and with disabled people, camp leaders trainings, etc. CBB is active within the different European programs of volunteering and non-formal education since 1997 and also hosts ESC volunteers each year.

CBB’s role as support organisation is to:

Promote the project and links between local and international associations
Support the selection and preparation of European volunteers before arrival
Manage administrative matters such as budget allowances, creation of bank account, enrollment at the municipality, insurance contracts
Write the activity agreement
Provide pedagogical support for the volunteer and the hosting organisation by ensuring the participation to the NA seminars, organising evaluation meetings with the volunteer and the hosting organization to reflect on learning outcomes
Handle practical arrangements, including accommodation, health insurance, French lessons, online language tools, etc.
Create networking activities with all ESC volunteers of the hosting organisations we support

Volunteers get involved in the daily life of Essentiel. The aim of Essentiel’s activities is to help people with disabilities have a diversified daily life and to integrate them more into the society. The place is buzzing with various activities and involve a larger audience than only the people living on site. L’Essential has a “pro-autonomy” approach, it means it is important to take into account the will and desire of the residents when building a relationship with her/him. In the same way for the daily activities, it’s always important to motivate the residents to take part into them but it will always be up to them to do it or not. Check this video , offering a nice glimpse of the daily life at Essentiel!

Essentiel provides a variety of activities:

Sensory activities: hippotherapy, yoga, sound bath, snoezelen, cyclo-dance, cooking, animal care, storytelling, working in the vegetable garden and the greenhouse
Sports activities: table tennis, hockey, swimming pool, games with balls, athletics, hippotherapy, walks. During spring and summer, there is a lot of outdoor activities in the green areas that surround L’Essentiel. The residents are normally eager to spend time outside and enjoy themself under the sun.
Artistic activities: art (painting, drawing, sculpture), crafts (at the service of the store open once a month), theater and expression, music
Cognitive activities: class, emotion workshop, speech therapy, board games
Other activities: training of guides at the Folon museum, opening of our little shop once a month with a cafetaria part where our residents serve gourmet coffee
Activities for the community: taking care of the animals (goats, horses, rabbits, chickens and one cat) living on site (feed them once a day), gardening, cooking, grocery shopping, maintenance of the buildings
Group holidays: residential activities with the residents especially in the summer period
Activities in the inclusive kindergarten (1/3 of the kids having mental disabilities): it is possible for the volunteers to be working some mornings inclusive kindergarden with a resident.

The volunteer's tasks

Participation in the activities of your choice

Twice a day the residents can choose among 7 to 10 activities (hippotherapy, gardening, snoezelen, sewing) proposed by the staff. The volunteers will accompany the staff in one of these activities.

Individual support

Take some time alone with a beneficiary in order to help them do something they want to or something you offer them: have a walk in the village, go on the Internet, assist them with their personel projects. before that, a meeting is organized between the primary caregiver of the resident and the supervisor of the volunteers.

Contribution to collective life

We expect volunteers to be positive, to act as “engines”‘ within the project. We ask them to take part in the daily life of the centre by:

– Preparing meals and snacks, being at the table with the residents to share a convivial moment and possibly offer help

– Assisting and motivating residents to take part in the life of Essentiel

– Offering and demonstrating positivity and optimism in order to contribute to a positive atmosphere conducive to creativity and dynamism

– Helping the smooth running of Essentiel’s project by giving a hand when it is needed

– Offering mini-activities during the day when there is a down time

-Support the educators during residential activities (group holidays)

Contribution to projects

We also expect volunteers to come with their own ideas for projects to be implemented together with the residents, or to contribute to the resident’s ideas.

The cities - LASNE & GENAPPE

Essentiel is located in Chaussée de Louvain, 563a in Lasne. Lasne is a town of 14 000 inhabitants in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Lasne is a semi-rural municipality retaining several working farms. The town is close to Brussels which is the capital of Belgium.

The volunteers will live together in a house or flat in the city of Genappe. They will have a private room in a fully-equipped shared apartment. Living in Genappe will allow the volunteers to be able to stay connected with volunteers from another hosting organisation located at 2 minutes walk.

Genappe is a town of 15 000 inhabitants in the Belgian province of Brabant Wallon. The town has its own cultural centre, a library, a youth centre, a swimming pool opened during summer, some options in sports and arts (there is an academy proposing dance, music and theatre) and culture. Genappe is quiet and social life is not very vivid but a lot of events are organised by “Le Monty”, also hosting ESC volunteers. Supermarkets and several shops are available in the center. Nevertheless, Genappe has no train station on its own, though buses are leaving every 30 minutes for the nearest station at Braine L’alleud, Nivelles and Ottignies, slightly bigger towns. From these stations, cities such as Namur, Charleroi or Brussels are less than an hour away. There is one direct bus going to reaching Brussels (the capital of Belgium) in about 1h.

Genappe and its eight villages offer amazing places, several castles and other landmarks, testimonies of a rich past history where the presence of famous personages such as Godefroid of Bouillon, Louis XI or Napoleon is still perceptible.

Despite what was above mentioned, Genappe is still located in a semi rural area, where more than 80% of its territory is covered by field and some woods. In the countryside surrounding Genappe, several delineated walls, farms, craftspeople, local groceries can welcome you in order to make you try the local delicacies.

This project is therefore very suitable for volunteers who are not attracted by a very lively nightlife, but mostly by quiet evenings and outdoor activities during the week-end. ESC volunteers usually do regular group activities during the free days.

The country - BELGIUM

Squeezed between the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, Belgium is one of Europe’s tiddlers. The north is flat, with a beach of 65km along the North Sea full of resorts, except for a few patches of windswept dunes. In the south you will not find mountains, but the hilly forests of the Belgian Ardenne. We have 4 seasons well contrasted, cold winter and sunny summer… But be ready to look up to a grey sky at least half of the year.

Despite the rainy clouds, Belgian people are usually warm. A lot of cultural and free events happen during the year, which makes your journey in this little country entertaining and resourceful.

This project will take part in the south of the country where we speak French. Be therefore ready to learn and speak French! Especially as this project involves kids.

Specialities : FRIES and BEERS and FESTIVALS
AREA: 30,518 sq km
POPULATION: 11.420.163 million
CAPITAL: Brussels (pop: 1.191.604)
REGIONS: Flanders (North), Wallonia (South), Brussels – Capital
COMMUNITIES: Flemish, French and German speaking community
LANGUAGE: Dutch (±59%), French (±37%) and German (±1%)
CURRENCY: Euro

Working Hours

4 or 5 days a week, from 10 am to 5 pm with two consecutive days off per week. One afternoon per week, the volunteers can leave earlier to join the French conversation table taking place in Genappe, with the other ESC volunteers. The schedules are usually quite fixed except if there is a holiday trip or visit outside of the center.

Accommodation

You will live in a shared apartment in Genappe, a town located at 20-30 minutes by car. A car can be made available by the hosting organization to come to and go back from work (if the volunteers are in possession of the driving license). Each volunteer will have his/her private room and shared common space. Three other ESC volunteers live just next door (in the hosting organization “Le Monty”).

Food

You will receive a budget and will prepare your own meals at home. During the working days, a free (just for ESC volunteers) meal is served at l’Essentiel (veggie friendly)

Pocket Money

Participation in the European Solidarity Corps is free of charge, except for exceptional contribution to travel costs. You will therefore receive free board and lodging during the whole activity. In addition, you will receive pocket money for personal expenses throughout the duration of the activity, including holidays.

Insurance

You get covered, throughout the activity period, by the obligatory European Solidarity Corps insurance plan (HENNER) that the European Commission sets up. This coverage is only complementary to the mandatory coverage of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which you must obtain prior to departure.

In certain cases, when national rules deprive participants from coverage under EHIC for the duration of the placement, HENNER will provide full coverage. However, you must provide proof that obtaining the EHIC in your case was not possible. You should contact your National Agency for advice on your specific circumstances. You must read carefully the insurance-related information before the project.

Language course

EU Academy + French lesson. We provide an online language course as part of the budget from the Commission. You will need to complete a level test before the activity starts. We encourage you to join free French lessons given in the municipality or around if possible. We recommend that the participant starts practicing French prior to their arrival in Belgium and that they participate in as many activities as possible in order to get better at the language.

Aged 18-30 years old
Open-minded, curious, enthusiastic, empathetic
Able to work in a team, with different target groups
Willing to learn French: having basic skills in French help a lot because the team work is mainly in French (although some workers will be glad to practice English) and because a lot of residents only speak French
Interested in working with people with disabilities
Ready to propose, take initiative, discuss and give your opinion. The team is made up of dynamic, young and easygoing workers you can count on!
Flexible in terms of working hours and types of tasks
Before departure, being in contact with a support/sending organisation to receive information and preparation
> Look up for a support organisation in your region via this link
Project open to everyone, regardless of their nationality, religion, believes, diploma, or professional experience
Able to give copy of certificate of good conduct related to the work with minors before starting the activity

How to apply ?

Deadline: 06/07/2023 (23:59)

1. To join the European Solidarity Corps programme, create a profile on the European Youth Portal (click on “register” at the bottom)

2. Answer the questionnaire below (you will be asked to attach a CV at the end of the form)

3. If you’re feeling creative, feel free to send us any additional material related to your application to esc@compagnonsbatisseurs.be (optional)

The creation of a profile on the ESC portal AND fulfilling the form are compulsory for us to take your application into consideration. In the days following the deadline, we will contact the pre-selected volunteers for a Zoom meeting.

ESC at L'Essentiel / Application form and motivation letter

Step 1 of 4 - Personal Data

Personnal data
By filling the information below, you provide us with personal information. You are aware of the fact and agree that the pieces of information will be used in the frame of the call for candidates for the Erasmus+ volunteering project. Your personal data will be used by the persons in charge of the selection of volunteers in the sending and coordinating/hosting organizations. Each part mentioned takes the responsibility of erasing the documents containing your personal data once the selection procedure is over.
Name*
Surname Name
PRN*
If you already have it: it’s a super long number you receive when you get registered into the PASS.
Email adress*
Birthdate*
Day
Month
Year
Phone number*
Current address*
Street Address City ZIP / Postal Code Country
Do you need a visa for this project ?*
Languages spoken*
Please specify which level you have whenever possible
Are you available October 1st 2023 until September 30th 2024?*
Preference will be given to the volunteers able to join the project for the whole period.
Have you ever taken part in a volunteering project under ERASMUS+ or European Solidarity Corps programme?*
- YES
- NO
If yes, what was it and for how long ?
Sending organization (Name, OID number, post address, phone number, contact person’s name and email address)*
What are your (long term) travel experiences?*

Long term

Short term