Deadline: February 28, 2018
People of all nations are invited to apply for voluntary service in Germany sponsored by the Friends of Waldorf Education. The Incoming Program is designed for motivated, socially committed young women and men whose permanent residence is outside Germany.
Are you interested in helping people with special needs? Would you like to spend 12 months living and working in a foreign country, experiencing a new culture and getting to know the mindset, work ethic and social structure of Germany? If so, you are heartily invited to acquaint yourself with Incoming on the next few pages!
Preparatory Internship
An internship of at least two week’s duration is the most important preparation for your voluntary service in Germany. This practical work experience will help you find out, if you have the right motivation to work in a social field. As a fringe benefit, you will ease into your life in Germany a little better, if you have the head-start of knowing your field of work. That way, not every aspect of your ‘new life’ (e. g. culture, language, etc.) will be foreign to you.
If you haven’t completed your internship yet, you may nevertheless apply. However, you should substantiate how you plan to go ahead in order to find a suitable internship. You’ll find more detailed information on the mandatory internship on our application form. Should the Friends have a partner organization in your home country, we urge you to apply for an internship there. They’ll be happy to help you, and provide you with the contact details of any affiliated institution you would like to apply to.
Financing
Before and during the period of service, volunteers receive the following benefits:
- Support with visa application (official invitation) prior to service
- An allowance of at least 150 euros per month during the duration of the service
- Free room and board while in Germany
- Free health, accident and liability insurance
- Contractually regulated holidays
- Educational and administrative backing and support through the Friends of Waldorf Education during the voluntary service
- 20 accompanying seminar days, free of charge, at the beginning, during and at the close of the voluntary service, as well as transportation costs to and from the seminars
Travel costs to and from Germany must be covered by the participants themselves!
Applicants from Brazil and South Africa can receive support, advice and preparatory assistance from their local Friends of Waldorf Education.
The volunteers themselves are expected to pay for a possible preparatory seminar in the volunteers’ home country, according to a solidarity cost model.
Eligibility
You must
- be at least 18 years old (there is no maximum age).
- have permanent residency outside Germany.
- be socially motivated and show dedication to your work or engagement.
- know at least the basics of the German language. For those working in the fields of curative education (children with disabilities) and senior care (homes for the elderly), a good to excellent knowledge of German is a must. If at all possible, you should provide a certification of your studies or other official proof of your German language skills. It also expected that you be prepared to improve your German during the duration of your voluntary service.
- have already gathered practical experience in working with people with special needs or with the elderly. Should you not have this experience, you will be required to carry out a 2-week internship or training program at a qualifying institution in your home country. The Friends of Waldorf Education will be happy to assist you in making contact with organisations that fulfil these criteria.
- be prepared to work for 12 months in a full-time capacity. Shorter terms of service are not possible.
- be entirely open to living together with the residents and patients of an institution for curative therapy (children with disabilities), social therapy (adults with disabilities) or a home for the elderly.
- be eager for personal development and be ready to integrate yourself fully in a new culture and work environment.
- show initiative and a strong sense of social engagement, as these fields of work will, at least in part, be quite demanding. Additionally, most of the institutions are located in rural agrarian areas.
Selective criteria
A decision about your admission to the program is made on the basis of:
- The application documents, which should validate your social motivation. Please communicate your needs and requirements in a straightforward manner.
- Your commitment to learning German (certificate/s, ongoing German language course, e-mail communication in German)
- The report of your practical skills, respectively your two-week internship and the references from the institution in which you’ve been (e.g. one of our partner organizations abroad).
- The e-mail or telephone communication with you: A reliable and fast communication is important to us.
- Your willingness to meet with a German volunteer our a former participant of the incoming program in your home-country; depending on the possibilities of your location.
German Skills/German course
The ability to communicate in German is a prerequisite for your participation in the voluntary service. All accompanying seminars will be conducted in German. Depending on the needs of your placement site, your language capabilities need to be more or less refined.
When working in fields like curative education (children with special needs) or care of the elderly, your language level has to be good to very good (level B1 to B2). There are also other areas that require good German language skills. Due to this reason, language training is a very important aspect of your preparation for the German Federal Voluntary Service. Your German language skills (level A1, A2… etc.) should be attested by a certificate or substantiated in some other form (e.g. by a reference of your German teacher).
Many placement sites offer complimentary German courses, which take place after the regular working hours. The Friends take it up on them to give every volunteer the opportunity to visit a German course and we offer to pay as much of the incurring expenses as we can. However, we demand that during their stay every volunteer shows the willingness to improve his or her German skills as much as possible, therefore we also ask for your own initiative.
Application
A completed application includes the following documents:
- Application form 1
- Application form 2
- Checklist
- Photo in jpg format (max. 250 KB)Passport photo
Reference for a social internship - German language certificate (minimum level A1, with minimum score “Good”)
- A legible copy of your passport
- References from your host family (if you have worked as an Au Pair in Germany or another German-speaking country.
- Confirmation for the attendance of Waldorf education seminars, certificates of job training, job references if you have already worked in Waldorf institutions before and would like to undergo further training (only for applicants to Waldorf schools and kindergartens)
- A copy of your driver‘s license (if applicable)
Please send us your COMPLETD application for the German voluntary service ONLY via e-mail (incoming[at]freunde-waldorf.de):
For more information, visit Friends of Waldorf Education.
