The youth centre will be the base of operations for all projects taking place in the rural community of Izvoarele village, Prahova County in Romania. The beautiful surroundings and the mountain landscape will provide an excellent environment for building trust, tolerance and understanding and will create great personal development opportunities.
The commune has a population of 6268 and it is spread over several hills and river basins. The actual name of the village, Izvoarele, it’s translated as “Springs” as natural springs can be found on each road or alley in the area. The main revenue source in the community is timber processing, as well as small agriculture.
The hosting placement, Izvoarele, is 60 kms from Brasov, 50 kms away from Ploiesti and 110 km away from Bucharest, the capital and the main city in Romania. The volunteers will live inside the community, which is a regular mountain community in rural Romania. Accommodation will be provided in a traditional rural house, therefore the volunteers will be responsible for their own resource management and will have the opportunity of experimenting the rural life of the community thus developing strong civic and social skills. The temperature does not exceed 30 celsius in mid summer and can go as well as -12 celsius in mid winter. Izvoarele is a warm hearted community and most people are religious. The main faith is Orthodox, yet Catholic and Adventist communities are present.
The youth centre is serving the local community providing educational activities, training courses, campaigns and events. It also serves as a networking and friendship building framework for young people in the community offering the space and opportunity for planning trips throughout the country and mountain hikes. The youngsters also develop projects in the interest of the community with the help and support of the staff. The youth centre also offers a public library aimed at young people and plenty of games and juggling resources and materials.