Ser voluntário é mais que uma simples ocupação. Exige empenho, verdadeira identificação com a causa e
envolvimento com os resultados. Ser voluntário exige disponibilidade para si e para o outro. Ser voluntário
na Associação Comunitária Monte Azul tem também o papel de construir relações e sensibilizar.
Permita-se ser um.
BRASILEIROS
O candidato brasileiro ao voluntariado deve inscrever-se através do e-mail voluntariado@monteazul.org.br,
informando em que área quer desenvolver seu trabalho e qual a sua disponibilidade de tempo -
se possível anexando um breve currículo pessoal.
ESTRANGEIROS
Since the early eighties, volunteers from all over the world have supported the work of the Associação Comunitária Monte Azul. Today, there are always about 48 volunteers from Brazil and 20 of other countries active in Monte Azul, the Peinha, and Horizonte Azul, the Associação's three nuclei. The majority of them come from Germany and European countries, but there are also volunteers from Japan, the USA, Canada and New Zealand. They normally stay for a year, receiving free food and shelter in exchange for their efforts.
The volunteers work as assistants in nearly all work areas of the Association, except for the health area, which is usually restricted to trained professionals. Most of the volunteers are placed in the pedagogical area, which ranges from nurseries to workshops for adolescents, hence encompassing children of all age groups. Initially, the volunteer mostly assists the teachers in conducting their daily routines. But eventually, depending on his motivation and effort, he can play a more independent and responsible role in the organization's procedures.
The volunteers, like the collaborators, view their work in the Associação as a profound process of self-development. In many of the reports that volunteers have written at the end of their stay, they reflect on their time here as a learning and growth process.
Ironically, the "development aid" they seek to provide to the impoverished and disadvantaged also turns into a personal "development aid". This reveals the dual result of a volunteer's stay - the concrete results of his work and the personal "lessons of society" that he learns in Monte Azul's challenging environment.
Given this duality, a volunteer must fulfill various requirements along with his regular work (usually Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.):
The participation in the co-workers' meetings every Thursday night
The participation in community life, especially in cultural events, joint annual festivals, lectures, and discussions
Familiarization with the favelas and their inhabitants
Participation in courses and events of the "Escola Oficina Social" (Social Educational Workshop)
Participation (and organization) of regular volunteer meetings, where guest speakers are invited to talk about a variety of topics (Brazil, structural and philosophical backgrounds of Monte Azul's work, biographies of co-workers, etc.)
Intensive observation of a certain child during the course of his work
A final report describing his work experience through personal impressions, critique, and insight.
Periods for volunteers:
The normal period for a volunteer is from end of January until end of January of the following year. Please send your application for this period until the end of February of the antecedent year.
For to guarantee a certain continuity we always retain about 5 places for volunteers to begin at the end of July with duration until end of July of the following year. Please send your application for this period until end of October of the antecedent year.
It is possible to stay only half a year, either from end of January until end of July or from end of July until end of January.
Other periods for volunteers can’t be accepted.
Internship
For those interested in working for the Associação but unable to stay for an entire or half a year, an internship is a good alternative. The duration of an internship is usually one to three months. The interns work in the same areas as the volunteers, and are also subjected to the same rights and requirements (view above). They live with Brazilian families and pay 25 Brazilian Reais (circa $6 US) per day for certain expenses during their stay. This is because an intern, given the brevity of his time here, is mostly preoccupied with learning the language, becoming accustomed to his work, getting to know his co-workers etc., so that he cannot offer the Associação the same effective support as the volunteers. The 25 Reais are therefore seen as the intern's compensation for living costs, co-workers' administrative efforts on his behalf, and other expenses. Interns who only stay for a very short time: We cannot guarantee that you will work with the children directly, because for them it is very difficult, if the persons who care for them always change so quickly.
The selection process:
Since volunteers have supported the work of the association, everyone has been a help for Monte Azul and has learnt very much as a person. Therefore the selection is very difficult, because we know, that everybody is able to contribute. We don’t expect any special qualifications, but try to select a variety of people with different experiences.
However, there are some areas where we always need qualified volunteers:
In our cultural center: teach music to children (violin, viola, cello and other instruments, beginner-level).
In the social workshop school: teach languages (English, German, Japanese, Spanish, beginner and advanced level).
Persons, who are able and disposed to assume also administrative work, for example correspondence in English or German
Please tell us in your application, if you want to help in one of these areas !
What do we expect from applicants?
Generally it’s very important that you’re interested in the work and philosophical background of the Associação Comunitária Monte Azul (Anthroposophy). We can advise you to read Ute Craemer’s books.
You should be at least 21 years old and already have gained experiences in social work or Waldorf education, e.g. through internships…
You don’t need to speak the language when applying, but we expect you to learn some Portuguese when you are accepted.
If you want to apply for a place as a volunteer in Monte Azul, we ask for the following documents:
Handwritten Curriculum Vitae with foto, in the form of a table
Motivation letter explaining, why you want to volunteer for one year in the Associação Comunitária Monte Azul, what you can imagine to contribute to the work (Ideas, new impulses, or concrete faculties and knowledge) and in which areas you would like to work, max. 3 pages.
Please tell us your e-mail-address and fax-number.
Please send you Application to the following address:
Associação Comunitária Monte Azul
Rua Agatino de Esparta, 25
Jardim Horizonte Azul
CEP 04963-130 São Paulo – SP
Brasil
or
volunteers@monteazul.org.br
For financial reasons, we cannot send you the documents back.
After the end of the deadline, the volunteer-commission reads all the applications and tries to decide together.
We try to inform the applicants about one month after this.
Important:
These details may change, so please have a look at this web-site before applying!
More questions?
Please write to volunteers@monteazul.org.br
Associação Comunitária Monte Azul l Av. Tomás de Souza, 552 - Jd. Monte Azul - CEP 05836-350 - São Paulo - SP
Fone: (011) 5853 8080 - Fax: (011) 5853 8081 - Loja: (011) 5852 3036 - Fax: (011) 5852 3031
Patrocinado por: Daiichi- Sankyo Brasil