Projekti „Aktiivne noorsootöö Valgamaal“ toetab SA Archimedese noorteagentuur Erasmus+ programmist.
ESC long term project in Valga county (Valgamaa), Estonia. Activities of youth work in 6 different youth centres around Valga county: Valga, Tõrva, Karula, Taheva, Tõlliste and Ritsu. In addition - one activity is in the kindergarten/school (Gaia class) in Hargla.
Number of vacancies: 7
Valga Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Tõrva Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Karula Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Taheva Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Tõlliste Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Hargla School Kindergarten and Hargla School Gaia class – 8 months
Ritsu Youthroom – 9 months
Find more information on the service and living places HERE!
Check the blogs of our previous/other volunteers HERE!
An ESC volunteer should be in the ages between 18-30 and prepared to participate for 8-10 months in their assigned workplace.
We don’t expect our volunteers to already have well-developed skills and knowledge relating to working with youngsters and children. Rather we are looking for volunteers who have an interest in working with youngsters and are excited to gain new skills and knowledge not only on their own but more importantly as part of a team.
We welcome cultural diversity, as it will be beneficial in broadening the capabilities and knowledge of any team the volunteer is part of. Also, it will create a good ground to sow and grow new and fresh ideas, plans and projects.
We expect our volunteers to be open communicators, have friendly and tactful manners. They should be ready to be flexible about working hours and assignments since the work management in our offered positions is quite varied.
In the youth centres the work is often mobile – collaborative events, meetings and training can happen all over the country. The working hours are quite open as well – in addition to the regular “opening hours” of the youth centres, some of the tasks, preparations and events happen outside of those hours or even on weekends.
The work management in kindergarten and Gaia class is organised according to the lesson plan (usually starting in the morning and finishing by 5 in the afternoon), but there is a lot of opportunity for flexibility and diversity during the hours – different styles of workshops, trips, hikes etc. Most work days will be from Monday to Friday
We have one overall application HERE for every position offered.
Every application will be reviewed and discussed with the team, including possible tutors and with most suitable applicants a video-interview will be held over Skype, Zoom or MS Teams, before final decisions. Your location of voluntary service will be offered based on your application and interview.
If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact us via See e-posti aadress on spämmirobotite eest kaitstud. Selle nägemiseks peab su veebilehitsejas olema JavaSkript sisse lülitatud.
Keywords: Nature, sports, multicultural, one city-two countries, photography, music/band, billiards, board games, table tennis, camps, voluntary work, handicraft, skatehall.
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/ValgaANK/ / http://valgaank.ee/
Valga Open Youth Centre is an institution, which was established in 2002, but as an individual institution from February 2017. It is located in the South of Estonia, a city called Valga. Valga is a border city and it’s neighbour city is Valka from Latvian side. We have city celebrations which are organized by two cities together.
Valga Open Youth Center has 1 manager and 4 youth workers, all with different backgrounds and years’ worth of experience working with the youth. We have support from NGO Tankla and Valga, which support youth workers and we are working together with other youth organisations. From the beginning of 2018, Valga Open Youth Centre has four smaller youth centres all over Valga area: Karula Open Youth Centre, Taheva Open Youth Centre, Õru Open Youth Centre and Tõlliste Open Youth Centre.
Valga area youth workers are all young as well, one of the main reasons why all the youth workers click with youngsters that well. We are all different, but we all have the same aim and work ethics.
Our aim is to develop and support through different activities different kinds of young people with different kinds of backgrounds. We work with youngsters aged 7-26, but that doesn’t mean that, if someone comes and is a little bit younger or older, can’t take part in events that we organize. We have events, which are really popular among young people like tournaments, different hikes and competitions, Summer school (camp), two week voluntary labour and free time camp (actually it is tons of fun and not only for working) and events that assume voluntary work in Valga City and county.
Our youngsters are really creative and most of opportunities, which are at this stage in our youth centre are written by our youngsters. Self-realization is popular, because they can have many experiences and they can use experiences in the future. We have photostudio and bandroom, a studio room and a gym. We rent out sport equipment and one of our youth worker is organizing every now and then an airsoft battle. A lot of ways to spend spare time.
Valga linn
Valga-Valka is the most southern town in Estonia and despite its small size, the town straddles two countries: Estonia and Latvia, boasting two languages and cultures. Valga-Valka also has a rich history and a versatile cultural scene. Valga city has a lots of things to see and has many ways to spend spare time. For lovers we have sportshall with different classes,
extreme sports hall, bowling centre and gym with 400m stadium. We have a lot of light traffic roads around Pedeli river and a 10 km long road towards Tartu. We have possibilities to visit the cinema and culture centre, museum and military museum.
We have a Voorimehe pub and for pop music lover Club Yes, both are open at the weekends and many cafes to buy pastries and drink coffee with friends. For rock music lovers there is a place called Valga Rockclub. We have many small and cheap shops. Best place to shop is in Tartu and it is 80 km from Valga. There is a regular bus transportation to Tallinn, Viljandi, Tartu, Pärnu (4 times per day) and we have train transportation to Tartu, Tallinn and Riga. From July 2018 Valga County and 10 other counties in Estonia provide free public transportation on all county based lines.
Keywords: sports facilities, photography, mechanics, robotics, musical instruments
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/TorvaNoortekas
Tõrva Youth Center is located in Tõrva, but it also has smaller youth rooms in Linna küla, Riidaja and Hummuli. In Tõrva Youth Center there are usually 30-100 visitors per day and 3 employees. Our youth center is located in a former school house and therefore has a lot of room and different opportunities. We have a sports room, xbox room, musical instruments, billiards and table tennis and so on. In our territory there is an opportunity to play basketball, football or to skate. We are also starting with a robotics and mechanics course for youngsters and if the volunteer is interested in robots, engines or racing, he/she can participate in these activities as well.
Tõrva linn
Tõrva is a town in Tõrva Parish, in Valga County, southern Estonia. Tõrva has an area of 4.80 km2 (2 sq mi) and a population of ~2900, making it the second largest of the three towns in Valga County.
Tõrva region is a beautiful place full of nature and many possibilities to spend your free time outdoors. For sport-enthusiasts we have zumba and yoga classes, a gym, volleyball and folk dance classes. For photography lovers, we have studio equipment to use, a lot of beautiful scenery and photography classes as well. We have an active arts studio and a music school where you can learn to play any instrument or to sing. We have two pubs and two cafes to buy pastries and drink coffee with friends. We have small shops, several supermarkets, a small cinema, open once a week, and a field to play disc golf .
The closest city is Tartu (70 km from Tõrva), which is also the second biggest city in Estonia. It is called the University city and there you can find theaters, cinema, pubs, several malls and a lot of cool cafés. There is regular bus transportation to Tallinn, Viljandi, Tartu, Pärnu (2 times per day) and to Valga (more than 10 times per day).
Keywords: rural area, partnership with community, indoor-activities, beautiful nature, cooking together, active community
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/KarulaANK/
Karula Youth Centre is located in a bright green building between meadows and forests in a small lovely village - Lüllemäe in Valga parish. We share the building with the local library and store.
In the youth centre youngsters can spend time playing pool, ping-pong, novuss and have little competitions. For more relaxing activities board- and cardgames are an option. For our youngsters baking and cooking is a very big part of the youth centre’s soul and regular cooking classes don't even come close to filling that need – so be prepared to innovate in the kitchen!
The layout of Karula Youth Centre encourages everyone spending time together and it’s common to have several activities and conversations happening all on top of each other in the main room. For more contained excitement they can move to a spacious kitchen or to one of two smaller siderooms – blue one with computers and yellow one that’s mainly for simply lounging and listening to music.
Besides our planned events (tournaments, boardgame evenings, cooking class and adventure club, to name a few), many of our events come in the form of pop-up happenings – when youngsters congregate and have the will to do something, it’s all about adapting quickly.
Since Karula region has a very tight-knit community, the youth centre also works together with the library, local school and culture hall - partnering up for community-wide events, organising extracurricular activities, lending a helping hand where needed and generally keeping an eye out for the good of our youngsters.
Lüllemäe küla
Lüllemäe village is located in the middle of Karula upland, being surrounded by its peaks and slopes, creating a beautiful scenery with the addition of Karula national park’s forests and lakes. The village has a population of 214 people. Lüllemäe has a school (1 st- 9 th grade), kindergarten, culture hall, library, youth centre, a cozy little café, a sports centre and several non-profit organisations.
Local community takes full advantage of the beautiful location and its active people – sporting and cultural events are held all year round. For example - If interested in winter-time sports, then Lüllemäe is a perfect location with the sports centre renting skis and maintaining the ski-trails. For that warm feeling of a community coming together - many of the national and traditional holidays are celebrated with region-wide events and open to everyone.
Keywords: rural area, event organizer, workshop leader, activities related with nature, creativity
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/Taheva-valla-noored-302165056512667/
Taheva Youth Centre is an institution which was established in 2003. Starting in 2018 it is a part of Valga Open Youth Centre. The youth centre is located in a little village, which is called Hargla (population ~200) and mainly works with around 40 youngsters living in Taheva area. The target group are youngsters between 7-26 years. Most of the visitors are between 7-15 years. Main activities are organizing with youngsters: events, their free time, clubs, workshops and other „crazy“ ideas to develop local youth work and community. We are famous in our area for our fishing and big community events.
Per month there are ~300-400 visits. Also the youth centre is leading and organizing Taheva area clubs for youngsters (2019/2020 season clubs: folk band, fishing, crafting, sport, parkour, robotics, music, horse riding, cooking, entrepreneurship).
The youth centre itself is an old, but charming building next to the main road in Hargla.
It has a big room - even with a stage, where concerts and events (like the ones planned by youngsters) take place. But in Taheva Youth Center you can not only train your stage presence, also your dance and driving skills, as we have a PS4 room, where the youngsters love to play JustDance or WRC. Of course not only PS4 is played in the Youth Center, there is also a board-game-room, the possibility to play table football, billiard and also table tennis. We regularly organize board game- and table tennis-evenings, where the volunteer can join and try to win against the youngsters. Additionally to the possibility to do some sport and play games, the Youth Center also has professional DJ equipment, which can be used during events (like disco), and a brand new drum set and ukulele.
The Youth Center also has a new kitchen where some of the clubs take place.
Also on the outside the Youth Center has some cool things to offer, for example an outside training opportunity. For the youngsters there is a small playground with the famous Estonian swing. But not only these, also on the territory of the Youth Center are volleyball fields and a dancing-place. Youngsters have the opportunity to borrow bicycles.
Hargla
Hargla is a village located in South-Estonia near the Latvian border. This village is the biggest village in Taheva area. Starting in 2018 Taheva area and Hargla village is now part of Valga parish. The parish centre is Valga city, which is ~30km away from Hargla.
Hargla is famous for its very beautiful nature, as also Karula national park is nearby – keywords are pure, eco and wild. Around the area are a lot of hiking tracks, free camping places in nature, lakes and forest. Near Hargla is also a viewing point, where you can get a great impression of the area. One popular activity is canoeing in Mustjõgi and Koiva river – especially in the „5th“ season of Estonia, which means that the water of the river floods the nearby land. But also volleyball is common and popular in this area, as the youth centre is organizing events for this sport.
In the village is a school (grades 1 through 9), a kindergarten, a library, a youth centre, a culture house, a little food store and 2 bus stops. Also we have courts for football and volleyball, an outside gym and an outside dancing place. The local culture house is organizing activities, events and clubs for grown-ups.
Hargla has direct bus connections with Valga (4 times per day), Võru and Tõrva (2 times per day), Tartu (1 time per day), and Pärnu (1 time per day). We are using the Valga train- and bus station to drive to Tallinn, Tartu and Riga (Latvian capital city). Important and biggest cities from Hargla: Tallinn ~270km, Riga ~175km, Tartu ~125km, Võru ~55km and Valga
~30km
Keywords: cooking, community events, arts and crafts, music
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tollisteank
Tõlliste Youth Centre is on the second floor of the local community centre in Tsirguliina, a small but active settlement about 15km from Valga.
The everyday free time is usually passed by playing billiards, foosball or board- and cardgames. Our youngsters really enjoy baking and cooking. Almost daily they bring their own food to cook here as well in addition to the cooking classes. Even outside of the cooking classes, the youngsters are ready to learn new tricks for the kitchen. They also love arts and crafts and ask for ideas to craft or draw daily.
Youngsters spend most of their time in our TV room, where it’s common to hear your typical conversations and sometimes rather loud reactions to video games. They also love listening to music, so it’s rather rare that the youth center is completely silent. If they get bored of video games, they either start doing arts and crafts or move on to playing billiards or boardgames. For the arts and crafts there’s currently a whole room which has all kinds of supplies and tools. Boardgames are usually played in the kitchen/office, where we have a small kitchen corner, a dining table, a desk and some supplies for everyday things.
We also have a band or music room, which currently does not get much use – perhaps something you could breathe a new life into?
Besides planned events, most of the activities come from what the youngsters feel like doing that day. Some weeks they are more active, some they feel like relaxing and taking it slow. Sometimes they look at us for ideas and sometimes they just want us to come along with what they’re doing.
Since we are in the same building as the community centre and very close to the local school, kindergarten and library, then usually everyone teams up for community wide activities, with different organizations taking the lead for different events. Everyone is eager to help, you just have to ask.
Tsirguliina
Tsirguliina is a small borough in Tõlliste Parish, Valga County in Southern Estonia, located about 15 kilometers northeast of the town Valga. With a population of ~ 440; the area is 2.57km². With the most important institutions and facilities like school (grades 1th until to 9th), kindergarten, civic centre, library and post office, it is the unofficial centre of the parish.
Tsirguliina borders the Väike Emajõgi River on its southern side. The name means „birds town” in South Estonian. Tsirguliina has a direct bus connections with Valga (17 times per day), Otepää (9 times per day), and Tartu (1 time per day). Important and biggest cities from Tsirguliina: Tallinn ~229km, Riga ~173km, Tartu ~73km and Valga ~15k
Facebook/homepage: https://www.hargla.edu.ee/gaia-oppesuunaline-klass/ and https://www.facebook.com/Taheva-valla-noored-302165056512667
Lasteaed
Hargla School kindergarten operates in Valga County, Valga Municipality, Hargla Village, in the same building as Hargla School and under joint management.
Hargla School kindergarten is a small and homely kindergarten, where excellent conditions have been created for children to develop comprehensively in a safe environment. Rooms have been recently renovated and adapted for kindergarten. There are 13 to 18 children on the list, depending on the year. Kindergarten team consists of a principal, 1 kindergarten teacher, 2 kindergarten teacher assistants, a music teacher and a movement teacher.
Study activities take place from September to May. At other times educational and playful activities take place. In addition to the playroom, we use school hall and music class for educational activities. We can also often be seen outdoors, on the playground, in the fields, on the roads and in the woods. There, children learn to observe nature, changes in it, flowers, trees and various field works throughout the year. It's a good way to get to know the environment and to take care of it. Also, from October to May, children aged 5-7 study Võru language and culture in the language nest on one day of the week.
We work closely with the school, culture house, library, speech therapist, social workers and Pathfinder.
Gaia class of Hargla School
The idea of creating a Gaia class was started by parents who share the same values. Gaia education is based on the principles of man and nature coexisting. Individual needs of each student are taken into account and the fields of study are nature studies and traditional culture, which support the integration of subjects. Gaia class is supported by a strong and frugal community. It’s important to return as much as possible to nature, naturalness and to one's roots.
Elements of outdoor and discovery learning are used as much as possible and learning is being supported by practical activities and play. Outdoor learning is learning in a genuine environment through direct experience, self-creation and the transmission of experience to others. Study activities are based on an annual rhythm, which is based on national traditions and rhythms of nature. Methodology of cycle learning is used as far as possible, providing the opportunity to cover one topic as a whole. The aim is also to link the content of different subjects and to implement a wide range of practical activities in teaching. People of the community, most of whom are artisans and carriers of heritage culture, are of great help here.
Kool
Hargla School (9 grade basic school) is located in Valga county, Valga municipality, Hargla village. Undre Hargla school are also working local kindergarten and Gaia class. Providing education began in Hargla as early as 1688. Hargla School is located in the area of Koiva-Mustjõgi landscape protection area and Karula Uplands landscape protection area. Relief and nature are varied, thus creating a better opportunity to teach natural subjects and promote environmental protection.
In order to introduce the local peculiarities, Võru language circle takes place in Hargla School and Võru language language nest works in the kindergarten. Local area history is taught as a subject at school. Topic of environmental awareness has been dealt with in depth since 2005 in both at school and in kindergarten. Since 2016 focus has also been on student entrepreneurship and for the fourth year in a row, 7th to 9th class students take part in a mini-company program, in the framework of which they create their own company, product/service and participate in various fairs and mini- company competitions during the academic year. Mini-companies of Hargla School have reached the final competition of Estonian mini-companies every year (the best places are 2nd and 3rd) and have won all the podium places in the mini-company competition of Valga County.
There is close co-operation in the field of hobbies with local non-profit associations and with the Taheva Parish Open Youth Center, a structural unit of the Hargla Rural Culture House, which coordinates the rural municipality's youth work. Hobby circles aimed at students operate at both the open youth center and the school.
Hargla
Hargla is a village located in South-Estonia near the Latvian border. This village is the biggest village in Taheva area. Starting in 2018 Taheva area and Hargla village is now part of Valga parish. The parish centre is Valga city, which is ~30km away from Hargla.
Hargla is famous for its very beautiful nature, as also Karula national park is nearby – keywords are pure, eco and wild. Around the area are a lot of hiking tracks, free camping places in nature, lakes and forest. Near Hargla is also a viewing point, where you can get a great impression of the area. One popular activity is canoeing in Mustjõgi and Koiva river – especially in the „5th“ season of Estonia, which means that the water of the river floods the nearby land. But also volleyball is common and popular in this area, as the youth centre is organizing events for this sport.
In the village is a school (grades 1 through 9), a kindergarten, a library, a youth centre, a culture house, a little food store and 2 bus stops. Also we have courts for football and volleyball, an outside gym and an outside dancing place. The local culture house is organizing activities, events and clubs for grown-ups.
Hargla has direct bus connections with Valga (4 times per day), Võru and Tõrva (2 times per day), Tartu (1 time per day), and Pärnu (1 time per day). We are using the Valga train- and bus station to drive to Tallinn, Tartu and Riga (Latvian capital city). Important and biggest cities from Hargla: Tallinn ~270km, Riga ~175km, Tartu ~125km, Võru ~55km and Valga
~30km
Ritsu (Linna küla) is located in Tõrva municipality, the city is 6 km away, the bus connection is very good and an illuminated light traffic road leads to the city. Nearby are Taagepera and Holdre castle, two spas, health trails and beautiful lakes where you can go swimming.
Ritsu Youth Room is part of the village center. The library and the Ritsu village society operate in the same premises. The house also has a dining room, school, kindergarten, gym, shooting range and shop. It is possible to go to the sauna. Our youth room provides for the youngsters a space where to spend time playing billiards, table tennis, air hockey, xbox games (their favourite is Just Dance) or simply chill with board games.
There is one person working in the house. The gym offers volleyball, football and park training. In addition, we organize various events for young people - overnight stays in the youth center, board game evenings, etc.
ESC long term project in Valga county (Valgamaa), Estonia. Activities of youth work in 6 different youth centres around Valga county: Valga, Tõrva, Karula, Taheva, Tõlliste and Ritsu. In addition - one activity is in the kindergarten/school (Gaia class) in Hargla.
Number of vacancies: 7
Valga Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Tõrva Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Karula Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Taheva Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Tõlliste Open Youth Centre – 9 months
Hargla School Kindergarten and Hargla School Gaia class – 8 months
Ritsu Youthroom – 9 months
Find more information on the service and living places HERE!
Check the blogs of our previous/other volunteers HERE!
An ESC volunteer should be in the ages between 18-30 and prepared to participate for 8-10 months in their assigned workplace.
We don’t expect our volunteers to already have well-developed skills and knowledge relating to working with youngsters and children. Rather we are looking for volunteers who have an interest in working with youngsters and are excited to gain new skills and knowledge not only on their own but more importantly as part of a team.
We welcome cultural diversity, as it will be beneficial in broadening the capabilities and knowledge of any team the volunteer is part of. Also, it will create a good ground to sow and grow new and fresh ideas, plans and projects.
We expect our volunteers to be open communicators, have friendly and tactful manners. They should be ready to be flexible about working hours and assignments since the work management in our offered positions is quite varied.
In the youth centres the work is often mobile – collaborative events, meetings and training can happen all over the country. The working hours are quite open as well – in addition to the regular “opening hours” of the youth centres, some of the tasks, preparations and events happen outside of those hours or even on weekends.
The work management in kindergarten and Gaia class is organised according to the lesson plan (usually starting in the morning and finishing by 5 in the afternoon), but there is a lot of opportunity for flexibility and diversity during the hours – different styles of workshops, trips, hikes etc. Most work days will be from Monday to Friday
We have one overall application HERE for every position offered.
Every application will be reviewed and discussed with the team, including possible tutors and with most suitable applicants a video-interview will be held over Skype, Zoom or MS Teams, before final decisions. Your location of voluntary service will be offered based on your application and interview.
If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact us via See e-posti aadress on spämmirobotite eest kaitstud. Selle nägemiseks peab su veebilehitsejas olema JavaSkript sisse lülitatud.
ESC longterm project in Estonia, Valga county (Valgamaa). Activities on youthwork in 5 different Valga county youth centres: in Valga, in Tõrva, in Karula, in Taheva and in Tõlliste and one activity in Kindergarten/School (Gaia class) in Hargla.
Number of vacancies: 6
* 2019/2020 we had the volunteers in Valga youth centre from Ukraine, in Taheva youth centre from Germany (in Hargla), in Karula youth centre from Finland and in Tõlliste youth centre from Austria.
Look from here amazing photos about Valga county valgamaa.tumblr.com
Look last volunteers blog posts here: tankla.net/tankla/in-english/esc-blog-19-20.html
An ECS volunteer should be at the age of 18 to 30 and willing to participate in an 11 months or 6,5 months long project.
When applying, it would be good to have an interest in youth work, working with the youngsters or children and media. Although, it is not an expectancy to have these skills and knowledge. It is important to have the desire of utilising your knowledge and skills and passing them on the local youngsters and children.
We are expecting that our volunteer is an open communicator and a friendly person, who is ready to be flexible about his/her working hours and assignments.
The work management in youth centre is very varied – you have to be mobile becuse of collaboration meetings and trainings all over the country and flexible because of the working hours of the centre (in addition to working on weekdays it is common to have to work on weekends as well).
The work management in kindergarten and Gaia class is organized according to the lesson plan (starting in the morning and finishing before 17), but there will be inside a lot of flexibility to give an opportunity a different style of workshops, trips, hikes etc. Mostly workdays will be on Monday until to Friday.
Cultural differences are not decisive, they are rather beneficial in terms of global diversity – we accept everyone who is suitable for youth work.
We will go through and discuss every single application as a team and will make Skype calls.
Interested? Send a form to the coordinating organization Valga county youth work center Tankla:
Ülla Tamm See e-posti aadress on spämmirobotite eest kaitstud. Selle nägemiseks peab su veebilehitsejas olema JavaSkript sisse lülitatud. or Rasmus Onkel See e-posti aadress on spämmirobotite eest kaitstud. Selle nägemiseks peab su veebilehitsejas olema JavaSkript sisse lülitatud.
Application form ESC 2020 (docx)
Applying deadline: AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (we choose volunteers on an ongoing basis.)
NB! The application is suitable for each service place. In which service place you will do your ESC, will be decided after the Skype-call and is depends on your answers (from the form + during the call) and where we think you would fit the best.
(Tankla is coordinating and Valga youth centre hosting organization of this project)
Keywords: Nature, sports, multicultural, one city two countries, photography, music/band, billiards, board games, table tennis, camps, voluntary work, handicraft, skatehall.
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/ValgaANK/ / http://valgaank.ee/
Valga Open Youth Centre is an institution, which has been establised in 2002, but as an individual institution from February 2017. It is located in South of Estonia, city called Valga. Valga is border city and it’s neighbour city is Valka, which Valga has good relations .We have city celebrations whitch are organized by two cities together.
Youth center has 1 manager and 4 youth workers, all with different backrounds and years’ worth of experience working with the youth. We have support from NGO Tankla, which support youthworkers and we are working together with other youth organisations. From the beggining of 2018, Valga Open Youth Centre has four smaller youth centres all over Valga area: Karula Open Youth Centre, Taheva Open Youth Centre, Õru Open Youth Centre and Tõlliste Open Youth Centre.
Valga area youth workers are all young aswell, one of the main reasons why we click with youngsters that well. We are all defferent but we all have the same aim and work ethics. We have one tradition to have work meetings every other two weeks. Each time we are meeting in different youth center. Also all the voluteers are involved.
Our aim is to develop and support through different activities different kind of young people with different kind of background. We work with youngsters aged 7-26, but that doesn’t mean that, if someone comes and is little bit younger or older, can’t take part events that we organize. We have events, which are really popular among young people like tournaments, diferent hikes and competitions, Summer school (camp), two week voluntary laborcamp (actually it is tons of fun and not only for working) and events that assume voluntary work in Valga City and county.
Our youngsters are really creative and most of opportunities, which are at this stage in our youth centre are written by our youngsters. Self-realization is popular, because they can have many experiences and thay can use experiences in further future. We have photostudio and bandroom, studioroom and a gym. Also we can rent out bikes, sport equipment. Also one of our youth worker is organizing every now and then an airsoft battle. A lot of ways to spend spare time.
Valga-Valka is the most southern town in Estonia and despite its small size, the town straddles two countries: Estonia and Latvia, boasting two languages and cultures. Valga-Valka also has a rich history and a versatile cultural scene. Valga city has a lots of things to see and has many ways to spend spare time. For lovers we have sportshall with different classes,
extreme sports hall, bowling centre and gym with 400m stadium. We have a lot of light traffic roads around Pedeli river and 10 km long road towards Tartu. We have possibilities to visit cinema and culture centre, musem and military museum.
We have a Voorimehe pub and for popmusic lover Club Yes, both are opened at the weekends and many cafes to buy pastries and drink coffee with friends. For rockmusic lover there is a place Valga Rockclub. We have many small and cheap shops. Best place to shop is in Tartu and it is 80 km from Valga. There is a regular bus transportation to Tallinn, Viljandi, Tartu, Pärnu (4 times per day) and
we have train transportation to Tartu, Tallinn and Riga. From July 2018 Valga County and 10 other counties in Estonia provide free public transportation all county based lines.
(Tankla is coordinating and Tõrva youth centre hosting organization of this project)
Keywords: sports facilities, photography, mechanics, robotics, musical instruments
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/TorvaNoortekas and https://torvanoored.ee/noortekad/torva-ank
Tõrva Youth Center is located in Tõrva, but it also has smaller youth rooms in Linna küla, Riidaja and Hummuli. In Tõrva Youth Center there are usually 30-100 visitors per day and 3 employees. Our youth center is located in a former school house and therefore has a lot of room and different opportunities. We have sports room, xbox room, musical instruments, billiards and table tennis and so on. In our territory there is an opportunity to play basketball, football or to skate. We are also starting with a robotics and mechanics course for youngsters and if the volunteer is interested in robots, engines or racing, he/she can participate in these activities as well.
Tõrva is a town in Tõrva Parish, in Valga County, southern Estonia. Tõrva has an area of 4.80 km2 (2 sq mi) and a population of ~2900, making it the second largest of the three towns in Valga County.
Tõrva region is a beautiful emplacement full of nature and many possibilities to spend your free time outdoors. For sport-enthusiasts we have zumba and yoga classes, a gym, volleyball and folk dance classes. For photography lovers, we have studio equipment to use, a lot of beautiful scenery and photography classes as well. We have an active arts studio and a music school where you can learn to play any instruments or to sing. We have two pubs and two cafes to buy pastries and drink coffee with friends. We have small shops, several supermarkets, a small cinema, opened once a month, and a field to play disc golf .
The closest city is Tartu (70 km from Tõrva), which is also the second biggest city in Estonia. It is called the University city and there you can find theaters, cinema, pubs, several malls and a lot of cool cafés. There is a regular bus transportation to Tallinn, Viljandi, Tartu, Pärnu (2 times per day) and to Valga (more than 10 times per day).
(Tankla is coordinating and Karula youth centre hosting organization of this project)
Keywords: rural area, events with school and culture hall, indoor-activites, beautiful nature, cooking together, active community
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/KarulaANK/
Karula Youth Centre is located in a bright green building between meadows and forests in a small lovely village - Lüllemäe in Valga parish. We share the building with the local library and store.
In the youth centre youngsters can spend time playing pool, ping-pong, novuss and have littlecompetitions. For more relaxing activities board- and cardgames are an option. For our youngsters baking and cooking is a very big part of the youth centre’s soul and regular cooking classes doesn’t even come close to filling that need – so be prepared to innovate in the kitchen!
The layout of Karula Youth Centre encourages everyone spending time together and it’s common to have several activities and conversations happening all on top of each other in the main room. For more contained excitement they can move to a spacious kitchen that also has a handicrafts corner or to one of two smaller siderooms – blue one with computers and yellow one that’s mainly for simply lounging and listening to music.
Besides our planned events (tournaments, boardgame evenings, cooking class and adventure club, to name a few), many of our events come in the form of pop-up happenings – when youngsters congregate and have the will to do something, it’s all about adapting quickly.
Since Karula region has a very tight-knit community, the youth centre also works together with the library, local school and culture hall - partnering up for community-wide events, organising extracurricular activities, lending a helping hand where needed and generally keeping an eye out for the good of our youngsters.
Lüllemäe village is located in the middle of Karula upland, being surrounded by its peaks and slopes, creating a beautiful scenery with the addition of Karula national park’s forests and lakes. The village has a population of 214 people. Lüllemäe has a school (1 st- 9 th grade), kindergarten, culture hall, library, youth centre, a cozy little café, a sports centre and several non-profit organisations.
Local community takes full advantage of the beautiful location and its active people – sporting and cultural events are held all year round. For example - If interested in winter-time sports, then Lüllemäe is a perfect location with the sports centre renting skis and maintaining the ski-trails. For that warm feeling of a community coming together - many of the national and traditional holidays are celebrated with region-wide events and open to everyone.
(Tankla is coordinating and Taheva youth centre hosting organization of this project)
Keywords: rural area, event organizer, ball games, workshop leader, activities related with nature
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/Taheva-valla-noored-302165056512667
Taheva Youth Centre is an institution which has been established in 2003. Starting at 2018 it is a part of Valga Open Youth Centre. The youth centre is located in a little village, which is called Hargla (population ~200) and mainly working with around 40 youngsters living in Taheva area. The target group are youngsters between 7-26 years. Most of the visitors are between 7-15 years. Main activities are organizing with youngsters events, their free time, clubs, workshops and other „crazy“ ideas to develop local youth work and community. We are famous in our area for about our fishing and volley ball tournaments.
Per month there are ~300-400 visits. Also, the youth centre is leading and organizing Taheva area clubs for youngsters (2019/2020 season clubs: folk band, fishing, crafting, sport, parkour, robotics, music, horse riding, cooking, entrepreneurship).
The youth centre itself is an old, but charming building next to the main road in Hargla. It has a big room - even with a stage, where concerts and events (like the ones planned by youngsters) take place. But in Taheva Youth Center you can not only train your stage appearance, also your dance and driving skills, as we have a PS4 room, where the youngsters love to play JustDance or WRC. Of course not only PS4 is played in the Youth Center, there is also a board-game-room, the possibility to play table football, billiard and also table tennis. We regularly organize board game- and table tennis-evenings, where the volunteer can join and try to beat the youngsters. Next to the possibility to do some sport and play games, the Youth Center also has a professional DJ equipment, which can be used during events (like disco), and a brand new drum set and ukulele.
The Youth Center also has a small kitchen and another room, where some of the clubs take place. Also on the outside the Youth Center has some cool things to offer, for example an outside training opportunity. For the youngsters there is a small playground with the famous Estonian swing. But not only these, also on the territory of the Youth Center are volleyball fields and a dancing-place. Youngsters have the opportunity to borrow bicycles.
Hargla is a village located in South-Estonia near the Latvian border. This village is the biggest village in Taheva area. Starting at 2018 Taheva area and Hargla village is now part of Valga parish. The parish centre is Valga city, which is ~30km away from Hargla.
Hargla is famous for its very beautiful nature, as also Karula national park is nearby – keywords are pure, eco and wild. Around the area are a lot hiking tracks, free camping places in nature, lakes and forest. Near Hargla is also a viewing point, where you can get a great impression of the area. One popular activity is canoeing in Mustjõgi and Koiva river – especially in the „5th“ season of Estonia, which means that the water of the river floats the nearby land. But also volleyball is common and popular in this area, as the youth centre is organizing events about this sport.
In the village is a school (grades 1 until 9), a kindergarten, a library, a youth centre, a culture house, a little food store and 2 bus stops. Also we have courts for football and volleyball, an outside gym and an outside dancing place. The local culture house is organizing activities, events and clubs for grown-ups. Hargla has a direct bus connections with Valga (4 times per day), Võru and Tõrva (2 times per day), Tartu (1 time per day), and Pärnu (1 time per day). We are using a lot the Valga train- and bus station to drive to Tallinn, Tartu and Riga (Latvian capital city). Important and biggest cities from Hargla: Tallinn ~270km, Riga ~175km, Tartu ~125km, Võru ~55km and Valga ~30km
(Tankla is coordinating and Tõlliste youth centre hosting organization of this project)
Keywords: parkour, musical instruments, board games, crafting, cooking
Facebook/homepage: https://www.facebook.com/tollisteank
Tõlliste Open Youth Centre is an institution, which has been established in 2002. Since 2018 the youth centre is a part of Valga Open Youth Centre. The target group are youngsters ages between 7- 26 years. Main activities are organizing with youngsters events, their free time and other ideas that develope community. Activities that we do very much are cooking, crafting, playing billiard and board games and also we do just dance battles. When it`s warm outside, we also go out and do things there, like playing mölky. In youth center you can also write projects and do things you like as well as things in which you are interested and youngsters are always here to support your ideas.
Youth Centre also have good partner organizations like parish house, Defence League, local school and Police house with who you can do events together. Youth Center is always open for new ideas. Since 2004 the Youth Centre is located in Tsirguliina civic centre second floor. Youth Centre has 5 rooms. First one is the kitchen/ cabinet where youngsters can cook, second one is for computers and table football and billiards. Third room is named Xbox room where youngsters spend most of their free time. In that room we have also a lot of board games which youngsters play and also there is the possibility to be in youtube with TV or watch movies or do Just dance battles. Forth room is crafting room which is also very popular here and everybody is welcome to bring new ideas and to be creative. The fifth room is a band room where youngsters can make music. Moreover, we have a balcony where we grow plants in the spring. In the first floor of civic center we have big room, where we can also watch movies or do discos and there we also have parkour work out.
Main events in youth centre are ÖÖTANK (spending a night in the youth center) and Bingo Wednesdays. There are also weekly crafting workshops.
Tsirguliina is a small borough in Tõlliste Parish, Valga County in Southern Estonia, located about 15 kilometers northeast of the town Valga. With a population of ~ 440; the area is 2.57km². With the most important institutions and facilities like school (grades 1th until to 9th), kindergarten, civic centre, library and post office, it is the unofficial centre of the parish.
Tsirguliina borders the Väike Emajõgi River on its southern side. The name means „birds town” in South Estonian. Tsirguliina has a direct bus connections with Valga (17 times per day), Otepää (9 times per day), and Tartu (1 time per day). Important and biggest cities from Tsirguliina: Tallinn ~229km, Riga ~173km, Tartu ~73km and Valga ~15k
(Tankla is coordinating and Lusti kindergarten hosting organization of this project)
Facebook/homepage: https://antsla.kovtp.ee/lasteaiad
In Lusti kindergarten there are six groups. Which in total makes 137 children. In each group there are two teachers with one assisants teacher. We also have two amazing cooks in kindergarten to make sure children are never feeling hungry. To the volunteer we offer an opportunity to write down a menu to introduce the cuisine of his/her own country. We can do it for a few weeks.
Lusti kindergarten is surrounded by forest, so our children spend a lot of time in the forest playing. But before playing there is always a lesson, what includes easy steps of how to behave in forest. We want our children to know how to be good to the environment. We make and take part of different nature- based projects to make learning more fun and interesting every time. In addition to nature projects we also have sport themed weeks and competitions.
We also like to develop creativity in our kindergarten and that’s why we have music and dance/movement teacher among our colleagues. After they finish preschool some of the children go forward to music school, some are going to choose dancing and some are starting to do sports. A little introduction of different hobbies in kindergarten surely helps the children to find what they like doing and what´s not their favourite thing to do.
Antsla is a small city in Võru county. Antsla is located in the south side of Estonia. There is not that many people in Antsla, but the people we have are very happy and welcoming. They welcome new people with warm hearts. Because we live in a rural area of Estonia, we consider folklore to be very important and we do everything to cultivate our culture.
There are no big shopping centers, fancy theatres, restaurants or cinemas. Instead of that, we have health trail, where you can do sports, we have small shops, where you can buy everything you need, we have light traffic road connected to Kobela (even smaller than Antsla), also good for doing sports and staying healthy and there are few small pubs, where you can enjoy delicious food.
After preschool you can go to Antsla Gymnasium, there are twelve grades. After the ninth young adults can choose if they want to stay or go to a bigger school. In addition to regular school you can also take up a new hobby and start a music school. Because Antsla is a small city, it is always a pleasure when children are having a concert and all generations of Antsla can get out of their homes.
(Tankla is coordinating and Hargla School kindergarten and Gaia class hosting organization of this project)
Facebook/homepage: https://www.hargla.edu.ee/gaia-oppesuunaline-klass/ and https://www.facebook.com/Taheva-valla-noored-302165056512667
Hargla School kindergarten operates in Valga County, Valga Municipality, Hargla Village, in the same building as Hargla School and under joint management.
Hargla School kindergarten is a small and homely kindergarten, where excellent conditions have been created for children to develop comprehensively in a safe environment. Rooms have been recently renovated and adapted for kindergarten. There are 13 to 18 children on the list, depending on the year. Kindergarten team consists of a principal, 1 kindergarten teacher, 2 kindergarten teacher assistants, a music teacher and a movement teacher.
Study activities take place from September to May. At other times educational and playful activities take place. In addition to the playroom, we use school hall and music class for educational activities. We can also often be seen outdoors, on the playground, in the fields, on the roads and in the woods. There, children learn to observe nature, changes in it, flowers, trees and various field works throughout the year. It's a good way to get to know the environment and to take care of it. Also, from October to May, children aged 5-7 study Võru language and culture in the language nest on one day of the week.
We work closely with the school, culture house, library, speech therapist, social workers and Pathfinder.
Gaia class of Hargla School
The idea of creating a Gaia class was started by parents who share the same values. Gaia education is based on the principles of man and nature coexisting. Individual needs of each student are taken into account and the fields of study are nature studies and traditional culture, which support the integration of subjects. Gaia class is supported by a strong and frugal community. It’s important to return as much as possible to nature, naturalness and to one's roots.
Elements of outdoor and discovery learning are used as much as possible and learning is being supported by practical activities and play. Outdoor learning is learning in a genuine environment through direct experience, self-creation and the transmission of experience to others. Study activities are based on an annual rhythm, which is based on national traditions and rhythms of nature. Methodology of cycle learning is used as far as possible, providing the opportunity to cover one topic as a whole. The aim is also to link the content of different subjects and to implement a wide range of practical activities in teaching. People of the community, most of whom are artisans and carriers of heritage culture, are of great help here.
Hargla School (9 grade basic school) is located in Valga county, Valga municipality, Hargla village. Undre Hargla school are also working local kindergarten and Gaia class. Providing education began in Hargla as early as 1688. Hargla School is located in the area of Koiva-Mustjõgi landscape protection area and Karula Uplands landscape protection area. Relief and nature are varied, thus creating a better opportunity to teach natural subjects and promote environmental protection.
In order to introduce the local peculiarities, Võru language circle takes place in Hargla School and Võru language language nest works in the kindergarten. Local area history is taught as a subject at school. Topic of environmental awareness has been dealt with in depth since 2005 in both at school and in kindergarten. Since 2016 focus has also been on student entrepreneurship and for the fourth year in a row, 7th to 9th class students take part in a mini-company program, in the framework of which they create their own company, product/service and participate in various fairs and mini- company competitions during the academic year. Mini-companies of Hargla School have reached the final competition of Estonian mini-companies every year (the best places are 2nd and 3rd) and have won all the podium places in the mini-company competition of Valga County.
There is close co-operation in the field of hobbies with local non-profit associations and with the Taheva Parish Open Youth Center, a structural unit of the Hargla Rural Culture House, which coordinates the rural municipality's youth work. Hobby circles aimed at students operate at both the open youth center and the school.
Hargla is a village located in South-Estonia near the Latvian border. This village is the biggest village in Taheva area. Starting at 2018 Taheva area and Hargla village is now part of Valga parish. The parish centre is Valga city, which is ~30km away from Hargla.
Hargla is famous for its very beautiful nature, as also Karula national park is nearby – keywords are pure, eco and wild. Around the area are a lot hiking tracks, free camping places in nature, lakes and forest. Near Hargla is also a viewing point, where you can get a great impression of the area. One popular activity is canoeing in Mustjõgi and Koiva river – especially in the „5th“ season of Estonia, which means that the water of the river floats the nearby land. But also volleyball is common and popular in this area, as the youth centre is organizing events about this sport.
In the village is a school (grades 1 until 9), a kindergarten, a library, a youth centre, a culture house, a little food store and 2 bus stops. Also we have courts for football and volleyball, an outside gym and an outside dancing place. The local culture house is organizing activities, events and clubs for grown-ups. Hargla has a direct bus connections with Valga (4 times per day), Võru and Tõrva (2 times per day), Tartu (1 time per day), and Pärnu (1 time per day). We are using a lot the Valga train- and bus station to drive to Tallinn, Tartu and Riga (Latvian capital city). Important and biggest cities from Hargla: Tallinn ~270km, Riga ~175km, Tartu ~125km, Võru ~55km and Valga ~30km
