Two two-day specialist training courses for volunteers took place in May.

The first one (3 and 10 May) was about caring for elderly people. As usual, it was conducted by Alicja Grzywacz and Jolanta Batorska.

The second training course (27 and 28 May) was aimed at volunteers working in hospital on the palliative ward and in Health Care Centre. This training course was concerned with interpersonal communication and assertiveness and it was counducted by Ewa Szczepańska.

Seniors and young people (twenty in total) took part in workshops on interpersonal communication. The workshops were held on 2 and 3 June. The participants learnt, among others, how to recognize and show emotions, communicate using verbal and non-verbal means, and speak publicly. They worked in groups, which helped them get to know each other better and fostered integration. The established goals were reached: at the end of the workshops one could see that almost everyone was more open and willing to work in a team and they had better communication skills.

The Polish-German workshop ending the project “Still needed –a Partnership for Supporting the Victims of the Third Reich from Zamojszczyzna and Cologne” took place on 22 −24 September. The workshop was attended by the representatives of the Co­lo­gne-ba­sed Fe­de­ral As­so­cia­tion for In­for­ma­tion and Con­sul­ta­tion to Vic­tims of Na­tio­nal So­cia­lism (BUN­DE­SVER­BAND IN­FOR­MA­TION & BE­RA­TUNG FÜR NS-VER­FOLG­TE), teachers and pupils from Mid­dle Scho­ol No. 4 and Up­per-Se­con­da­ry Scho­ol Com­plex No.4 as well as volunteers. The workshop participants, who were supervised by a trainer, worked out effective methods of non-formal education helping to commemorate the fate of the victims of Nazism and to teach the young generation about the history of the Second World War. Moreover, the workshop attendees talked about difficult memory, awkward questions and fighting stereotypes. On the last day, the participants met “witnesses to history”. After the workshop sessions, the guests from Cologne visited the city and saw a preview of the exhibition of works by a Zamość-based painter, Stanisław Pasieczny .

With time, our memory grows weaker. However, a regular memory training will allow our mind to remain in a good shape for a long time. Ten VCZ members learnt many new memory exercises with Katarzyna Chmura, a psychologist. The course took place from 9 to 11 October.

The Volunteer Centre in Zamość invited social workers, family assistants, volunteers and everyone interested to a training course entitled „Preparation for active aging.” The course took place on June 11 2014, in “Okrąglak,” from 9.30 to 15.30. The following topics were discussed:

1. Basic issues in geriatrics – the physiological and psychological aspects
2. Forms and methods of activation of the elderly
3. Forms and methods of organising care for the elderly in Poland, Europe and the world.

In April another edition of computer workshops began in our Centre with 10 participants who are the members of our Volunteer Centre in Zamość. Learning computer know-how is carried out by the one-to-one method, i.e. each participant has his/her own instructor. This time, the instructors are pupils from the Upper-Secondary School Complex No.4, supervised by professor Leszek Michalski. The workshops take place in the computer room at J. Piłsudskiego 65.

What does a geriatrician do? What is old age? When and how does it begin? What are aging-associated diseases and what should we expect of them? How can we help the elderly patients and how should we act in the case of emergency? These are only some of the questions asked and answered during the 10^th Training Course organised by the Volunteer Centre in Zamość as a part of the project “Still needed. A Partnership for Supporting the Victims of the Third Reich from Zamojszczyzna and Cologne.”

Those interested in working with the elderly people are welcome to take part in a 2-day specialist training at our Volunteer Centre. The training consists of two parts: theoretical and practical. We provide the participants with course materials, tea/coffee as well as one meal per day.
More information (dates, topic covered) available at the Volunteer Centre in Zamość, by phone 84 6273755 or by e-mail: biuro@wolontariatzamosc.pl

As a part of the cooperation between the Volunteer Centre in Zamość and the Museum – Memorial Site in Bełżec, our volunteers who record war-time recollections had an opportunity to participate in a unique field trip. They visited the Museum of Jews and the historical exhibition as well as learned how the new relics found upon the site of the former death camp are registered and restored.

“Creative Thinking,” “Interpersonal Communication,” “Building Self-Esteem,” and “Building And Working In A Group” workshops took place from 22 to 24 July in the ZCV. The volunteers were obliged to use the gained knowledge during a two-day camping trip (25.07-26.07, Majdan Sopocki), which they did marvellously.

15 pupils from various schools in Zamość have undergone a basic training course for volunteers as well as a specialist course in providing care for the elderly. The majority of the participants will take up work in private homes and in the Health Care Centre where senior citizens reside.

Yesterday 10 senior members of the Volunteer Centre in Zamość completed a 16-hour computer training course. Each participant worked with a private instructor/volunteer and, as the final exam attests, the senior students completed the course with flying colours.

The volunteers were the pupils from the technical college in the Upper-Secondary School Complex Nr 4 (building school). The entire event was supervised by Professor Jerzy Goryczka.