Follow my steps: staying positively negative with school volunteer clubs

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With the support of Local Democracy Agency Sisak, ALDA’s Operational Partner, in February 2020 two school volunteer clubs opened their doors in Sisak, Croatia within the project "Follow My Steps – Youth for a Sustainable Community".

These are staffed by school representatives and students, and club activities (currently held online) are conducted in accordance with the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The volunteer club of the Sisak Gymnasium "VoGSi", in particular, holds weekly meetings to care for its members' mental health: for example, since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, its activities have been aimed at raising everyone's spirit by focusing on gratitude and positive aspects of the situation, as well as strengthening interpersonal connections. Students also prepared and conducted their first online peer workshop, called "Better Tomorrow", to promote the 4th SDG: Quality Education.

The Ivan Trnski High School Volunteer Club "With Heart to Others", in turn, actively communicates with its members so that they can overcome the ongoing time of isolation as painlessly as possible while also remaining active in their community. Thus, two volunteer students developed a questionnaire linked to the 3rd SDG: good health and well-being, where all participants expressed their opinion on online teaching and how it affects their health, and more.

In addition, students were tasked with creating "positive posters", which then resulted in a virtual exhibition called "Think Positive, Stay Negative"; and Earth Day was celebrated, as well, as volunteers cleaned up the environment around them and created a photo exhibition called "Earth Day in the Corona Age" in connection with the 15th SDG: Life On Land. 

Both school volunteer clubs continue to be active in planning new activities that help students in both their school and community, while also giving them the opportunity to develop new knowledge and skills.

Learn and see more in the dedicated post on our ALDA blog, where we showcase ALDA members' best practices during coronavirus times!

The “Follow My Steps! – Youth for a Sustainable Community” project is co-financed by the Office for NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia through the Swiss-Croatian Cooperation Program. It is implemented by LDA Sisak in partnership with Sisak – Moslavina County, the Sisak Gymnasium High School and the Ivan Trnski Hrvatska Kostajnica High School.

Please note that the views expressed in this text are the sole responsibility of LDA Sisak and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.