SUM student Polina Garayeva represented the University at the semi-finals of the Dobrovolets Rossii (Volunteer of Russia) competition
During 24–26 September 2019, Polina Garayeva, a fourth-year student in Institute of Industrial Management, an activist from the LUCHik volunteer student group, defended her project at the semi-finals of the Dobrovolets Rossii 2019 (Volunteer of Russia) competition in Voronezh.
The All-Russian Dobrovolets Rossii Competition is underway for the ninth time, bringing together the best volunteer projects from all across the country. In 2019, the organisers of the event considered more than 28,000 initiatives. A project of the LUCHik volunteer student group made it through to the semi-finals, impressing everyone in the jury. The SUM charity organisation has been actively working with the Nash Dom (Our Home) social and rehabilitation centre for minors for 15 years. The centre’s activities are aimed at the social adaptation of children, development of creative skills and identification of unique abilities during master classes, psychological and cognitive quests, sports events and educational discussions.
Over the course of its existence, LUCHik has supported many orphans, nurturing the special skills and abilities of every child it has worked with. ‘We sincerely believe and know that we can help, we see time after time how children demonstrate their talents and try to show their best qualities. There are dozens of talented children in need of support, assistance in realising their potential and mentoring’, said semi-finalist Polina Garayeva about the activities of the SUM charitable organisation.
As part of the competition, SUM’s LUCHik group came up with the ‘Accelerator of Talents’ project in the ‘Helping Children’ arena. Polina proposed a number of educational and developmental activities to identify and maintain the talents of children in orphanages and other social institutions. On the first day of the semifinals, aside from the project presentations, there were also competition expert consultations. The Talent Accelerator was highly praised and received valuable advice on its implementation and improvement.
During the next two days, the contestants attended a forum related to the educational volunteer program. Young people tried their hand at business games establishing communications, collecting together and motivating a volunteer team. The highlight of the forum was the creation of a joint picture, for which 40 teams of volunteers painted parts of an A3 format puzzle. At the end, all 40 puzzles were combined into one large picture. Participants were joined together not just within their teams, but also throughout the event.
Polina Garayeva shared her impressions of the semifinals: ‘The programme was very intense. We defended projects, participated in educational master classes and listened to interesting speakers. Most of all I remembered a workshop with mentor George Bilman, coach of EVERYCO. We were taught how to negotiate with project stakeholders, why communications are important, what nuances should be taken into account when building interaction. We also had the opportunity to organise in practice the work of a team of 200 people and create one creative project. It was incredibly motivating to be part of such a huge team, among passionate and energetic people. Such a large-scale and inspiring event motivated me even more to progress in my endeavours. I also have a clearer understanding of the development venues for the LUCHik project. Now I have a clear goal to share the knowledge and skills I received with other LUCHik activists and organise the club’s vector of work more professionally’.
The final stage of the competition was the awarding of certificates to all semi-finalists by region. The project defending results will be announced after October 20. The winners will receive grants of up to RUB 2 million for the implementation of their initiatives.
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While Polina Garayeva is preparing to implement her large-scale plans and fight for a place in the finals, LUCHik’s activists are calling for SUM students to join them for a visit to the ‘Krasnaya Sosna’ (Red Pine) dog shelter on 6 October at 12:00 p.m. Each participant will be able to walk and play with the animals and entertain them with tasty treats.
If you cannot go, but want to help, please send a WhatsApp text at 8 (916) 339-08-69.
Дата публикации: 8.10.2019