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Working with Older Volunteers in Manual Intergenerational Projects
The results of the exchange programmes proved that the chosen method
was appropriate. The host group was involved in the early plans (except in
France, where the geographical spreading of the participants prevented this)
and was increasingly interested in active participation while planning the
agenda. In cooperation with the associated schools and institutions they decided
on the topics as well as on details such as material and tools. In addition,
they developed ideas for the support programme and decided on its form,
organized the exchanges with the help of their personal connections, gave
advice concerning the logistics and much more.
At the beginning of the exchange weeks the participants were divided
into different intergenerational groups with creative and practical tasks. Also
in this stage it was important to mind the participants’ main interest. Each
group decided on one member who supervised the project’s execution, organised
the single steps and checked on a balanced division of work. During the
project hosts and guests could easily gather and usually agreed on the proceedings
without any translation tool by demonstrating working techniques,
presenting visual aids and by assisting each other in the working process. If
this method wasn’t satisfying, usually the young people or participants with
a command of the language in need could help or authorized interpreters
solved the problem.
All participants were increasingly interested in informing the others about
the particular activities in their home country and in sharing their knowledge
about it. Without exception all senior participants identified immediately
with their tasks and thus quickly felt responsible for their particular project,
which became obvious in their concern for punctual completion by the end
of the week or in their creativity, when required tools were missing or problems
had to be solved. This kind of initiative was a great help to the organisers,
since parts of the execution could be given to volunteers.
Real problems rarely occurred. One group, for example, had to cook for
more than 80 people and therefore had to prepare all parts of the meal on
time. When the older participants didn’t always have the patience to integrate
the young people into each step of production, the problem could be solved
within one day and a few conversations. This group needed more communicative
support than others; one interpreter attended nearly all their meetings
and supported them by fixing important words in three languages above the
workplaces. Other participants were doing silk painting and had communicative
problems in the beginning, because none of them spoke a foreign
language and all of them (older participants) were focussed on speaking. At
first this courted resentment (“interpreters are never available”, “the course is
badly organised in general”), and yet they completed their salutation banner
and other silk paintings as planned and already on the third day the family
backgrounds of the group members had been clarified with the help of paper,
pencil and drawings.
Thus during the entire exchange real contact between the participants came
up especially in small groups; once the beginning was made this way, making
Set of Methods 93