Mid Term Volunteering
Support of Technical Leading
of Workcamps
Different camp places
of Open Houses' 2021 programme

SOCI 15.08. – 22.10.2021 OH-C07
The camp leader can apply for longer than the dates
mentioned above.
ACCOMMODATION:
Depending on the camp place.
Please, have a look in the camp place descriptions.
AGE: at least 20
LANGUAGE:
English, basic knowledge of German and other languages
are helpful
WHAT TO BRING:
working gloves and strong working shoes,
sleeping bag, waterproof clothes
Motivation letter related to the project
and CV + photo required

Organising and leading an international Workcamp is an interesting challenge for those who enjoy
working together with young people from all over the world and which are willing to take over
responsibility.
For young and older people more interested in the technical side of the works than in the organisation
of the social life Open Houses offers the possibility to support the technical leading of Workcamps and
Building Weeks in the framework of Mid Term Volunteering. This could be an interesting task for those
which have own manual experiences and interest in activities related with the environment or for those
which want to train their organisational skills.
The leading of the technical side of the Workcamps lies in the hands of one of Open Houses' technical
leaders. The volunteer who supports him can overtake a part of the technical leaders' responsibility.
Depending on the wishes, the skills and the experience of the volunteer this can be the organisation of
the schedule of the working day, the responsibility for tools and material, the leading of a smaller group
of volunteers or more special tasks.
For students of architecture, building engineering and similar fields this kind of voluntary service can
be recognized as internship for their studies. Open Houses will offer the necessary certificates. For
each camp leading of two weeks the volunteer receives a 150 € allowance. S/he does not have to pay
for food and accommodation and can take part in all cultural activities and excursions of the camps.
After two or three camps, is highly recommended that the volunteer takes a break. S/he have the right
to stay as a participant in a project. In that case, the food, accommodation and insurance is covered but
the volunteer will not receive allowance.

This year Open Houses is supporting the revival of the anniversary campaign “100 years of workcamps”
of 2020, which due to the COVID-19 emergency had to be postponed towards 2021. For this reason,
Open Houses organises a special workcamp which will be representative of the work camp culture of
Open Houses.

In parallel to this workcamp, Lohra Castle will also be hosting a seminar with the presence of former
camp leaders and participants representing other German youth organisations, where they will discuss
the future of workcamps from the perspective of today’s young volunteers. The participants of this
workcamp will be providing support for this seminar while partaking in the activities organised jointly
with the seminar participants.

The work camp will take place in the setting of Lohra Castle which is situated in the heart of Germany
in Northern Thuringia. The castle is located on the edge of a nature reserve area surrounded by an
idyllic landscape of rolling hills. Being one of the largest castles in Thuringia, the history of the castle
Lohra stretches back to the Middle Ages for more than a thousand years. Today it includes twenty
buildings from different times: medieval fortifications, remnants of a tower from the 11th century, a
Romanesque chapel, a manor house from the Renaissance period as well as stables and granaries from
the 19th and the early 20th centuries. The ensemble is situated in the centre of a beautiful forest.