international volunteer work

The Lava Legato foundation offers volunteer work abroad for young people between 18 and 30 years old as part of the Erasmus+ program European Solidarity Corps. The program lasts between 2 and 12 months and offers fulltime volunteer activities, a language course, an additional health insurance and training programs. Food allowance and accommodation are covered. 

In order to do international volunteer work, you need to meet certain criteria:

-All Erasmus+ volunteer projects need at least three partners: a hosting organization, a sending organization and a volunteer. 

-You need an English CV and motivation letter to apply for a project. The motivation letter is used to explain why you would like to participate in the project. 

You need to find a project abroad where you can do your volunteer work. Please check the European Solidarity Corps website of the Erasmus+ program. 

A grant should be applied to finance the project. This is done by the sending or hosting organization. Please take into account the deadlines for applying for a grant. Only after the grant is approved you can go abroad. Contact us to find about the next deadline. 

The volunteer work offered by Erasmus+ is not a holiday: it means committing yourself between 2 and 12 months -depending on the offer by the hosting organization- to fulltime volunteer work. 

Erasmus+ projects can take place all over the world, but Lava Legato only works on projects that take place in Europe.

It is possible to obtain a certificate of your participation: a Youthpass. 

Lava Legato sends, coordinates and hosts volunteers. In the Netherlands, the hosting takes place in different areas. In Rotterdam and The Hague volunteers work for a variety of social and educational organizations.  In Vorden, volunteers work at the biodyanmic farm Urtica de Vijfsprong. In Vierakker volunteers work in the  residential house for children with special needs, de Kleine Koning. 

why us? 

For more than 19 years we have been working on activities to support people but also communities and districts that can use help. We set up and execute social projects with international stakeholders, but also with small scale local partners. A few of our well known projects are: 

• restaurant Trattoria Borgo d'Aneto
• the Rotterdam Fruit Preserve: an organic delight that we made together with volunteers and interns from special education.
• the espresso bar the Polka dot Rabbit at the cube houses in the city center of Rotterdam. 

We do not receive structural funding. It is important for us to be self sustaining. We therefore inform young people -volunteers and students- about the impact of being independent. We do our best to teach them basic entrepreneurial skills. New partnerships are always interesting for us, under the condition that we are allowed to think out of the box and work professionally & with our hearts.  Inspiration comes from people and organizations who dare to be different and who strive for excellence. We know that it is not always easy to make changes but we stay optimistic in trying to make the world a better place.

gallery

We are active in different fields, as these pictures show you.

From top left to bottom right: 1. our espressobar the Polka Dot Rabbit, 2. Monteiro Gym: one of the organisations where our volunteers are active; 3. Theo and Ewald during a food event in the neighbourhood Feyenoord in Rotterdam; 4. two interns for the Rotterdam Fruit Preserve. 5. Amina, our volunteer from Bosnia Herzegovina helping out at an event for children. 6.Judit: a volunteer from Spain, helping out at a garden project. 7. Tereza, a local volunteer assisting at the Rotterdam Fruit Preserve; 8. A billboard in Rotterdam, with Ewald and two international volunteers; 9. children from a primary school assisting in making fruit preserve. 10. Matteo, an Italian volunteer partincipating in a local event to stimulate social cohesion; 11. an intern at the Rotterdam Fruit Preserve; 12. two interns at the Rotterdam Fruit Preserve. 

who are we?

The Lava Legato foundation does not have paid staff. The foundation hires professionals to execute specific projects and works with international volunteers to support a variety of organizations. The organization has a board and works with mentors who support the international volunteers. 

JESSIE VOERMANS

BOARD MEMBER

graduated in 1994 in the field of Child & Youth Psychology at Tilburg University. After her studies she started her own company, aimed at developing assessment tools for staff selection and recruitment and personnel management. From 2001 she made a career shift: from working for commercial organizations to being involved in social and educational activities. Creative expression, international activities and special needs students are her fields of expertise. In 2020 she finished her MA (with distinction) in Fine Arts. This allows her to organize more creative and artistic activities to contribute to the mission of the foundation. 

EWALD RENAR 

BOARD MEMBER

Grew up on the south side of Rotterdam. He knows this area and the developments that took place there like no other. After Ewald finished his studies in the catering business, he started being an entrepreneur. He specialized in mediation of art projects and the stimulation of enterpreneurship among artists. He collaborated with a variety of commercial and governmental organizations like Honda Nederland, Wyett, the ministry of Trafic and Water, the ministry of Security and Justice and DSM.

With his own company Fruit de Renar he started the collaboration with the Lava Legato foundation. Together they founded the Rotterdam fruit preserve in 2011. In 2018 this social -best practice- business was handed over to the Social Delight foundation. 

MONIEK BERTENS

BOARD MEMBER

Moniek did the Arts Academy in Tilburg. She started her own business, immediatley after she graduated. She is an expert in design, product development and social media. Moniek is a board member and advises Lava Legato on communication and design issues. 

HERMAN DE GROOT

BOARD MEMBER

Herman de Groot studied Architecture at the University of Delft. During his studies he used his free time to support residents’ associations for housing and district improvement in Delft. In the 80’s he worked for the Rotterdam City council on projects that aim to boost the city. In 1990 he started his own business in this area. More than 25 years he was engaged in innovative housing projects, for the most part in Rotterdam. He always strived for solutions that have added value for residents. The appreciation for his work is shown in the fact that local residents named two squares after him, one in Delft and one in Rotterdam.

GHISELLA SILVA

MENTOR

Gisella Silva has worked for several years as a professional in the field of Internationalisation for Inholland University of Applied Sciences. With a bachelor in Tourism management and coaching the obvious step was to combine these two with her love for the city of Rotterdam. In her current role she facilitates connection between higher education and local companies in Rotterdam. She has obtained vast experience in external relations and collaboration doing so.

In 2019 she also started her own company where she works as a trainer in Networking skills and Image Consulting bringing together her desire to help others in their personal growth as well as helping them to create valuable (professional) connections.

HANI DIRI

MENTOR

Hani has started as an intern at Lava Legato. She just arrived in the Netherlands and was not able to speak Dutch. Throughout the years she continued with her education, and has done so very succesfully. Her experience to move from Somalia to the Netherlands, a country that was very different from what she was used to, only made her stronger. She has a great ability to adapt, to learn a language and to do well in her educational career: in 2020 she will start a Bachelor program. Hani currently uses her insights and experience  to support the international volunteers in Zuthpen. 

Please check our Facebook page for updates from our volunteers.