- The document describes a project called E.P.I.C. TRAINEESHIP aimed at socially underprivileged youth in Slovenia. - The project is led by Maja Drobne and has involved over 100 socially underprivileged youth over 4-6 years through non-formal camps. - The project aims to go beyond one-time camps by establishing a non-formal traineeship program and ongoing meetings to empower youth to become leaders in organizing future camps across Slovenia. This will help address the lack of sustainability of current programs and opportunities for underprivileged youth.

3. • Project status: final submission
• The name of your project: past experiences, E.P.I.C.
TRAINEESHIP
• Team leader: Maja Drobne
• Impacted underprivileged group of youth: socially
underprivileged youngsters, youth with
disabilities
• Number of people in the team : 2 (+expanding)
• Volunteering hours spent: unlimited (non-formal
camps under the Red cross and the
association Sožitje)
• Number of youth impacted: over 100 (hard to keep
count)
• Period of project/action: 4-6 years of experiences
OUR PROJECT IS BASED UPON THE
RICHNESS OF FORMER EXPERIENCES…

4.  What did we want to achieve in our past activities?
Giving the underprivileged youth a chance to involve in a surrounding made for their
needs, so that they could evolve personally through active participation in the
programme.
 Actual results?
Results are not measurable. The only thing that matters are the confused faces when
they come to a certain camp, laughter during and tears in their eyes while leaving.
 How has our work been relevant?
First of all it has changed our perception of the society and consequently we realized
how privileged we really are. You know that feeling of empathy, when you just take
someone under your shelter when the camp ends? But you come to a conclusion
that small actions do count. Anyway you always keep that in mind and seek
something more. That’s also the reason for applying to this challenge.
 How was our work innovative and are there any similar things?
Locally and globally similar camps for socially underprivileged youth already exist, they
are effective and always connected to some important topics. And just because we
were actively involved we noticed a certain lack of sustainability. There is a need for
more and here is where we can explain how innovative our project could be. Giving
the multiplying effect from one week action, make them responsible and making
opportunities for the participants so that they could become leaders too.
 The potential of the project?
The plan is to non-formally educate youngsters from 15 to 18 years, because the effect
is best placed in that period of growing up. Starting with a basic camp, then keeping
the group formatted through a year of working meetings. Firstly we would start in
Ljubljana and then expand to other regions. And the volunteers who would organize
this action would firstly be team leaders and further on seen as technical help only.
As the participants would become protagonists of the multiplying action.

5. Our results are based on volunteering experiences done in the
past. Just for the taste of it:
 WE HAD reached to more than a 100 socially
underprivileged youth,
 … evolved in ideas and potential,
 … used our creativity to make camps work
efficiently,
 … engaged in conflict management to prevent
non-constructive situations,
 … worked always as team players and
merged group of volunteers to work as one…
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WE HAVE CAME
TO THE PERCEPTION THAT WE WAN’T TO
MAKE…

6. SOMETHING MORE FIRM AND
SUSTAINABLE…
A project named E.P.I.C. traineeship, for
socially underprivileged Slovenian
teenagers.
A project based on the vision to create an
open space for youngsters of Ljubljana in
which they will see through their own
limitations and seize opportunities arising.
It’s hard to watch the participants of the camps going home
after week or two, while knowing that their real-life
situation is’nt so pleasant. So we are really eager to make
firstly a non-formal traineeship camp and then permanent
meetings with our participants, who would aim for
leadership of other camps around Slovenia latter on.

7. We want to give a chance to youngsters which in
this difficult period of teenage years start to get a
feeling, that because of the social situation of
their families don’t have the same opportunities
as “socially included” youngsters. By giving them
a chance to spend 7 days with “socially included”
youngsters, getting to know the non formal
learning methods, really give them a chance to
try new things, and give them the opportunity to
really feel included and make them feel
comfortable enough to lead the group after some
time.
In a cooperation with Ljubljana Social center we
would find youngsters which are coming from
families with social difficulties.

8. Maja Drobne, Faculty of social
sciences – European studies,
Slovenia
Peter Golobar, Faculty
of Social Sciences –
European studies,
Slovenia