Fáilteach - Localise

Introduction

Hello! We are a youth volunteering organisation, called “River Valley Localise” that helps in our local area. We run various social projects with the aim of helping out in our community. Examples of these projects include gardening for child vision, running an online challenge to raise money for cystic fibrosis awareness, and carol singing for the elderly in a local area to name a few. The group consists of five young people from diverse and various backgrounds, each of whom bring their own insights and expertise to each and every one of our social projects. Continue reading below to learn more about the project.

Week 1: The Beginning

We began our first meeting with our engagement game, and then began planning for our Erasmus+ project. We wrote out a brief description of what we would be doing for the next few weeks, deciding which weeks would require extra work outside of our weekly meetings. The aim of our project is to make care packages for unaccompanied minors, and distribute them via a youth organisation called “Youth Education and Services (YES) for Migrants and Refuggees”. In order to form the care packages, we will conduct shopping trips to purchase the relevant goods for the care packages. Afterwards, we will package the items in backpacks, which will then be gifted to YES for the unaccompanied minors. These unaccompanied minors are refugees who have fled a country in conflict or dire circumstances. With this goal in mind, we structured our timeline in a week by week manner, with achievable targets set for each week. The group’s commitment to their volunteerism and delivering on this project ensures that the goals set out in our timeline will be completed with a realistic frame.

Week 2: Planning

This week, we decided on the items we would be purchasing to put into the hampers. We wrote out a list, and decided to buy clothing, toiletries and hygiene products, school supplies and small gadgets like headphones or disposable cameras. The purchasing of these items will be completed at our local shopping centre, Swords Pavilions. The stores we are aiming to visit include “Tiger”, “Elverys”, “SuperValu”, and “Dunnes Stores”.

Half of our budget, €1,500, will be spent on this shopping trip, with the aim to produce 25 care packages. A second shopping trip will also be planned to produce a further 25 care packages, for a sum total of 50. Once all 50 care packages have been assembled, we will set up a handover with our contact with YES for a handover to be gifted to the unaccompanied minors. Our timeline aims to have both shopping trips and assembly sessions to be completed in November, with the handover being scheduled for December.

Week 3: Planning

During this meeting, we set out a plan for our vlog using what we learnt at the film workshop by Mango Media that Localise organised for all their groups doing an Erasmus+ project. We decided to use a mixture of A-roll and B-roll during the vlog.

We learnt that A-roll is talking directly to the camera, while B-roll is background footage usually paired with a voiceover. To put the skills we learnt to practise, we created a parody live interview of a political debate between two figures. We did this to practise our script writing skills, camera usage and being filmed on camera. This workshop prepared us for our objective to create a vlog.

Interviews and footage of us in our meetings, shopping, handing over the care packages make the format of our vlog.

Week 4: Planning & Preparations

We finished making the plan for our vlog. We began to make thought-felt cards, containing heartfelt messages to go with the care packages. Examples of these messages included “We hope you enjoy this care package as much as we enjoyed making it!”, “I hope this gift brightens your day!”, “We hope you enjoy this hamper and that it brightens your day!”. On the front of the cards we drew various images, such as flowers, stickmen art, as well as adding our own artistic flair to them, such as adding googly eyes! We all tried to make two each so that we could make the quota.

Our idea with the cards was that it would create a welcoming message to the young people we are targeting to help. We aimed to show that there are people out there thinking of them during this difficult time they are experiencing. This message is massively important, as we try to make the invisible become visible.

The young people under international protection in Ireland will be the recipients of these care packages. They have been through massive personal strife and struggle, and may not feel secure in where they are living. This is due to the fact that their living arrangements could be uprooted and moved to anywhere at any time. Therefore, we hope that these care packages that the young people receive will give them comfort in possessing things that are “their’s”.

We also discussed a date for meeting a representative of the Youth Education and Services (YES). Our contact in YES is named Manuela, a veteran of the organisation. Ms. Moreno has been extremely supportive and helpful in our group’s efforts to address the actual needs as opposed to their perceived needs.

Week 5: Practice Makes Perfect

We practised filming for our vlog by acting out mock interviews while in front of a camera. This was so that we would become confident during the process of being filmed for our vlog. In our application for this project the team decided that we would make a video along with our blog posts in order to document what we were doing during each step of the project’s timeline. Additionally, the main purpose of our vlog was to spread awareness of the situation that these particular young people are facing. We practised several crucial techniques this week, such as camera angles, body language, tone of voice, and being filmed in front of other people. This practice took place in the CrossCare centre the same location where our team has our weekly meetings. CrossCare is another charitable organisation in Ireland, whom a contact of Localise’s from within the organisation graciously allowed us to use their space for meetings and workshops. We were practising these filming skills for the purpose of being prepared for our filming evening in several weeks for the final draft of the vlog!

Week 6: Planning and Shopping

During this meeting we made the plan for the shopping trip we had on that weekend. Using the list we made on week two we narrowed down the items to what we really needed and then sorted those items into two lists. Then, our group split ourselves into two sub-groups, with each sub-group being assigned to a list of items that they were in charge of purchasing on the day. This split-list had items that were similar in the same group (e.g. shampoo, shower gel, and conditioner could all be purchased in a pharmacy) so that they could all be bought together in a logical order.

With the aim of purchasing 25 care packages worth of products, sub-group 1 was assigned chocolates, plasters, tissues, soaps, shower gels, shampoo, deodorant, conditioner, and headphones. The team members assigned to sub-group 1 were Sam and Ringo. Additionally, sub-group 2 was also assigned various products, including towels, blankets, hats, gloves, pens, bobbins, copies, and sanitary products. This sub-group included Liam and Emily, with some special assistance from Ava. For this project, we wanted to pack all the products for the carepacks in backpacks, which Ava was able to supply in bulk. The thought behind using backpacks was that they could then have all the items in one place and an extra item to carrying their belongings. This was so that they could move them around easily, and that they were theirs to own and do with as they please.

Week 7: Assembly

Week 7 was our team’s assembly night, where we packaged all the items we had purchased the previous week into the backpacks. The group took all the items out of their shopping bags, and sorted them into respective groups. The team also decided to record this assembly night to use the footage in our vlog at a later date. Next, we removed all the price tags and excess packaging from the items and sorted them into recycling and general waste bins. We removed these tags for several reasons, one of which was we viewed the care packages as having a social and humanitarian value, and wanted to avoid them appearing as just a commercial and monetary gift. We then began to put the care packages together! Using the logic of an assembly line. Each team member took an empty bag, and the respective amount of an item was added to each bag. Then the team member moved down the line until they had assembled all the items to produce a full care package. After the completion of 25 care packages, the team noticed something peculiar. There were spare hats, chocolates, and a conditioner bottle was left over! Diligently, the team began checking each package, concerned that they wanted no recipient to be left short of any items. Fortunately, and with patience, the bags with missing items were identified, and the correct items were added accordingly. This resulted in our team producing 25 full backpacks at the end of the night! Finally, we gathered all the care packs and brought them to the Localise staff member’s car, to be transported to a storage locker, to be stored safely until our handover with Manuela.

Week 8 & 9: No Meetings

We didn’t meet these weeks due to conflicts in schedule for the team. We chose to cancel these meetings to make sure we have as many people in attendance as possible rather than just a few.

Week 10: Vloging

In week 10, we began preparing for the vlog filming night. Firstly, our team considered what shape we wanted the vlog to take. This meant that the team chose what clips and types of filming we wanted to do. This included filming a brief interview of each team member where they introduced themselves, began considering where we would use A roll interviews versus B roll of the recordings of the carrying out of the shopping trips and assembly nights, and considered what photos and title cards to use in the final cut. Next, our group wrote up questions for the interviews. These questions covered the 5 areas of who, what, why, when, and how, so that we covered the story of unaccompanied minor refugees in as respectful and informative manner as possible. Once the question topics were expanded on, each member of our team was assigned a topic to be reviewed before the big night of filming!

Week 11: Updating

This week was a scheduled week to update our blog, add footage to the vlog and try to lessen the amount of work for us in the future.

Week 12: More Shopping!

This week, we had our second round of shopping. This time, our team learned from our previous experience of shopping and turned out to be much more efficient. For example, sub-group 1 (Sam and Ringo) made use of one of the hopping centre’s trolleys, allowing them to make a singular trip between the different stores (i.e. Tiger, Boots, Dunnes, SuperValue, and Easons). This meant that the bulk of the items could then be brought to the Loclaise staff member’s car in one trip, saving on time and avoiding excess strain. Additionally, sub group 2 had the majority of their shopping in Penny’s, and they were familiar from the previous trip of where the best priced items were (e.g. towels and blankets), and met up with sub-group 1 and their trolley to transport the goods. We managed to get a Black Friday deal on the headphones from Tiger for 30% cheaper, meaning we had more money in the budget to use for other items! We decided to use the surplus funds to buy reusable water bottles, so that they could have their own personal container for drinks, hot or cold! We also had to purchase an additional 25 backpacks to act as the carriers for all the goods we had bought. We headed to Penny’s, and picked out a selection of backpacks that both looked well designed as well as spacious so that they could include all the items. This was a challenge in itself, as all the backpacks contained excess packaging inside them to fill them out! Thankfully, this filling was recyclable, so the team worked in unison to remove and dispose of it correctly! With that challenge overcome, we headed to the tills and gradually had all our items scanned. However, after almost 15 minutes of scanning, the till froze and we had to start all over again! It was a disheartening task, but the group carried on and got the items scanned and paid for. Finally, we headed to the Localise staff’s car and packed it with all of the care package items.

Week 13: Assembly

In this meeting we did a near repeat of the last assembly night, by sorting the goods together in piles on the table. We then formed a production line putting one of each item in each backpack. Once again, we included items such as a towel, chocolate, and headphones in the care packs, as well as many more items! From the previous assembly night, we had learnt how to work with great efficiency. A couple items were passed over, however we quickly corrected that and finished the evening with another 25 care packages!

Week 14: The Handover

This week was vital, as it was the week of our big handover to Manuela in YES!!!! Firstly, we met outside the YES facility to meet manuela and bring the care packs inside. We then brought the packs upstairs and gathered them in the office as storage between visiting classes. We had care packages for 2 classes, as well as some spares for students who were not currently in the building. After dividing the packs into male and female bags, we visited the first class. When we entered, it felt like we were in the reverse role of people coming in to speak during classes when we were in school ourselves. From those moments in secondary school, we were taught that the students might not be aware of who we are. Therefore, we decided to go around the class learning each student’s name and where they were from if they wanted to share. It felt heart breaking to meet people who we had heard awful stories about in the media in regards to war and suffering. It was a strange feeling to meet people who we had only heard about them and their struggles through the news and social media. This meeting helped remind us of the reason we had begun this project in the first place, regarding the awful circumstances that refugees have faced. After the introductions, we introduced ourselves and River Valley Localise. We talked with them about our ESC project, volunteering activities, and the reason why we were there that day. One thing that struck us was the language barrier in the room. At one point, a student mentioned that we spoke too fast and politely asked us to speak at a slower pace. This led us to consider the fact that we took the simple situation that we all speak english fluently with each other every day, and so it highlighted the fact that this barrier is one more obstacle that refugees have to face after fleeing conflict. After the talk, we handed out the carepacks, and they were met with smiles and a warm feeling by everyone in the room, especially with the headphones and the water bottles!! Due to the class schedule for that day, we moved onto the second class and repeated this process, which was met once again with a warm response by the young people, their teachers, and ourselves. Another surprising factor was that some students were unaware of what Christmas was, as they come from areas where the Muslim event of Eid is the predominant celebration. Again, this made us realise the differences in culture between ourselves and the group we are helping. However, seeing everyone happy with their care packs and the work that went into them made us all feel solidarity with one another.