V!VOVOLO e. V.

V!VOVOLO e. V. is a non-profit association which is working with and for refugees in and around Würzburg since 2007. The association is politically independent and not bound to any religious denomination.
We organize projects with different kinds of social aspects and try to integrate refugees in all sorts of ways. Some of our projects are for sports (swimming-courses, groups for walking or running,…) others are moreover cultural like guided tours through Würzburg or concerts. Everybody is welcome to join one of our current projects or to create a new one. If you have any idea – just let us know! We would be happy to support you in different kinds of ways. As a registered association we have the possibility to give financial support for the projects.
Some projects need a lot of time to be pushed. In this case it is also possible to be payed for the work.

Our main aims are to support women in the camps, to organize intercultural events, to make it possible for refugees to take part in social life in Würzburg and to help people integrate.

We are working together with Heimfocus (a magazine from and with refugees). Additionally during vacation we offer different activities for children (including German children) such as swimming, doing handcraft or playing games.

One of our biggest aims is to talk with – not only about – refugees and people from different cultures!

So we would be happy hearing from you. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, if you have an idea for a project or if you would like to support us in any other way.

Your V!VOVOLO-team (kontakt@vivovolo.de)

Projects

Holiday program

We offer activities for children at home during vacation. Those programs take several days during vacation – especially during the summer.  The programs aim at children who are migrants and/or refugees living in camps on the countryside where they have fewer leisure opportunities than people living in bigger cities. What kind of program we offer depends on the preferences of the children and the possibilities in the surroundings (bus connections etc.). As far as possible our programs are also open to other children living in those villages.

In our last holiday programs we were making excursions in the environment of the villages, creative assignments, swimming lessons, cooking and eating together and many different kinds of games.

Open meeting on Saturday

Once a month we meet on a Saturday afternoon. Invited are refugees from all the camps in and around Würzburg – individuals as well as families – to eat, drink and play together. Like this we get to know each other, V!VOVOLO e.V. can present their offers and develop new ideas.

Swimming lessons

Since a couple of years V!VOVOLO e.V. offers swimming lessons for women, men and children. Many of the refugee-children are non-swimmers but most of them like water and would like to learn how to swim. Unfortunately many families can’t pay for the regular lessons.

For adults who are non-swimmers it is even more difficult to find a swimming lesson for their age at all. We offer swimming lessons for adults so that they get the possibility to deal with their – for adults very common – fear of water and learn the swimming-techniques.

By attending swimming lessons adults and children gain self-confidence. In order to being able to participate in activities at school and in leisure time it is very important to know how to swim – especially for children and youths.

Individual help

One of the biggest parts in our work is the help for individual refugees. We offer fast, discrete and unbureaucratic help for people in personal emergencies.

This means

• Financial support for medical treatment or medical aids such as glasses, white sticks, prostheses, food for people with allergies. For many of those medical aids it is very difficult to get financial support because of the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Law.
• Subsidies for travels by train or bus to get to the appointment with the lawyer, psychotherapist of their native language, to religious or cultural happenings and meetings or hospital visits – just to give you some examples.

We also support in finding an accommodation or in other matters concerning daily lives.

Furthermore V!VOVOLO e.V. helps to gain access to important institutions and contacts in their sociocultural life in and around Würzburg.

Heimfocus

V!VOVOLO e.V. supports Heimfocus – a magazine from and with refugees. For donations please name the donation “Heimfocus”.

The idea for Heimfocus came from Addis Mulugeta who won the peace prize of Würzburg in 2011. When he was living in a refugee-camp in Zirndorf he thought a lot about how to give refugees the possibility to tell others who they are, what they bring, what they need, why they came here and what their burdens are. This magazine was created to bring refugees and the people living in the cities together. Its aim is to change distrust and prejudice into mutual appreciation and cultural diversity.

International Cooking Evenings

The international cooking evenings give all the participants the opportunity to exchange views and learn about different cultures in a pleasant environment. Especially for the refugees living in camps around Würzburg it is important and nice to meet new people and establish contacts with others.