ESC VolTeam Baltic Sea Nõva Estonia 7.-22.5.26

Nõva Estonia Project

The main focus of this team project will be on practical activities such as beaches and seashore cleaning, maintainance of the area in a small harbour in Rannaküla, tidying up and cleaning a municipal park in Nõva and local school area. In addition to this, volunteers will contribute to the local community by helping elderly people living in Nõva in some household duties (e.g. preparing firewood for the heating season, painting, light renovation works, gardening). Finally, volunteers are asked to help the Forestry Department to plant trees in the area.

Partner organisation EstYES has  organised local and international youth camps in picturesque little village of Nõva at seashore in the North-West of Estonia together with the sport club Lukas Basket for about 15 years. Every year around 200 youngsters enjoy the dynamic camp program offerinng various sport-like activities as well as some voluntary work for the local community. The project venue, connected to local primary school and its sport hall, has a large ground (3 ha) with wooden huts, where participants are accommodated, cantina, washing facilities and toilets, sauna, garden and a lot of sport facilities (trampolines, bikes, nets for volleyball, table tennis sets, etc.). The camps season begins at the end of June, but before it everything has to be well prepared. To make this work done a team of then ESC volunteers are invited to join the preparations for the season. 

Work

Voluntary work will include painting of wooden huts and some community buildings, repairing benches and tables, cleaning local beaches, seashore and old park from garbage, little renovation works in the local school, clearing pavement, helping seniors living in the community with some household duties, planting trees, collecting herbs, etc. The environmental work will be organised in cooperation with the local forestry department and municipality of Nova.

In wooden huts on bank-beds. A sleeping bag is required. All facilities like showers, toilets are provided at the school. There is also a traditional Estonian sauna. Food will be cooked by a professional cook in the school kitchen and served to volunteers.

Location

Nova is one of 11 municipalities of Läänemaa with about 400 inhabitants, located on the seaside 90 km west from capital of Estonia Tallinn and 40 km north from Haapsalu, famous spa town with many historic and cultural sites.  

Leisure time

There is plenty of possibilities for sport and other activities: ball games - football, rugby, volleyball, athletics, table tennis, archery, frisbee, disc-golf, trampolines, forest cross, forest hikes, fishing, bicycle trips to explore the area, visits to the historical places of interest  in the area, picnics on a seaside, building sand and stones castles on the beach, Estonian sauna party, etc. Bikes are available for the whole camp duration. Trips to local seaside towns such as Haapsalu https://www.visithaapsalu.com/en/  nearby or visit to the capital Tallinn www.visittallinn.ee/eng can be organized on days off. It is planned to take a boat trip to islands nearby to explore the  Baltic Sea.