The TLN Mobilicat professional internship abroad programme has already started. It is a project subsidised by the European Social Fund and promoted by the Catalan Employment Service (SOC). This year, TLN Mobilicat 2023 will send a total of twenty-four young people to four cities located in: Portugal (Amarante), France (Marseille and Lisieux) and Italy (Brescia).
The aim of the programme is to facilitate the integration of the young people into the labour market through a personalised itinerary.
The project started last February and ends at the end of December with the last group going to Brescia (Italy). Currently, within the facilities of the Casa de Mar, the headquarters of our Foundation, the preparation phase of the Amarante and Marseille groups is being carried out.
What are we doing?
At the Fundació Catalunya Voluntària (FCV) believe in non-formal education, intercultural learning and the culture of peace as learning tools. We like to be an instrument of civic and social training. This is the philosophy we share when approaching any project.
During the participants preparation phase, we carry out language training, two group sessions to help the group cohesion, two sessions on interculturality and three training capsules in very specific areas (gender and work, labour rights and ICT tools). The aim of these sessions is to help develop the competences, skills and attitudes of the different people in the programme. These sessions are spread over the six weeks of this phase.
What do we work on in these sessions?
The participants attend, day in and day out, training in the target language, which lasts for a total of 120 hours.
On the other hand, in the group sessions we work on intra and interpersonal relationships, how to get out of the comfort zone, simulations, role-playing, etc, using group dynamics. On the other hand, in the intercultural sessions, we work on coexistence with people from a culture different from our own. For example, a dynamic that works very well is a role-playing where participants have to choose with whom they want to share a room in a simulated house. The important part of the exercise is that everyone in the group has a role that is very different from the rest and, in some cases, totally opposite. During these sessions we also work on culture shock (that feeling of feeling different, which you encounter when you go to another country) and, stereotypes and prejudices.
What is our objective?
Another objective of this programme is to improve the employability of the young participants once they come back from the internship. This improvement comes from the skills acquired during the preparation phase and the practical part. Once in Barcelona, the young participants start the follow-up phase. In this phase are the job placement sessions. In these sessions, participants are helped with resources for job search related to their field.
In conclusion, the TLN Mobilicat is a very complete programme that provides both personal and professional training with new tools for labour market insertion.
However, this does not prevent the experience from being unforgettable and, in many cases, it can transform the life of the participant.
