A 4th year Industrial Technologies Engineering student at Comillas Pontifical University tells us....

"My experience as a volunteer at Fidias has been very rewarding. I recommend the participation of future volunteers in their summer programs. My stay there has allowed me to coexist with different social realities, very far from my personal one, but just a few kilometers away. The way of doing it through the innocent figure of a child is something that makes your heart shrink. I keep everything I have experienced inside me.

My participation in the Fidias project has had a profound impact on my perspective and approach to the social reality that permeates the lives of all the children I have met. During my experience I have had the opportunity (and good fortune) to immerse myself in the lives of many children, allowing me to discover many of their daily challenges. Without the role I have played, understanding them would have been impossible."

In April 2010 FIDIAS (Foundation for Integration and Interpersonal Development through the Arts) was created, a non-governmental, non-profit, young and dynamic organization, with the will to establish a commitment to solidarity and service in our community. Our mission is to contribute to the development of human potential through the arts, understanding artistic activities as part of a pedagogical, playful, motivating and multidisciplinary strategy. 

We develop our activity with children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years old in vulnerable situations in the municipalities of Getxo and Leioa, as well as with their families, putting all our efforts in inclusion as a tool for socio-educational cohesion. 

The people we work with are young people at risk of exclusion who mostly come from dysfunctional families and suffer from different problems. Most of the families are migrants with the difficulties of adaptation that migratory processes entail, they have limited economic resources and many do not have a family network that can support and accompany them adequately. For these reasons they require a safe environment to support and accompany them, in this case in the summer leisure time, and that will be the work that the students will do.  

 What are we going to do?

The students who attend Fidias will play an important role in accompanying our young people in the summer activities. The family difficulties faced by the participants in Fidias mean that their access to healthy and educational leisure is very limited, a situation that worsens in summer due to the closure of schools and the limited offer in the area, especially in August. The collaboration of the students in this period means being able to provide leisure alternatives and safe spaces to more children and adolescents, making it possible for them to enjoy such an important time of the year as summer, thus generating spaces for personal development outside the classroom and surrounded by people who can be references. 

Schedule: 

Urban camp: Monday to Friday: 11:00-13:00 and 15:00-19:00 

Information can be found both on their website (https://fundacionfidias.org/), as well as on its social networks, (Fidias foundation both on Instagram and Facebook). 

Negative certificate of crimes of sexual nature or equivalent will be requested.

Children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years of age in vulnerable situations in the municipalities of Getxo and Leioa, as well as their families.

All students selected for the VUELA program will receive common training for participation in volunteer activities. 

Consult YOUR UNIVERSITY in the following links for training dates, location and conditions.  Don't forget to mark them in your calendar. This training is mandatory and is part of the project. 

In addition, the entity will hold a minimum of two online meetings to train and inform about the tasks and activities to be developed.  

On-site support will be provided by the organization itself throughout the project. 

The welcome to Leioa and the follow-up of any incident will be supported by the University of Deusto Campus Bilbao.

Rental of a shared apartment in Bilbao and a common bag for food during the first part of the project. 

Information on the possibility and conditions of financial support for these concepts can be found below, by consulting YOUR UNIVERSITY:

The student is responsible for arranging and paying for transportation to the intervention site, and must inform the project's reference university of the date and time of arrival at least 15 days in advance.

Travel to the field will be by metro. 

University of Deusto (Aitor Arbaiza Valero)