Volunteering is a state of mind

International Volunteer Camp 2023, the annual flagship event of the “Volunteers of Culture” program of the national project “Culture”, which started on August 7 in Perm, has completed its work. Its participants included 200 volunteers from 62 Russian regions, as well as from Pakistan, Iran, Algeria, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus.

The “Culture Volunteers” program is aimed at uniting caring and active people in preserving and popularizing the historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia.

The camp consisted of five thematic sessions. Thus, the participants of the first shift learned about volunteering in museum activities, the second – in library activities, the third – in theater and concert activities; the fourth shift was devoted to inclusive volunteering, and the fifth, final, shift was devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage.

In addition, participants from all five shifts, together with professional restorers, took part in recreating the historical appearance of the Meshkov House, an architectural monument that today houses the collection of the Perm Museum of Local Lore.

Along with lectures, practical exercises and master classes from leading Russian experts, an extensive cultural program was organized for volunteers, which also included visits to the main attractions of the Perm region: the Kungur Ice Cave, the “House-Ship” of the poet Vasily Kamensky, the Belogorsky Monastery, which called the Ural Athos, the famous architectural and ethnographic open-air museum “Khokhlovka”.

Well-known cultural figures addressed the volunteers as honorary guests: virtuoso violinist Pyotr Lundstrem, film director, screenwriter and producer Yegor Konchalovsky, Honorary Chairman of VOOPIK Galina Malanicheva and many others.

“Now volunteering is supported at the highest level,” emphasized Galina Malanicheva. – The organization of the camp in Perm was excellent. God grant that the project develops!”

At the end of each shift, volunteers were presented with certificates of participation and memorable gifts. But it’s not just recognition that is important for the volunteers who selflessly devote themselves to preserving our country’s heritage. Communication, meeting like-minded people and sharing experiences are what volunteers call the most useful and valuable. “This is my third time at the camp – here we exchange knowledge, contacts, projects, practices. A number of joint volunteer projects have already been planned on the Kama and Volga. We are now one team of a big country!” – volunteer Vsevolod Khatsenko, director of the ANO Regional Volunteer Center “Culture Volunteers” from Saratov, shared his impressions of the camp.

The international volunteer camp is not a one-time event, but a large and long-term project, which, of course, will continue to develop, involving new volunteers in its ranks. Volunteering changes people, forming a patriotic consciousness, where the main value is service to people and one’s country.

Becoming a cultural volunteer today is very simple – to do this, you need to register on the Dobro.ru website, checking the “Culture and Art” category, and choose an event to your liking.

The organizers of the International Volunteer Camp were traditionally the Ministry of Culture of Russia and the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Center for Cultural Strategies and Project Management” (Roskultproekt).

Reference:

Today, the number of cultural volunteers registered on the all-Russian volunteer portal DOBRO.ru is more than 409 thousand people. There are 2,135 volunteer centers in the cultural sector in the Russian Federation. In 2022, 239,724 people took part in volunteer events throughout the country, 118,430 events were held, of which 1,911 were held at cultural heritage sites.

Photo: Press service of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.