POWER 2 HELP is a compact continuing education program that will be held from March to June 2016.

POWER 2 HELP is a series of ten evening workshops held at WU, designed to provide volunteer helpers with the skills and resources they need for working in primary support and integration projects for asylum seekers. The initiative was born out of the volunteer work of André Martinuzzi, head of WU’s Institute for Managing Sustainability, Christian Schober, head of WU’s Competence Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship, and counselor Sabine Eichinger. The lecturers and experts who hold the workshops work on a voluntary, unpaid basis, and the rooms are provided by WU. This means that the POWER 2 HELP workshops can be offered to the participants almost free of charge.

Target Group: Volunteer Helpers

André Martinuzzi says the POWER 2 HELP workshops are targeted at the “many volunteer helpers who are working in primary support and integration projects for asylum seekers, volunteers working for relief organizations, and people who would like to help but aren’t sure how.” The initiative focuses on practical skills, as Christian Schober points out. “All our workshops are held by professional trainers and experienced practitioners. They include introductory lectures, practical work in small groups, and informal dialog. We are aiming to teach practical skills that can be applied immediately in real-world situations.”

Practical Skills & Knowledge Transfer

The scope of the topics addressed during the workshops is very broad, including for instance media and communication, roles and norms, religion, first aid, asylum law, conflict management and group dynamics, crisis intervention, trauma recognition, and preventive self-care measures for avoiding burnout. “With this initiative, we would like to give volunteer helpers the skills, tools, and self-confidence they need to provide effective help and contribute to the successful integration of asylum seekers,” says Sabine Eichinger, commenting on the ambitious goals of the POWER 2 HELP program.

Further Information & Sign-Up

For further information on the program and on how to sign up, please see  www.power2help.at (in German).