"Together for the bus stop" – a community volunteer action in a rural segregated area
Gábor Vidák
Abstract
The case study presents a community volunteer action carried out in connection with the international Youth Care for Change program, implemented in a segregated neighborhood of Somogyszentpál, Hungary. During the project, civil organizations — the Fekete Sereg Youth Association and the Megoldás a Biztonságra Foundation — collaborated with domestic and international volunteers as well as local Roma youth to renovate the village's neglected and hazardous bus stop. The aim of the study is to explore how volunteering can serve as an effective tool for social integration and community development in disadvantaged rural areas, with special attention to intercultural and intergenerational learning processes. The project was preceded by a series of youth workshops and roundtable discussions, as well as a Participatory Video workshop, during which participants confronted the infrastructural problems of the area, documented in videos made by young local residents. A volunteer from France, who works as a traveling carpenter, offered to design and build a new bus stop, provided that the necessary materials were provided. Construction took place over three weekends, mainly using recycled materials. Both international and Hungarian volunteers, together with local Roma youth, participated in the work. The analysis applies a qualitative case study approach, drawing on field observations, semi-structured interviews, and participatory documentation. The study provides a detailed account of the coordination of the volunteer program, the experiences of cooperation between the participating organizations, and the intercultural and intergenerational learning processes. It also discusses the challenges and solutions that emerged in the field. The story exemplifies how volunteering can become an effective tool for community development and for mitigating social exclusion.
Keywords: volunteering, community participation, civil cooperation, intercultural collaboration, participatory video, advocacy video