LOCAL PROJECT WEEK-Animals Faith Volunteering

Our group, consisting of Asbjoern Hansen, Emma Agnelli, Martijn Hatfield and LeandraIlkka, chose to help out at the local organisation Animals Faith. The organisation provides
dog training, grooming, veterinary assistance, lodging and a shelter. The organisation runs
mostly through the help of volunteers, so we knew that our help would be valuable, and
this influenced us in choosing this project. We had not heard of many existing Project
Weeks concerning animals, and we believe that helping animals is of great importance in
any community so this was also a learning experience for us to see how animals are
treated in Maastricht.

These were our goals:

1. Design and pursue a student-led project.
2. Provide a service to an organization/community.
3. Organize activities outside the campus.
6. Improve your organization, communication and collaboration skills.
7. Get to know more about yourself and your group.
10. Learn new (practical) skills

We believe that we did achieve all of these goals throughout the week.

This was a general program of one of our Project Week days:

- Arrive at Animals Faith 9:00
- Clean outside pens and refill water 9:00-9:30
- Clean first two rows of pens inside (refill water, wash floor, dry floor, clean out poop) 9:30-10:30
- Go for a walk with dogs 10:30-11:30
- Clean last two rows of pens inside (refill water, wash floor, dry floor, clean out poop) 11:30-12:30
- Wash bowls, Clean gutter, Take out poop bins 12:30- 13:00
- Departure from Animals Faith 13:00

Our project week was important because the practical work we did has an effect on the
whole life of an animal staying at that shelter. For example, if we did not clean their bowls
sufficiently they could become sick and if we did not dry their pens well enough this could
hurt their paws and make them very uncomfortable. Our Project Week links to the UWC
values because we had to show intercultural understanding, since the care of the animals
differed to that of some of our cultures and we had to adjust to that. We also embodied
personal responsibility and integrity as well as mutual responsibility and respect, since we
were responsible for the well being of the animals and for completing our tasks well and
efficiently. We also embodied compassion and service, since a big part of our project week
was interacting with animals and the people who worked at the organisation, and
compassion is a large part of animal care.

Here are some photos of our time at the shelter!