#EUROSUDSTORIES: ” AREN’T WE ALL MISMATCHED SOCKS?”

Day One

First day is almost always difficult till there is a proper integration between the groups, yet as if almost magically the entire group joined into one. We hit it off strong with the first icebreakers allowing us to start building bonds between our culture and as the name of the project predicted, we are all mismatched socks but hell we got along together in such a fantastic manner. Just in the first half of the day we bonded so well that we decided to get collectively lost in the neighbouring village while trying to find the sea.

#EURISUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “BACK TO THE FUTURE” TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA

We are Andreea, Rami, Matteo, Alberto and Alessandro. We were part of the huge world of Erasmus+ students who are in search of new experiences and meeting. As an experience it was really beautiful and we highly recommend boys and girls to take part in one of this projects. Because, even if only brief, it can mark one’s life.
The project that we attended “Back to the Future” took place in Horné Orešany from the 19th to the 26th of August. The main focus of this project were the opportunities that the European Union offers to young people.
We had different types of group activities starting from presentations, role play, energizers, content making, video making and so one. 
We also had some activities that highlighted some of the social problems like prejudices, racism, homophobia. That was very interesting because you could share thoughts and see how people from different countries have the same or different opinions.
We also had a “day-off” that we spent at the castle of Smolenice.
Regarding the food and the accommodation we were quite happy.
Apart from the group work we did, another fantastic thing were the bonds that were created with the others in such a short time. It is incredibile how many thing you can learn about different countries: their culture, their mentality, curiosities.
After an Erasmus+ you are a richer person and we wanted to thank our Italian organization that gave and helped us having this incredible experience and the Slovak organization as well for taking care of us.
We can not wait for the next one!!

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE “BREAK INTERCULTURAL BARRIERS” IN POLAND

From June 22nd to July 1st we took part in a cultural exchange Erasmus+ in Milicz, Poland, with the aim of breaking intercultural barriers between people from different places, life and experiences with a special attention for national minorities and their environment.
We are very happy to have participated, it gave us the chance to meet new people, to socialize, to know other cultures and ways of doing things. It was also the occasion to visit beautiful places like the city of Wroclaw!
It was amazing to interact with other people through workshops (songs, dancing, preparing typical dishes, etc), to face together common themes and to discuss stereotypes that the most of the time we have discovered not to be true.
This project has enriched us not only culturally but also personally. We hope with all our hearts to take part in similar experiences.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: REPRESENTATIVES TAKE PART IN THE ERASMUS + PROJECT “LOCALIZER”

The activity was a Contact Making Seminar for potential partners from YOUTH programme countries and Eastern Europe and Caucasus region.

The Seminar aimed to enhance the cooperation between organisations from these regions and wanted to stimulate the creation of project ideas within all the Key Actions. 

Additional aim of the ‘LOCALIZER’ was to find potential YOUTH Programme multipliers, who are ready to promote and to inform about the YOUTH Programme in Eastern Europe and Caucasus as well as to co-operate on this issue with EECA Resource Centre.

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: DELEGATES FROM EUROSUD LEAD A SESSION DURING THE SHARE TO GROW – ERASMUS PLUS

Since the topic of the project is  focusing on different forms of “Shared Economy , Peer to Peer Business” EUROSUD members presented to the 35 interested students some of the EU mechanisms devoted to and for (working-studying-volunteering) in such sector.

Almost all the participants were so surprised that EU offers so many opportunities and they wrote that now when they knew about them they will definitely try to apply and use one of that opportunities.

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE WEEK “FREELANCE CULTURE FOR TODAY’S YOUTH” TRAKAI , LITHUANIA

“When I first applied for this youth exchange, I was so beyond excited but also a little bit scared.
I was afraid to be not enough trained to face this subject and to be left out. Anyway, all of my doubt went away since the beginning of the project: it was one of the most exciting and life-changing experience I have ever done!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “TASTE OF EUROPE” IN GREECE

If it is true that in life the final goal is not important, but the path that is made to arrive there, then the journey is definitely the best one to undertake.
Thanks to the EUROSUD association, we have been offered the opportunity to take part in the “Taste of Europe” project, Flavor of Europe, organized by the Orfeas Organization of Xylokastro, in Greece, from 16 to 23 September.
The aim of the Exchange was to combine the gastronomic and cultural heritage of the participating countries (Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Holland, Latvia, Slovakia and Denmark) in order to build a national identity, discover the analogies and differences of each state and to promote the use of food and cooking as an intercultural tool to promote integration and tolerance of different lifestyles.
On September 18th and 19th, Piazza Saint Vlasios (San Biagio) became a theater of flavors, colors and folk music labeled “made in Europe”, which put on show the most delicious and refined flavors that our continent has to offer. The cultural afternoon has changed in the opportunity to let our local products taste the inhabitants of Xylokastro and our adventure companions.
We sincerely thank the Eurosud association for this fantastic opportunity and we invite our peers to grasp the proposals promoted by this association in favor of young people, as the exchanges are opportunities for growth in which to develop skills and strengthen their values ​​and they open their mind to realities different from ours and allow us to acquire a greater awareness of being European citizens.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO YOUTHWORK ” TRAINING COURSE IN POLAND

The project “Systematic approach to youth work” took place in Krzyżowa, a small village close to Swidnica, in Poland, from 15th to 22nd of September 2018. Krzyżowa had a particular role in the choice of the site of the project, because of historical and cultural reasons: on 12 November 1989, the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl held a reconciliation meeting there and decided to redevelop the property as an International Youth Meeting Centre. The renovation was predominantly financed by the “Endowment for German-Polish Understanding”. For this reason the village has yesterday and nowadays a leading role in the international cooperation.
Twenty eight youthworker (including local staff) from seven countries (Poland, Croatia, Macedonia, Italy, Lithuania, Greece, Romania) applied to the seminar. The main topic of the project was the cooperation between local, national and international NGOs, and between them and the local authorities.
The teaching methodology used during the project is the non-formal education, that can be explained by the formula “learning by doing”, or learning directly with the practice. The methodology of learning consists in the interaction between the participants and the concrete situations that they experience. There are no teachers lecturing: young people, youth entertainers, educators develop knowledge and skills together in a “horizontal” relationship. For this reason we have never participated in direct lessons, but all the work has been done with team games, interactive workshops, role-playing games, simulations, discussions, presentations and meetings of various kinds. Every day the work started at 10am, with a break in the morning, the lunch break and a break in the afternoon. After dinner the workshop continued with the organization of events less committed, but always aimed to cooperation and cultural exchange: intercultural evenings, evenings focused on sports, quizzes of general culture or free evenings in which the participants could choose the activities.

The first day we focused the work on knowledge of each other, with very engaging games that aimed to memorize the names of the participants. It has never happened to feel out of place, because immediately we formed a very compact group and we built a team very cooperative and respectful, in which no one competed to be the best, but each member of the group had interest in being complementary to each others. This is why the project exceeded everyone’s expectations: initially we were afraid to participate, for the fear of not being up to or to find competitive participants or to bore us, while at the end was one of the most formative and positive experiences life of all of us.

We can feel very satisfied of this project, because it made us understand the importance of meeting with different cultures, cooperation between the parties and that there is always a solution for the different problems, as there is always a win-win strategy for the problem-solving.
We think that this project will be very useful for our future, because we have learnt first of all a new way of relating each others without prejudices or distrust, and secondly because we have learned the value of cooperation and a way to give voice to european youth.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING IN BULGARIA

FINAL REPORT by Angelica Corda, Jlenia Corizzo and Laura Benizzi
The italian team was formed by Angelica, Jlenia and Laura.
We have participated to the Project called “Social Entrepreneurship Training” from 4th to 12th September 2018 in Uzana, Bulgaria.
Before the training, we have received emails from the italian coordinator Eurosud in order to know all the information regarding documents and Facebook link in order to give a small introduction of ourselves to all participants.
Then, we have got in touch with the bulgarian coordinator Nikolay.
In this project were involved 11 European countries: Italy, Spain, Croatia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Albania, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Sint Maarten and Bulgaria.
For each country there were 3 people.
The arrival day in Bulgaria was the 4th September and the meeting point was in Sofia Airport Terminal 2.
The first impact with people from the other groups was really interesting because we all came from different European countries.
The most far away group was Sint Marteen from Caribbean islands and it was pleasant to know people which a background so different.
The common language was English (with some initially troubles to understand the different accents).
After 5 hours travelling by bus from Sofia we arrived to Uzana where the course took place.
The day after we started with the Intro day in the hall of the hotel in which we were accommodated during all training.
The official opening was by knowing each others through some communication games and role plays.
Each one hour and a half there was a break in the lobby bar (for knowing each others better and discovering ourselves as a group).
The following days we have developed all the concepts related to Social Entrepreneurship.
We were involved into the theoretical concepts such as social innovation, strategic planning, human resources, stakeholders and team management.
The pratical debates were focused on the start-up management and social innovation and organizational capability based on the basic principles of experimental learning.
The main topics were also sharing social ideas and identifying marginalized young people, improving systems, creating solutions.
Regarding the global level of knowledge (after having know each others better), we were trained with specific business tools: SWOT , PESTEL and Canvas model.
We were asked to create 5 groups for setting up a social enterprise which was evaluated by some criteria such as: social impact, sustainability and innovation.
We have also had the possibility to participate to an cultural visit of museum “House of humor and Satire” and another museum in Gabrovo called “ETAR” which is a cultural ethnographic complex.
During the evenings, we were asked to show videos of each country in order to understand more of the different cultural habits.
As italian team, we cooked italian pasta with pesto and bruschette and then we have shown a typical italian dance “Tarantella” with a exhaustive video of italian places.
At the end of the project, which was very well-organized under all aspects, we gained a Certificate (Youth pass) that certified that we have took place to the training together with the bulgarian trainers Ognian and Maya.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “TALK WITH PUPPETS” IN LUCENA, SPAIN

The project we took part in was called Talk with puppets and was aimed at using art – theatre and
puppet making in particular – as a tool for integration of refugees and migrants, and to sensibilize the local community about this topic.
The final and most concrete result of our project was a puppet theatre performance addressed to local and foreigner children, which was staged on June 20 th , the World Refugee Day.
Our group was made by around twenty people coming from Italy, Spain, Poland and Armenia, with very different backgrounds, but a large presence of actors, both professionals and amateurs, among us.
After introducing and getting to know each other through ice breaking games, we focus on two main goals: challenging ourselves with theatre trainings (which were delivered by the participants of the youth exchange) and discussing human rights through other activities, such as games, open discussions and a meeting organised at the Refugee office in Lucena (Lucena Acoge).
During the week we also got to know very well the city and the culture of Lucena and its surroundings: we had a city game, through which we interacted with locals, a guided tour of the main sites and an excursion in the nearby Cordoba. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to know also the other countries included in the project, especially during the international night, when all of us shared their typical food, music, language and traditions with the others.
To create the final performance we were divided into three groups, that had to stage a show dealing with these thematics: animal harassment, freedom of speech and refugee issues. We made puppets, wrote the scripts and eventually presented the show in one of the main parks of the town. That was one of the strongest moment we experienced, both because of the success we had in making the kids involved and happy, and also because of our cooperation becoming more and more efficient.
We appreciated this project because we liked the locations we worked and stayed in, the people involved and the structure of the activities. We felt very welcomed by Amigos de Europa and we are proud of having contributed, as Eurosud members, to the realisation of this project.

Marta B., Marco M., Maurizio L., Lisa M.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “A RECIPE FOR YOUTH SUCCESS” IN VALENCIA, SPAIN

“A recipe for Youth success” is a project that put you in a full immersion reflection about your skills, abilities, competences and possibilities both in daily life and in the world of work. Thanks to this project’s activities, workshops, speaking and dialogue times, each participant had the opportunity to understand on which personal characteristic and abilities focus on to valorize him during a job interview, to become competitive in the labor market and to enrich his CV, in order to distinguish himself from the others applicants.

We used non-formal education to let each participant able to make a little piece of the complete group work: this methodology allowed us to acquire knowledge in a friendly, inclusive and active way.

Here are the theme we focused on: labour market and employment in Bulgaria, Croatia, Italia, Romania and Spain (countries involved in the project); entrepreneurship and European possibilities about this theme; Erasmus+ program; Swot analysis; Ikigai method; Personal branding; Personal coaching; LinkedIn profile; self-confidence; creativity; team building; professional orientation; job interview; international night organization.

Moreover, we had a lot of time to work in different groups, in order to interact with everybody.  For example, during the organization of Italian international night we had the opportunity to interact and to work with the other Italian participants and to know better our national team. Another very useful activity (that let us to know better others countries guys) was the division in group composed by people with different origins, in order to do tasks related to the group comfort or other activities about the project’s goals.

We are very satisfied about workshops, activities, trainers and, in general, about every aspect of this project, because we come back in Italy full of new awareness (also about ourselves, both as humans and as workers) and knowledge.

PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS

Sonia Muraca: I am very happy to be one of this Youth exchange participants because it was a way to test myself again, after a similar experience in 2013. I knew a lot of people (and I am planning to visit them soon), I had the opportunity to speak in English, but I learnt also a lot about other languages and cultures. I liked a lot every activities, especially about CV and personal skills. I learned to be more aware about my personal skills, to improve them in order to present myself like a brand and to write down all my personal abilities and competences in a better way in my CV (and on my LinkedIn profile). Next step will be using everything I learnt to improve my CV and LinkedIn profile and looking for other interesting project like this one, in order to acquire new knowledge and competences.

Chiara Durzu: This experience allowed me to focus on my personal characteristics and to increase my skills. Moreover, it was an opportunity for professional and personal growth. In particular, for the first time, I have improved my English communication skills (overcoming my fears about this theme) and I learned to relate with people of different realities and cultures. Now, I feel like a better person and I am ready to do another new experience in Europe.

Gaia Mancarella: I found this project really interesting because it had a concrete and practical goal. I learnt that LinkedIn can be useful if used in the correct way, I reconsidered my CV and thought to make it more impactful. I knew beautiful people from all Europe and created contacts and friendships that I’m sure will last. I saw again old friends (because with will it is possible, no excuses!).  Learning and experiencing, beautiful place, people, wonderful facilitators, I’m really happy of the project in all its aspects and I hope to take part soon to another Erasmus plus.

 Debora Pinzuti: The Youth Exchange “a recipe for youth success” give me the opportunity to meet new peoples and give me the necessary tools to improve my CV and soft skills with working in team and non-formal education activities. Also, we exchanged opinions and learned more about different cultures. All my expectations are realized and I hope to take a part in another exchange in future.

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE “EXPLORE THE RURAL, JOIN THE ADVENTURE” IN INTORSURA BUZAULUI, ROMANIA

The training course, lasted from 3 to 11 of June 2018 with Asociatia Grup Educational pentru Sustinerea Tineretului in Intorsura Buzaului, Romania, was based on Kolb’s pedagogical method. This is a method focused on the learning process starting with practical experience to achieve its internalization thanks to a reflection group in which each participant gets some lessons that through generalization can be applied to future cases.

Through different games experienced in a natural environment, constantly followed by analysis and reflections, we tried to build a strong group, with a validation of cultural, professional and age differences.

Thanks to this teaching method were introduced theoretical topics for example: the systemic observation of a group with a leader, proactive and oppositional participants, the debriefing technique, moreover the concept of “stretching zone”, a learning area where each component of the educational action can test himself out of the “comfort zone”, fronting with the group some challenges always with a special attention not to cross the line which lead to the so called “panic zone”.

The training was highly professionalized and organized very well with different activities, the trainers were prepared and ready to answer at each kind of concerns.

During the week we have had different activities such as indoor reflection moments, knowledge games and for the research of meanings, energizers, trust games and other types in nature, in which our skills were tested with the support of the trainers and group. In addition, the trainers, Maria and Delia, introduced at the end of each session day a particular moment called “The Council” very useful for the reinforcement of our group on one side and the inner growth of each participant by sharing life experiences, feelings and emotions always related to our practical sessions had during the day.

We also had trips such as that when we admired an amazing waterfall or the night hike in which we tested our sense of orientation and our physical resistance, orienteering activities, treasure hunt in the forest and finally a visit to the famous Bran castle and to Brasov old town. Moreover, we organized some storytelling evenings when each country shared traditional stories, typical food and culture for a better cohesion of the European group.

The trainers prepared us for the whole week to become tutor ourselves of some educational activities and after obtaining some important skills, they gave us the opportunity to test our competences with local youngsters under their attentive supervision. This experience was the last of our training and let us understand strong and weak points of our teaching process. Teenagers’ group responded very well to proposed activities, was involved with enthusiasm keeping the relationship also after the end of the game.

The Guest House “Beatrice” where we were accommodated is a beautiful farm in nature and we spent time there with lots of pleasure; the staff has been so warm and attentive to our needs.

We are so satisfied to have taken part in this TC both for our personal growth, cause we have had the opportunity to share opinions with other youth workers in a respectful way, for our professional improvement because we really received a good pedagogical formation about team-building implementation and also under a linguistic and cultural point of view.

We’re sure we’ll use these knowledges in our future educational activities and they are going to help us for the group setting and management and to build deep learning for a positive internalization.

Jessica S. Cecilia L. Chiara L.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “A RECIPE FOR YOUTH SUCCESS” IN VALENCIA, SPAIN

The Erasmus+ Project in Piles “A Recipe for Youth Success” has been a unique, very stimulating and enriching experience.

We have been in Spain for a whole week in a hostel in Piles called “Mar i vent”, a very nice location just in front of the beach. Altought the rooms were plane and uncomfortable, the common spaces were totally appropriate for our purposes and we also had exterior space for outdoor activities. We had to share the toilets with the participants and with other guests of the hostel but, since the purpose of the our stay was not just a holiday but more a way of sharing our time together and getting to know each other, that was not a problem.

All the materials we needed were promptly provided by the Association Cultura Creativa and we produced a lot of materials about the topics we had discussed during the sessions.

We usually had two sessions in the morning, one at 10 am, after breakfast, and the other at 12 pm; two sessions in the afternoon starting at 4.30 pm and one session in the evening, after dinner. Each session lasted 1 hour and a half and we also had coffee breaks in the middle. After the first days we were allowed to change the schedule a little bit: Svetlana gave us more free time after lunch in order to enjoy the sun and the beach nearby and we just started our afternoon sessions a bit later than usual.

Svetlana, the responsible of the project was always very helpful and kind to everyone. She was also very competent and managed to perfectly organise and handle every aspect of the project. Not only has she handled situations professionally and efficiently but also she has taken care of everything (from coordination of the activities to arranging the pick-ups at Gandia Station, taking part in our free time activites too), allowing participants to fully appreciate the experience.

Stela joined us at some point to help Svetlana and I must say she also was a very pleasant person to stay with. We learnt a lot of interesting things from her, especially things related to social network channels to use for enhancing our cv presentation and online presence.

To briefly summarise the topics we touched during our activities, we might say that we focused on informal and non-formal kind of education (the learning-by-doing approach) with a lot of practical activities to improve our team building attitude and our professional skills. The other topics were Social Inclusion, Personal Branding, Professional Orientation, Personal Coaching and Personal SWOT Analysis, Youth Unemployment, Social Network to find a Job and CV, Entrepreneurship.

Personally I’ve found the discussion time to be very interesting and eye-opening. I heard so many different points of view and I’ve tried to process all the information about other countries situations. We all gave our contribution to build a stimulating and thought-provoking debate which happened to be super useful.

We had the chance to come to know a bit more about culture and traditions of other countries during the International Nights. We had 3 nights in which every team presented their country with slides, pictures, videos, games and food. That was really awesome and funny, a brilliant idea to take part in an original and engaging style of presentation.

The people we were with in this adventure demostrate to be absolutely cooperative and dynamic. We made a amazing group as we managed to get close to each other in just a few days. There were youngsters from Spain, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania and I think that each one of them has been able to bring their own thoughts and life experiences to the others in a very uncommon, deep and genuine way. I would never have expected such a thing… that was an incredible cultural and human contribution! I hope we could stay in touch after this intense experience.

When I decided to participate in this project I thought it would have been good for me to go out of my comfort zone, to experience something not-ordinary, to be in an international environment with strangers from different cultures. I decided to put myself to the test, and by doing that, trying to get a better understanding of which place I might have in the world, how to be in this world.

Now I’m even more convinced that knowing more about yourself is essential and this kind of profound experience can actually teach you something about it.

While I was in Spain I felt like I had been there for one month and for one day at the same time. What I mean is that the experience is so intensively lived (and so full of things to do) that you have the impression that time is no longer a linear concept. You did a lot for just a week and you also need more.

I gained a deeper glance at the inner me and that is what I value the most, together with the many other advantages that a project like this implied. I learnt tolerance, respect and cohesion.

Not only now I’m more aware of the world around me but I also feel very lucky to have had this opportunity.

If I had given others just half of the things I received, I would be more than happy. Thank you.

Alice R.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEETING “A RECIPE FOR YOUTH SUCCESS” IN VALENCIA, SPAIN

Hola everybody from the Italian team in Piles, Valencia.
We have been here since the 7th of June to take part in a cultural exchange about youth unemployment. During the project we had the chance to be in an international environment and improve our professional and personal competences by spending a week with young people from Spain, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. We did super interesting activities like workshops, learning games, team building, public speaking and presentations, international nights and stimulating discussions about social inclusion and entrepreneurship.
We also talked about personal branding, personal coaching and useful skills to enhance our cv. The location was also amazing: just in front of the beach we enjoyed Spanish sun and funny moments. A special experience we really recommend you to do! Thank you Eurosud and Cultura Creativa for having given us this unique opportunity!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE “OPEN YOUR EYE” IN RAMNICU VALCEA, ROMANIA

The “Open Your Eye” project, which was held in Milcoiu, a touristic historical village a few kilometres from Ramnicu Valcea, in the area of ​​the Cozia National Park, took place between the 21st and 31st May 2018. The project was managed by AIDE, a Romanian association based in Ramnicu Valcea, the countries involved were Greece, Spain, Italy (with Eurosud association) and of course Romania. The main objective of this youth exchange was: to promote new energies, to make young people aware of the environment and to identify possible solutions. The program was held informally with meetings, debates, activities and workshops.

The topic of the Youth Exchange was the awareness of some of the main environmental issues of the present time. Every country had to collect information about one of the following themes and to present it to the rest of the group: Italy had to talk about water waste in the domestic sphere and the way we could reduce our water waste in our daily life, Spain about the carbon footprint and the consequences of our lifestyle on the whole environment, Greece about the causes of greenhouse effect and the ways to prevent it and Romania about the different reasons that leads to deforestation. These were the main topics we focused on during the mobility period, and not only on the presentation’s day. In fact, through various activities and discussions we shared and exchanged information and opinions and tried to increase our awareness of them.

The activities started on the 21^st, where the major aim was to get to know each other. We played some games to get to know each other names and information, after in circle one by one had to express the fear and the expectation of the programme through images and to explain what contribution he/she could bring in order to make the project successful. Then second day started to focus on environmental education: we discussed about the problems in our local communities in small and big groups. Later on, we did some activities where we had to create some art pieces with recycle materials. Then, after dinner, there was the Romanian international night in which the Romanians showed us the traditional dresses and we listened to popular songs. On the 23^rd, we presented what we prepared at home: Romanians described the deforestation problem, Greeks had to speak about greenhouse effect, the Italian team argued about the water waste and Spanish about co2 emissions. Later there was the Greek intercultural night: we danced traditional dances and we ate some typical drinks from Greece. On the 24th we went to a village near the motel, we visited one of the houses of Nicolae Ceaușescu, which became a museum of history.  Near the museum, we visited a farm with livestock of ostrich and we spent the afternoon in a small innovative park, which was opened that same day. On the 25^th we did an activity where we had to come up with some projects for a business activity that had as major aim to reuse, recycle and reduce. On the same day, we organised a parade with dresses made of recycle materials. On the 26^th, we talked about the eco-citizenship: we formed little groups and discussed about good and bad behaviours, and what we could do to raise awareness on the environment. Later, on the same day, we played a game called ‘the islanders’: we pretended to be on small islands and try to find solutions for the climate change, or for communication between islands using only sustainable means. Before this, we played a quiz about water waist. Later in the evening, we had the Spanish night, with traditional dances and music and a buffet full of traditional foods and drinks. On the 27th, we had other discussions about the environment, always divided into groups. The main theme of the speech was the ‘advantages and disadvantages of renewable energies’. After every discussion, we had the chance to talk all together and express our different points of view and learn something new.

The following day we went to Ramincu Valcea, the closest city. We had a lot of free time there, so we could discover the city the way we liked. It’s a lovely city surrounded by a vast forest. There are beautiful parks and amazing viewpoints on the lake. Later on the same day, we organised the Italian night, we brought some traditional sweets such as cantuccini, baci di dama, etc., some sauces like caponata and sugo alla palermitana, lemon jam and tarallini. The 30th was the last day. In the morning we had some evaluation activities, while in the afternoon, the organisers gave us the youth passes. We had a free afternoon then we went to a little lake nearby to prepare the last BBQ and enjoy our final night together.

In this youth exchange project we confronted and debated about many problems related with environment. We reflected about difficulties related with fight and reduce behaviour that damage the environment, about the actions that everyone can do to protect the environment and about what governments of countries can do (for example starting with activities in which each team represented a different country and had to try to propose its solutions about the main environment’s problems). In addition to the problems presented by each national group, we debated about climate changes, anti-environmental behaviours, local pollution, low education at school on environmental problems, advantages and disadvantages of renewable resources and how to recycle, reuse waste and reduce pollution.

As previously underlined, the project we have attended dealt with the topic of environment in many different ways, and we have been able to learn a lot from each activity we did during the ten days. For example, while discussing  the issues related to it, in a wider perspective (climate changes, water waste, deforestation and so on), we understood that we can make the difference too; by changing our non-environmental friendly habits, by taking more care of the planet we live in, and also that an environmental education is very important in order to change those dangerous habits, and it should be provided more in schools for future generations and not only, because after all, we create our own destiny! To sum it up, we think  that the project has been very helpful and also the experience of working and discussing in groups, led to better results as everyone could talk about their own experiences and point of view, and that really “opened our eyes”  to this very important matter, which is the environment.

The Italian team

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH EXCHANGE “I WANT TO MEET YOU” IN ZATONIE, POLAND

First of all it is worth to say that we all joined this project because of our passion of travelling and meeting people of other cultures.
According to the brochure the aim of the project was meeting foreign people, sharing thoughts and ideas, discussing together about serious topics such as immigration and European Union.
Overall, the project was just more than that: we all became friends quickly and very close to each other.
During all week a tutor had the vital duty to guide us through different activities, each one with a specific social aim (leadership, team working, time-management, collaboration).
We were given a feedback at the end of that, therefore we had to put a lot of effort in what we were doing, being helpful with others, trying to overcome their weaknesses or to recover their strengths and viceversa.
We all agreed on the fact that the best day was the one we spent with local children at the Polish summer centre. We all prepared many activities, such as national outdoor games (we chose bandiera) in order to involve all the kids during the afternoon.
We spent some days to discuss and share our ideas in regard of the European Union, considering its benefits and drawbacks, giving our views on its developments and possible scenarios.
At the end we all thought it was marvellous to meet people and let them know about our culture (we shared our food, we cooked carbonara and backed a cake). Moreover, we believe this kind of activities are the best way to … prejudices against the others.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SURVIVE OR NOT SURVIVE – THIS IS A QUESTION” IN MAŁE CICHE, POLAND 

A journey, a story, 1000 adventures. A beautiful place surrounded by nature and mountains and beautiful people. 1st day: arrival at the airport, visit to Kraków and waiting for the Spanish group. Arrived at the hotel a warm welcome. 2nd day: we broke the ice with the other guys, start activity related to the LIPDUB and Latvian cultural evening. 3rd days: separated in groups for adventure in the woods, afternoon trekking. 4th day: visit to Zacopane, and adventure park and paintball. Spanish cultural evening. Day 5: visit to Zacopane city, mental activities in the escape room, Polish cultural evening. 6th day: techniques for making knots and preparing a hiking backpack, LIPDUB termination, Italian cultural evening. Last day the end of killer game and secret friend ended the project with a barbecue. Surely an adventure to relive especially for the place, friendships and activities journey.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EDUPRENEUR” – 2º PART OF THE PROJECT “WHY DON’T YOU GET A JOB” IN BAIA MARE, ROMANIA

The training course in Baia Mare, Romania started at 5th of May 2018. It was one of the most amazing and craziest experience of my life. We were working basically on entrepreneurship and empowering young people. We had workshops, team building activities and we met local entrepreneurs who were running startups. After that in evenings we were doing cultural nights and enjoying night life of beautiful Romania, for sure drinking and dancing . We tried a lot of Romanian traditional food too.
I personally learnt a lot from this project. There were people from 11 different countries and it was quite amazing to interact with them and sharing experiences together especially food. We even went to the tour of nearby area of Baia Mare which is full of nature and historical places.
All in all this project would always remain in our hearts for the friendships we made and for what we learnt.We all have made promise to meet each other again to cherish the moments we have spent together.
#DontDrinkandDrive
Cheers,

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “EUROPEAN CULTURES, THE DANCE AS A MEETING POINT” IN LA VANCELLE, FRANCE

This experience was focused on traditional dances in Europe: in this way we discovered, knew and learnt a lot about popular dances, music and many cultural aspects from each of the 6 participant countries.

We were 32 people from 6 different countries and we shared our traditions and cultures. Italy contributed with the South-Apulian popular dance “Pizzica” and the famous group dance “O sarracino”. We teached the others every steps and we learnt several dances from Spain (Sevillana), from France (Lied Alsacien), from Slovakia (Karikcka), from Lithuania (Oira) and from Romania (Sarba din Bucovina).

We also shared our traditions with a dinner dedicated to traditional foods and, thereafter, every group did a briefly presentation of its own country. We improved the knowledge of English and other languages, in particular Spanish and French. We learnt how important is the international cooperation and how it could be reached faster and better with these youth exchanges. We visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg with a guide and we went hiking to a castle in Frankenburg, really near to la Vancelle.

A dance teacher and performer followed us in the sharing and she gave us the opportunity to do a training concerning some contemporary dance techniques. This was a great opportunity for sharing and getting into every culture we met, because through this particular approach we could reach a singular connection with other people on several levels, not only on a traditional one but also on a psychological, human one.

This peculiar study aimed at preparing a final show: indeed, the last day we made a private show in a retirement house. And we enjoyed it so much.

The group leaders (Gionata for Italy) collaborated so much in the decisions with the Volunteers and the organization. The whole group was amazing and everyone was really open, willing and propositive. All of us passed a great time in La Vancelle.

Here’s the video of the final show: https://bit.ly/2LrJohK

Gionata R., Francesco M., Cristina L., Ambra A.

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “SOCIAL MEDIA FOR POSITIVE CHANGE” IN WISLA, POLAND 

During the one week international project “Social media for positive change” I have acquired a lot of practical skills used in social media campaign. The project was designed to develop group work skills. I find it a great experience not only for its good organization but also for the knowledge I brought back home. The part I enjoyed the most was activities – group work and communication skills development. In that part I must say that the role of Kasia was crucial for the ambience of working conditions. She gave us opportunity to work freely and effectively. The environment provided was open, creative and engaging all of the participants. I appreciate a lot improvement of my team work skills and I believe it gives me a good start in my professional career. Last but not least, I am fond of the support of Magda, who was always there when I needed it.

Giovanni C.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “HEALTHY LIFE FOR YOUTH” IN ANKARA, TURKEY

1. Introduzione

From the 6th of May to the 13th, in Ankara, at the Ilci and Akar hotels, the youth exchange “Healthy life for Youth” was held It was promoted by the Turkish association “Young Initiative Education, Youth and Sport Club”, in collaboration with our (EUROSUD) and other associations from Spain, Serbia, Romania, Poland and Lithuania. The project aimed to deal with the problems, especially for young people, of sedentary life, sporting activity both from a professional and amateur point of view, which kind of correct diet to follow and the ones to avoid, the importance of sports and the choice of food in general and how to improve our everyday diet. To deal with these issues, we took part in presentations, we had the opportunity to discuss and do group work and we had seminars presented by university professors and researchers. As for the practical part, thanks to the availability of the university facilities, we were able to do various physical activities, including football, volleyball, archery and many others.

2. Tematiche e informazioni sulle attività svolte

The program commenced with a session on name and team building games. It focused thereafter on the introducing of the participants to each other and making them make the first steps of friendship in an entertaining way. The second session was on setting rules for the project as well as identifying methods and tools that foster the involvement and active participation of the young participants. On the second day, first session, participants were sensitized to the importance of sport in the young people lives. Immediately after, participants went to the campus of university of Ankara to play a relay race and a bag race. In the firth session, participants had to learn the importance of nutrition in their lives. In the third day participants had to participate in a football tournament and make groups to compete with each other. In the same day participants had the chance to practice archery with professional Turkish coaches in the university of Ankara. On the fourth day, participants had an idea about what to eat and not to eat to stay fit and healthy. At the next session participants played treasure hunt, an activity that combines elements of orienteering, art and group working. In the same day the participants had the chance to visit the museum of Ataturk, which literally translates to “The father of the Turks”.

In day five, participants were introduced to sedentary life and its risks and at the next session they were taught how to make a daily program to keep in fit and the after lunch they had the chance to visit the mall of Ankara and go shopping. On the sixth day, participants were introduced to the healthy lifestyle and at the next session they started making groups to start making movies about healthy lifestyle. In the final day, participants had more free time to edit the films they made and more free time to go shopping. In the evening participants attended the final Turkish intercultural night and received their travel costs and their certification for participating in the youth exchange “healthy life for youth”.

3. Problematiche affrontate

It is commonly known that our modern lifestyle is unhealthy on different levels. In fact, after the last centuries of wars and global epidemics, the plagues that are affecting us today are much more subtle, and derive directly from our daily lifestyle choices, even if it’s sometimes hard to be conscious of it. The main problems appear to be a sedentary lifestyle, bad eating habits, alcohol consumption and drug abuse, all things that appear incredibly increased in the 21st century with the coming of cars, fast foods, snacks and the habits that our teenagers have to drink, such as “binge-drinking” In 2010, a group of researchers, actually found that while these habits actually “kick in” at the age of 16, it should be better to target children with health measures from the age of 13, so a possible primary prevention can be put into place. This project tried, with different activity sessions to cover each of these problems, trying to give concrete examples of how we can avoid these habits and how we could help our youth to get better into managing the risks coming from this part of our lives.

4. Conclusions

The experience was really rich and intense. During the exchange we learned a lot about how to have a healthy lifestyle. With good food habits and daily physical activity you will be well on your way to a healthy life. Easy to say, but sometimes not so easy to do! Our busy lifestyles can be hard on our family’s health. Rushing to and from school and work can make it hard to find time to be physically active. We can also slip into the habit of choosing unhealthy snacks and take-away foods or spending our free time watching TV or in front of the computer. However, these choices can be dangerous for our health and our children’s health – both now and in the long-term. That’s why it’s so important to stop, take stock and make a conscious decision to follow a healthy lifestyle. The key to how to lead a healthy lifestyle:

• Get active each day
• Choose water as a drink
• Eat lots of fruit and veg
• Switch off the screen and get active
• Cut down on saturated fat and sugar
• Eat less salt – no more than 6g a day for adults
• Don’t get thirsty
• Don’t skip breakfast!

For all of us it was an amazing experience both from the practical, and the human point of view, which we would happily repeat in future. For this we are thankful to EUROSUD, the Turkish hosting association, the other associations involved and the European Union which finances these projects.

Nur, Mohamed, Khadija, Sara and Jamila (The Italian team)

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: PROACTIVE YOUTH IN POIANA NEGRII, ROMANIA

This project was organized by the Romanian association Friend’s Society. The purpose of this youth exchange was to encourage proactive socio-political engagement of young people, in order to educate well-informed generations that have an active contribution to Europe’s democratic life and its future. Six countries (Romania, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Estonia and Lithuania) gathered in Poiana Negrii village, close to the mountain resort of Vatra Dornei, for 13 days in total, between 3 and 15 May. The three main objectives were to promote the proactive civic spirit in youngsters, stimulate active involvement in social and political life and motivate an active participation in local and national elections.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “WHY YOU DON’T GET A JOB?” JOB HUNTERS IN BAIA MARE, ROMANIA

Job hunter was a project organized by the association Yellow t-shirt, related to the Erasmus + program. The topics treated were different; the first phase was reserved for the various guys of the participating countries, activities were carried out for mutual knowledge and aimed at the discovery of the Baia Mare location. Typical dishes and guided tours have allowed the group to blend and be able to deal with the topics the following days as real teams. During the first days, all guys for every nation, dealt with issues concerning youth unemployment and the working conditions of the various states. Having done this, we tried, by means of groups having an element for each nation, to work on issues aimed at solving some of these problems. Evenings with cultural theme have allowed us to get to know the habits, customs and foods of the various participating countries. Then we moved on to the clue topic, the writing of CV, through interactive games we have known the history of CV, thanks to group work we have known the right way to present themselves to an interview and fill in according to the type of company the adapt CV. The closure of the project was interesting, both as regards the review of all that had happened during the past days and in particular for the tour made of the Maramures region, which allowed us to fully know the region that hosted us, the culture of the place, both in terms of monuments and typical products. Definitely an experience to try, negative note to become attached to the traveling companions.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: BAIA MARE’S PROJECT: “WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A JOB”, ROMANIA

During this project we focused on these areas: job issues and unemployment. We followed formal and informal lessons to face up to these topics. We made posters or public speak, videos and also games.
In particular our job week was divided in this way:
Day one: First we talked about the job issues of our country. We analyzed the origins and causes of generic and youthful unemployment. We created a poster where we reproduced graphics about generic and youthful unemployment rates and also the difference between men and women when it comes in finding a job and about the payment too.
Day two: We discussed about confidence and trust. We did informal activities to increase our group trust, just as games where you have to trust one another.
Day three: We focused on how to create a good curriculum vitae and motivation letter to get a job, labor market and job opportunities. This lesson was more theoretical than the other ones. In fact the volunteer explained us how you can manage to write a perfect curriculum. For example writing a curriculum that’s about two, three pages long; to underline the most important working or studying experiences. We talked about how to behave during a job interview. Just as how much wrong is to talk about skills that aren’t linked to that specific job offer.
In the second part of the lesson we discussed about labor market and job opportunities and cooperation. We analyzed the most required jobs and the most important university subjects in our countries. We analyzed how cooperation works in a company. We simulated a problem solving activity.
Day four: During the fourth day we visited the most important company in Baia Mare: a bakery factory. We looked how they baked bread, biscuits and so on. The factory manager told us about the history of the company. In the afternoon we had free time to prepare some interviews to some of Baia Mare’s employers. We prepared a video interview with the most important club owner of Baia Mare.
Day five: On the fifth day we talked about Negotiation and competition in a company. We played some games where we represented a company team work.
Day six: On the sixth day we solved a typical company problem: how you can integrate among a new team work.
Finally at the end of this experience we learned new skills: to work with different peoples from all around the word; we learned to compare different point of views. We increased our problem solving, we battled prejudices; we learned the other countries problems about job unemployment and how the other countries cope with it. We acquired how the other young people live in other countries.
We enjoyed this experience so much; it changed our life and our point of view towards the world. This experience was important because we acquired not only skills about job topic, but also about human interactions.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: OLYMPIC SPIRIT FOR PEACE-BUILDING (OLYMPISM), GREECE

Project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU and organized by E.K.O. (Entrepreneurship and Social Economy Group) in Athens, Greece from April 14th to 22nd, 2018.
“I know that I know nothing”: Socrates’ spirit is the reason moving us for sharing our lives on the occasion of Youth Exchanges. Every day’s private life stops for a while in order to build peace, together with people from different corners of the world. Exactly as it used to happen during the Olympic Games. Eight countries (Greece, Estonia, Malta, Israel, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia and Turkey) gathered in Athens (instead of Ancient Olympia!) and shared knowledge, perspectives and points of view about Olympism. The main goal of this project was to inform and sensitize youngsters on values linked to the Olympic spirit as a message of peace building. We can undoubtedly affirm that it was fulfilled and we, as participants, were up to the task.
Thanks to all the activities we went through (debates, role-plays, questionnaires, orienting, flipcharts, mind maps, besides cultural visits and workshops), we managed to focus on the Olympic Charter, the role of Women throughout the history of Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games and the fair play, aiming at applying those sports ideals and the philosophic interaction of the body, soul and mind in our daily lives. What was required was only the active participation by all the participants and the use of non-formal education and methodologies. As a result, we personally experienced the positive effects of living side by side with “foreigners” for several days and the tremendous hospitality Greece showed us.
To conclude, this YE was an absolutely positive experience for all of us. Not only from the educational point of view, but also was it successful for our social and emotional background. The time we spent in Athens means something we will always remember caringly: the fond memories of the new places we visited, the exciting experiences we lived, the new and different cultures we came across have played an important role in making new friends and tighten relationships that we hope can last forever.
Youth Exchanges represent invaluable occasions to share as much as possible! Greatly advised by all of us to everyone! Thanks a lot! Eυχαριστώ πολύ!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: YOUTH EXCHANGE “HEALTHY LIFE FOR YOUTH” IN ANKARA, TURKEY 

The experience It was really rich and intense. During the exchange I learned a lot about how to have a healthy lifestyle.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE “SOCIAL MEDIA 4 POSITIVE CHANGE” IN WISLA, POLAND

Here I am! I came back to Italy a few days ago and now I can write about my experience in Poland. I took part in exchange program on “Social media for positive change” in Wisla. It was a great experience. I met beautiful people, funny, with a brilliant soul and mind. I saw wonderful places. We were surrounded to the nature, what i love most in the world. About the lessons did not deepened much on the topics of the course. Every day we talked about different topics: social networks in general (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tinder), technical and practical issues connected to social media (including main channels), how to involve young people social media into issues important in local communities; social media planning and result analyte (tools: Hootsuite, FollowerWonk); Knowledge sources; Canva and Movie Maker. In the evening we were in the “intercultural evening”, a very special moment where traditions, foods, smells, different cultures met. 

The best day was when we climbed the mountain. After three hours of walking we arrived at the top. Were very tired, but happy. I was very happy and I enjoyed all that moment. I was surrounded by the beauty of the world and good person. There, I understood there how much lucky I am in my life to live these moments and how I want to continue to discover the world.  It was a great experience and I would do it again. I also recommend the other guys to participate because these experiences let’s make you grow, embrace new cultures, open the mind and feel a citizen of the world!

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: 15 – 25 MARCH 2018, PRESOV, SLOVAKIA

Il racconto di Sara.

Le due settimane di scambio Erasmus a Presov sono state un’esperienza segnante. Me ne sto accorgendo solo ora, poco a poco, di quanta ricchezza ci fosse in ogni sguardo, in ogni sorriso, in ogni parola di lingua diversa. Come in ogni campo, parti con il tuo bagaglio (di mutande, collane, magliette, giacche, di vita vissuta, pregiudizi, idee su te stesso) e sei costretto ad aprirlo di fronte a tutti, mostrandoti nudo e ricevendo nuovi abiti in cambio, più sgargianti e colorati, fatti da mille mani per uno scopo comune.

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE EUROPE RELOADED SOFIA, BULGARIA

This seminar started at 20:00 on 22nd April 2018. We met all the group at the Students house because we had dinner here. After dinner everyone had to introduce himself/herself and to repeat everything in the circle.

We were very tired so after a short welcome part all the group decided to leave the s.h and went to the hotel that was at 1,4 km far from our meeting point. We understood immediately that we should walk a lot during the seminar.

23rd April 2018

Every morning breakfast started at 07:00. At 10:00 we had the official opening and we met Iliana Iotova Vice-President of Bulgaria, 2 hours of discussion about “time to re-launch the European Political Projects”. It was a great opportunity for International participants to asking questions.

Lunch was in a restaurant. In the afternoon we visited Sofia with a tourist guide that gave us a treat or alternative sightseeing. At 20 we appreciated Swedish-Dutch-Romanian-Finnish-Estonian-Moldovan-British-Belgian-French-German-Danish-Italian Intercultural night.

24th April 2018

Day started with preliminary assessment of the Bulgarian Presidency of the council of the Eu, Minister Lilyana Pavlova. After lunch we visited the Bulgarian Parliament with a very passionate guide and in the afternoon a Romanian participant explained Erasmus, E+,Sve and key competences about Erasmus projects. We also discussed about nationalist groups in every counties. Dinner in a restaurant.

25th April 2018

We took a private bus to hike in Vithosha Mountain and horse riding. It was a really great experience but unfortunately in the middle of forest my horse became crazy and started to run: after 300mt of riding I fell down. I broke my helmet, glasses and clothes. About my physical condition: I have bruises and scratches everywhere in the body, a very bloody knee, a swollen foot and obvious walking problems. To return to the riding school I rode another horse because mine had escaped and I was medicated by the farm staff. I was not seen by any doctor and this worried me a bit because I could have really hurt myself and I wanted a medical opinion. Lunch was great in a restaurant that cook for us typical lamb. We reached Bon Bon hotel at 20 moreorless.

26th April 2018

This day was one of the most exciting: in the morning we had a discussion with Eu Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier about the impact of Brexit on Eu Business. In our group we also had 3 participants of Uk and the discussion was really interesting. In the afternoon other two big appointments: first “the role of EMI as Vanguard of the European Civil Society” with Eva Maydell MEP President of EMI and ten we met the French Ambassador Eric Lebedel who explained us the French Ambition for Europe. Evening was amazing: Bulgarian restaurant+Bulgarian folk dances.

27th April 2018

Another super interesting day with an agenda full of meetings. In the morning we met Peter Kouroumbashev that is a journalist, reporter and has also a tv channel. His conference was about “How the social media threaten democracy in Europe“ and fake news. In the afternoon the discussion was directed by Ralitsa Kovatcheva about the role of media in European Communication. She introduced street actions and low budgets activities encouraged active European citizenship. She and her staff asked all participants to write 3 things that we hope to realize in Europe for the future. Last meeting of the day was wit Andrey Kovatchev Vice President of Uef. Topic of the conference was the European Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Eu Role as a global Player. Dinner in another Bulgarian restaurant called Lavanda.

28th April 2018

Visit the Rila Monastery and hike in a cave for 3 km. Unfortunately because of my health conditions I refused to walk in a cave for 3+3km. After dinner in the National students House we made a circle to evaluate. I was really impressed by the way Velko knew every single participants even if we were not always with him. He made a perfect description of everyone.

Conclusion: My vote at the seminar is 10. A perfect combination of meetings with the authorities, inclusion in Bulgarian society, very interesting cultural and natural activities. The hotel was really interested in our needs and I really appreciate the variety of food and places visited. It was a greeting of opportunity to breathe and feel Sofia. Vote for the participants: 7. The group was perfect and the feeling exceptional. A huge variety of nations with truly cultural and smart people. Unfortunately, a group of 5 participants from the University of Amsterdam who ignored the others and teased them was chosen. One of them even left the seminar in half. Velko himself rebuked them. As far as I am concerned, I have only one complain: I have not been seen by any doctor, so I do not know my real physical condition today. However, I can not but be grateful because from a personal point of view it was the best E + project in which I participated and it really gave me a lot in terms of professional and personal growth. Compliments!

Barbara R.

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: FACE IT!

Today at BALAB Space we had opportunity to meet Ylenia Taranto, local volunteer living in Taranto.

Ylenia had the chance to take part in the training for facilitators titled FACE IT from 14th till 21th March 2018 in Budapest powered by Magyar Önkéntesküldő Alapítvány -Hungarian Volunteer Sending Foundation.

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: “BREAKING BREADS TO WIN HEARTS AND PEACE II” SLOVAKIA

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: A LOCAL WORKSHOP

Surfing the impact of the project ‘INTERACT TO GROW 25.09.’17 – 2.10.’17 held in Kzyzowa, representatives from EUROSUD organization had opportunity to organize and lead a short workshop in theme with the main topic of the project.

What does social inclusion mean? How do we measure social inclusion? In the workshop called “1 step ahead” the participants were assigned a persona, they were then asked questions to which they had to answer according to the identity that was handed to them. The result of this workshop was that we realised a lot of things in our life are decided n advance, depending on place of born, religion or what social status . During the workshops we learned a lot about mind-sets and personal stereotypes.

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: INTERACT TO GROW 25.09.’17 – 2.10.’17 KZYZOWA

https://interact2grow.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: YOUTH EXCHANGE IN LA VANCELLE

The Youth Exchange Art and Culture for Advancing Gender equality was held in La Vancelle from the 26^th of April to the 4^th of March. On Monday evening and on Tuesday the activities were aimed at getting to know each other better. We did team building games, a workshop on discovering our own identity, a cultural dinner and presentations of our own countries.

On the 28^th we went deeper into the topic of gender equality, discussing and sharing experiences through workshops and activities. We shared our opinions and in national teams, we presented the situation of gender equality in our countries.

On the 29^th we went to the council of Europe for a short guided tour and then we had free time in Strasbourg. On the 30^th the facilitator presented the Erasmus + programme and the Youthpass certificate. In the afternoon we went on a hike in the snow. On the last day we had a morning to prepare a final work, that we then presented to the other participants. A group sang and danced, another one performed a play, a group created a role play game and another one an interactive quiz on gender equality in language.  Some of the participants also created a Facebook page on the topic.

The overall experience of this exchange is satisfying. I think they could have dedicated more time to dig deeper into the topic of gender equality, maybe by doing less games or breaks.

The language used during the week was English, we did only one activity in French: every morning each participant had to say a sentence in French to the others. I was hoping that French was used more, as in the infopack it was written that the languages of the activities were English and French.

The group of participants was quite united, even though some of the participants didn’t know English and it was difficult to include them in all the activities.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: WEEKEND TRAINING COURSE IN LECCE

This weekend I went, as a representative of EUROSUD, to a weekend training course in Lecce. The course “AWARE AND ACTIVE” was led by Agenzia Nazionale per I Giovanni. During this course we discussed the presence of FAKE NEWS in the media. We began the weekend with ice breaker activities and throughout the weekend I participated in various workshops and idea Labs which allowed us to use and develop skills such as critical thinking and analysis. We worked as teams and were able to develop our own ideas for a local- small budget project. We also presented our ideas to the group and were able to improve and develop our projects with feedback from other participants and leaders of the project. For me the best aspect of the weekend was getting to know new people and forming new friendships. I would like to thank the association EUROSUD, for giving me the opportunity to participate in this training course and thank you to Agenzia Nazionale per I Giovanni for providing an interesting and active course. Everyone should look out for similar opportunities and get involved!

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: AN INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PROJECT IN EL PADUL, SPAIN

3 representatives of EUROSUD taking part in the international youth project held in El Padul, Spain.
Training course “Escape for reality” connected 24 young leaders and NGO activists working with youth, on 7 days long training course on 17-25 of February, 2018 with the aim to provide them with knowledge and skills needed for creation of escape rooms which could be used as learning tools when working with young people.

We decided to apply for this project for different reasons: the importance of the main topic (Human Rights), the possibility to meet new people from all over the world, to improve our language skills, to visit new places and to learn more about the escape rooms. Actually, we had no idea on how the escape/quest rooms could be used as a tool to improve efficiency of youth work and spread knowledge about human rights.

For two of us (Micaela and Elena) it has been the first time into an escape room, and we thought that it was only used for entertainment purposes.
Michele is the owner of two escape rooms in Sardinia, but he was still looking for a way to use the escape room as an educational tool.

The first day, we arrived in Vilagarcia de Arousa on evening. The man at the reception gave us a sandwich and a fruit as dinner. While we were eating, we met the other participants of the project and we started talking.

In the second day (Sunday 18th Feb) we started the activities to know each other, speaking about our studies or jobs, what we like, singing together to break the ice. In the afternoon we had the treasure hunt in Vilagarcia, a nice way to discover the beauties of the country and to get to know each other.
The third day (Monday 19th Feb) started with a game before having breakfast: Emir and Marko organized a simulation game called “Food Republic”. Each of us had a card (there were 4 different cards – A, B, C, D – that they gave us randomly the day before), that symbolized a passport and based on that we have been treated better or worse by organizers and waiters during the breakfast.
In Auditorium, we played the game of Abigail’s story. There were 5 characters (Abigail, Greg, Sinbad, Tom and Abigail’s mother) and everyone of them told us the same story from his point of view.

In the afternoon we had a trip on the stunning coast of the city.
In the fifth day (Wednesday 21st Feb) we discussed pros and cons of escape rooms we played. Divided in teams, we worked on 3 different topics: Migrants, Mental disabilities and Physical disabilities.
Elena worked on the first topic about Migrants, Michele worked on the Mental disability’s escape room and Micaela worked on the Physical disability’s escape room.
We worked also after dinner, trying to develop a good story on our important topics.

The sixth day (Thursday 22nd Feb) we spent all day with our teams building the escape rooms. It was a beautiful experience to compare our ideas, to talk about it and it was a great opportunity for individual and team growth.

In the seventh day (Friday 23rd Feb) we had the open event in Vilagarcia where people visited our escape rooms. It was nice seeing young people and families interested in human right to have fun playing in our escape rooms.
In the night the Spanish association organized for us the “Spanish night”, with typical food, games and music.

In the eighth day (Saturday 24th Feb) we met the mayor of Vilagarcia, we tried other teams’ escape rooms and we wrote tool boxes to describe in detail our escape rooms. Then we had a stirring “time machine”: led by Marko, we reminded every single moment we spent together.
In the night we stayed all together, delivering “Oscar prizes” and having fun.
The ninth day (Sunday 25th Feb) was the day of departures. It was sad to say goodbye and it has been tough leave Vilagarcia.

We spent beautiful moments, we learned a lot of new things about human rights and escape rooms. Now we know how to use escape rooms for learning goals, we learnt new tools and approaches as youth workers, we know something more about human right and we have knowledges to built escape rooms.
But overall, we really enjoyed our time with other participants and organizers and we grew up all together in human terms. Everything was amazing, and we really wish we were still there.
We are still in touch with the amazing people that we met in Spain and we hope to see them again one day.

#EUROSUDSTORIES: 8 DAY TRAINING COURSE IN KRZYZOWA, POLAND 

8 days, 26 participants from 8 different European countries ( (Latvia, Croatia, Greece,Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Poland, and Italy) living and working together, sharing ideas and having fun – that is what “Employability boot camp” was for us. The European training took place in Krzyzowa, a small village in the south of Poland with a high symbolic value. Here, on 12 November 1989, the Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl held a reconciliation meeting and decided to create an International Youth Meeting Centre , which primarily brings Polish and German young people together for dialogue and educational programs.

 

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: TRAINING COURSE IN OLOMOUC, CZECH REPUBLIC

Giovanna, Manfredi and Giovanni recently participated, thanks to EUROSUD, in the training course “Lead the Ship”, organized in Olomouc, Czech Republic, from the 6th to the 13th of February. Let’s go now to their voices and experiences.Powered by VIVID z.s.

Giovanna: “This was my first training course, as well as my first experience with the Erasmus+ programme. I didn’t really know what to expect, at first; then, as the days in Olomouc went by, I became fully engrossed in the project, also thanks to my Italian friends who took part in it with me.
Thanks to the exciting and well-thought-our activities, I have acquired valuable knowledge and improved several skills that will positively impact my personal relationships, my life as a university student, and my work as an activist. I am already working with my NGO to implement some of the activities and good practice with which I became acquainted during the training course. For me, this was just the first of many other projects with Erasmus+. Thank you EUROSUD for this opportunity!”

#EUROSUDSTORIES: A GLASGOW ADVENTURE 

Thanks to Italian National Agency for Erasmus+ I had opportunity to participate in SOHO – European Training Course for support people in E+ Volunteering Activities held In Glasgow, Uk.

On Wednesday 21st February after a long journey I reached my destination .
Day 2 Thursday 22nd February we had Introduction to Erasmus+ The Programme started at 9.00 am
We had Introduction to SOHO .I could learn that SOHO is a Network Training open for all 35 National Agencies of the Erasmus+: Youth in Action Programme and targets at two of the three main partners of a long-term European Voluntary Service project: Sending Organisation and Hosting Organisation.

By bringing together representatives of Sending and Hosting Organisations from different European countries, the SOHO TC aims at improving the international co-operation and consequently increasing the quality of EVS projects. The different nationalities of participants and trainers team gave to my participation in this training its international dimension.

Day 3 Friday 23rd February It was mainly dedicated to sessions like ‘Support and guidance in EVS ‘
Trainers explained that management of volunteers is a key issue in the creation and support of an effective
volunteer structure, both for the organisation and the volunteer. Thanks to this session I could realize the importance of building up a partnership with the partner organisation and the volunteer. Moreover keeping the contact, communication and co-operation, and the intercultural dimension of international partnerships will be dealt with. As a group we all settled that a good partnership is of great value for the success of an EVS project.

On the Day 4 Saturday 24th February we started our sessions with the module ‘EVS as a learning service’. In this session I could realize that EVS is mostly about learning – non-formal and informal way. It is about acquiring new life experiences, but also gaining new competencies – getting new knowledge,improving your own skills and developing attitudes as well. Young people can really benefit a lot in EVS! This concept in fact is strictly related to whether you are a mentor or a task-related support person in a sending or in a hosting project, it is important to know your own role and responsibilities.

“Attending SOHO training has been a great pleasure for me. The thing I appreciated the most about the course is that it has given me the opportunity to balance knowledge received from the trainers and sharing experience with the participants.

I managed to contribute a lot to the sessions and I set many partnerships for the future. SOHO training also gave me the opportunity to be in a pleasant multicultural environment and I met very interesting colleagues from different parts of the Europe. The management crew and train

ers team was very remarkable in making sure that the suggestions and opinions of participants were included in the sessions planning process. I am proud I took part in SOHO training.”

(Adriano D.) Agenzia Nazionale Giovani – ANG British Council Erasmus+

#EUROSUDSTORIES: YOUTH EXCHANGE IN LA VANCELLE, FRANCE

Energizers, ice breaker activities, fears and expectations.
Officially started The International Youth Exchange “Art And Culture For Advancing Gender Equality” in La Vancelle (France, nearby Strasbourg)
Tambour Battant

#EUROSUDSTORIES: OUR SMALL SUCCESS STORIES

Today is Monday and as usual here in EUROSUD is the day for sharing our small success.Here goes the feedback from Miss Karin Selešová,successfully completed her Internship Program trough Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs here in EUROSUD.(For Slovak speakers only)

But in case you missed out the video or too lazy to read the article , you can still catch the video testimonial just here:

Enjoy!

#EUROSUDSTORIES: ESCAPE FOR REALITY TRAINING COURSE

Today is the last day of our training course “Escape for reality”. Yesterday we had an open event with more than 40 (!) people visiting escape rooms on human rights which were built by our participants. While visiting our guests played and learned about human rights issues on 3 topics – migrants, life of people with mental disabilities and life of people with physical disabilities.

What about you?

Will you join the next one?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: ERASMUS EXPERIENCE IN POLAND 

Today Matteo,Antonio and Chiara starting their first Erasmus+ experience in Poland “Employability Boot Camp”powered by CET Platform Polska

Yesterday we started the Training Course “Employability Boot Camp” in Krzyzowa, Poland with 24 participants coming from Poland, Latvia, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Lithuania, Italy and Hungary.

 

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: YOUTH EXCHANGE IN PRESOV, SLOVAKIA

15 – 25 March 2018, Presov, Slovakia International youth exchange gathering 75 participants from 15 countries with interest in gastronomy, food, diplomacy and getting to know other cultures through their cuisines.

 

 

 

 

 

#EUROSUDSTORIES: MY EXPERIENCE IN CZECH REPUBLIC 

🇨🇿  Our team is attending and taking part on TC “Lead The Ship” in Olomouc organized by VIVID z.s. .The main objectives are to provide competences in decoding the personal motivations and characters of individuals and to empower participants to take action and to communicate adequately with local authorities.

More photos from this training coming soon. #leadtheship #olomoucEUROSUD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#ERASMUS INTERN IN EUROSUD. THE EXPERIENCE OF ZOE FROM ENGLAND

Get an inspiring and exciting internship at EUROSUD. This , the experience of Zoe from England.

What about you? Do you already know what is #ErasmusIntern ? Find there internship vacancies and get valuable experience abroad!

VIDEO EXPERIENCE

#EUROSUDSTORIES: MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR IN SOFIA ,BULGARIA

Seneca said that “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind”.

When you combine travel and culture is beautiful, but if you add sharing with people from other countries, different than yours, everything becomes wonderful, the mind really opens up and new ways of seeing things come to life.

This is what I think after attending the International Seminar on European Democracy in Sofia in Bulgaria from 12 to 19 November.