K.A.NE. Social Youth Development has participated in the ERASMUS+ Youth Exchange program entitled “Different than the rest – Our cliches and stereotypes”. The youth exchange took place in Magdeburg, Germany between the 25th of April and the 5th of May.
Five countries were participating in the project: Germany, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Poland. The countries were represented by 1 group leader and 7 participants.
How was their experience? Let’s have a look at their points of view:
“First of all it is important to note how great an opportunity it is to participate in these exchange projects ,before getting to the details of the recent project we participated in. Learning new things and meeting new people are the two most common things an outsider can think of a youth exchange program. The truth is that a person can gain far more by living for a short period of time with people of different cultural backgrounds. Exchange of ideas, ideals, beliefs ,stories and experiences happens in a peaceful and productive way to which I cannot find an equal. I really hope and wish that in the future these kind of projects as well as the organizations who do make all of this possible to get more funding and to be thought of as a serious means to unite the European nations and to get rid of any left stereotypes as we did in this project called ‘’Different than the rest -Stereotypes and cliches’’.
Now this project was really important to me as I was chosen as the leader of the Greek team. Although this being the second time taking part in a project I had the chance to experience it though the eyes of a leader who had to take care of seven other underage participants in a foreign country. It wasn’t easy to do but this way I proved to myself that even as a 20 year old I could take care of other people if I decided to and that I could handle this great responsibility. Meetings and talks with parents as well as taking care of transportation (air-tickets, busses e.t.c.) and being in charge of the team’s behavior and activities while in Magdeburg was not easy. Yet it was all worth it because not only the result of the project was astonishing but I believe that I became even more responsible and mature getting through all this.
Of course this would have not been possible if not for the cooperation of every participant and their liveliness in every activity. I felt that my team was stable and ready to cope with any problem by working together. Except from my team though every other team that took part was really well organized and did their best in achieving our daily goals. Everyone was fun to work with and you could rely on their help and positivity. That said the location were all this took place was outstanding. Not only the villa was great but the park with all its nature where we could have walks, activities and play games and the bedrooms made as feel comfortable and relaxed with our environment. In addition to that the food was unbelievably tasty and came at a great variety. It is also significant to state that our daily schedule had as active at every time and every day we would have a new goal. That helped to keep us concentrated on our theme which was ‘’Stereotypes’’ and to learn many things we hadn’t thought of before. For me the most important lesson was ‘’not to judge a book by its cover’’ and I was reminded that relentlessly while taking part in every activity and workshop. It is magnificent that a human can learn by interacting with those around him and not just by studying in a passive way. This type of learning should be embraced more by our educational systems and make the learning process more fun and enjoyable for our young people.
All in all, my expectations of this exchange were exceeded and I was left with a feeling of
accomplishment and euphoria. I do feel that I’ve changed after all this and that I trust my
own abilities even more than I did before. I have some great memories with the people I met there and of course I gained some new friends who would be nice to meet again sometime.”
Marios Shuli
I never thought that I would have the opportunity to travel abroad and have the experience that I have, from such a young age.Thanks to K.A.NE. and Erasmus+ programs, that offer opportunities to everyone, I’ve got now useful experience and nice memories.
During the time of the youth exchange we got to meet each other and did multiple
exercises and warm-ups together, in order to “break the ice”. All together we made a great team!
Through the creative workshops we were able to discover by ourselves information about the topic and then to present it to the other teams in a non-formal way. Finally, we went deeply in this topic which was stereotypes and clichés, we learnt about stereotypes that exist in other countries and generally in society and also ways to get rid of them.Personally,I was impressed for the useful experience and knowledge I acquired, which you can not get from formal education and the cultural interaction and harmony, as we met new people from different countries and we did an awesome team-work.Last but not least,I would like to thank all the other participants of the Greek team, for the excellent cooperation before ,during and after the youth exchange.
Eleana Shuli
It was an amazing experience as far as I can tell!!!!I met new people and I made new friends. I also gained knowledge through some very interesting and learning activities and workshops. These helped me understand and learn about other countries and other cultures.
Thus I can say with certainty that I had a great time with everyone on the project while I was there!!!
Fotios Georgopoulos
This specific project was very interesting , fascinating and helpful because I had the opportunity to meet and interact with people from different countries and to learn something about their place. Everything we did had a purpose and I think we accomplished a lot of things. While concerning the building, city e.t.c. where the project took place it was perfect for all our activities.
Nikolaos Zervis
First of all I would like to thank the organization (K.A.N.E.) for giving me this opportunity to participate in this project. This was truly a special and unique experience in many ways. We met great and different people with whom we worked together on our workshops and learned together about each other’s customs and culture. Of course through this process we became friends and shared experiences and stories with each other.
In addition to that the location where the project took place was amazing and the hospitality and food was more than great.
All in all this project gave me the chance to get to know better not only other people but my self too and helped me set new goals in my life.
Xhoana Mesiti
