Between the 28th of October and 3rd of November, 5 young people from Greece had the chance to understand the life of deaf and blind people by participating in the “See Hear Act” youth exchange. The project took place in Trbovlje, Slovenia and it was organized by Mladinski center Trbovlje.
During the days of the activities, the young participants have explored the world of people with hearing and seeing obstacles through theatre methods.
The basic aim of the project was getting to know and understand the life of deaf and blind people through the process of exploring through theatre performance. During the exchange it was an ongoing awareness raising and consequently encouraging inclusion of people with special needs.
The objectives of the project were:
To understand life of deaf and blind people and include people with special needs into everyday activities through various workshops.
To raise awareness through the exchange and final performance about the importance of integration of the deaf and blind people among people in the local community.
Intercultural awareness to encourage tolerance and learning about other cultures through various workshops that will be contributed by partner organizations.
By the impressions of the participants after the project, we can say that the objectives were achieved.
“This project taught me many new things and made me realize that I should not take everything for granted in life. For instance, I met people with hearing and vision problems who shared their experience and informed me that they live full and happy lives and they would not like to change anything. At another night we played the suitcase game, which made me realize that a war can happen in every county for various reasons and as a result people with different backgrounds have to leave their country and become immigrants, even if they do not want to. It was an intense night, which brought us all together and made us connect as a group. Also, I’ve met very interesting people through this journey and we came really close through the activities but also in our free time. All the workshops were extremely interesting and I did things that I have never done before in my life, such as trust exercises with my eyes or ears closed so as to feel the experience of people who can’t see or hear. All in all, it was a really good project with very good moments in it, my second project and it made me want to participate in the world of Erasmus+ in a more active way.”
Alexandra
“It was a great experience where we learnt a a lot of things and we had a great time. I think the opportunities we had were various. We managed to be very cooperative and all the people have tried to make us have a good time. According to me the best part of the project was while we had a role play and dance; I think everyone liked it very much. Without a doubt, I would like to do it again and meet these people again in my country. The hosts really made us feel comfort and were willing to help in any way.”
Nikos
“It was my first time in Erasmus+ and it was a very nice experience. The subject of the project was very interesting for me because I am an actress and it made me think how a performance could be if it is for blind or deaf audience. Through the exercises we tried to understand how people live without one sense that the rest of us take for granted! The people in the team had an age range from 15 to 50 but this wasn’t an obstacle in order to be a team. This experience made me more sensitive, but also more strong. Also, it inspired me to pen a theatre for people with disabilities.”
Anastasia
“As it was my first experience in a youth exchange project, I have to say I was really satisfied in all fields.I met a lot of interesting people who travel around Europe participating in youth projects and I learned from their experience and way of thinking that it is not difficult to travel in different countries and try new things. I learned from them many new things about their countries and how they live and how they think and what are their dreams. My mind opened and I had the opportunity to start thinking wider, and I am very thankful for that.
I was really happy from the beginning that the theme of the project was theater for people with special needs in hearing and seeing as it is in my interests searching for new ways in theater research and working in groups for theater plays. I learned many new things about these topics from the projects we worked and the exercises we did and from the final show. Of course the chance we had to meet and communicate with two excellent people with hearing and seeing disabilities and learn how their everyday life is and what they think and what they dream was one of the best moments that gave me also the opportunity to discover new ways of theatrical methods for shows or group working that can really interest a wider audience with every kind of needs. Like how important are all the senses for the theater audience and not only seeing and hearing but also touching and smelling and hearing without seeing or the opposite.
The collaboration with all the groups and people was really good and we learned how to communicate and make decisions in english and learned how people from different countries think and act. We had many experiences together from working for the project to having fun in a day trip and in our countries representation festivals that made us starting some friendships and learned how people can be together for a project and create something important and make some bonds in the same time.
The hospitality from Slovenian organization was really great, the accommodation was very good and we had some great meals in a really good restaurant in the city of Trbovlje.
The whole experience was more than delightful I gained many new things, feelings, ideas, inspirations and relationships with new people and I would be really happy to take part in a new project in the future.
I would like to say thank you and give a big smile to K.AN.E. organization in Greece that gave us this opportunity and supported us during the project, and Slovenian organization for their great project and hospitality. Hope for a future collaboration and many new projects with inspiration.”
Fiorela
