Between the 4th to the 12nd of May 2019, the youth and training organisation K.A.NE. has sent 5 young people and a group leader from Greece in Slavonski Bros, Croatia for the EUvolution youth exchange. The project was implemented by Europe House Slavonski Brod
The youth exchange has brought together 42 young people from 7 European countries: Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, France and Italy.
The main purpose of the youth exchange was to empower European citizenship and to encourage the youth to involve in the democratic life of Europe, in particular by motivating them to participate in the 2019 EP Elections.
When I saw the announcement on KA.NE’s Facebook page, I didn’t think it too much and I just applied. The day that I received the acceptance email, I was so glad that I was going to join the Greek team. I feel so happy that I met those amazing, funny, crazy and real people.
The day that we arrived in Slavonski Brod it was so exhausting, but when I met the people from the other countries, I felt kind of good and relieved. From French, Polish, Czech, Bulgarians, Italian everyone was nice and polite…and some of them crazy. We had so much fun altogether, sharing our experiences and our stories. The program was
so interesting. I have learned so much about the communication, the cooperation and the team spirit. All the activities were so good, productive and so much fun. About the topic, I have learned a lot about the European Union and the European elections, but it helped me to promote my European vision and my personal ambitions. However, the most important was the leader of the program. Iva ! She was the best, always to help, to inform, and to be crazy as we were. Without her, the program would have been out of control. I want to thank her because she was the leader of the whole program and it took courage, time and so much patience to make it work. And this is something that I appreciate, because I learnt how to be productive, patient and crazy at the same time. I’m glad that I had the chance to join the Greek team for this program and I’m looking forward to participate in another Erasmus+ programme.
Maria Andreou
When I first found out about the program on KA.NE.’s Facebook page I hesitated, as I thought about all the things that might go wrong in a foreign country with a different language, culture and another currency “Living with 41 other people is going to be difficult”, “And what if I don’t fit in with the rest of the group?”, “I might lose my time and get off track with my studies”. I managed to calm myself down and realize that it was a great opportunity to meet new people from different backgrounds, to learn some things about the European Constitutions and try to find out what’s the situation like in other European countries.
The moment that I got the acceptance email I felt proud to be part of the Greek team and a bit scared, as I had to organize my trip and overcome my fears. After booking the tickets the first sparkles of excitement started to kick in… it was official. The first day I arrived in Slavonski Brod I was both exhausting and relieved as this long lasting trip went according to the plan. In this balanced mood I got to meet most of the other participants, cheerful, funny, genuine and enthusiastic people from all around Europe. This first day I didn’t really managed to remember all of their names, partially because of my bad memory and partially because I didn’t pass enough time with all of them. From then on, we blended in very well most of the time and we created a multicultural team having fun altogether, sharing our thoughts and points of view. I even had the chance to practice my poor level of French with people from the French team share my opinion about the architectural interest of Prague with a participant from Czech Republic, discover our similarities with our neighbors from Bulgaria, explore our Mediterranean values with the Italian participant and have a look at the beauties of Sardinia which I should totally visit one day.
The project was really interesting with the schedule including a wide variety of activities. We learned a lot about how to communicate, to cooperate and how to work in teams. During the activities we learned about the European Union and the European elections in a playful and productive way that helped us to promote our own vision and utilize out personal skills at a great extent. The reason I loved this project in particular was the fact that we gathered together with people from the Clicking With Voters campaign and from the local high schools to create interactive simulations of European institutions. During the 8 days of our stay we got to experience certain aspects from the local reality, navigate the city and taste local food like Čobanac, Ćevapi and Burek.
By getting to know people from different origins and developing tolerance, I now have a more respectful and peaceful way of thinking, which expanded my horizons and helped me realize that the reality usually lies somewhere between what “I” think and what “others” believe. I’m grateful to be chosen as part of the Greek team we had lots of fun and I’m definitely getting ready to find the next interesting Erasmus+ program to participate.
Petros Kyrkos
When I first discovered the project on KA.NE’s Facebook page immediately I thought of applying as I found the subject of the program really intriguing and I am always eager for new experiences. It was the first time I participated in a similar project and I did not believe that I would be chosen to go to Slavonski Brod.
It came to me as a surprise that eventually I was among those that would represent Greece in the project, and I was excited about what would follow next. The moment I got there and met with the rest of the people from different nations I understood how lucky I was to be part of that! Sitting with so many people that come from different surroundings and have different cultures and traditions: Czech people, Bulgarians, French, Polish, Italians. It was a pleasure that I could be in such a multicultural environment sharing my thoughts and ideas with all these people and spending time with them.
We did not realize how fast the days passed by. We had sessions with Iva all day long in which we did multiple creative activities concerning European Union and the upcoming elections such as posters and mini “games” in order to have a crystal-clear idea of what exactly is the EU, from what EU is constituted and what is its purpose. Apart from that, we did constructive debates and lectures that taught us how to work collectively, be more co-operative and tolerant of each other and even people from other institutions, schools and projects joined us.
As regards the overall impression, taking part in that project was something unique for me as I had the chance to develop on a personal level, to interact with people that come from different backgrounds as well as to witness a completely new experience.
Freideriki Douliaka
