On behalf of CEUD 5 persons took part in the YE “I’m not for Sale” (Project number 2016-2-EL02-KA105-002480), which was hosted by the organisation “Future Minds” from 13-21 December, 2016, in Larissa, Greece. Here are the impressions of our participants.
Stefana, professor of language and literature, participated for the first time in an Erasmus+ funded mobility activity : For me, this youth exchange represents amazing journey and great experience. Since this was the first time for me to do something like this, I have to admit that I learnt a lot and gained more than I expected. I learnt how to be more independent and rely more on myself, started learning how to be a leader and this was extraordinary opportunity for me to use mostly English language. I can freely say that this happened to the most of us. In our program there were people from different parts of Europe. I saw our cultural differences and realized that, even though we live in different areas, we all share common points of view and similar attitudes. There are some differences in traditions, but basically we are all the same. What impressed me the most was that every one of us was introduced to this specific topic and that everyone was trying to give oneself to help. Such a motivation and inspiration especially in young people is not easy to find these days. But the fact that we were helping each other and trying to find solutions for this issue gives me hope that one day things will change. We just need to raise awareness of the other people, which we already started by creating Facebook page that we will share and promote. Maybe one person cannot change things, but can be part of creating new ones. I hope that I will have more opportunities to go and see other projects and to give my contribution to them.
Marko, law student: This was very interesting, educative and positive experience for me. We had a lot of fun learning about different stereotypes about participating countries, visiting Meteora monasteries and spending time informally together as a family in the evenings. In the meanwhile, we had many workshops to do. I tried to be as creative and active as I could be because that’s how I learn things. My favourite way of working is through brainstorming, round table discussions and then presentations. However, I find separating participants from different countries in groups very useful because that makes you connect and bond with other young people faster and you get to praise your English skills. I have no doubt I improved my analysing skills. I also upgraded my knowledge law and EU policies wise, but the best thing wasn’t about that. It was about making friends and about spreading love and peace among European youth and at the same time raising awareness about some very important challenges EU is facing now.
Jelena, political sciences student, participated for the first time in an Erasmus+ funded mobility activity : European Union is facing really important challenges. One of the biggest problems right now is the refugee crisis and problems connected to human trafficking and human rights. This youth exchange helped me to understand how serious this problem was in the past, especially during the 90’s, and how serious still is. Especially because we had opportunity to hear first-hand story from a women who was a victim of human trafficking and who fought for her life, pride and dignity. This extraordinary woman, originally from Bosnia, said to her aggressors: ‚‚ I’m not for sale!‚‚ , and in my eyes she is a real hero!We had a lot of interesting workshops and games to do as well. The best part of that was that we were mixed with participants from other countries and we learned a lot trough brainstorming, analysis, compering etc. and after that we would present our work to other groups. I tried to be very creative, active and useful to the group, because this is a very serious topic, and we need to do something to change the society. After workshops we had international evenings, where we had time and space to tell something about our countries, culture, habits, and our national specialites. Overall I was a bit shocked with the fact that we all live pretty much the same, and differences between young people are minimal. This experience was really interesting , educative, and positive for us. I’m grateful for this experience. I made new friends and opened my horizons, and for sure I’ll try to raise awareness of this topic in my community.
Milica, professor of language and literature: I found the topic of the exchange extremely important and felt highly enthusiastic when given chance to participate. The project was exceptional in terms of pointing out the importance of raising the awareness about the problem of human trafficking among the young and that was one of the greatest motifs of my applying. Besides, I wanted to learn, meet new people and cultures, share my own thoughts regrading the topic and improve my knowledge of English. I learned a lot about the topic, about the importance of being engaged in it and got familiar with the situation in other countries. The greatest impact on me left the story of a woman victim of human trafficking. It was beyond touching and it opened my eyes in many senses; the exchange was a wonderful experience because I had privilege of meeting this extraordinary woman. Trip to Meteora was also one of the highlights of the project and of course wonderful bonds I made with people I met.
Vojin, IT student, participated for the first time in an Erasmus+ funded mobility activity: This youth exchange was one incredible experience. I met many diverse people from 7 countries from the EU and ex USSR. We got informed about Human Trafficking, what caused it and how we can deal with it. All the time we were divided into groups where we all together found out answers. The best part of the exchange was making performance on the main square in Larisa. We danced, then we did the Mannequin challenge and after that, we spoke with people about Human Trafficking.