ERASMUS+, Key action 1: youth exchange
Venue: Quinta De Santana, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
Dates: 11—18 March 2024
National team: Eva Gotalská (GL), Anna Hanzalíková, Matouš Churý, Lucie Bendová, Daniel Zajíček, Vojtěch Kočár
Please read the info-pack.
Hosting organization: Pro Active Azores
Project Report:
Azores. Hawaii of Europe. Green paradise and a hidden gem. I had an opportunity to visit this jewel together with 5 other lucky people. I am glad that for our two Czech participants it was their first project and I think that the date 11th – 18th March, is the week nobody will forget. Together with five other teams of six people from Greece, Italy, Spain, Romania and two people from the hosting country of Portugal.
Even though someone would think, that with the island as green as Azores, we will have a project about ecology, this project was not the case. The theme of the project was about active citizenship, being a pro-active citizen and spreading awareness around us. Don’t watch the situation from far away, come closer and try to do something about it. Great thanks to the couple Alexandra and Ciprian Sfirlogea from Romania who were our facilitators for this theme. I learned a lot of new things and ways of thinking around this theme and it’s all thanks to them.
But as I like to say: “The project, is as good as its people.” I am glad I met all these people, we had so much fun together, and I’m glad, that we bonded with each other through activities and free time together. I’m happy that all our different cultures were shared with love and passion, and not only through the intercultural nights, but also through the time spent together.
From my point of view, this was my second project, and compared to the previous one, it was pleasantly different. Every day we learnt something new, didn’t matter if it was about being pro-active citizen or about other countries. I learnt many things, and all of this I can apply to my normal life. I started to think about many things differently, and this marks only beginning. When we will return home, we are obliged to do a helpful activity. At first, I didn’t think that much about it, but nowadays I do. Nowadays, we plan to do a collective cleaning of Lysá hora.
To sum it all up, I am very grateful I had a chance to participate in this project. I have made a lot of new friends, experienced memories of a lifetime and without these projects and EYCB, I would not have a chance. Thank you.
Matouš Churý
