Survival Youth Exchange — Spain

Survival… what good is that? Can’t I just watch a few videos online and go to the forest? Well, NO, it was actually useful for a lot. It is not that important to know, how to get clean water, how to find edibles and construct safe shelter. I thought that before I came there, but I couldn’t be more mistaken. The entire journey this week felt like an experience I would hardly scramble for in months in my day-to-day life. In short it was intensive, fun and surely worth it. We are bringing back not only the skills we gained on this exchange but also friends and memories from Spain.

First come the new environment, new people and new weather conditions. Thanks to the great organizers, that was no problem. Big thanks to Laura, Susan and rest of the organizing team for making sure we find our ways to participants from other countries and felt welcome from the very first moment. Contrary to what I thought about survival, it’s about knowledge and skills; they taught through group activities that it’s more about organization. 

 

Imagine a situation where ten people are stranded on an island. They all know survival tips, well all of them know their part. What would their life look like when they would not be able to talk to each other? I reckon not well. We had a similar yet greatly different situation. We were not stranded, but there were 30 of us from different countries. Now get everything you need to survive. We were even taught the skills we needed to do that. That couldn’t be that hard, could it? The challenge was hidden within the organization. Deciding who will do what, hitting walls of disagreement, and finding solutions. Cooperation was the common denominator of all activities; teach useful or fun skills to others – organize a lecture. Find a treasure with a map and compass – communicate with others to get all the necessary information. 

 

The most beautiful thing was seeing everyone enjoy the process, getting ideas how to cooperate organize and making sure everything will go by the plan. When we finaly found a way we agreed on, a solution to our challenge we felt proud. Then came the night and free time where was time to enjoy the feeling of joy after well spent time. It was wonderful to see how we were getting to know each other so well after such short time. 

 

The whole week was filled with problem-solving, cooperation and a solid amount of adventure. We learned not only about nature and many survival skills but, most importantly how to play as a team with people whose culture and knowledge differed from what we were used to. 

 

Tomáš Ch.