Program a akce: program ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: Youth Exchange
YE dates: 8-21 September 2018
YE venue: Ausmas, Ērģemes pagasts, Valkas novads, Latvia
APV dates: 22-25 August
Please read the info-pack, daily YE programme. Please also read the APV programme
Participants: Petra Králová, Milan Gondek, Aneta Havránková, Jan Lubojacký, Anna Schenková
Group leader: Kateřina Konečná
Hosting organisation: Biedrība “Atbalsts Valkas ģimenēm”
Project report:
Thanks to the „10 Jobs to Choose“ project we had a chance to spend two weeks in the Latvian countryside, almost on the Estonia border, nearby a small village called Ergeme. Ergeme maybe isn’t a destination most people would choose for holidays, but one that definitely shows you the side of Latvia that not many people know. The time we spent there was fun, sometimes challenging and full of new experiences.
The project gathered young people from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece and Latvia. We all had chance to try out different jobs in the countryside, such as farming, working in a hostel, a café or in a wood and clay workshop. Among other things, we tried driving a tractor and combine, pick and sort different kinds of vegetables, work in the stables with horses, ponies, sheep, and we even got to see a deer farm. There was something for everybody! Interested participants even had a chance to visit larger companies in the area and meet their managers. During the so-called „working-days“ we also met many local people who worked in the farms and workshops.
In the rest of the days, we had workshops that boosted our employability skills – learned how to write a CV, what to expect during a job interview or what the opportunities are to study and work in the European Union. We explored the surroundings and we spent one day on bikes in the nearby city of Valka/Valga. The Latvian-Estonian border runs right through its center, so you can easily visit both countries in a matter of minutes. And of course we couldn’t miss the typical Latvian sauna!
Living for two weeks in the countryside, everyone in one house, without any shops and almost no contact to the outer world was challenging at times, but it showed us a different way of life and taught us how to be more tolerant. Not everyone would choose any of the jobs we tried out, but we all got a better idea about what we want to do in our future, whether in the countryside or in a big city J
Kateřina Konečná
