ERASMUS+, Key action 1: youth exchange
Venue: Vatra Dornei, Romania
Dates: 26 May—7 June 2024
Czech team: 5 participants + 1 group leader
Please read the info-pack.
Hosting organisation: Friends’ Society (part of D.G.T. (Do Great Things) Network)
Project report:
Project ActiveMe was a great example of once-in-a-lifetime experience allowing our lovely Czech team to create strong bonds with nature as well as with each other. For some people in our team Romania was something like a blank spot on a map, so they didn’t know what to expect from it at all. However, the excitement and trembling that we had after realizing how beautiful are local landscapes and how authentic is the culture of Carpathian region left us speechless.
The topic of the project was “Sports and outdoor activities”, so we used first couple of days to get to know each other, to create safe space and build closer relationships, as well as to create a plan of our upcoming days. After this being done, we finally started diving into the world of hiking, starting with a 20 km long trail in picturesque Carpathian mountains. After getting into the taste of it, we realized that physical capabilities of our group are higher than we expected, so without any fear we kept adding even more hikes to our program, after the organizer presented us this possibility.
Truly memorable was a day when some of us had to face their fears and try news things for the first time in their life. During that day all of us went to have an “air ride” on a zip line, climbed a wall and, at the end of the day, managed to make 11 km of distance on rafts and kayaks on the river. Now I believe there’s no better team building activity than rafting, when people have to cooperate, adapt and learn from each in order to get a good collective outcome. Our Czech team being experienced rafters has helped some of other participants to fight their fear of water and fear of being helpless in a current by offering them place on our raft and teaching and leading them in the process. We felt very delighted to hear their thankfulness for making them feel safe with us during the evaluation of this activity.
The most challenging activity was the last 26 km long hike when we encountered magnificent landscape, forests, hills and valleys full of animals like horses, sheep and cows. The end of this hike was marked by reaching the top of the mountain Oușoru in the altitude of 1630 meters. Our team was very proud to be the first one bringing the Czech flag to the peak.
It was truly an honor for me to live this beautiful experience with such amazing people as we had in our lovely Czech team.
I would highly encourage everybody not to be afraid to discover Romania, as it has way more secrets and hidden gems than we managed to find during those fabulous 11 days in Vatra Dornei.
Illia Z.
