Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: Training Course
Venue: Pogradec, Albania
Dates: 1-10 May 2016
Participants: Lucie Jeroušková, Tereza Rýcová, Aneta Nováková
Please read the info-pack and daily activities programme
Participating countries: Italy, Czech Republic, Turkey, Malta, Poland, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo
Hosting organisation: SHOQATA ANTIK
Project info:
Albania is country of contrasts, it was the first sentence which came into my head when we traveled through Capital of Albania – Tirana. Fist I saw Albanian nature from plane I fell in love in first moment, it is fully green, many lakes, high mountains. It was pleasure to travel to Albania with Lucie, we had one change in Serbia, then in Tirana we met polish participants and Mimoza from Antik Shoqata waited for us with van. In project was 11 countries and from each 3 participants.
We did many interesting activities during which we got to know each other, mostly it was based on art, for example we drew faces of person sitting in the opposite while talking about our hobbies, we played theater, did small performances, we made a short movie about labeling etc. All days in project we worked in groups what I found very useful and we learnt how to work in groups, listen to each other and do final decision together. Teams were changing for every every activity, what helped us to got to know everybody in training course better.
We were dealing with social exclusion, discrimination, social problems in each country, how to create our own project which can make community better, what art based approaches we can use to change our community, what is non- formal education, what is exact definition of community. We did also activities with brainstorming and open space.
Then after each activity we had to present what we found out in our group, the there was debate and comments. These activities of course help us to improve language skills, we learnt how to speak in front of the audience in English.
One day there was trip to local organization in Pogradec, which offer education for children from socially weak background. They provide education from Kinder garden to University. There we had lunch with local children and then we used free afternoon for travel to Macedonia, where we visited Monastery of Saint Naum and city Ohrid. One night we spent outside of our hotel cause we went for very delicious traditional albanien dinner.
This training course was really special especially because of experianced trainer Ilona, iteresting topic and willing organization team members Mimoza, Tani and Saimir. There were also people with many experiences from past projects, whose shared their ideas and knowledge with us. We got to know many juicy ideas about how to change our community and make it better in the future. Sometimes there was small argues because people had different opinion about single thing, but it made training course more exciting and I learnt that there is many point of view to one thing, which we have to consider in everyday life. At the end we made our own projects in groups. I hope this project will became real project in the future and it will help to make community more sustainable, eco – friendly thinking and more connected to each other.
Even in this project was for many participants one of the many projects, I think it left something special in our minds and everybody will use these information and knowledge in the future life to change communities. Education is most important part of better future and we are those who have to work on it. Change starts with you!
Big thanks to EYCB for cooperetion with such amazing organizations and for possibilities to go somewhere and educate ourselves. It is very important for young people to have this opportunity.
Aneta Nováková
