Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: Training Course
Venue: Birmingham, United Kingdom
Dates: 8-15 June 2016
Participants: Eliška Kalčíková, Kristýna Popelková
Please read the info-pack & daily programme
Participating countries: Portugal, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Turkey
Hosting organisation: Consilium Development and Training
Project report:
Bushcraft DNA – Developing Non-formal Activities in Nature. The topic sounds great, adventurous, and full of fun and new people. And it was. There were people from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Spain and from England as well. Wow, there were many people, many languages and nice time to share our experience, cultures, skills and attitude.
We were supposed to spend three days in the really middle of Birmingham and four days in the middle of nowhere in Wyre forest. In Birmingham Basia and Lorraine (the leaders of this training course) prepared nice activities to get know each other, to work as a group and to be involved in non – formal education, Erasmus +, project writing and rules of being outside with children. It was fantastic, we got plenty of information and we were ready to go to the forest, where we slept in the tent and we had to cope with unpredictable weather (actually it was predictable – rain all the timeJ). It was nice time to get know even better because there was no internet and no signal. That is why we had to talk, play guitar, sing, and play games and so on in our free time. It was great opportunity to be outside of civilization without modern stuffs.
Lorrain and Basia asked youth workers from local organisation which work with children to show us useful activities. We learnt building shelters, cooking on the fire, preparing delicious syrup from local plants, setting fire with fire steel, catching water bugs, tying knots, edible and toxic plants from surrounding (elder, nettle, plantain, wild garlic etc.). We learnt how to make wood whistle and we got to know essential tools and how to handle it safely. We learnt many and many activities and games based on nature.
To sum it up, DNA was great and intensive week with really nice and inspiriting people. We learnt a lot and we are full of knowledge and we have much to share with our colleagues at home organization. Thanks to all organizations who allow us to be there. I wish I could come again.
Eliška Kalčíková
