Programme: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: youth exchange
Dates: 23—30 July 2021
Venue: Aldeia de São Sebastião, Portugal
Please read the info-pack.
Hosting organisation: Cultural e Social de Aldeia de São Sebastião
Participating countries: Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Italy, Spain
Czech team: František Zeman (GL), Daniel Lastič, Andrea Škucová, Adéla Škorpilová, Jakub Eremiáš
Project report:
The project called Equality is a priority (July 23-30, 2021) was held in Portugal in the beautiful village of Aldeia de Sao Sebastiao located about 8 km from the Spanish border. The participating countries were Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Czech Republic and Romania. The aim of the project was to shed light on and discuss the stigmas about racism, feminism, homophobia, etc. We prepared several presentations, played games and discussed on this topic. During the project, several intercultural nights took place, where it was possible to taste the specialties of the country and learn something new about our European neighbors. We had the opportunity to visit the historic village of Almeida, where we were guided by a very nice guide. The village of Almeida was captured from the Moors by the second king of Portugal, Sancho in the 12th century because of its strategic position on the new country of Portugal’s border with Spain. So important to the security of the country, Sancho had the village heavily fortified. The castle was refortified on three further occasions by King Dinis, King Manuel I and by King João VI. The present 12 pointed star fortification was constructed in 1641 to a Vaubanesque plan on which the French military engineer is believed to have personally worked,[6] during the castle’s final stages of completion. We visited Almeida Fortress also which is an important cross-border road from Spain, and underwent several sieges. The siege of 1810, during the Peninsular War, ended spectacularly when a chance shell ignited the main gunpowder magazine, which exploded, killing 500 defenders and destroying most of the town. We also did teambuilding activities, where we played mini golf, went slide and climbed a climbing wall, which was great fun!
Last night at the hotel we were surprised by an amazing Paella and overall the food and staff were always amazing. The same organizers who were very fun, capable and helpful, just people in their place! I’d love to go to the project again with this great group of people who are enthusiastic about their work. I met a lot of awesome people here, made some new friends, practiced English and learned a lot of new information on equality. I am very grateful for this amazing experience!
Adéla Škorpilová
