Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: training course
Venue: Pogradec, Albania
Dates: 12-21 March 2016
Participants: Marcela Janků, Martina Otřísalová, Michaela Šedová
Please read the info-pack & daily activities schedule
Participating countries:Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Turkey, Macedonia, Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Greece
Hosting organisation: Youth for Social Changes
Project report:
Our beautiful Czech team came back from amazing 9 days training course which took place near small town Pogradec, Albania.
Three brave girls, Michaela, Marcela and me, decided to learn more about Human rights, situation in Balkan countries and see life out of EU. We started our travel during night to Vienna where was our flight to Ljubljana and from there to Tirana. From Tirana airport we traveled by ordered private taxi and our adventure started!
We arrived in the evening as one of the last group. Program of this day was free, just we decided to talk a little bit with the others at the beginning. There were participants from Poland, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosna and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Romania and Albania.
Our exact topic was called Human Rights Education for Rural Youth. We had together 4 trainers from different countries. The first days, we were getting to know each other more during games, intercultural night and also started to talk more deeply about serious problems nowadays, discrimination, our rights, economical situation, problems with traveling, visa and many others. We were very surprised how big differences are between countries. On the other hand, we saw we are all the same (or at least very similar) as young people, with behavior and opinions. We should respect each other, but here it was not necessary, it works very natural. J At the end we have seen that our religion or language is not important, we can have fun with everybody without any prejudices. What is also one of the main aim of all projects. The topic was really interesting and a lot of people wanted to share more from their culture. Unfortunately the time passed too fast.
We didn’t stay only in one building during this training of course. The organizers prepared for us trip to Macedonia for one day to the touristic popular town Ohrid. The other day we had night out, were we tasted typical Albanian food in restaurant.
I will always remember amazing Ohrid lake with snowy mountains in the background, Marcela swimming in this ice-cold lake, complaining hotheaded Balkanians and their laughing after, Serbian-croatian language which was heard more then English during this week, provocative opinions of confident Polish, crazy old colorful building of Albania, many kind of animals on streets, peacocks in Macedonia, shepherds…
We made very good relations with other young people, as we discussed before, contacts are important. J I can say, and girls would agree for sure, that this training course will stay in our hearts for very long time. J
Martina Otřísalová
