Programme: ERASMUS+: Youth, Key Action 1: youth exchange
Dates: 2—9 July 2021
Please read the info-pack.
Hosting organisation: Jovens da Pesqueira
Participating countries: Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Italy, Spain
Czech team: Jan Hřivna (GL), Miloslav Pospíšil, Helena Procházková, Veronika Haumerová, Nikola Ručková
Project report:
The Local Impact Agent is not the name that would suggest the focus of the project. But eventually it was not a bad name. The aim of this project was to raise awareness and build skills in two main areas: rural environment and leadership.
As this combination sounds strange, it was quite interesting connection. Before the project started we had been given several tasks. Ouch! I do not like to work on project topic before the project even starts. So, besides the cultural night preparation, we were supposed to bring mugs from our countries to switch them afterwards with other people and prepare presentation about situation in rural areas in our countries. That sounded painful but eventually we managed to prepare everything in Portugal. So, if this happens to you, do not panic. You will always find the time during the project . As for the “mug’s game”, I must confess, I did not prepare it either. I bought the cheapest mug (2€) on the top of Portugal, i.e.: the highest peak in continental Portugal where we went for a trip on the last day of the project.
I forgot to mention, this project took place in the mountains. That meant cold! A big cold! Some people used to take double duvets to protect themselves from the cold. Yeah, this happens…
But, when we were not experiencing cold, we talked. And we talked a lot. About rural areas, opportunities in rural areas, leadership, who is a good leader, what qualities a good leader should have, what people are examples of leaders etc. After plenty of discussions, presentations, we dared to express our opinions on and on. That is really good not only for your English but also for building your soft skills such as public speaking, presentation skills, body language, understanding and accepting different opinions. These are the moments when you grow and why these projects are made.
In the nights we danced, ate and partied. We had fantastic intercultural nights that we enjoyed so much. And we learnt new things by playing online quizzes also.
We also did sports. There was a football pitch where we played a real international match (all nations were involved). And what was best was the fact we were in the mountains because we could go hiking whenever we wanted.
So, overall it was a great project. It was a combination of learning, doing sports, partying and meeting very nice inspirational people from various countries in Europe. We really had our times!
Obrigado Portugal.
Honza Hřivna
