Programme & action: ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: youth exchange
Youth exchange venue: Narva-Jõesuu, Estonia
APV (advance planning visit) dates: 28-29 May 2016
APV venue: Narva-Jõesuu, Estonia
Youth exchange dates: 1 – 12 August 2016
Group leader: Tomáš Kochlöffel
Participants: Adéla Kotorová, Martin Vertéši, Vojtěch Mýlek, Jiří Buťa, Jan Baběrad, Natálie Zelinková, Beatriz Minkovová
Please read the info-pack and daily activities schedule.
Participating countries: Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Norway and Italy
Hosting organisation: New Youth Policy
Project report:
To identify the main problems connected to the minorities in Europe, to discuss about them and to try to name all possible solutions or at least think about the ways how to prevent minority discrimination. All thanks to international environment and non-formal education in English within twelve days. Participants of youth exchange called “Minorities in Action” which took place in a seaside Estonian city Narva-Joesuu accepted this assignment and really worked hard.
To make the problems more easier and less complex, the tasks were divided. Participants had to solve the problems more funny and interesting way. Discussions and presentations of factual data about each minorities in each country were alternated with games in which participants experienced themselves what it is like to be member of such minority. Topics, which forty young participants from Czech republic, Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania and Estonia discussed for many hours were as follows: refugee crisis, their current situation in Europe and naturally, how to solve this crisis.
Nevertheless, there were also other topics as important as refugee crisis. Transgender, gender minorities, LGBT community, religious minorities, age discrimination, disabled people and their integration, HIV problems and different standards of beauty. How do all the nations perceive all these problems? How do they deal with them? What do the youngsters think about future society they are going to make?
Since non-formal education is not always enough and you need knowledge to apply it participants also met experts which explained some specific details. Representative of Narva-Joesuu municipality introduced the situation about minorities. Narva-Joesuu lies on the border with Russian Federation which makes it a very good example of cohabitation between two different nationalities. The head of HIV center in Tallinn explained in details how this disease works and which problems it can bring.
To fulfill the schedule there were trips to nearby destinations. Thanks to national evenings, participants could experience new national customs and learn foreign languages. Participants profited not only from intercultural enrichment but also from receiving certificate about completing non-formal education.
Tomáš Kochlöffel
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Please read the Blog: http://minoritiesinaction.tumblr.com/
Project poem:
Minorities in action
Try to imagine the world,
where minorities have a word.
Roma, Muslims even Gays,
could live lives in their own ways.
This is the reason why we went,
to Estonia 12 days spent.
40 people and one heart,
it was indeed a good start.
Group work, presentations, seminars,
were like saving the Universe.
We always found a solution,
sometimes with the emotion.
We discussed a religion,
in every single region.
Even if there are many Gods,
the differences connect us.
What does perfect woman mean?
That doesn’t have to be clean.
There is beauty everywhere,
doesn’t matter what you wear.
We tried to break the stereotypes,
about gender prototypes.
Now we all exactly know,
the main thing is our soul.
We are grateful that we could,
this topic deeply discovered.
Erasmus plus gave us a chance,
to fulfil our future plans.
