ERASMUS+, Key Action 1: training course
Venue:: Dilijan, Armenia
Dates: 13—21 June 2023
National team: Antonie Myslivečková, Eliška Kubovčíková, Ondřej Moučka
For more information about the project: info-pack.
Hosting organisation: Armenian Progressive Youth NGO & JUB
Project report:
This training course exceeded all expectations. Beautiful Armenia, great diversity among participants, interesting topic. All this contributed to the feeling of time well spent, full of laughter and understanding.
About 30 participants from 10 different countries took part in the course. We were three in the Czech team.
We only met at the airport in Vienna and arrived in Yerevan a day before the course started. The city, but also the entire country, was dominated by the natural hospitality of the locals, dogs running freely, tobacco smoke from cigarettes, and the smell of spices.
We were surprised by the low price of taxis, which we used as our main means of transportation. (approx. 180 CZK for 30 minutes) And although Armenia, as a post-Soviet state, still looks like it was from the last century in some places, and many things are unregulated, everything somehow worked in its way, and we always got along.
On the second day, we met with the rest of the participants at the premises of the Armenian Progressive Youth organization, which hosted the project. We took minibusses to Dilijan, where we spent most of the course. We stayed in a hotel in the middle of deep forests and high mountains in the north of Armenia – in nature that enchanted almost everyone.
The beds could have been more comfortable and the food a little more vegetarian-friendly. But both were details we forgave for the other wonderful aspects of the course. 🙂
The topic was about fighting hate speech and discrimination, both online and offline. We had experienced trainers, who, in addition to the content of the project, helped and advised on everything else. The entire course was conducted in the spirit of informal education. We created many “flip-charts”, worked in a team and interactively communicated with each other. We also outlined concrete steps with the Slovak team to continue addressing the topic of hate speech.
After the course, we returned to Yerevan for two more days and explored the surroundings. The view of Ararat was probably the most magical we have seen.
In conclusion, every minute of sleep deprivation (and there were many of them) was worth it. I think I speak for the entire Czech team when I say that we would love to return to Armenia one day
Antonie Myslivečková
