ALL ABROoooAD!
EVS, the programme I'm here with, supported by the European Commission, is not the only kind of activity that the youth groups or organisations can ask financial support for. In fact, there are a lot of opportunities to get grants if you have good ideas. One of these kinds of projects are youth exchanges - intercultural youth meetings where one group of young people hosts other groups, shows them around, organises various activities. Everyone has fun, but most of all, learns a lot through experience.
I'd never have an idea what Turkish hospitality is like, what the Czech do for fun, how spoken Hungarian sounds or what the Portuguese mean by saudade, if my friend Laura hadn't gotten me into organising a youth exchange with her back in 2004. This event was an awakening to 3 years of vagabonding through more than 20 countries. It's also thanks to her that I'm in Italy now.
My hosting organisation (by now, my home NGO) is partner in 8 youth exhanges this summer. It's more than any of the Eurodesk offices around Veneto. Different countries, different topics. The only problem is that we're living and working in such a small town that it's difficult to convince the youth that there can be good possibilities here as well. In any case, we've now officially started our 'all abroad!' campaign. In the following months I'll go around the local schools with the people of the local youth information point, explaining to schoolkids what is Youth in Action and what the whole point is. That it's not only a way of making cheap vacations, but a good opportunity to learn languages, train yourself, manage a project - things that one generally would have to pay much more for. This in turn holds a lot of other opportunities, such as being better prepared for jobs related to organising various events or working in an intercultural context.
So now there's me going around with our flyers. The author is our web designer Anna Menti. Here's an example:
These exchanges are a magic waiting to happen. I've already seen it a few times, but it's always worth a watch. First you have to call the people, convince them, coax them with the idea of a cheap vacation, say how nice the place will be. Then, when they've made up their minds, they get all excited while discussing what kind of food to bring along and what to show about Italy; they write out small dictionaries and read travel guides. Taking the train to go to the airport is a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Then we start to receive messages: "we're arrived, things look ok, really tired, talk later"; and "ciao, it's fun here, we went around Prague, very nice!" and "this is so cool!!!". During the days after arrival the group goes around and tells everyone with bright eyes about where they've been. They stay on MSN until the wee hours talking to all the new friends. Things cool off after a while, but there is always someone with whom the contact remains. And noone will easily forget the feeling of a really good youth exchange.
Some of my friends are convinced that all this "youth projects and stuff" is a big waste of money. They're entitled to their opinion. But I have to wonder - if someone has had adventures, parties, long discussions with youngsters from completely different backgrounds - be it an ex-communist country, a Muslim country or whichever - isn't this someone less likely to discriminate against people based on stereotypes? Isn't it an achievement?
I'd never have an idea what Turkish hospitality is like, what the Czech do for fun, how spoken Hungarian sounds or what the Portuguese mean by saudade, if my friend Laura hadn't gotten me into organising a youth exchange with her back in 2004. This event was an awakening to 3 years of vagabonding through more than 20 countries. It's also thanks to her that I'm in Italy now.
My hosting organisation (by now, my home NGO) is partner in 8 youth exhanges this summer. It's more than any of the Eurodesk offices around Veneto. Different countries, different topics. The only problem is that we're living and working in such a small town that it's difficult to convince the youth that there can be good possibilities here as well. In any case, we've now officially started our 'all abroad!' campaign. In the following months I'll go around the local schools with the people of the local youth information point, explaining to schoolkids what is Youth in Action and what the whole point is. That it's not only a way of making cheap vacations, but a good opportunity to learn languages, train yourself, manage a project - things that one generally would have to pay much more for. This in turn holds a lot of other opportunities, such as being better prepared for jobs related to organising various events or working in an intercultural context.
So now there's me going around with our flyers. The author is our web designer Anna Menti. Here's an example:
These exchanges are a magic waiting to happen. I've already seen it a few times, but it's always worth a watch. First you have to call the people, convince them, coax them with the idea of a cheap vacation, say how nice the place will be. Then, when they've made up their minds, they get all excited while discussing what kind of food to bring along and what to show about Italy; they write out small dictionaries and read travel guides. Taking the train to go to the airport is a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Then we start to receive messages: "we're arrived, things look ok, really tired, talk later"; and "ciao, it's fun here, we went around Prague, very nice!" and "this is so cool!!!". During the days after arrival the group goes around and tells everyone with bright eyes about where they've been. They stay on MSN until the wee hours talking to all the new friends. Things cool off after a while, but there is always someone with whom the contact remains. And noone will easily forget the feeling of a really good youth exchange.
Some of my friends are convinced that all this "youth projects and stuff" is a big waste of money. They're entitled to their opinion. But I have to wonder - if someone has had adventures, parties, long discussions with youngsters from completely different backgrounds - be it an ex-communist country, a Muslim country or whichever - isn't this someone less likely to discriminate against people based on stereotypes? Isn't it an achievement?
No comments:
Post a Comment