Un breve resoconto in inglese da Marta, partecipante al progetto Change In To Change Out (1-8 marzo). Il training course, finanziato dal programma Erasmus+, è stato approvato dall’Agenzia Nazionale Belga. L’associazione di coordinamento è JOETZ, mentre l’associazione ospitante International Center for Peace and Integration (ICPI).

The training course “Change in to Change out” was held in Kobuleti, Georgia, from 1 to 8 March 2018.

I arrived at 5 am in the morning at the airport of Tbilisi, the capital city. An amazing week was waiting for me and for the other 35 participants from Portugal, Ukraine, Lebanon, Belgium, Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Romania. The project was hosted by JOETZ vzw and I participated thanks to the Italian association Scambieuropei.

 

The topic of the project was “personal development”, that’s why we focused all the time on activities and reflections which helped us to think out of the box and to improve our self-awareness, how our minds work.
This project was for me an incredible opportunity to challenge myself, to have a deeper consciousness of my personality and of my ability to build meaningful relationships.
I had the chance to meet incredible people from all over Europe and not only Europe, and during the
international evenings I learned a lot about the culture of all the countries represented during the project. I think that non-formal education is the less used but the most effective way to learn about other cultures and traditions, about topics connected with the modernity such as immigration, active citizenship, sport as a tool to connection.

During the project, all the activities were focused on ourselves and on our personal experiences. We didn’t share very much about our feelings experimented during the processes and activities, and that was the particularity of this specific project because in this way we could concentrate all our attention on OUR PERSONAL GROWTH.

Thanks to the previous work that the trainers were doing on us, I learned a lot about myself and my
weakest and strongest spots. I appreciate all the activities organized by the hosting organization for us, such as the city trip in Batumi and the visit at the Ballet of Kutaisi, where we had a short workshop with the traditional dancers. We also had a dinner in a typical restaurant, with the traditional food and beverages.

I enjoyed very much my time in Georgia, I met amazing people and I learned a lot about all the possibilities offered by the European Union, such as EVS and youth exchanges.

I wish everybody to take part in a project like this, it’s something which gives you an invaluable memory.

Marta Avesani