VOICES January 2021

january 2021

MAGAZINE FOR ALL YOUNG PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD

Editorial

Едиторијал

I

t seems that 2020 was a never-ending era but it also feels like we closed our eyes in March and now it’s 2021 already.

However, now it’s not the time to see the bad – only the good.

С

“New Year, new me”, right? It’s curious how hyped people are to celebrate another lap around the sun and how powerful it can be to change mentalities. January is usually one of the most productive months, for the year has just begun and you have a blank page in front of you to do as you please. Want to be fit and start exercising? “I’ll start in January”. Want to read all those (now dusty) books you have on the shelf? “The beginning of the year seems perfect”. Want to finally learn another language? “Oui oui, janvier est le meilleur mois.”

„Нова година, нов(а) јас“, нели? Интересно е колку луѓето се возбудени да слават уште еден круг околу сонцето и колку тоа може да биде моќно за да се промени менталитетот. Јануари, вообичаено е еден од најпродуктивните месеци, бидејќи годината штотуку започна и имате празна страница пред вас да ја пополните како што сакате. Дали сакате да бидете „фит“ и да започнете да вежбате? „Ќе почнам во јануари“. Дали сакате да ги прочитате сите оние (сега прашливи) книги што ги имате на полицата? „Почетокот на годината изгледа совршено за тоа“. Дали сакате конечно да научите друг јазик? „Oui oui, janvier est le meilleur mois.“

It might have been a period full of uncertainty and anxiety, without kisses, hugs and holidays as we once knew. But it sure also had its share of personal growth and new perspectives.

We learned how to enjoy more the little moments and to not take them for granted, how protecting ourselves also means protecting others, how it’s in the hard times that we evolve and flourish (even when it doesn’t feel like it).

VCS DIRECTOR: Nikola Stankoski

EYE: Ewelina Chańska

COORDINATORS: Andrej Naumovski Goran Adamovski Goran Galabov Selina Niemi

VOLUNTEERS: Jules Striffler INTERN: Rute Cardoso

е чини дека 2020 година беше ера без крај, но, исто така, се чини како да сме ги затвориле очите во март, а сега е веќе 2021 година. Сепак, сега не е време да го гледаме лошото, туку доброто.

Можеби беше период полн со неизвесност и вознемиреност, без бакнежи, прегратки и празници како што некогаш знаевме. Но, тоа сигурно имаше и свој удел во лично созревање и отворање нови перспективи. Научивме како да уживаме повеќе во малите моменти и да не ги земаме здраво за готово, како да се заштитиме себеси и другите, како еволуираме и тешките времиња (дури и кога не изгледа така).

Everybody is hopeful that “this year will be the one” but they fail to realize that every year is the one. We hope you enjoy this Voices edition and the yellow and grey year to come at its fullest.

Сите се надеваат дека „оваа година ќе биде таа“, но не успеваат да сфатат дека секоја година е само една. Се надеваме дека уживате во ова издание на „Воисес“ и во жолто-сивата година што дојде ќе биде комплетна.

Rute Cardoso

Руте Кардосо

WRITERS: Lucile Guéguen Josip Gegaj Angela Rajchevska Júlia dos Santos Acerbi Vitória dos Santos Acerbi Teodora Drakuloska Dafina Veselinoska

TRANSLATORS: Besmira Ibraimi DESIGNERS: Selina Niemi Ewelina Chańska Jules Striffler Rute Cardoso Lucile Guéguen

CONTACT: Volunteers Centre Skopje Emil Zola 3/3-1, 1000, Skopje +389 22 772 095 vcs_contact@yahoo.com www.vcs.org.mk

Voices magazine is coordinated, designed and created by ESC and local volunteers with support of Erasmus+ program.

content

VOICES January 2021 - issue 1

topic of the month 4

How the colors communicate

Ewelina Chańska

34

Евелина Хањска

Како боите комуницираат

reportage 6

The “scarring effect” on youth employment during the pandemic

Rute Cardoso

8

Горан Адамовски

10

Rute Cardoso

13

Во Новата година по нови доживувања: Подготвени за патувања?

Flat Earth, YouTube and community Insolita Emilia Romagna

Jules Striffler

14

Lucile Guéguen

Depression is not a choice

14

culture 16

Sauna and Löyly

Selina Niemi

opinion 18

Kim Ji Young Born in 1982

Júlia dos Santos Acerbi

20

Victoria and Abdul Vitória dos Santos Acerbi

22

Teodora Drakuloska

Aerial The Weightless Discipline

erasmus+ 24

Manifesto for Youth by Youth to Shape European Territorial Cooperation

26

Volunteer management for greater success and happier volunteers (ENG & MK)

30

Со малку мотивација и многу дисциплина до убаво чувство и добро здравје(MK & ALB)

Jules Striffler

16

Josip Gegaj

Angela Rajchevska

poetry 36 2021

Dafina Veselinoska

22

topic of the month

How the colors

communicate A short story of Pantone

Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Can we name the year 2020 – “the tunnel” and 2021 – “the light”? Surely, most of us look brighter in the future, with hopes and expectations.

Humanity needs light now more than ever and needs to be as solid as rock at the same time.

Light is yellow, rock is gray. Have you heard of the colors of the year 2021, just announced by Pantone?

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тема на месецот

W

hy am I suddenly talking about the colors? Because colors have the power, to calm our eyes and souls, or to stimulate, to energize us.

Colors communicate, make things beautiful, describe, and inspire. We like to look up at the dreamy blue sky with clouds white as sugar, laying in the juicy green grass. Did you get this picture in front of your eyes? Exactly my thought. This is the power of the colors.

And what is Pantone? In 1963 Lawrence Herbert, chemist and commercial printing worker, has developed a system for matching, communicating, and classifying colors. As we know, everyone perceives colors differently. When you say blue, some people will immediately see a blue sky. But to be more specific, it can be azure blue, like the sky during a clear sunny day, or midnight blue sky. Other people will imagine a blue ocean, but what if the ocean can also be emerald green? Let’s take a real-life situation: a husband buys gloves for his wife who wished to match them with her red scarf, but the red in her imagination can be a completely different red than the one that the husband imagined. So, the gloves are blood red and the scarf is chili red. Do you see my point?

Coming back to our colorful hero, Mr. Herbert knew that the color spectrum is seen and interpreted differently by each and every one of us. Knowledge, work, imagination, and normal human desire to make money led him to create the perfect color scale – the Pantone® Matching System® (or shortly PMS). Herbert also bought up his employers’ shares and changed the name of the company he worked into Pantone.

PMS is a color classification system. Each color – on the basic scale of 1761 (yes, in basic scale there are 1761 colors!)

– is made up of a mixture of different pigments in certain proportions. We can call it a color recipe. Take, for example, the usual situation of mixing two paints to create a new color – many people have this kind of experience from school from art classes, or from painting a bench in their own garden.

Pantone became a leader in the world of colors. The colors are classified and described in special templates; each color has a number and a name.

Besides all this, Pantone started using color as a tool to transfer content and communicate trends. To fully understand what follows, we have to think about what a trend exactly is.

The trend is neither less nor more colors, surfaces, styles, products + human behaviors, needs, emotions, inspirations.

From trends we are moving smoothly to talk about “zeitgeist”, a concept from German philosophy, which means “spirit of the age”. To understand the spirit of the age is to understand ever-changing needs, interests, influences, and dreams. And this is where color enters the red carpet.

According to Pantone, color “has always been an integral part of how a culture expresses the attitudes and emotions of the times”. The color of the year then symbolizes and illustrates what society is living today. From the year 2000, starting with Cerulean, which is a shade of blue, to 2020 with its Classic Blue, we are having the color of the year selection process, which resembles meetings of the cream of society in Hollywood. In the world of trends and design, lots of people wait for the color of the year to be announced every year.

What is the color of 2021? Well, Pantone for the second time in history chose not one but two colors. The first time, in 2016, two colors were announced – Rose Quartz and Serenity were combined to put in a spotlight how in the culture we perceive gender equality and to indicate open communication between the genders and their bonding and interpenetration.

So, ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce Pantone Colors of the Year 2021... Ultimate Gray & Illuminating.

“A marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting”, according to Pantone. “Practical and rock solid”, a neutral shade of gray gives peace, confidence, and support, while “warming and optimistic” yellow gives hopes for a better tomorrow.

Can you see this light at the end of the tunnel?

Ewelina Chańska

Sources: https://www.instagram.com/worqshop/ http://citydesign.pl/pantone-krotka-historia-koloru/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantone https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2021

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reportage

The “scarring effect” on youth employment during the pandemic

Several recessions have allowed experts to study its short and long-term effects on the labor market, especially in youth, one of the most vulnerable groups. Even though this time the source is a pandemic, studies say its effects will most likely be the same.

T

he difficulty of finding a job due to the pandemic and its consequent economic crisis will have long-term consequences for young people looking for a job or who just started one, studies say. With the highest percentage of unemployment in Macedonia (34,8 percent, according to official Macedonian Government statistics), youngsters are not only struggling with starting a career online - they may also struggle in the future with lower wages, changes in occupation, and social consequences as criminal activities and poor mental health.

“This year is hard for everybody, especially for young people and especially for young people that are searching for a job for the first time”, says Gjoko Grdanosvki, president of the NGO Youth Council Next Generation.

Grdanosvki also points out the lack of mentorship and comfort felt for the ones who are starting a job online for the first time in their life.

Elena Badaloska is one of the people affected by this crisis. The recent

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graduate of English Language and Literature from Ohrid, Macedonia, was studying to become a teacher. “I had completely different plans for this year but then covid-19 happened”, says the 23-year-old youngster.

“I wanted to continue with my studies, I wanted to go to another country for my master’s degree, but, unfortunately, I was not able to and that’s why I chose to work while this pandemic is still on”, shares Badaloska.

After a month of looking, she finally found a job. “It’s something I really enjoy doing but it’s completely different from what I have studied”, continues, referring to “working with the accountant department” of a company and “dealing with invoices, confirmations, writing e-mails, making calls”. Since “it’s really hard for young people to find a job, especially in smaller cities”, Badaloska feels lucky to be already working and enjoying it.

According to official Macedonian Government statistics, the country had an unemployment rate of 16,5 percent

Young people (15-24) have the highest percentage of unemployment in Macedonia in the third quarter of this year, a much higher percentage than the 7,8 percent unemployment rate of the Euro area published by Statista in June. If the age range from 15 to 24 was already one of the most affected by unemployment (34,8 percent in Macedonia and 17 percent in Euro area, according to the same sources), now the situation is much worse since a lot of business closed and all of the working sectors were impacted by this economic crisis. “The numbers can actually be higher because there are some people that don’t declare themselves as unemployed”, reminds Grdanosvki.

This “scarring effect” of the labor market crisis has been studied for several decades now and everything suggests that we’ll be living that again soon. But what does this mean? What real consequences can youth expect? It

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Some advice from the economist Till von Watcher to youth: The consequences can include effects on earnings (that only tend to fade after 10 or 15 years), job mobility and changes in occupation. It also may impact marriage, mental health, risky alcohol consumption and engagement in criminal activities. means effects on earnings (reduction of about 10-15 percent initially) that “tend to fade after 10-15 years in the labor market”. It is also accompanied by “changes in occupation, job mobility, and employer characteristics”, according to Till von Watcher, an economist at California University, who published a study about the subject, this year.

Nevertheless, Badaloska is feeling optimistic. “I don’t think that I’ll have some issues further in my career”, says, since she sees this time as a break and she’s gaining experience.

“I’ve always wanted to teach kids. I love teaching and I love working with kids but unfortunately, I can’t now, maybe in the future”, says hopefully.

“

For one month I was looking for a job and, to be honest, I felt useless like I couldn’t do it.

Elena Badaloska Recent graduate

However, the consequences aren’t only work-related. According to Till von Watcher’s study, this can have social consequences which include “fertility, marriage and divorce, criminal activities and risky alcohol consumption”. Some evidence also suggests that “early exposure to depressed labor market lowers health and raises mortality in middle age”.

nor training nor employment “are the most vulnerable group in our society and they can easily switch to crime or gambling”. It is also bad for their mental health and can lead to depression or anxiety if they feel they can’t sustain themselves and have to depend on their parents again or they can’t just find a job. “After I graduated, for one month I was looking for a job and, to be honest, I felt useless like I couldn’t do it”, confesses Badaloska.

Keep going and improving is Grdanosvki advice. “Do something and even work for free, volunteer so you can do something good for the society and you because you are also learning some new skills that can help you in the future”, sustains. Making friends, networking and learning other languages, soft skills or IT skills are some of the advantages that might help in future careers. “That’s why we are helping young people by offering them these opportunities”, says, referring to training and education.

The goal? Never stop learning.

Rute Cardoso Sources: https://www.publico.pt/2020/11/23/ economia/noticia/azar-longo-prazoprocurar-emprego-meio-crise-1940108 http://www.stat.gov.mk/ pdf/2020/2.1.20.34_mk.pdf https://www.statista.com/ statistics/264887/monthly-unemploymentrate-in-the-eu-and-euro-area/

1) Your first job out of school may not be what you had expected, but that’s OK. Being flexible in your choice of, say, occupation, or where you live will give you more options.

2) Your career will take longer to develop than that of luckier peers. Do what you can to avoid being locked into that first job, by continuing to accumulate general skills and looking for opportunities to move to other jobs.

3) If things are going slow, remember, it is hard for everyone. At the same time, all findings discussed here are for averages, and do not necessarily apply to you – you have agency in shaping your life and career.

4) You may need to save a higher percentage of income early in life to meet long-term wealth goals.

5) Your desired patterns of marriage and fertility may take more effort to achieve.

6) Take particular care to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle and be kind to yourself, in part because it will help you weather difficult initial labour market conditions.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/276424/ youth-unemployment-rate-in-the-eu-andeuro-area/ http://www.econ.ucla.edu/tvwachter/ papers/von_Wachter_JEP_final.pdf

Grdanosvki agrees and points out young people who are not in education

VOICES - 7

reportage

Во Новата година по нови доживувања: Подготвени за патувања? Времето поминато дома ја зголеми страста за допир со надворешниот свет, запознавањето со различни места и култури, но пред се, со потребата повторно да се чувствуваме слободни и живи.

Д

одека броиме ситно до заминувањето на годината што влијаеше исклучително силно во сите сфери на нашите животи, и светот на патувањата засекогаш ќе остане променет од незапаметената пандемија, за која, веруваме, в година ќе биде минато. Сепак, и покрај ограничувањата и континуираната неизвесност, желбата за патувања не ни се намали. Напротив, времето поминато дома ја зголеми страста за допир со надворешниот свет, запознавањето со различни места и култури, но пред се, со потребата повторно да се чувствуваме слободни и живи.

Втората важна промена се очекува во порастот на „last minute“ патувањата, кое ќе имаат предност пред долгомесечните планирања на годишните одмори што во ситуација како денешната немаат никаква смисла.

Ќе патуваме ли во 2021 година и што можеме да очекуваме? Специјализираниот портал за туризам „Tourism Review“ предупредува дека ќе следуваат големи промени и при патувањата, односно оти тие барем во догледно време нека да изгледаат како последните неколку години. За почеток, се предвидува дека туристите в година ќе преферираат пократки дестинации и тоа воглавно во границите на своите земји. Најголем дел од нив тоа ќе го сторат поради претпазливост и страв од зарази и болест, други да ја подигнат домашната економија, а трети дополнително да ја запознаат сопствената земја и култура.

Туристичките работници посочуваат оти 2020 година ни беше показател дека работите во животот не треба да се извршуваат во брзање, па претпоставуваат оти тоа ќе влијае врз туризмот во наредниот период, затоа што многумина ќе сакаат поспоро да ги разгледуваат местата и државите каде што ќе престојуваат, а не како досега „седум града во седум дена“.

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„Имајќи ја предвид социјалната дистанца и последиците што сигурно ќе се почувствуваат и во наредните месеци, многумина ќе сакаат да побегнат од метежот, па спасот ќе го побараат во природа. Ова воопшто не значи дека ќе бараат далечни одредишта, туку веројатно ќе ги откриваат домашните дестинации“, анализира „Tourism review“.

На крајот, се очекува и пораст на семејните патувања, бидејќи годинава сфативме дека не поминуваме доволно време со најблиските, па ќе сакаме да го надоместиме тоа штом се збогуваме со пандемијата.

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Порталот „Booking.com“, кој е предводник во светот кога се во прашање дигиталните патувања, анализира дека иноватиновноста во светот на патувањата ќе биде побрза од било кога со цел навремено да се одговори на промените во пазарот во врска со очекувањата и однесувањата на патниците. „Патниците ќе тежнеат на многу повисок степен на безбедност во понудите за патување, а исто така, ќе се намалат и нивните преференции кога е во прашање каде и со кого ќе патуваат“, се наведува во анализата. Нивните истражувања покажале дека четириесетина проценти од испитаниците планираат „изгубеното“ време во 2020 година да го надоместат со повеќе патувања и прослави (роденденски, свадбени...) што изминатите десетина месеци мораше да бидат одложени. „Имајќи го тоа на ум, можеме да очекуваме туристичките агенции во 2021 година да бидат покреативни и да понудат нови планови на патување и препораки што би ја разбудиле креативноста на оние патници што ја пропуштија 2020 година и кои сега ќе побараат некое имспресивно место за да го направат што е можно позначајно нивното следно патување“, пишува „Journal.hr“. Како последица на финансискиот колапс поради „коронавирусот“, неизбежно е дека во иднина луѓето ќе бараат поголема вредност за вложените пари што ќе биде дополнителен предизвик за светот на туризмот, кој ќе мора да се обедини за да одговори на креативен начин и да понуди подобра вредност, поголем избор, флексибилност, транспарентност и искуства за потенцијалните патници што ќе сакаат да побегнат од реалноста и да се поврзат со доживувањата што трпеливо ги одложуваа.

Горан Адамовски

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reportage

Flat Earth, YouTube and community: how did we get here?

It started small, with meetings attended by only three people. They got used to being mocked and to be called the “crazy conspiracy guys”.

Friendships and relationships were broken, but they stay strong. Since it went online 14 years ago, The Flat Earth Society Forum has 24.700 members and the Flat Earth Society Twitter account has, at the moment, 93.200 followers.

U

niversal Zetetic Society, Samuel Shenton’s International Flat Earth Research Society and now Flat Earth Society. “We continue the age-old tradition of questioning the Round Earth doctrine and challenging authorities”, it’s written on their website.

The movement caught fire around 2015/2016 when a series of videos were published on YouTube, attracting a lot of attention. “There were plenty who say these were seminal moments in their journey to being a flat earther”, explains Michael Marshall, project director of the Good Thinking Society in the U.K., a small pro-science and antipseudoscience charity to BBC. “They saw those videos and they thought ‘that’s it, this makes total sense to me’”, says Marshall about Eric Dubay’s 200 proofs (being “the horizon looks flat” the first one) and Mark Sargent’s 14 videos.

Besides that, several public figures such as the rapper-singer Bobby Ray Simmons Jr (B.o.B.), NBA player Kyrie Irving (even though he later said it was a joke) and the TV personality Tila Tequila have assumed to be flat earthers on social media.

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Due to the arrogance of round earth believers, flat earthers were winning arguments and “were really converting even more people into believing it”.

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WHAT DO FLAT EARTHERS BELIEVE IN? The world looks flat, the bottoms of clouds are flat, the movement of the sun; these are all examples of your senses telling you that we do not live on a spherical heliocentric world.

The earth isn't pulled into a sphere because the force known as gravity doesn't exist or at least exists in a greatly diminished form than is commonly taught. The earth is constantly accelerating up at a rate of 32 feet per second squared (or 9.8 meters per second squared). It is constantly accelerating upwards being pushed by a universal accelerator (UA) known as dark energy or aetheric wind.

Source: The Flat Earth Wiki

What is the Flat Earth Theory?

At first, it seems like a joke. But it isn’t. The flat earthers believe that the Earth is (that’s right) flat. According to their leading theory, Earth is a disc with the Arctic Circle in the centre and Antarctica is a 45-meter ice wall, surrounding all of it. This wall is the responsibility of NASA and other agencies and its goal is to prevent people from climbing over or falling off the disc, “holds in our oceans and helps protect us from whatever lies beyond”, it’s written on The Flat Earth Society Forum.

Flat earthers don’t have a justification for the reason why the governments would lie about the true shape of the Earth but their guess is financial related. For them, it likely began during “Cold War’s ‘Space Run’, in which the U.S.S.R. and USA were obsessed with beating each other into space to the point that each faked their accomplishments”. The goal? “Keep pace with the others supposed achievements”. After the war, it kept going because of greed related motivations rather than “political gains”. This way they opened “tremendous amounts of funds to embezzle as it only takes a fraction of the total budget to fake space travel”. Or so do they believe.

Some people also believe that the rest of the planets are flat. But for the majority that thinks they are round, the explanation is as simple as “because they’re not Earth”. According to The Flat Earth Society Forum, “the existence of the flat Earth has a major effect on its surroundings” but allows “different classes of entity to exist near it”. Bottom line, there is no reason to believe that Earth needs to be the same as the rest of the planets.

seems they eventually accepted these arguments at some point. But why? Asheley Landrum, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, explained to BBC how this happens.

How can a “this is ridiculous” become a “yes, Earth is flat”?

“First they reject the flat Earth videos. They assume its misinformation”, clarifies Landrum. The problem is, afterwards, “they decide they’re going to debunk them [flat Earth videos]” by making their own. Still according to Landrum, this implies watching more flat Earth videos, doing research and “before they know it, they too have come to accept that the Earth is flat”.

Another thing that helped to convert people was talking to others who believe that the Earth is round because these people “had never thought about it before” and “just assumed in a sort quite an arrogant way that they must know better than anybody who’s ever thought about it and come to a different conclusion” (such as flat earthers), explains Marshall in another interview to Scientific American. “They were stomping into these arguments saying, well, what about photos of the earth from space and what about this? And what about ships going over the horizon thinking, well this is the gotcha, but not realizing that those were the first things they’d thought about”, continues. Due to this arrogance of round earth believers, flat earthers were winning arguments and “were really converting even more people into believing it”.

Probably, flat earthers’ first reaction to this theory was a “what a load of nonsense this is” – exactly what happened with Dave, a flat earther interviewed by BBC. However, it

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reportage

How did YouTube help to spread this theory?

“YouTube without a shadow of a doubt is the main source of my awakening to flat Earth. Every single person I know who’s a flat earther has come across it the same way that I came across it”, shares Dave. “They’ve obviously been looking for certain things”, like “9/11 conspiracies”, exemplifies Dave, and “it always led onto the flat Earth”.

In Dave’s case, he decided to give up television and turned to YouTube for “alternative information”. He was particularly interested in researching the Moon landings.

Five years ago, Dave started seeing recommendations coming up on his YouTube feed for flat Earth videos.

This is due to the YouTube recommendation engine – an engine that Guillaume Chaslot, a former software

“

When you come across the realization you don’t live on a spinning ball, who do you talk to about it?

Dave Flat earther

Flat earthers believe the United Nations emblem closely resembles the flat Earth map engineer at YouTube, helped develop. The main goal of this technology is recommending similar videos to the ones that the user previously saw, keeping people hooked. “[These videos] make you watch more content, they make you see more ads”, explains the software engineer. And that’s why “flat Earth was much more recommended than videos explaining why the Earth is round”, concludes Chaslot.

“It can be a very lonely place”, shares Dave. “When you come across the realization you don’t live on a spinning ball, who do you talk to about it?”, asks. And YouTube works its magic again by helping to create a community where flat earthers could find like-minded people. Since these ideas may be “quite socially isolating”, people turn to “this platform”, this “very personal feeling space”, as Marshall explains.

Dave is the real-life confirmation of this, with lost friendships and relationships going “downhill”. “But I’ve gained a lot more friends in the long term. That’s where the flat Earth community is a big bonus because you can actually meet people on your level and talk about the things you can’t normally talk about”, concludes.

According to BBC, the community is growing even though YouTube is recommending these videos to fewer people and making them harder to find. But can we ever go back? Or are we even converting more people just by talking about the topic?

Rute Cardoso

Sources: https://www.livescience.com/ Photos of the globe are photoshopped.

24310-flat-earth-belief.html https://www.theflatearthsociety.org/ GPS devices are rigged to make airplane pilots think they are flying in forum/index.php?action=stats straight lines around a sphere when they are actually flying in circles above https://twitter.com/FlatEarthOrg?ref_ src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7 a disc.

Ctwgr%5Eauthor https://wiki.tfes.org/The_Flat_Earth_Wiki “The best example of flat earth proof is the Bedford Level Experiment. In https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ short, this was an experiment performed many times on a six-mile stretch photos/nydn-history-s-most-famous-flat-earthof water that proved the surface of the water to be flat. It did not conform believers-athletes-celebrities-and-ancientto the curvature of the earth that round earth proponents teach.” greeks-20190418-photogallery.html https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/ episode/flat-earthers-whatSource: The Flat Earth Wiki they-believe-and-why/ https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p07h3yc0/ flat-earth-how-did-youtube-help-spread-a-conspiracy-theory-

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reportage

THE SINGULAR FACT OF THE MONTH: Insolita Emilia Romagna The magazine Courrier International translated an article written by Francesco Dradi from the recently created Italian newspaper Domani, “Assalto ai porcini, il bene comune dei boschi vittima del business”, which goes off the beaten track. This enlightening piece of writing tackles an allegedly unusual dispute over territory in the Apennines mountains, located in the Italian region Emilia Romagna.

It appears the competition to get this costly trophy may be way fiercer than what you could think in the first place. Some individuals are active once the night falls to avoid detection while they are committing their mischief and collect insanely high proportions of mushrooms, possibly attracted by greed. Sometimes, the situation escalates a level further with the use of violence to claim property over a parcel of land.

On my side, I do think innovation is definitely valuable. Having this in mind, I am also convinced sometimes it should be used more wisely. And you? I leave you with these unanswered questions as an epilog.

A

s a foreword, you might be surprised but there is an indirect connection between this story and the Balkan region. Francesco Ddradi makes us smarter by letting us know that this pretty fancy Boletus can indeed also be found in Southeast Europe. We can read in Courrier International: “Porcini mushrooms grow all over Italy and in other European countries, especially in the Balkans. However, connoisseurs say that the best are grown in Emilia, but also in Lunigiana and Garfagnana, in Tuscany. The most remarkable “specimens” are found in the region of Parma, and more particularly in the Taro Valley, with its Fungo di Borgotaro, which boasts the European label of Protected Geographical Indication (IPG).”

By taking a step back, we realize we are dealing here with a dilemma that is also ongoing in other fields. Are we willing to privilege good sport in line with certain ethics? Or contrarily, are we ready to disregard these considerations by seeking efficiency at all costs? Setting lines might help us to think straight and to better match with our beliefs.

On the one hand, which actions are we ready to take to reach our goals? On the other hand, what don’t we allow ourselves to sacrifice in a logic of profit and productivity?

Jules Striffler

Pictures: Unsplash

Also, things were quite different back in the days of old-school mushroom picking. The spots were mostly kept secret, while now the situation has changed significantly with the democratization of satellite phones and GPS. This innovation may turn mushroom picking into a whole different practice.

Sources: - Courrier international. 2020. Reportage. Dans Les Montagnes Italiennes, La Guerre Des Champignons Fait Rage. [online] Available at: <https:// www.courrierinternational.com/article/reportage-dans-les-montagnes-italiennes-la-guerre-des-champignons-fait-rage>.

- Ddradi, F., 2020. Assalto Ai Porcini, Il Bene Comune Dei Boschi Vittima Del Business. [online] Editorialedomani.it. Available at: <https://www. editorialedomani.it/ambiente/assalto-ai-porcini-il-bene-comune-dei-boschi-vittima-del-business-k84tc3qh>.

VOICES - 13

reportage

DEPRESSION IS NOT A CHOICE

“The kindness that’s shown to me by doctors as well as my family, and my friends, it’s really saved my life.”

– Lady Gaga

T

he current pandemic and the resulting global economic recession have negatively affected people’s mental health: social isolation and job loss are triggering mental health conditions.

Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms and trends in suicide have soared due to the outbreak of Covid-19 disease. As per a study conducted in the United States, depressive

symptoms were three times higher during Covid-19 lockdown than before the pandemic. Some researchers revealed that loneliness and social isolation are more deadly than obesity or smoking.

Depression is a common mental disorder.

It does not discriminate between people: depression knows no boundaries of age, gender, wealth, or status. Mental disorders are more common than we may think. They affect about 300 million people worldwide, that is to say, more than heart disease and cancer combined.

One out of four women and one out of ten men experience depression at some point in their lifetime.

Several celebrities, including Jim Carrey, Lady Gaga, and Michael Phelps, have battled depression.

Nobody chooses to have depression. The risk of developing depression is exacerbated by childhood trauma, such as violence, neglect, or sexual abuse; physical illness; poverty and

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unemployment; or life events, such as the death of a loved one or a relationship break-up. For instance, people who have recently lost their job are at greater risk for depression. Similarly, sexual assault victims are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression; a study revealed that people who have experienced rape or sexual abuse are three times more likely than non-victims of crime to have ever had a major depressive episode in their lifetime. According to the same research, rape victims are 13 times more likely than non-crime victims to have attempted suicide. Other forms of depression may appear out of the blue, without perceptible cause.

Unlike most physical illnesses, depression is not visible to other people. Most depressed people look like everyone else: people struggling with depression are not always sad; they can smile, laugh, and joke a lot while hiding their suffering. Depression causes the brain to stop functioning normally as it affects many important parts of this central organ. The combination of genetic and environmental factors causes an imbalance in brain chemicals.

Symptoms of clinical depression can appear in many different forms.

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Depression is characterized by intense low mood and sadness that is frequently accompanied by low self-esteem, a loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, tiredness, appetite loss or gain, disturbed sleep, and poor concentration. These symptoms are persistent over prolonged periods of time, generally several weeks or years. It can have a severe impact on people’s daily life as many people suffering from depression often can’t function in the most basic tasks, like showering or brushing teeth. They have frequent mood swings and carry symptoms around like a heavy burden on their shoulders. Depression also affects people’s work, social life, and personal relationships. In many cases, this mental disorder generates more suffering and disability than any other disease. Yet, symptoms of ongoing mental distress often go unnoticed.

Undiagnosed and untreated depression carries a high risk of substance abuse and suicidal behaviors. According to the World Health Organization, one person commits suicide every 40 seconds worldwide.

While many people think that suicide is a coward and selfish act, everyone is vulnerable to mental disorders.

Some research revealed that the excessive use of social media, such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, may be linked to depression. The impact of social media on mental health and self-esteem are becoming increasingly significant due to its sets of standards. People tend to portray a perfect life on social media as if everything was positive and celebratory.

It fuels the feeling of envy and a habit of comparisons. “Depressed young adults are more likely to compare themselves on social media to people who appear better off than them”, stated Anthony Robinson, research assistant in the psychology department at Texas State University. The struggles faced by the people suffering from depression may also be amplified by the way others view their mental health illness.

Despite numerous campaigns to raise awareness of this growing phenomenon,

depression remains highly stigmatized and is rarely discussed. As per a recent study, thirty percent believe that a weak personality causes depression. Some people even think that people with a mental illness are attention seekers or drama queens. These stigmas around depression have tremendous detrimental consequences, negatively impacting the help-seeking process. Many depressed people feel they are responsible for their own condition and feel ashamed to seek treatment.

A better understanding of mental disorders could help people with depression open up and feel a lot better.

For people experiencing depression, the support of family and friends is essential.

If any of your friends, family members, or co-workers faces depression, do not hesitate to reach out and send messages of support. Just letting someone who is struggling know that they are not alone is the best first step. If you really want to help, consider having an open and honest conversation with positive help-seeking language. Encouraging someone to speak about their problems is a vital step that can make an enormous difference. Avoid using harmful expressions or words, such as “crazy”, “snap out of it” or “it’s all in your head”. Last but not least, encourage people going through depression to seek out the help of a health professional.

Depression is an illness that needs to be treated, like any other physical illness such as cancer or diabetes, with appropriate therapy and/or medication.

Lucile Guéguen

Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC5798266/ https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-01millennials-odds-depression-social-media.html https://www.who.int/news/item/09-09-2019suicide-one-person-dies-every-40-seconds https://mainweb-v.musc.edu/ vawprevention/research/mentalimpact. shtml#:~:text=Rape%20victims%20were%20 three%20times,heath%20problems%20are%20 life%20threatening.

VOICES -- 15 15 VOICES

Picture: Finnish National Board of Antiquities

culture

Sauna

and Loyly

the most important cultural heritage of Finland

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Picture: Saarinen, Finnish National Board of Antiquities

Picture: Teuvo Kanerva, Finnish National Board of Antiquities

Experiencing Sauna is most of all about washing and relaxing.

For Finnish, it’s a lifestyle. Like a ritual.

O

n Thursday, 17 of December we can assure the Finnish people warmed up their saunas and celebrated - as the important Finnish sauna tradition was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.

10 000 years ago, the first saunas were bumps in the ground filled with stones that were heated with fire. During the Iron Age, building skills developed and the first log-built smoke saunas were born. In the early 1900 sauna was a sacred place – a place where women gave birth and newborns were welcomed to the world. Finnish people prepared food and clothes, treated the sick, relaxed, and washed – all in Sauna. The sauna was the beginning and the end of life, as it was also the place where the dead were given their last anointing.

Nowadays Sauna is still a big part of Finnish culture and it is counted that there are approximately 3.2 million Saunas in Finland. In comparison, the population of Finland is 5.5 million people. A sauna is a place where people gather every season, any day of the week, to relax with their families.

“Sauna is a big part of Finnish tradition, culture, history, and identity – what it means to be Finnish. We Finns live, breathe, sleep, eat and take sauna” says Leena Marsio, from the Finnish National Board of Antiquities.

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“That steam - Löyly - is the most important thing in our sauna. I, too, love the steamy Löyly that fondly caresses me later on the benches and takes me in its arms. Löyly is the sacred spirit of the sauna” says Ritva Ohmeroluoma from the Sauna Society in Finland.

Besides Löyly, Finns have another tradition between Sauna sessions by swimming in the frozen lake or rolling down in the cold snow.

In and out, several times in the huge change of the temperature.

In Sauna it can go as high as 100 degrees in winter minus 20 degrees outside. They also have a sauna whip “Vihta”, a bouquet assembled from birch twigs to beat their naked bodies. Birch leaves bring a natural scent and beating makes the blood circulate.

Sauna is one of the key elements in Finnish culture. In its uniting power everyone who steps in naked, without expensive clothes and important titles, is equal. There is no shame, no stress. Sauna is life.

Selina Niemi Sources: https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11700593 Youtube | Saunaperinne Suomessa – Sauna culture in Finland

Picture: Pietinen, Finnish National Board of Antiquitie

There are Saunas in the countryside, in apartments, by the lake, in swimming halls, and even in some offices. Some Finns take sauna every day, some dedicate it for holidays and weekends.

Some enjoy Sauna in silence, some have the deepest conversations there. It’s a place for celebrations as well; bachelor parties, especially women, who have important love rituals in the warmth of the sauna.

Or when Finland wins in big sports, especially Ice Hockey, everyone knows that the players will go to Sauna.

What makes the Finnish Sauna apart from the Saunas worldwide is definitely “Löyly” which is the action of throwing water on the hot stones.

It creates heat and steam.

Picture: Aulis Nyqvist, Finnish National Board of Antiquities

VOICES -- 17 17 VOICES

opinion

“Kim Ji Young Born in 1982”:

A movie to reflect about hardships faced by women and the fifth sustainable development goal

Have you ever heard about the United Nations’ (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? They are the essence of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all UN members states in 2015, and they aim to unite all countries to solve global issues like poverty, people without access to education and proper health system, inequality, climate change, and destruction of biodiversity.

T

he fifth SDG is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. However, due to the pandemic, this goal is facing new challenges to be successfully achieved.

Recently, I rewatched the South-Korean movie “Kim Ji Young Born in 1982” (2019) and it made me think about these hardships faced by women in our society, which have gotten worse after covid-19. The film, directed by Kim Do Young, tells us Kim Ji Young’s dilemmas and struggles after having her first daughter: the barriers to getting back to work, her lack of time to herself, and the non-empathetic eyes of others regarding her situation.

Firstly, inequality in the work environment has always been a problem for women: they often take longer to get promoted than men, their salary is lower than men’s in the same position, and people often don’t give credit to women’s work or don’t believe in their potential. However, when

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Inequality in the work environment has always been a problem for women: they often take longer to get promoted than men, their salary is lower than men’s in the same position, and people often don’t give credit to women’s work or don’t believe in their potential.

women give birth and become mothers, the situation worsens off given their need to dedicate more of their time to the child than to themselves or work.

On account of multiple demands of motherhood, their productivity reduces. Unfortunately, part of our society still deals with the situation using an inhuman approach. Companies don’t embrace women’s hardships when bosses expect the same level of activity they had while they didn’t have a baby to take care of. Also, they rarely offer psychological or material support, such as a bonus to childcare or childcare facilities, so they can go through this process more easily.

Rather, they dismiss women or only promote men to higher positions already assuming women will have babies and stop doing their job fully.

This situation is pictured very sensibly in the movie: Kim Ji Young puts a big effort into her work and deserves a promotion, however, due to her getting married recently and possibly becoming a mother soon, a man takes her place.

Also, as she has no support at home, it is impossible for her to get back to her job after she gave birth to her daughter. This whole situation affects Kim Ji Young’s mental health and selfesteem: she starts questioning why she studied so hard if the job market’s

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doors would be closed to her after becoming a mom.

Our sad world pandemic context accentuated the difficulties of women’s work conditions. Due to health security measures, children are not going to school and a significant number of parents are doing home office. People might think it is easier to take care of a child in these conditions, but having to deal with children’s great energy and their constant needs for attention at home while having the necessary calm and focus to work is not an easy task.

However, a nonunderstanding boss can believe that a mother working from home has more time to work, overburdening her with more things to do, and thus play a role to aggravate women’s mental and physical health.

According to the UN’s “Division for SDGs” website, women bear additional household burdens during the pandemic.

On top of that, women, who are in a vulnerable economic situation and must work at any cost so they can provide basic survival conditions to their family, are probably facing unimaginable challenges to take care of their children that can’t go to school.

Another issue shown in the movie is the abdication of self-cares by women when they have a baby and enter their partner’s family. Kim Ji Young does not have the time to do anything she enjoys, like writing, and family members think it is absurd that her husband takes care of their daughter so that she can do something for herself. Indeed, this situation must be worse in the pandemic context: throughout the overburden of work, motherhood, and housework tasks, women are unable to rest and have a self-care routine. This is a huge problem when quarantine

and social distancing require more attention to our mental health and well-being.

The movie displays a series of other hardships women face in our society, like having their privacy and human rights violated, being neglected by their father on account of him only paying attention to their son’s needs, suffering sexual harassment at work or public spaces, and not being heard by society or by their love partners.

Sorrowfully, these situations keep happening and increased due to covid-19: according to the UN’s “Division for SDGs” website, lockdowns made the rates of domestic violence against women in some countries increase by 30%.

Evidently, all of those issues must continue being discussed by our community to tackle these situations happening in our daily lives. “Kim Ji Young Born in 1982” is an excellent movie to start or stimulate this crucial dialogue.

To sum up, it is important to be wary and sensitive to challenges faced by women in our society and fight against gender inequality, especially in hard times like the covid-19 pandemic, so we can seek solutions and still be able to achieve the fifth sustainable development goal, empowering all women and girls.

Júlia dos Santos Acerbi Sources: https://sdgs.un.org/goals https://sdgs.un.org/ goals/goal5

VOICES - 19

opinion

Victoria and Abdul a tale of colonial past and decolonial future

C

an you imagine Queen Victoria, the head of the British Empire at its heyday and of the Church of England, having classes with a dark-skinned Indian Muslim jail clerk? Can you imagine him becoming a friend and adviser, honored with titles and wealth? Can you imagine him teaching her about the Quran and her writing in her diary in Urdu, the official language of today’s Pakistan?

N

o, right? Yet, it happened. It was documented by the historian-journalist Shrabani Basu in a book that became a movie, Victoria & Abdul (2017). The fact that imagining this is weird shows how deep the colonization of power, thought and being has worked. How we have come to accept certain hierarchies almost as the sky above our heads. Had we not, these questions would not raise eyebrows, in surprise, but shoulders, in acquiescence: “Yes. I can imagine that. Why ever not?"

On the other hand, the existence of this movie - produced by the BBC (yes, the British Broadcasting Corporation), distributed by American and British giants of the industry portraying this relationship and these colonial mechanisms themselves is a sign that times are changing.

Many parts of the movie unveil colonial logic. First, Abdul Karim is brought from India, as he is conveniently tall for the show, without any choice, for the Queen’s jubilee. He is dressed for the occasion in folkloric costumes, not used in real life but chosen by the royal household for being “more authentic”, according to a drawing in the British Museum. This shows how colonizers disposed of colonized people as objects and of their culture as exotic entertainment, a show.

Then, as he unexpectedly stays on, the royal court is astounded by the queen spending time talking and listening to him. Why would she, if he is not a person, but an object of the empire? And what possibly could he have to say that would be worth listening to, let alone interesting for the Queen? When he becomes her teacher and adviser, they are still more dumbfounded. Does he know anything of value to instruct her? His knowledge is not considered knowledge.

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Picture: Wikimedia | Queen Victoria by Bassano

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It is her empire that brings “instruction and civilization” to his land of “primitive barbarians”.

As they get closer, she lavishes goods and titles on him - which the court cannot stand. They can’t bear to be equalized with Karim, who they deem naturally inferior to them in every sense. Non-white, non-Christian, nonEuropean. If he was all of this, and simply not a noble - as was her former confidant, John Brown, a Scottish commoner - he would be despised for daring to go above his station, envied for having her favor. People would seek his good opinion and consider him as the caprice of an old widow, an interesting gossip topic. Instead, we see everyone refuse to speak to him, unless obliged to, and to acknowledge his presence, walking past him as if he was part of the wall. After Victoria's death, her son and successor try to erase and hide every trace of his presence in her life - the reason why we only came to know this story so recently, with Basu’s research.

However, the movie is not perfect and in no way redeems the British rule in India. It does not speak of how much it impoverished the territory and its people. It also fails to mention the many thousands of Indians murdered in atrocities by action and omission, as killings and famines. On the contrary, it mentions a Muslim mutiny as an abhorrent event that killed 2000 British soldiers (as if the resistance of the oppressed could in any way be compared to the violence of the oppressor).

Also, the devotion of Abdul to the queen causes mixed feelings. Understandably, he catches her eye for not being the dull courtier who follows the protocol and says to her only what she expects to hear. It is heartwarming how he sees her as a person, not only as a queen, and that he is sufficiently proud of his culture to pass it on to her. On the other hand, it is an uncomfortable (and sadly, historically not unlikely) fact that he is completely besotted by the oppressing system and by her as the top of it. Being continuously humiliated, dehumanized, and inferiorized, away Picture: Wikimedia | Munshi

from his home, ordered from here to there is to him a privilege, just because he gets to be close to her. Nonetheless, it is remarkable that we get to see all this in a British movie, in which the British not only provide an entertaining story that sells but also look at their past critically. This is not an exclusively British tendency, but a Western one in general.

Additionally, the great attraction of the movie - other than their unexpected relationship itself - is getting the queen (and possibly some of us) initiated into his culture. The beauty of the Urdu writing - in their lessons, her diary, and in the movie’s title, where their names appear in both the Western and the Urdu style. The art of carpet weaving, a Persian legacy. Spices and mango.

The poetry of Rumi (1207-1273) prominent writer and philosopher of Islam, who greatly influenced Sufism.

The history and stories of India.

This comes to show that non-Western languages, traditions, religions, beauty, knowledge, arts, and artists stay in the shadows no longer. Rather, they come more and more to the forefront, to public knowledge, to pop culture. They are put into dialogue with the Western ones that have been universalized in the process of hegemonic domination that taught us to forget, erase, abandon, look down upon everything that didn’t quite look like them.

In short, this movie shows us, by Western hands and contemporary look, the absurdities of the colonial past and the increasingly stronger and impossible to ignore multicultural and decolonial present and future. It is not quite a revolution, but it gives reason for hope and smiles.

Vitória dos Santos Acerbi

VOICES - 21

opinion

Aerial The Weightless Discipline

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D

ancing without touching the floor, flying without having wings, dropping without falling. Whatever you call it, that one word is all that matters. Without... is all that matters.

I

How do I do that? I push through the pain of each wrap, I get over the bruising that comes with it, I embrace the pain in my muscles the day after... I do it all for the freedom of feeling weightless.

Yes, feeling weightless and free sum up what makes me pack my bag and leave for my next aerial class.

The class where I learn what the aerial discipline is; just one of the many acrobatic disciplines performed in circuses around the world. It is a combination of strength moves and flexibility poses combined to form a different type of moving sensation, presented to the audience using different aerial apparatuses.

Apparatuses such as the basic aerial hammock hung with its ends tied on to one or two hooks, forming a swing used for aerial yoga or sling, or bent over and hung on to one hook, forming two separate long fabrics used for silks. Other than the above-

“

My body is heavy, my fear of falling is heavy.

Yet I feel light.

“

magine a place without the presence of the burdens we carry, without the weight of the decisions we make, or the actions we take. Don’t you already feel lighter just by thinking about it? Would you call that feeling, freedom? I would, because that is exactly how I feel being hugged by the hammock up in the air, defying gravity. My body feels light, even though it’s not. Up there, under the hooks, I am nothing but heavy.

My body is heavy, my fear of falling is heavy, yet I feel light.

mentioned, apparatuses such as aerial rope, aerial straps, aerial trapeze, aerial hoop or Lyra, aerial pole, and many more build the air discipline called aerial.

But it’s not all about fun. Many health conditions can be improved by practicing aerial. Just like the back condition I have; when I started my aerial journey two years ago, I did so, out of hopelessness.

It was my last year of university and I used to sit down with my books most of the days and move very little. That made the pain I had in my back grow and nothing I tried could make it less intense; until I found out about aerial fitness and gave it a try. All the hanging, strength exercises, and stretching we did in that first class, made my back feel better and I didn’t want it to stop. That is why I kept coming back to the hammock, embraced my fear, and moved from the low and static hammock used in aerial

yoga to the higher and rotating hammock used in the aerial sling.

And that is only the beginning.

My dream is to try each and every aerial apparatus there is, but unfortunately, not all of them are available yet in the place I live. The place I was born and raised in - the city of Skopje. But my hope for their arrival in Skopje never ceases.

Yet if they don’t, I am willing to try them all somewhere else.

Now, before I end this adventure I took you on, I want to let you know that aerial can be practiced by anyone regardless of age, height, weight, gender, or level of physical activity. Trying one socalled inverted pose where the body is turned upside down was all it took me to fall in love with aerial. I believe everyone should give aerial a try and join the aircraft of the weightless discipline.

Teodora Drakuloska VOICES - 23

erasmus+

Manifesto for Youth by Youth to Shape European Territorial Cooperation:

Turn your ideas into reality!

Are you interested in shaping how EU values are implemented on the ground? Are you keen to bring your input in the actions underway to bring the European project closer to its fellow citizens? “Do you want to make what the EU and Member State do for territorial cooperation more matching with your needs? If so, join the group of young people who contributed to the Manifesto for Young People by Young People to Shape the European Cooperation Policy.

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aybe you have not studied architecture, but here is a second chance to build bridges across borders, making sure Youth is included. Now that the spark of your curiosity is ignited, you should definitely read what comes next! The European Commission first shares with us background elements, then followed by concrete proposals for you to take action: A bit of context The EU, and especially the European Commission (one of the three top EU institutions), is very often perceived as far, remote, and unreachable. A fortress and enigmatic entity. Here is an ongoing counter-example to these preconceived ideas.

Despite nobody is perfect, the European Commission strives to make EU citizens and beyond realize that the EU is “theirs”, not a far distinct structure but that it is everywhere as it impacts their daily life! This is why it is so essential that all citizens know, understand, impact, and benefit from the policies the EU is responsible for.

One of the departments of the European Commission, precisely the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (“DG REGIO”), deals with enhancing socio-economic wellbeing

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in all European regions and beyond, particularly through the Interreg cooperation program. So that we all develop as a team leaving no-one behind, in line with the EU fundamental value of solidarity and the mottos “united in diversity” & “stronger together”.

DG REGIO is also the division of the Commission that is responsible for one-third of the EU budget, managing, for instance, the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund – a lot of money co-managed by the Commission and EU countries to contribute to improving people’s lives with thousands of initiatives in a wide range of fields (health, economy, climate change and environmental protection, energy, innovation, education, social inclusion, etc…).

In 2020 DG REGIO celebrated the 30 years of Interreg, which is a program directed to territories (like regions and cities) from different Member States and also some partner countries, sharing a border to help to overcome their national differences for mutual benefit. To better clarify what Interreg actually is, here is one evocative example. Sophie is a 3-year old child born in France. But she is only a few kilometers short of living in Germany.

Her parents need to go to work and would like their child to socialize with other fellow kids and start her schooling. But guess what? The nearest kindergarten is not in France, but in Germany. Well, thanks to Interreg and the so-called “France strategy” in the Saarland, Germany, Sophie’s parents can sign her up in a bilingual kindergarten across the border, but much closer to home. She will also learn a foreign language from an early age, which is proven to be very effective and helpful!

One of the themes selected for the 30year celebrative campaign of Interreg was “youth” (YAY!). Consequently, DG REGIO decided to start a truly democratic and bottom-up process by asking young people - more or less acquainted with Interreg - what their needs and desires are and how they think Interreg should help to satisfy them.

Thanks to this process, young people also voiced how they believe Interreg should be improved, i.e. beyond their specific needs. As we are also about to start a new EU programming period (2021-2027) with new money and scope for changing things, NOW is the right time to shape how EU funds can support younger generations.

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The Manifesto (https://bit. ly/38JLQMX): show you care and contribute to change things the way you want!

Young people’s ideas have been gathered in the Manifesto for Young People by Young People to Shape the European Cooperation Policy where 12 tangible recommendations are presented, primarily addressing national, regional, and local politicians and administrations to show them what they can do to best focus on young people’s requests. The Manifesto was published in October 2020 and presented to high-level decisionmakers during the Interreg Annual Event. This was not the conclusion of the process. Quite the opposite, this was just the start as the Manifesto needs to be disseminated as widely as possible among decision-makers and multipliers and it is a living document ‘that will constantly be updated to continue taking in ideas from young people to improve Interreg’ (AEBR).

YOU - as a young engaged citizen - are encouraged to join the core group of young people behind this important political document and contribute to shape the Manifesto and reach out to other young people, associations and people that make decisions that impact your life – with the support of the European Commission.

opportunity to actively take part in inspiring meetings with a wide range of stakeholders, thanks to DG REGIO. Also, I took part in a very well-handled Youth dialogue in the frame of the Interreg annual event (https://bit.ly/38KZdfU).

I had the honor to ask DirectorGeneral Mr. Marc Lemaître a question tackling Youth in the Western Balkans.

Curious? Join us now!

It is time to pack your smart ideas, your fresh mind and your own way of looking at Interreg issues from a Youth perspective. Please get in touch with Alessandra Cardaci and Astrid Aulnette to join the Manifesto’s core group of young people and get more details on how you can participate and the first results of this process.”

So in a nutshell, this is in my belief a very good opportunity to step foot in the fascinating backstages of interregional cooperation within a stimulating team!

I took part in this initiative from its dawn, and this has been a very stimulating journey. I truly appreciate the fact that the Commission decides to involve young people and their ideas in such a project. While drafting the Manifesto, we have had the high-level

Jules Striffler Contacts: - Alessandra.CARDACI@ec.europa.e - Astrid.AULNETTE1@ec.europa.eu Sources: - European Commission (DG REGIO) - Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) Pictures: - European Commission (DG REGIO)

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VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT FOR

GREATER SUCCESS & HAPPIER VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers Centre Skopje continues with the activities related to the project "Towards Effective Humanitarian Volunteering" - TEHV for the EU Aid Volunteers program.

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etween 1-3.12.2020 online trainings were held which presented tools and ways to properly determine the needs of the host organization, the needs of the volunteers, as well as the proper evaluation of the project results.

On the first day we were presented with the tool "Cultural Compass", a website where you can compare two or more countries according to several indexes – power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence. This tool is very useful because it indicates the cultural and economic differences between the country of the host organization and the country of the volunteer and therefore the needs, expectations and adjustments of the host organization can be determined.

The second tool that was presented to us is a “Needs assessment” questionnaire that every organization should have and which refers to determining the gap between the current results and potential/possible results. It refers to what are the needs of the community, what is needed for volunteers to bridge the gap from their current results to potential and possible results.

It shows ways in which volunteers will be involved in the organization, appreciation of their work, support and motivating for creativity and innovation, accepting cultural differences and involvement in the local community by adapting local management/leadership styles and respecting local cultural norms. The questionnaire should also contain data on the technical possibilities, needs and creation of a pleasant and safe working environment.

On the second day we continued with the training in which we practically answered the questions from the “Needs assessment” questionnaire in groups, exchanged ideas and thoughts about the expectations and doubts/fears of the organization and the volunteers and ways to reach out to them. We build strategies for recruiting and motivating volunteers as well as evolving project results and impact on local communities.

determined data on how many participants in the target group were covered by the training, knowledge gained and practical impact on the community.

With this training, Volunteer Centre Skopje strengthened its capacities related to volunteer management and building strategies for needs recognition and evaluation, as well as for motivating and recruiting volunteers. VCS tirelessly continues its work in the field of humanism and volunteering in these difficult times of global pandemic.

Josip Gegaj Andrej Naumovski

The third training was about the evolution of volunteer management, inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact, data collection through which the effort can be accurately and correctly VOICES -- 27 VOICES

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ВОЛОНТЕРСКИ МЕНАЏМЕНТ ЗА

ПОГОЛЕМИ УСПЕСИ И ПОСРЕЌНИ ВОЛОНТЕРИ

Волонтерски Центар Скопје продолжува со активностите поврзани со проектот “Towards Effective Humanitarian Volunteering” – TEHV за програмата EU Aid Volunteers.

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а 01.12, 02,12 и 03.12.2020 се одржаа онлајн тренинзи на кои беа претставени алатки и начини за правилно детерминирање на потребите на организацијата домаќин, потребите на волонтерите, како и правилна евалуација на резултатите од проектите. Првиот ден ни беше презентирана алатката “Културен компас”, веб сајт на кој може да се направи споредба помеѓу две или повеќе држави според неколку индекси - разлика во економската моќ, квалитет на животот, долгорочни планови, индивидуализмот и избегнување на несигурност. Оваа алатка е многу корисна бидејќи ги укажува културните и економски разлики помеѓу земјата на организацијата домаќин и земјата од каде доаѓа волонтерот и според тоа може да се одредат потребите, очекувањата и прилагодувања на организацијата домаќин. Втората алатка која ни беше претставена е прашалник кој секоја организација треба да го има и кој се однесува на утврдување на јазот помеѓу тековните резултати и потенцијалните/можните резултати, кои се потребите за заедницата, што е потребно за волонтерите да го надминат јазот од нивните сегашни резултати до потенцијалните и можни резултати, начини на кои

волонтерите ќе бидат вклучени во работата на организацијата, ценење на нивниот труд, поддршка и мотивирање за креативност и иновации во работењето, прифаќање на културните разлики и вклучување во локалната заедница со прилагодување на локалните стилови на управување и почитување на локалните културни норми. Исто така прашалникот треба да содржи податоци за техничките можности потреби и создавање на пријатна и сигурна работна околина. Вториот ден продолживме со тренингот во кој поделени во групи практично ги одговаравме прашањата од прашалникот, разменувавме идеи и размислувања за очекувањата и сомнежите на организацијата и волонтерите и начините за нивно приближување, градење стратегии за регрутирање и мотивирање на волонтери како и за еволуација на резултатите и импактот на проектот врз локалните заедници.

од целната група биле опфатени со обуката, добиените знаења и практичниот импакт врз заедницата. Со овој тренинг Волонтерски Центар Скопје ги зајакна своите капацитети поврзани со волонтерскиот менаџмент и градење на стратегии за препознавање на потреби и евалуација, како и за мотивирање и регрутирање на волонтери. ВЦС неуморно продолжува со својата работа во областа на хуманизмот и волонтерството и во овие тешки времиња на светска пандемија. Јосип Гегај Андреј Наумовски

Третиот трениг се однесуваше на еволуација на волонтерскиот менаџмент, собирање на податоци преку кои може точно и правилно да се одреди вложениот труд, податоци за тоа колку учесници VOICES -- 29 VOICES

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Со малку мотивација и многу дисциплина до убаво чувство и добро здравје “Shake a leg, together” е проект од КА2 програмата на Европската комисија, каде тимот на ВЦС е еден од водечките во развојот и во реализацијата. Ова не е вообичаен проект за здравје и активен живот, напротив, “Shake a leg, together” има за цел да допре до што повеќе луѓе во Македонија, Литванија, Словенија, Турција и во Унгарија и да ги охрабри да бидат физички активни на било кој начин, да ги информира за придобивките од физичката активност, како и да помогне во идејата физичката активност да се направи што попривлечна. Како шлаг на тортата, тимот на SALT ќе цели да достигне и ќе се стреми кон подобрување и работа на менталната и психолошката страна на вежбањето и општата благосостојба. Освен тоа, ќе им овозможи на учесниците да ги споделат нивните реалности и да вклучат луѓе од нивните локални заедници да бидат активни и да почнат да се движат. Се надеваме дека ќе има „ефект на пеперутката“ и почетокот ќе биде во земјитеучеснички на овој проект, а потоа ќе се прошири низ целиот свет. Проектот има пет активности и две мобилности за учесници, како и многу локални настани.

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наете ли дека постои активност што помага на вашето целокупно општо здравје? Ја подобрува вашата физичка форма, го подигнува имунитетот и го подобрува менталното здравје. Таа активност може да е што било, што вам ви претставува задоволство да го практикувате, а одзема малку физички напор, троши многу калории и ги подобрува сите ваши способности. И на крајот од сето тоа, добивате чувство на задоволство. Вие одберете дали ќе биде тоа трчање, јога, фудбал, танцување или која била активност што ве движи и исполнува истовремено. Рецептот за истата е малку мотивација, многу дисциплина и убаво чувство.

Александар Рајковски е уште еден љубител на планината, која го исполнува и одржува во добра форма. „Одам на планина затоа што имам потреба да се движам, да видам помалку достапна природна убавина. Таму каде што природата наградува со шумски плодови, печурки, чаеви и извори. Таму сум како дома, се чувствувам добредојден“, изјави тој за SALT.

Дека тоа е така, ни докажуваат младите и активни ентузијасти, Ангела, Александар и Сандра, кои за проектот SALT (Shake a Leg Together) споделија зошто одбираат физичка активност и каде ја пронаоѓаат мотивацијата за вежбање. Сандра Стевковиќ вели дека ја одбира физичката активност затоа што таа и помага комплетно да ја истроши негативната енергија од секојдневните обврски и ја полни со позитивна. Таа со нас сподели дека обожува да планинари, прави пилатес и аеробик и често можеме да ја видиме на велосипед. „На планините ја сакам и дружбата со сите убави и позитивни луѓе, сите нови работи кои може да се научат, природата, прекрасните погледи далеку од градскиот метеж, чист воздух, комплетно освежување на телото и умот. Покрај планина сакам и практикувам пилатес и аеробик, барем два до три пати неделно, возење велосипед и долги прошетки, кои, пак, ја прават уште посреќна мојата златна ретриверка Бела, која ми е често друштво во сите овие активности. Сѐ на сѐ, главната причина за мојата целокупна физичка активност е убавото чувство после секоја“, вели таа.

На Ангела Јованоска спортот и е и професија, таа е персонален фитнес тренер и вежба затоа што пред сѐ, тоа, како што вели таа за SALT е добро за нејзиното здравје. „Вежбам затоа што вежбањето ми го подобрува расположението и ми се зголемува енергијата. Вежбам затоа што тоа ми ја подобрува самодовербата и ми го намалува стресот предизвикан од секојдневието. А најмногу од сѐ, вежбам затоа што се сакам себе си и моето тело, и се грижам за себе“, потенцира Јованоска.

Која е вашата активност и колку често ја практикувате? Пак ќе напоменеме, може да е што било, сѐ додека лачи допамин и серотонин и го исполнува вашиот живот со убаво чувство и задоволство. Останете активни со SALT!

Ангела Рајчевска VOICES - 31

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Me pak motivim dhe shumë diciplinë për ndjesi të mirë dhe shëndet të plotë “Shake a leg, together” është projekt i programit KA2 i Komisionit Evropian, ku ekipi i VCS-ës është një nga udhëheqësit e zhvillimit dhe realizimit. Ky nuk është një projekt i zakonshëm për shëndetin dhe jetën aktive, përkundrazi “Shake a leg, together” ka për qëllim të prek sa më shumë njerëz nga Maqedonia, Lituania, Slovenia, Turqia dhe Hungaria, dhe t’i inkurajoj ato të jenë fizikisht aktiv në çfarëdo forme qoftë, t’i informoj ato për përfitimet nga aktiviteti fizik, si dhe të ndihmoj rreth idesë se si ky aktivitet të bëhet më tërheqës. Si qershia mbi tortë, ekipi i SALT do të përpiqet të punojë dhe përmirësojë gjendjen mendore dhe psikologjike të stërvitjes dhe mirëqenien në përgjithësi.

Përpos kësaj, do t’ju ndihmoj pjesëmarrësve t’i ndajnë realitetet e tyre dhe poashtu të përfshijnë persona të tjerë nga bashkësitë e tyre lokale për të qenë sa më aktiv. Shpresojmë që kjo të ketë “efektin e fluturës” dhe fillimi të jetë në vendet pjesëmarrëse të këtij projekti, e më pas të shpërndahet në gjithë botën.

Projekti përmban pesë aktivitete dhe dy mobilitete për pjesëmarrësit, si dhe shumë organizime lokale.

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e dini se ekziston aktivitet i cili ndihmon në shëndetin tuaj të përgjithshëm? Aktivitet që përmirëson format e juaja fizike, rrit imunitetin dhe ndihmon në shëndetin mental. Ky aktivitet mund të jetë i çfarëdo lloji, mjafton që t’ju falë kënaqësi gjatë praktikimit, ku në të njëjtën kohë kërkon pak mund, harxhon shumë kalori dhe zhvillon aftësitë e juaja. Dhe në fund të gjithë kësaj, ju përfitoni një ndjenjë kënaqësie.

Ju zgjidhni vet nëse ky aktivitet do të jetë vrap, joga, vallëzim, futball apo cilido aktivitet që ju tërheq dhe ju plotëson njëkohësisht. Receta për këtë përmban pak motivim, shumë diciplinë dhe ndjenjë të mirë.

Aleksandar Rajkovski është poashtu një adhurues i ngjitjes malore, gjë që e plotëson dhe e mban në formë të mirë. „Shkoj në mal sepse kam nevojë të lëviz, të shoh bukuritë natyrore më pak të arritshme. Aty ku natyra të shpërblen me fryte, kërpudha, çajra dhe burime.

Atje jam si në shtëpi, ndjehem i mirëpritur”, njoftoi ai për SALT.

Për të na vërtetuar këtë që thamë më lartë, na flasin të rinjtë dhe aktivistët entuziast Angela, Aleksandar dhe Sandra, të cilët ndan me projektin SALT (Shake a Leg Together), se përse zgjedhin aktivitete fizike dhe ku e gjejnë motivin për ushtrime.

Sandra Stevkoviq thotë se zgjedh aktivitetin fizik sepse i ndihmon për të kthyer energjinë negative që e merr nga obligimet e çdo dite, në energji pozitive. Ajo na tregoi poashtu se është adhuruese e ngjitjes malore, bën pilates dhe aerobik, e shumë shpesh mund ta shohim në biçikletë. „Në mal më pëlqen shoqërimi me njerëz të mirë dhe pozitiv, gjërat e reja që mësoj, natyra, pamjet e mrekullueshme larg nga turmat e qytetit, ajri i pastër, e gjithë kjo është një freskim total i trupit dhe mendjes. Përpos maleve më pëlqen të praktikoj pilates dhe aerobik, të paktën dy deri në tri herë në javë, poashtu më pëlqen çiklizmi dhe shëtitjet e gjata, gjë që e bën Belën time të artë edhe më të lumtur.

Ajo shpesh më shoqëron gjatë këtyre aktiviteteve. Mbi të gjitha aryseja e praktikimit të aktiviteteve fizike është ndjenja e mirë që fitoj pas ushtrimeve”, thotë ajo.

Për Angela Jovanoskan, sporti i është profesion, ajo është trajner personal fitnesi, por mbi të gjitha ajo ushtron sepse është mirë për shëndetin e saj, kështu thotë ajo për SALT. „Ushtroj sepse ushtrimet ma përmirësojnë disponimin dhe më rrisin energjinë. Ushtroj sepse kjo gjë më rrit vetëbesimin dhe më ul stresin e shkaktuar nga përditshmëria. Por mbi të gjitha ushtroj se kjo më bën ta dua veten, trupin tim dhe të kujdesem sa më shumë për vetveten”, potencon Jovanoska.

Cili është aktiviteti juaj dhe sa shpesh e praktikoni atë? Sërish do përmendim se, mund të jetë çfarëdo aktiviteti, për sa kohë që sekreton dopaminë dhe serotonin, dhe e mbush jetën tuaj me ndjesi të mirë dhe kënaqësi. Qëndroni aktiv me SALT! Angela Rajçevska Përktheu: Besmira Ibraimi VOICES - 33

topic of the month

KAKO BOITE KOMUNICIRAAT kratka prikazna za pantone

Можете ли да го видите светлото на крајот од тунелот? Може ли да ја именуваме 2020 година - „Тунел“ и 2021 година - „Светло“? Се разбира, повеќето од нас очекуваат посветла иднина, со надеж и очекувања. На човештвото му е потребна светлост сега повеќе отколку било кога и потребно му е да биде цврсто како карпа истовремено. Светлото е жолто, карпата е сива. Дали сте слушнале за боите на 2021 година, штотуку објавени од Pantone?

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тема на месецот

З

ошто ли одеднаш зборувам за боите? Затоа што боите ја имаат моќта да ги смират нашите очи и душа или да нѐ стимулираат, да ни дадат енергија. Боите комуницираат, ги разубавуваат нештата, даваат опис и инспирираат. Сакаме да се загледаме во убавото сино небо со бели облаци како шеќер, налегнати врз сочната зелена трева. Дали ја замислувате сликата пред вашите очи? Тоа и ми беше замислата. Во тоа се состои моќта на боите. А што е Pantone? Во 1963 година Лоренс Херберт, хемичар и комерцијален печатарски работник разработил систем за споредба, совпаѓање и класификација на боите. Како што е познато, секој различно ги доживува боите. Кога ќе кажете сино, некои луѓе веднаш замислуваат сино небо. Но за да бидеме поконкретни, може да биде азурно сино, како јасно небо на сончев ден или пак полноќно сино небо. Некои луѓе ќе го замислат синиот океан но што ако тој е смарагдно-зелен? Да земеме случај од реалниот живот: мажот купува ракавици за неговата жена која сака да ги комбинира со нејзината црвена марама, но црвената боја во нејзината замисла може да е целосно различна од таа која мажот ја избрал. Значи ракавиците се црвени како крв, а марамата има чили-црвена нијанса. Разбирате ли сега? Да се вратиме на нашиот херој за бои, г-нот Херберт едноставно знаел дека спектарот на бои е виден и толкуван различно од секој еден од нас. Познавањето, работата, фантазијата и нормалната човечка желба за заработка го довела до создавање на совршена скала на бои - Pantone® Matching System® или скратено PMS. Херберт исто така ги купил и акциите на работодавачите и го променил името на компанијата за која работел во Pantone.

PMS е систем за класификација на бои. Секоја боја - базирано на скала од 1761 (да, во основната скала има 1761 боја) - е направена од мешавина на различни пигменти во одреден сооднос. Тоа може да го наречеме и рецепт за бои. Земете на пример ситуација кога се мешаат две бои за да се направи нова боја - многу луѓе имаат слично искуство од часовите по уметност во училиште или со фарбање на клупа во нивната градина.

Pantone стана лидер во светот на боите. Боите се класифицирани и опишани во посебни табели: секоја боја има име и број. Покрај тоа, Pantone започна да ја користи бојата како алатка за пренос на содржини и комуникациски трендови. За целосно да го разбереме тоа што следи, мора да размислиме што всушност претставува тренд. Тренд не е, ни помалку ни повеќе, бои, површини, стилови, производ + човечко однесување, потреби, емоции, инспирација. Од тренд се префрламе на „zeitgeist“, концепт од германската филозофија, што би значело „дух на времето“. Да се разбере духот на времето е да се разбере постојаната промена на потребите, интересите, влијанијата и соништата. И тоа е моментот кога боите стапнуваат на црвениот тепих.

Според Pantone, бојата „отсекогаш била составен дел од културниот израз на ставовите и емоциите на одредено време“. Затоа, бојата на годината симболизира и претставува во какво општество живееме денес. Од 2000-та година, почнувајќи од Cerulean, која е нијанса на сината, до 2020 година и нејзината Класично Сина, имаме избор на боја на годината, што потсетува на собир на „кремот“ на Холивуд. Во светот на трендови и дизајн, многу луѓе се во очекување да се објави бојата на годината. Која е бојата на 2021 година?

Pantone по втор пат во историјата избра не една туку две бои. Првпат во 2016 година, две бои беа објавени - Кварц Розева и Serenity беа комбинирани да се нагласи како во културата ја сфаќаме еднаквоста на половите и да се нагласи отворена комуникација помеѓу половите, нивното поврзување и интеграција. Па дами и господа, да ви ги претставиме боите за 2021 година: Крајно Сива и Светлечка (Ultimate Gray & Illuminating). „Бракот помеѓу бои пренесува порака за сила и негување надеж, што е истовремено издржливост и воздигнување“ - според Pantone. „Практична и Цврста како карпа“, неутрална нијанса на сива дава мир, доверба и поддршка, додека „топлата и оптимистичка“ жолта дава надеж за подобро утре.

Можете ли сега да ја видете светлината на крајот од тунелот? Евелина Хањска Превод: Горан Галабов

Извори: https://www.instagram.com/worqshop/ http://citydesign.pl/pantone-krotka-historia-koloru/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantone https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2021

VOICES - 35

2021

Come to me

I greet you!

With high hope and trust

I meet you with love for your number And with concern for what may (not) come

A guarantee Is what I need from you

A promise If you will

Mercy dear, Bring the power of freedom To the people

Yet again,

New Year!

Dafina ,,Daffneâ&#x20AC;?

Veselinoska 36 36 -- VOICES VOICES

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