THE JOURNEY YOUTH POWER SPACE II
This ebook is a result of the project “Youth Power Space II” , Ref No 2018-1-RO01KA125-048839,
that hosted in Baia Mare, Romania, 4 international volunteers
from 3 partner organizations from France, Portugal and Spain. This project is co-funded by European Union through Erasmus Plus Program.
EVS volunteers
Partner organizations
Alejandro Chacón de Castro (Spain)
Asociación Building Bridges
Catarina Barbosa (Portugal)
ProAtlântico Associação Juvenil
Cindy Gourmelon (France)
Ville de Nevers
Olatz Lago Silvestre (Spain)
Asociación Building Bridges
CONTENT -
Introduction – Youth Power Space II
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Weekly activities o Inclusion Program in Cavnic o Inclusion Program in Foster houses o Inclusion Program at “Nemeth Laszlo” Highschool –primary class o “I AM because You ARE” Program at School “Lucian Blaga” Baia Mare
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Personal projects o Olatz – Activities at Planetarium o Cindy – Animal `s shelter and raising awareness event o Catarina – Social campaigns an working at shelter o Alejandro – Diversity workshop
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Other o o o o o o
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Integration in Baia Mare o Support and collaboration between EVS/international volunteers o Romanian language and culture classes
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Baia Mare – Capitala Tineretului din Romania 2018-2019/ National Youth Capital
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175 Anniversary of YMCA
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Youth Power Space II Facts & Stats
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Personal experience
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Acknowledgements
community activities 16 Days Campaign against Gender violence Olympics - with Hope and Homes for Children Romania Bloody Friday Event with YMCA Baia Mare This Time I am voting campaign in community partnership YMCA Summer Camps Promoting International Volunteering (EVS/European Solidarity Corps) and Intercultural events
INTRODUCTION- YOUTH POWER SPACE II
Community needs, its problems, the behavior of children and youth, their difficulties, are priorities for us, our volunteering programs being designed to respond directly to these needs, always bringing new perspectives, new understanding and approaches, promoting tolerance, equal chances, community engagement. All the programs from Cavnic (poor urban area), from Baia Mare, in the context of the #UTURN program Baia Mare- Youth Capital of Romania 20182019, responded not only to the existing needs but support building bridges of knowledge, confidence and trust within the local community, fostering local action, youth civic engagement. The need for such approaches has been reiterated at the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum held in January 2017 and 2018, where YMCA Romania had a representative in the World YMCA delegation. The message was: "We no longer can see the youth as the future because in this way we will put in risk everybody`s future. The youth are our PRESENT, they need to act NOW, they need to raise their voice NOW, and the rest of us we need to listen NOW". This is exactly what our project proposed, especially in the framework of #UTURN program Baia MareYouth Capital of Romania 2018-2019, the volunteers had the chance to engage in various projects and programs with local, regional , national and international impact, developing their competences, but more over, creating, together with the local volunteers , the youthquake: "a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people" ( Oxford dictionary), that is exactly developing social capital among youth, empowering youth to actively participate in society( EU Lisbon Treaty). "Youth Power Space II " brought together 4 EVS volunteers from France, Portugal, Spain for a period of 11 months (01.10.2018-31.08.2019) and throughout the programs to promote inclusion and civic engagement by empowering children and youth, including those with fewer opportunities to become Change Agents, supporting diversity, tolerance, initiative, critical thinking, equality, initiative to create a society build on the principles of democracy and respect for human rights.
WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Inclusion Program in Cavnic
Cavnic provoked a bitter-sweet feeling on us every single week of the year: the laziness of working a Friday afternoon -mostly in the snowy days of winter - against the warm welcoming of the expectant youth of the town -also them lazy sometimes, but mostly in the sunny days of summer. Every Friday, the same routine: a fast lunch just before getting into the car and driving there for more than half an hour. A way to talk, sing and mostly go over the activities we planned the previous Monday and about we were not too sure anymore. But they were not that important in a way, the teenagers attending our activities in Cavnic always showed a really big interest on what we had to say and surprised us very often with their ability to create serious debates about any topic and with their willingness to give a try any game or activity. It was an amazing diverse group, very capable of working together that taught us what team work, tolerance, enrollment, caring and gratitude mean. Thank you to all of you from Cavnic!
Inclusion Program in foster houses
Every Thursday of each week we went to two foster houses. We divide ourselves into two teams and changed each week. The day that was to set up the activities of the week, we decided animations that were going to organize for the children of these foster houses. Hand crafts, board games, teaching them to bike, doing sports – are just some examples of activities done together. So we exchanged, played, danced, wander with them in town, in park, spent quality time in socializing, teaching them through actions about care, respect, responsibility, trust, to express feelings, to share about their fears and their dreams, even went ice skating or drank outside in the center of the town hot tea and enjoy the winter holidays. Thank you to all of you from the 2 foster houses!
Inclusion Program at “Nemeth Laszlo” Highschool –primary class Weekly we went to “Nemeth Laszlo” Hungarian Highschool – to the 1st graders , a group of children full of energy who acted exactly according to their age. After first meeting we understood that we will face a new challenge: there are speaking Hungarian, not even all of the Romanian, so we need it to adapt our activities according with them, do more arts and crafts which they loved, and we slowly began to recognize some kids who were able to translate for us – some knew some Romanian or English. We also created activities through which we all learned in 3 languages: Hungarian, Romanian and English. Was challenging but also fun! The kids were so warm and friendly and we manage to tackle different SDG topics with them through non formal activities and games. Sometimes we prepared some sports activities and we had the Sport Hall where we did more physical games and played sports. Thank you to all of you from Nemeth Laszlo Highschool!
“I AM because You ARE” Program at School “Lucian Blaga” Baia Mare
The School No 8 – “Lucian Blaga”, located in Baia Mare, gave to us the opportunity to meet different kids and youth with whom we worked weekly. Every Monday we were meeting in our office to prepare one more week of activities and in special to this school. Each week we had a different class, with students from different ages so we needed to learn how to adapt the activities to them, according to the level of English, the capacity to understand some topics and so on. The students and the teachers were just amazing with us, we felt so welcomed there and they appreciated our work a lot. For us the volunteers, it was completely new and challenging to be in front of kids talking and teaching something through non formal education. We finished this chapter of our lives knowing that this period was a process of mutual learning. Thank you to all of you from School Lucian Blaga!
YMCA Team at Gala Voluntarilor Maramureseni 2018
PERSONAL PROJECTS Olatz – Activities at Planetarium You think you have your interests clear until you are put in front on them to choose in which one you want to invest your time and effort during a few months. Suddenly, many of them are not that important or interesting anymore. For some others, you find that the insecurities are stronger and you don’t want to even try them. It was a stressing process finding the topic of my personal project, but somehow it came to me in an unplanned visit to the local Planetarium. Collaborating with the Planetarium of Baia Mare was a really fulfilling experience -mostly in the beginning. I learnt so many things so fast that I was really motivated to continue there: how to locate in the space, how to use their dome or even Romanian traditions regarding the stars! Also, I found out that the local volunteers were also enthusiastic about organizing an event and so we did, what, I believe, brought me closer to them. Developing a personal project is an incredible opportunity to learn about yourself and see what are you capable of. It’s a matter of attitude and leadership, as you will bring it until the point you are committed to it.
Cindy – Animal `s shelter and raising awareness event
We had the space to create a personal project within our project with YMCA Romania. My decision was naturally towards animals. After volunteering in a dog shelter, I decided to make a photo exhibition about animals` rights with the method of PhotoVoice. Helped by local and international volunteers we took several photos of animals and situations that we saw in our neighborhood or in the street and then we let our feelings to be expressed on each picture during the public exhibition, where we discussed a lot upon the animal`s rights and their needs. This public event was made in the “Day against torture” and it was super well done and grateful because the people were interested and rewarding.
Catarina – Social campaigns an working at shelter In order to put in practice my personal project, I started from the following truth: the society it's mostly formed by people that every day after work or school return home and have a meal to eat and a comfortable place to stay but not all of us are that lucky. There are people in need and we need to pay attention. In our community, there are humans who unfortunately spend some days without food, without a warm place where they can feel protected, without affection or a friendly hand that can help them. With my project I wanted to create awareness about what is happening nowadays in our communities and for that tried to fill a primary need, like physiological need, according to the pyramid of Maslow: provide food to those who need it most. Fight for human rights with simple
gestures, with the idea of serving those around us. For that, I created a team of 10 people composed by local/ international volunteers and in the first weeks of the project we visited the Somaschi foundation`s shelter and after that we had two sessions of reflection about what we saw there, how we felt (the impact that had on us) and the work that needed to be done. The team went to the shelter on Friday´s since March until mid/end of June. We spent time with the kids and young people of Craica (Roma) community making different type of activities indoor and outdoor, we helped in the alphabetization classes, we prepared the dishes and room for provide food to the kids, we served the food and in the end we helped to clean everything. Also, we made campaigns to collect food, plastic stuff (plates, cups and tableware), cloths and cleaning products to donate to the shelter and to different disadvantaged groups situated all over the town. On the volunteering side, we feel grateful and hopeful because we could see that with the action and power of each one, we can make the difference in someone's life.
Alejandro – Diversity workshop Diversity is among us in the community but what they get from the society is rejection, oppression and discrimination. The community is not prepared either, they don't have the knowledge and tools to recognize the diversity and avoid the discrimination of different collectives: LGBTQIA+, oppressed women, non-normative population, people from different cultures and ethnics such as Roma people. This creates an oppressive environment in what the people cannot experiment to be themselves and don't allow others to try. This is why i have decided that my personal project will be focused on this. Weekly I worked with 15-20 participants from local and international youth with the age between 14 and 25 years . The workshops were focused to raise awareness about sexual, gender and ethnic diversity,to provide them with tools and knowledge to debate this subjects between them and in their
communities now and in the future, provide a free, caring and trustworthy space where they can express themselves about this subjects. A safe space from the discrimination. As it was the first time ever in the town to have a topic like this, with a strong component of education about gender and LGBTQIA+, in a program that took place regularly since March to June, with quite a good attendance it is a first step to raise awereness and educate.
OTHER COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES 16 Days Campaign against Gender violence The peak of the 16 Days Campaign against Gender Violence in which we took part was specially challenging for many reasons: it was the first time we were stepping out of our more or less comfortable routine, our four different perspective of the topic were confronted and we were not completely free to put all our ideas in practice as we were mere collaborators. In addition, we were still quite new in Romania, so we were not totally aware of what this community was ready for and our idealistic minds were expecting to provoke huge impact and change out of a single event. Anyhow, it was a beautiful evening full of lights. More people than was expected gathered in Stephan’s tours square and the awareness was definitely raised. For sure the impact that we were willing to have on this topic was not fulfilled, but we believe we helped on the process.
Olympics - with Hope and Homes for Children Romania
The organization Hopes and Homes for Children (HHC), asked our participation to help in an event made for people with disabilities and from foster care. This activity was done during the winter in the upper part of the mountains, in Cavnic. They asked us to make free dance with
all the participants, make animations and bring happiness. The time that we spent with them was awesome and everyone in the end was with a smile on their faces because they said to us that they loved our workshop and we had lots of fun. â?„
Bloody Friday Event with YMCA Baia Mare Together with the young volunteers of YMCA Baia Mare we created an event called Bloody Friday. It was one of the first events built together and it was interesting for us to see their dynamic, the fact that they are teenagers in highschool and invest so much energy. Of course sometimes also the lack of responsibility was part of the process but we supported and we created a fun event. We combined two moments- an escape room and with the clues from there and based on a scenario created together we put in place at the end a shadow theatre, with super interesting characters, plot , elements from the escape room clues and ending. For fun for the participants, also frustrating when they could not reach and find the clues; all in all an event where we put ourselves out there, our creativity, supporting skills, practicing leading, our playfulness.
“This Time I am voting” Campaign in community partnership Together with other associations of Baia Mare such as AIST, GreenTin, Somaschi, YMCA Baia Mare, YMCA Romania, FONT, Liga Studentilor “Pintea Viteazul”, Asociatia Elevilor din Maramures, under the Program Baia Mare- Capitala Tineretului din Romania 2018-2019 , we initiatied the campaign called “This Time I´m Voting For/De Data Asta Votez” to empower the youth to go to vote in the European Elections, that happened on 26th of May and to show them that their voice counts in order to decide about the future of Europe. During 4 months we met during the weeks to set up the objectives of this Campaign and to find activities that could be interesting to bring to the youth, in order to transmit the information about European Union and European elections and encourage them to vote. The activities were delivered not only by the YMCA Romania EVS volunteers, but also by the other volunteers of different associations taking part in the program: -Together, we created a multilingual video to give reasons to go to vote and spread it on social media. -We created posters and fliers that helped us to reach more people.
-Attended to different high schools and universities to raise awareness between the students. -We created a campaign at the entrance of the University where we passed the video, we spread flyers, we took pictures with a frame of European Elections (26th of May) and we made quick activities with the students. -For the end of the program we realized an European picnic in Campul Tineretului where we brought typical food from our countries, games about European elections and we spread flyers.
YMCA Summer Camps Summer Camps were the moment to show to ourselves how much we improved -without even noticing- during the previous months at the schools. All in a sudden, we passed from being four insecure facilitators to be the headlight of a group of less experienced teenagers. They were willing to create an experience for the new campers as the ones they lived when they were younger, but they needed us there to show them how to do it. For us it was a drastic change of role on what we had been doing until that moment. We cannot deny that it was a really tiring experience -THREE WEEKS IN A ROW! - even frustrating at some point. But, anyhow, looking at it with perspective, we really feel fulfilled about what we were able to do when we give our best. We found out that we are valid people to guide, facilitate and organize something as big as a Summer Camp and this idea was supported with the gratitude of the campers and other volunteers at the end of the experience. But these weeks were not only about working hard a lot of hours a day non-stop, it was also a sharing and a moment to create bonds. We received the visit of YMCA Taiwan , 11 volunteers and 2 senior leaders that taught us their ways and perspectives. And, of course, we worked hand by hand with the local volunteers with which we would love to meet in our home countries or in any other place of the world once this EVS is finished. In conclusion, camps are meant for the crazy. It’s an extremely intense experience in which improvising and loosing yourself are the most important skills you need to have -in case you think you are not good at it, try it, you will be surprised! We did it and it worked out just great!
Do you remember our summer camp repeat-o hit?” Heeeeeey, badridri boop, I wanna be a pizza man…” So much energy, so much fun !
Promoting International Volunteering (EVS/European Solidarity Corps) and Intercultural events We had many occasions during our weekly activities, or in Scoala Altfel events, in #ThisTimeImVotingEvents, in intercultural events we promoted the International volunteering through Erasmus Plus _EVS and European Solidarity Corps. Also, in our daily lives when we met something new in the first 5 minutes we tackled the volunteering aspect and why and how and what we are doing in Romania. Also we had this opportunity as well to introduce our culture and countries through the intercultural events that we organized under Capitala Tineretului Program and after at Centrul de Tineret Baia Mare with YMCA Baia Mare team. We prepared info about our country, did some quiz, prepared food, offered some gifts, played games and did some dancing. Great atmosphere was created during these events.
INTEGRATION IN BAIA MARE
Support and collaboration between international volunteers
The friends we made here were also an important part of our experience. We were lucky to be in Baia Mare, a very active city in terms of volunteering, with a lot of international volunteers as well. Some of them were with us for a short period, with some others we have walked together almost all the way. Anyhow, all of them made the staying a bit easier. Every time someone new comes in is welcomed, because what we all have in common is the craziness of moving to a new country to learn and create something magic. These connections brought many positive things: a wider intercultural learning, more diversity in the activities, fresher ideas, the security of having a big support for the events you create and, of course, a safe and understanding place for talking and to escape from the daily routine.
Romanian classes Learning a new language is always a challenge, but also an important part to reach the integration in the new culture. When you are willing to learn, it is great that you have a concrete place in which you can ask all your doubts and in which they bring you some basic notions from which you can continue your own learning. Romanian classes were way more a moment of culture learning rather than a language course. Probably, it was also one of the first places were our understanding of the city functioning started due to the after-class drinks and talks.
BAIA MARE-CAPITALA TINERETULUI DIN ROMANIA 2018-2019 #uTurn Being part of the team we used to call “Capital Tineretului� was another learning experience for us, totally different contexts along the way. From smaller (30-40 people) weekly meetings for departments, events, activities, to big ones (600 people events) we went through all. Afer one months since arrive we dived in the preparation for the Youth Summit and Youth Gala organized here in Baia Mare. We were on the accommodation and logistical departments, helping out wherever was necessary. Hectic for us but the young people from all over Romania
enjoyed the days spent in Baia Mare, the events went well and this is most important, and we felt part of it. Since November 2018, we were involved in the meetings with the volunteers from capitala, we did arts &crafts, story time, we created for them intercultural events and under this umbrella Program we designed and implemented the #ThisTimeImVoting Campaign. At the ending reception held on 30th April 2019, the Mayor of Baia Mare and the Baia Mare – Capitala Tineretului din Romania 2018-2019 team recognized our work and we received diplomas.It was a very interesting experience and we are glad we could be part of it! Thank you BMCTR TEAM!
175 ANNIVERSARY OF YMCA
Between 3rd and 8th of August 2019, the YMCA Romania team attended to the global event “YMCA 175” that took place in London. This global youth event brought together 3,000 young leaders from 100 countries in order to celebrate the YMCA´s 175th anniversary. Along with some Romanian YMCA volunteers we were selected to be volunteers at this event.During these days, the young people had the opportunity, tools and space to discover, ask and talk about issues in their communities or happening around the world, such as civic engagement, discrimination, human rights, climate change, mental health and much more. We had inspirational speakers from all over the world taking about civic engagement, mental health, global challenges, and much more. We had the joy and honor to have at the event the President of the United Nations, the UN Youth Envoy and the General Secretary of Amnesty International, addressing to us in different plenaries and sessions. All the environment created around this event was incredible, notorious and completely inspiring for us, young people, because we could see all those young leaders´ passionate to make their voices being heard.
#YMCA175 #YOUTHEMPOWERMENT #WORLDYMCA #YMCAROMANIA #FORABETTERUS #YFORALL
Youth Power Space II Facts and Stats 01.10.2018-31.08.2019
1. EVENTS IN PARTNERSHIP - INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER`S DAY – WITH FUNDATIA DE VOLUNTARI SOMASCHI - PORTUGAL DAY - WITH YELLOW SHIRTS & SOMASCHI & GREENTIN - FRENCH EVENT – WITH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF TRANSILVANIA & GREENTIN - HHC OLYMPICS – WITH HHC ROMANIA - DISCRIMINATION WORKSHOP – WITH RED CROSS MARAMURES & AIST
2.PARTICIPATION IN EVENTS ORGANIZED BY COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS -ASOCIATIA REINVENT -AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF TRANSILVANIA -ASOCIATIA YOUNG ROMA -CONSILIUL JUDETEAN MARAMURES -CONSILIUL TINERILOR INSTITUTIONALIZATI -FUNDATIA DE VOLUNTARI SOMASCHI -GREENTIN -PLANETARIUL BAIA MARE -TEAM4YUTH -TARGUL DE TURISM AL MARAMURESULUI -YELLOW SHIRTS
3.CENTRUL DE TINERET BAIA MARE - 4 INTERCULTURAL EVENTS: BASQUE, ANDALUSIAN, PORTUGUESE, FRENCH - FESTIVART
4.OFFICE WORK - EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY CORPS AND ERASMUS PLUS DEPARTMENT WORKING WITH ROMANIAN VOLUNTEERS SENT ABROAD: CATARINA - STANDARDS IN YOUTH WORK- NATIONAL PROJECT FUNDED BY EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND THROUGH POCA – OLATZ
- INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT AND COMMUNICATION: CINDY & ALEJANDRO - PROMOTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB – ALL VOLUNTEERS
5.CEREMONIES AND GALA - LAUNCH OF EUROPEAN YOUTH VILLANGE AT COPALNIC MANASTUR - GALA VOLUNTARILOR MARAMURESENI 2018 - YMCA XMAS PARTY - CLOSING EVENT –RECEPTION - BAIA MARE-CAPITALA TINERETULUI DIN ROMANIA 2018-2019 - GALA TINERETULUI DIN ROMANIA 2018 - OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONY -YMCA175 LONDON 2019
6.SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS - FOOD COLLECTION CAMPAIGN – SORTED & DISTRIBUTED TO SOMASCHI SHELTER - CLOTHS, TOYS AND SHOES COLLECTION CAMPAIGN – SORTED & DISTRIBUTED TO PIRITA, COMBINAT, SOMASCHI, DGASPC FOSTER CARE HOUSES, DOG SHELTER
7.TRAININGS - 3 WEEKS INDUCTION TRANING YOUTH POWER SPACE II -YOUTH PARLIAMENT PROJECT- SIMULATION OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION MAKING - ON ARRIVAL TRAINING - MID TERM MEETING - SUMMER CAMPS TRAINING FOR STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
8.BAIA MARE-CAPITALA TINERETULUI DIN ROMANIA 2018-2019 - PREPARATION MEETINGS FOR THE YOUTH SUMMIT 2018 - MEETINGS OF PROJECT DEPARTMENT - INTERCULTURAL ACTIVITIES - ARTS & CRAFTS WORKSHOPS - #THISTIMEIAMVOTING CAMPAIGN (PREPARATION, MOVIE MAKING, DELIVERY AT UNIVERSITY, HIGHSCHOOLS, EUROPEAN PICNIC)
9. SCOALA ALTFEL - MIHAI EMINESCU HIGHSCHOOL - NEMETH LASZLO HIGHSCHOOL
- NICHITA STANESCU SCHOOL - OTILIA CAZIMIR KINDERGARDEN - ION POPESCU SCHOOL FROM COAS
10. LOCAL COMMUNITY PROJECTS WITH YMCA BAIA MARE - BLOODY FRIDAY - 16 DAYS CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE - SUMMER CAMP SEASON (TRAINING+PREPARATION +3 WEEKS CAMPS IN BAIA MARE AND CAVNIC) – 120 KIDS
11.YMCA175 EVENT IN LONDON - VOLUNTEERING FOR TRANSLATION, DOOR MARSHALL, TECHNICAL SUPPORT - ATTENDING WORKSHOPS AND SPORTS ACTIVITIES - SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON
12.WEEKLY ACTIVITIES -LUCIAN BLAGA SCHOOL - 18 CLASSES – 450 KIDS -DGASPC & HHC ROMANIA - 2 HOUSES – 22 KIDS -ENGLISH WORKSHOP FOR TEENAGER FROM DGASPC HOUSE -PINTEA VITEAZUL HIGHSCHOOL CAVNIC - 50 KIDS -NEMETH LASZLO HIGHSCHOOL – PRIMARY CLASS - 21 KIDS -ROMANIAN CLASSES -MENTORING -TRANSLATIONS OF BROCHURES IN FRENCH AND SPANISH FOR TOURISM OFFICE OF CONSILIUL JUDETEAN MARAMURES
13.PERSONAL PROJECTS (FEBRUARY – JUNE 2019), ON WEEKLY BASIS - LETS JOIN HANDS AND SERVE THE ONES NEXT TO US – SOCIAL PROJECT IN COLLABORATION WITH SOMASCHI: FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND PREPARATION FOR SHELTER CATARINA - PARTNERSHIP WITH PLANETARIUL BAIA MARE: EVENT- ONE DAY IN SPACE, TRANSLATION OF BROCHURES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, GUIDED TOURS FOR VISITORS – OLATZ - VOLUNTEERING IN DOG SHELTER AND PHOTOVOICE EXHIBITION – ANIMAL SPOKE`S PERSON – CINDY - EVERY PIECE OF THE GAME MATTERS – WORKSHOP ON ANTIDISCRIMINATION, GENDER EQUALITY, LGBTQIA+ EDUCATION – ALEJANDRO
14.PROMOTION ON WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA - 38 BLOG POSTS ON www.ymca.ro
@romaniaymca
@ROMANIAYMCA
15. HOURS OF VOLUNTARY SERVICE -MORE THAN 5000 HOURS VOLUNTEERING FOR THE BAIA MARE AND CAVNIC COMMUNITIES
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
Cindy In the beginning of the project we had a lot of trainings (trainings to prepare us for our future missions), updating and creating all the necessary administrative documents. Was time to discover all the needs for this new life and also all the surroundings that Baia Mare has to offer. The association assigned us a mentor, a person to help us and answer to all our questions during the project and also to facilitate our integration in this new country with their own customs. Then we started our mission, our projects, discovering new people and add new skills. This experience was extraordinary in both personal and professional ways. I had the chance to travel, to discover amazing people, to live in another culture and because of all that this experience will remain forever in my memory. My expectations are fulfilled: I wanted to learn to speak English and to have a basic Romanian (both checked), to gain more experience working with children and youth (a lot). The main things that I learnt during my project were: to love my country, to speak another
language, to live with other people, and I developed more skills in youth work, social work and languages. I really hope that I impacted the Romanian young people with learning about different topics (eg. ecology), about respect to the animals and bring happiness. No matter where we come from, we are all humans.
Olatz I had lots of expectations and thoughts during my drive here about how living in Baia Mare was going to be. I have already forgotten most of them. This city has lighten up all the feelings that I could have. I have been able to hate it and love it in extreme during the same day. It was challenging to get involved in the city rhythm in the beginning, maybe that is also why we tended -the four of us- to be together more often. Not really integrating ourselves in the Romanian way, but doing our own world together. It was nice, but in my case not fulfilling. If I had something in mind when I moved here was that I wanted to know how being Romanian was like, so I was a bit sad in the beginning because I did not find my place to do it. I really felt lucky that I found the way to learn, to see, to live what are the traditions and the daily lives in this country. I feel grateful for everyone that helped me with that -Alina, Tudor, Roxi, Marian, Calina‌ among others- by taking me to their houses to live their traditions, letting me try their homemade food, telling me which are the places they frequently go, etc. I must also admit that once I got better with the language, the integration turned out to be easier and people were so amazed that I could say two words in a row,that would open themselves more than to any other stranger or local.
Hamac-philosophy. When the sun came out in Baia Mare, hamacs bloomed together with the flowers. They are all over the city where you can find two close strong trees. It is a great idea to chill and escape from the heat of the city without going too far. It became a philosophy and a therapy for me by finding quietness and calm at the end of the day.
Lake and barbecue. It is the best companion for the hamac-philosophy mentioned. If you have the chance to reach any of the many lakes that surround the city, you cannot miss the experience of making a barbecue and frying some carnat on a stick. Never something so simple had tasted so awesome.
Open market It is true that in the beginning it looks like an unsafe and un-crossable place of the city for a foreigner. Also, locals tend not to recommend it and to keep volunteers away from it – maybe they find it too rural or gross -don’t trust them with this. It is one of the best places in the city to practice Romanian and to find tasty local cheap food. Sellers will be so grateful that you are there trying to communicate in their language that it will motivate you to keep trying.
The truth is that by now, I feel like home in Baia Mare. I have learnt to seize the little things of the city like walking in the open market, making a barbecue in the forest or having a bath in any of the lakes that surround the city. I’m going to miss this place, that is why I’m really sure that I will come back. Everything is an adventure when you are living and discovering a different country, but if that new country is Romania, the probability of finding a really exciting one is bigger. Its wilderness and “rawness” make even the going out in winter incredibly challenging. But what I loved the most about this fact is the possibility of seizing the nature in any place and in so many different ways depending the season of the year.
For a nature lover like I am, this EVS’ location has been amazing as it has given me the chance to feel the sublime so many times just by contemplating the nature: lakes, mountains, deep forests, ski resorts, rivers, waterfalls, animals – I have even had the chance to see bears! Of course, all this would have not been so great without good adventure companions. It was not always easy to reach our destinations due to the connections of the roads and transport of the country, but if you are patience, you can always find them and getting to know them is always a big reward. You just need to keep in mind that the path is always part of the adventure. During our project, Romanian youth have seen another perspective and have talked about topics that is their atmosphere are taboo or are not usually brought into conversation . Also , they have seen the possibility of making a change by an active participation in causes in which they are interested. I have discovered which are the strongest values I am headed by: honesty and responsibility. Also, I have seen that I am more of a leader than I thought. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.
Catarina Before coming in this big adventure, I was pretty sure about it, sure of myself and happy of the decision that I had just taken. But all my thoughts changed when I arrived in that night, in the “empty” and “strange” house where I didn´t know my flat mates. All the questions started appearing in my mind, floating like I never felt before. I wanted to come back to Portugal, where I was feeling safe but in other side I knew that I had to stay. And… 11 months passed and I´ll take with me a box full of memories, experiences, challenges, funny and amazing moments, activities and events that I made and participate, skills and goals that I achieved and much more. I had one of the best times in Romania, with the new friendships that I made here; while working in the schools, foster houses, shelter (where I developed my personal project), while travelling in Europe with the best partners ever, while making hitchhiking in Romania; all the nights that I spent together with the other EVSers talking in Old Center about our lives or just about random stuff… everything that I´ll never forget. After all our activities with local communities in different ways, I can say that we made a change in their minds, we balanced some aspects that were unbalanced or not clarified. We established the importance of taking care of the ones next to us, to treat them as we want to be treated and to respect each human . We leant from each other. These months were full of mutual learning and inclusion. The main 3 things that I learnt during my project were to be self-confident, “I Am because You are”, to take in consideration the values of YMCA Romania: caring, respect, honesty, responsibility, faith/trust, diversity. For my personal and professional development I leant to give and receive feedback, to work as a team and respect each other opinions, thoughts, feelings, to take initiative. Each activity, event, program helped me to grow up, to see the world with different eyes and to be myself all the time. We don`t need to adapt to the others and change our personality or way to show up just because we don`t have the same origin. We are all equal in the same level of treatment. We need to take care of us and the others but before respect the other and to be honest with him/her, we need to do it with ourselves. The concept” I AM because YOU ARE” will come with me everywhere I go in the future. Thank you, to each of you who part of YMCA Romania and YMCA Baia Mare for all the support and tools that helped me to grow up in many senses.
Thank you, to my mentor, Anastasia, for guiding and helping me during the project, for all the support and incentive to make part of this community. Last but not the less important, a big and special thank you to my friends from Portugal and Romania, without you this journey would not be possible. You are wonderful! Bright chapter of my life If you will be better, you will do better. If you treat others with kindness, love, equality, you will create the change that you want to see. Never be afraid of what is coming. You learn from the past to build the future. I improve what is inside of me and I try just to be myself. Volunteering is a process of mutual learning.
Alejandro I came in this project because I wanted a safe space to experiment who am I and to feel encouraged to do things and to learn about myself. These are totally fulfilled. I wanted as well to decide my future. Well, this is not fulfilled but thanks to this project I have more information about what I can do. The integration in Baia Mare was very good, the team was welcoming and Baia Mare now feels like home. To be integrated in a different country and in a multicultural team scared me at the beginning but it was easier than I thought. These 11 months impacted me deeply: I learnt how to be proud of my work, to be better aware what are my strengths ( even with my low self-esteem), about how I can be useful for a project and keep an open mind to learn from others.
It was for the first time that a volunteer did a LGBTQIA+ long term program/series of workshops, so, even if I know that I could have done it better, I hope this little first step helped to normalize gender and sexual diversity among a group of young people. We also empowered the young people to think by themselves, to be confident to raise their voice. The main things that I have learnt during my project are: I am very good working with kids, I stand up for my personal project and I f proud of it, to learn from other people no matter the ages , social and cultural background. In this project I achieved to make a personal project by myself from the scratch (with curricula included), to be aware of my strengths and limits, to realize that I am very good in managing kids and teenagers as facilitator, discovering meanwhile that I am more able to do things by myself and that I am very creative. Voluntary service is different for every person. So we have to try to discover our own way to enjoy it, I totally recommend it. You learn a lot about yourself, others, other countries and e that makes you feel more connected to the world.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
YOUTH POWER SPACE II PROJECT TEAM Anastasia Corlateanu – mentor Marian Cupse – Romanian teacher Calina Nistor- mentor Roxana Pascan – youth worker, coordinating the activities with the local volunteers of YMCA Baia Mare Tudor Rus – youth worker, volunteers coordinator Alina Pop – youth worker, project coordinator
Program coordinators: Teacher Claudia Brana and Claudia Stoica – Pintea Viteazu Highschool Cavnic Teacher Patricia Ghita – Lucian Blaga Highschool Teacher Balint Tunde – Nemeth Laszlo Highschool Social worker Terezia Silaghi - HHC Romania Bianca Tatar – youth worker, Volunteers `coordinator Baia Mare-Capitala Tineretului din Romania 2018-2019
We would like to thank to all of our community partners - NGOs, public authorities, schools, businesses, Romanian and International volunteers from Baia Mare city, for their constant support, partnership, care for us, for our community and for our volunteering project Youth Power Space II.
This publication is a result of the Volunteering project Youth Power Space II organized by YMCA Romania and co- funded by European Union through the Erasmus Plus Program. The information and views set out in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein. www.ymca.ro office@ymca.ro
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