Η ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΟΜΑΔΑ ΠΟΥ ΤΑΞΙΔΕΨΕ ΣΤΗ ΡΟΥΜΑΝΙΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ YOUTH EXCHANGE "EU+ ACTIV" ΜΑΣ ΜΕΤΑΦΕΡΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΕΜΠΕΙΡΙΑ ΤΗΣ

On March 2018, DreamTeam was a partner at the Youth Exchange "EU+ Activ", organized by NGO Pro Civis Dorna that took place in Poiana Negrii, Romania. It involved partners from 6 European countries: Romania, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Portugal and Slovakia.

The aim of the project was to facilitate the interaction between young people in order to develop their proactive spirit, in the context of the current socio-economic changes. It spurred young people to be more active in their home communities, to believe in continuous development and literally become leaders of their lives, taking action and responsibility for change.

The objectives:

- Facilitating the exchange of experience, ideas and points of view between the participants, related to the topic of the project
- Helping the young people develop at personal level by stimulating their leadership skills
- Developing practical abilities for proactive thinking and civic participation for the participants
- The promotion of leadership skills and proactive thinking in the local communities through materials created by the participants (videos, brochures, activity design)
- Discover the benefits of non-formal learning and cultural variety

Participants representing Greece and DreamTeam, share their experience:

"The location in which this youth exchange took place was in a chalet in the middle of the mountains which made it a unique experience. The activities that we did were really entertaining and educative. One of them was the paperclip challenge in which you are given a paperclip and you have to go to the village and convince a local person to exchange it with something else, then you have to exchange the new item with something else and so on... Another awesome activity was the video making. We were split in 6 teams and we had to create a short video and in the end of the day we had an “Oscar's night” in which we had a ceremony with red carpet, official photos, and even Oscar prizes for the best movies.
It was one of the best projects I've been to and I want to thank DreamTeam for giving me this chance."

Tasos Gelastopoulos, team leader

"Καθώς ήταν το πρώτο youth exchange μου, δεν έχω σημείο σύγκρισης, αλλά παρ' όλα αυτά η εμπειρία που αποκόμισα ήταν πολύ καλή. Η διοργάνωση ήταν καλή, και οι διοργανωτές εξυπηρετικοί. Όσον αφορά τις δραστηριότητες υπήρχαν αρκετές διακυμάνσεις, με αποτέλεσμα κάποιες μέρες να περνούν ευχάριστα λόγω της ποικιλίας των δραστηριοτήτων, ενώ άλλες να είναι πιο ανούσιες. Γενικά θεωρώ ότι έλειπε ένας συγκεκριμένος στόχος στο πρόγραμμα, γεγονός που οδήγησε στο να δημιουργηθεί μια "κοιλιά". Σε αυτό συνέβαλε και η διάρκεια του προγράμματος.

Τα αδύνατα σημεία του προγράμματος ήταν το φαγητό, το οποίο μετά από ένα σημείο ανακυκλωνόταν, προς μεγάλη δυσαρέσκεια όλων των συμμετεχόντων. Παράλληλα, η πεζοπορία είναι κατά την γνώμη μου ακατάλληλη δραστηριότητα καθώς απαιτεί ειδικό εξοπλισμό και προετοιμασία, ειδικά με τις καιρικές συνθήκες που επικρατούσαν. Γενικά η εντύπωση που αποκόμισα είναι θετική, και θα συμμετείχα ξανά αν μου δινόταν η ευκαιρία".

Νικολέττα Τσαλαφούτα

"This youth exchange took place in a chalet in the mountains and for me was an amazing experience.We had a lot of activities indoors and outdoors which were very entertaining and educative. For the outside the best experience was the paperclip challenge in which we went to the village to exchange things and talked to the locals. For the inside the best activity was the video making. We were split in teams and we had to make a video about volunteering. At the end of this day we had the Oscar's night where we took pictures and voted for the best movies. For me it was a great experience, I had a great time and I want to thank DreamTeam for giving me this opportunity."

Dimitra Zacharopoulou

"The 11 days we spent in Poiana Negrii were awesome. We participated in a very organized and interesting project and made a lot of new friends. The activities were fun and we learned a lot from them. I personally preferred the video-making activity that we did for a whole day. At the end of the day we watched all our movies and we had a fancy Oscars ceremony! We also had the chance to get in touch with the local community and even present our countries to young students in a local school. It was one of the best experiences in my life. Thank you Dream Team, for making my dream come true!"

Steliana Varveri

"Γενικά, θεωρώ ότι το πρόγραμμα ήταν εξαιρετικά επιτυχημένο παρά τις "δυσκολίες" της διαμονής μας (που δεν αφορούν και τους διοργανωτές) γιατί σκοπός ήταν να γίνουμε μια δεμένη ομάδα που θα προσπαθήσει για ένα καλύτερο μέλλον, πράγματα που νομίζω ότι πετύχαμε. Γνωρίσαμε καλύτερα κάθε μια χώρα ξεχωριστά ( αλλά και χώρες που δεν περιμέναμε ότι θα γνωρίζαμε όπως πχ Ινδία) και τα προβλήματα της και συνειδητοποιήσαμε ποσό σημαντικό είναι να είμαστε ενεργοί. Μάλιστα όπως θα είδατε, η ελληνική ομάδα έχουμε ήδη αρχίσει την οργάνωση του follow up project το οποίο σύντομα θα πραγματοποιήσουμε στο κέντρο της Αθήνας όλοι μαζί, με φίλους και γνωστούς . Το πιο σημαντικό όμως είναι ότι όλοι αποκομίσαμε σημαντικές γνώσεις από αυτό το πρόγραμμα για τη ζωή μας και το μέλλον μας".

Ευαγγελία Γουργιώτη

"I had an amazing time the 11 days we stayed in Poiana negrii. The project was very organised and had a variety of interesting and fun activities. I learned a lot of new things on the subject of the project and generally and made many new friends at the same time. My personal favourite activities were the hiking, the flash mob and our visit to a local school because we got to see the beautiful village, meet local residents and present our countries to the students we met. This was one of the best experiences of my life and I really hope I will participate in another project with Dream Team".

Gregory Tsinidis

"I think that there are no words to describe what we experienced in those 2 weeks. Romania was beautiful, covered with snow, the project was fun but also very educative and the hosts very organized and helpful. Each day of the program we had so many things to do but I will try to focus on what were, in my opinion, the highlights. Thanks to the Paperclip Challenge and the Flash Mob we had the chance to interact with the locals and discover the city. At the TEDx Night all of us stepped out of our comfort zone and made a public speech. At the Oscars Night we got in touch with our artistic side, made a movie and dress up fancy for the awards. For the hiking in the mountain we had to power through the cold and the snow but the view at the top was worth every tiring step. Last but not least, every cultural night was especially important because we found out how much in common we have with other cultures and learned new things about countries we knew so little before.

It is truly amazing how easy it is to bond with people that you've just met and make friendships all over the world that will last for a lifetime. Thank you Dream Team for making this experience possible."

Theodora Mavrogianni

"I believe that the project in Romania was definetely the best program that I have ever been. I'm sure that it will be in the top for a very long time even if I take part in more programs and the reasons are simple. At first, it was ideally organized and all the activities were relative to the topic of the project and some of them were really original. For example, the paperclip challenge, visiting a primary school and talking to students, the video-making activity and the hiking day. However, I also enjoyed the indoor ones, because we got trully close with ALL the participants. And that is the second reason. The bonds that were formed during those two weeks, was undoubtly a special surprise for me.

There are many other reasons that I could continue writing, but you're not going to understand exactly what I mean, because this kind of experiences and memories can only be obtained in Erasmus+ projects and I honestly thank Dream Team for choosing me in Poiana Negrii".

Kostas Firgiolas