Hello! We are Miru, Judit, Aida, Irene and Elian. Here you have a little sneak peak of our 10 days nonformal education trip to Malta.
Malta is a small archipelago of 3 islands below Italy, where we could find a mix of lots of different cultures like Mediterranean, Arabic, and English (they drive the opposite of us too!). The city where we were located is called Marsaxlokk which is 15 minutes by car from Valetta, the most known city there.
The subject of our project was about European Identity and Multiculturalism. The first workshop we did when we got there was about reflecting about what makes us European and the advantages we have in EU, it was a nice activity to get to know how each one from the different countries we were, had their own perspective about it.
One of the most interesting workshop we did is when we went to the University of Valletta to learn about Trafficking in Human Beings; a problem present on the island and everywhere in Europe in plainsight to this day. It was nice to see that the association we choose to go to Malta with, acts as asupport for the victims and struggle hard to eradicate them. So they carried out the activity to awakenthe spirit of responsibility in all of us.
In addition to these we also had activities related to Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Digital Content. The first three groups had the opportunity to present their work in the city of Valletta on the penultimate day of the project. Some fascinating choreography by the group of Dance, some great covers with chorus of voice instruments by the Music group, and a spectacular performance by the Theatre group. The Art group created a vindicative work: a Christmas tree of the future decorated with garbage they had found on the beach of Marsaxlokk, for reflection and awareness anyone who sees it. The Digital Content group took care of taking photos and recording videos for the memory of the experience.
And last we had the Intercultural Nights! Which were 5 of the 9 nights we spent there. We were 60 people from 6 countries, which we had the pleasure to learn about traditions like dance, food and even costumes! Certainly everyone enjoyed the cultural nights!
In our free time we could enjoy the different corners of the island of Malta as well as the exciting natural pool of St. Peter’s Pool, the bustling beach of Golden Bay, the small island of Comino, the walled city of Medina, the lively nights in Valletta and cities of around… each of the places with a characteristic charm.
All these places we visited them together with 60 other people from 6 different countries we were: Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Turkey and Spain.
And so far here we finish our trip of 10 days on the island of Malta. It was an exchange quite light in which by the collecting entity was expected more organization and more training activities, but thanks to this we have had the opportunity to know more the destination to which we went, and also we got to discover more widely the cultures of the different participating countries. We are confident that the collecting entity will improve its projects after the latter.
The experience has been totally enriching. This opportunities are ideal to leave our comfort zone and grow both professional and personally. For our part, we look forward to continuing to participate in this programs because each exchange is a different adventure and experience.
We hope this final message help you in finally deciding to try a Youth Exchange!