On September 12, Alba and Erola flew to Hungary, a country unknown to us until then, where we participated in the LET IT BE 4 Training Course, organized by the EGYÜTTHATÓ. Training with the aim of helping to develop social and personal skills, to present new methods, to learn from each other and to promote critical self-reflection. They also presented and we had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the peer group supervision method, a tool to prevent professional burnout, for people who work with and for people. Furthermore, to highlight the importance of self-awareness and personal self-reflection in the day-to-day work of people working in the field of non-formal education, in order to improve the quality of the work of youth workers and youth projects through the development of social and professional skills in the field of youth.
The project took place in Gànt, in a town where there were four houses counted, in the middle of nowhere with a great variety of very different natural spaces that gave the opportunity to get into the environment because somehow it was good to go exploring. The accommodation that welcomed us was unpronounceable for us (like most of the names of cities and towns in the country), gave us a warm welcome and we immediately felt at home. We met and shared incredible experiences with people from Poland, Portugal, Italy, Romania, the Netherlands, Hungary and the Republic of North Macedonia.
Although we were doing activities most of the day we also had spaces to share freely with the rest of the people of the project or/and with ourselves, a fact that we value very positively, since all the activities were based on games, role-playing, simulations and individual and group reflections, which stirred emotions and made us raise issues that required time to assimilate, we enjoyed this time that gave us the opportunity to manage it properly.
Not all the participants were active professionals in the field of youth, we were a very diverse group, a challenge to adapt all the activities to generate interest and impact to everyone, but from our point of view they succeeded, we can assure that no one left indifferent. At the end of each day we had a group where we made a daily reflection that we appreciated very much, because it was a safe space where you could share how you felt and really felt the support of your companions.
Moreover, within the timetable there were spaces where the participants themselves could propose workshops and carry them out, to test our skills in a safe space followed by a constructive evaluation of the group. One of us was encouraged to do a workshop on feminism with a girl from Portugal and another one from Poland, the process was very intense and interesting.
It is not very easy for us to summarize all that we lived in an article, because it has been a very intense experience that has made us reflect and learn a lot both professionally and personally, every moment has been important and we have a very well remembered experience that we will always remember, because we will use the contents we have learned in our lives.
Once the project was finished we spent a couple of days in Budapest, and we had the opportunity to walk around the most beautiful parts of the city, discovering the great buildings, parks with fountains that synchronize with the music and very authentic neighborhoods among other wonders. It was hard to get along with the people with whom we shared the experience because we created a very nice bond between all of us. And because we want to and because we can, we already have trips scheduled to return, to go back with some of the companies of the experience.
FCV Team,
Alba Lucia Quintans and Erola Giramé
