On 24-26 October, a delegation of nine members of the Youth Can program (program manager, coordinators, coaches, and students) traveled to Estonia to take part in the international project "We play together". The aim of the project is to promote the social inclusion of vulnerable children and young people in the Baltic-Polish region, especially those who have fled Ukraine, into the local community through sport.
Participants from Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania spent two days trying to find common solutions that could be implemented in all four countries.
The project is unique in that it offers multiple activities for different groups of participants at the same time.
The first group consisted of project partners and managers of various organizations from different countries. After getting to know each other, the members of the group tried to identify the activities that would be most effective and meaningful in achieving the project's objectives. They also analyzed the ideas that had already been proposed, took part in discussions, and sought compromises.
The second group (coaches) was invited to observe the model of the project organizers (the Estonian organization “SPIN“), learn more about the specifics of their work, and share their experience of working with youth in their countries.
Youth from different countries made up the third group. They had to identify and plan activities and ideas to be implemented during a joint sports festival in Tallinn in the summer of 2023.
Most impressive was the SPIN organization, which works on a similar principle to “Youth can“ program, so it was interesting and curious to see how they work with young people, to hear about the challenges they face, and what we can learn from them. While visiting teams around Tallinn, we participated in training, sports, and life skills activities with local young people. It was very interesting, inspiring, and motivating to improve!
Participants' impressions:
"New connections, new friends, new impressions, and new events. After all, that's what it's all about... I am very happy that I was able to join the "Youth Can" delegation on this trip!" - Monika
"It's so good to get out of your comfort zone and be in an environment where another language is spoken... I will take only the best emotions with me from this trip!" - Coach Birutė
Text author: Eglė Žilinskaitė
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