There is a world outside your window by MrezaMaMa

THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW

EVS PROJECT

THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW Aim of the project: â&#x20AC;&#x153;There Is a World Outside Your Windowâ&#x20AC;? was an EVS project which gathered 10 young European volunteers in Slovenia who were responsible for the preparation and execution of a mobility promotional campaign, based on the promotion of youth work, youth organisations, youth centres, as well as youth participation. Innovative ways were used to promote the activities of Erasmus +, Youth in Action programme and youth work.

Project objectives: - preparation of a promotional plan and its realization for the purpose of the promotion of youth centres with hostels, youth work, youth organisations, EVS, active participation for youth, - preparation and execution of activities for the general public and in the youth centres, - preparation and execution of activities in different high schools for older generations of students, such as junior and senior, - make three videos about different topics: youth work, youth centres and Erasmus plus.

Volunteer tasks: - team meetings and assistance in the preparation of programme, - participation during the preparation and realization of the events, - preparation of flyers, posters and other materials (the design info and promo materials) for the events, - promotional materials handouts on the street, schools and universities, - video material production, - social media management with a priority of informing the general public.

Participants Jessica Monteiro, 23, Portugal I come from Portugal, Porto. It is a small country but a beautiful one and I love my city. I am 18 years old and I was studying Criminology but I did not like it so I decided to do a break and try something different. That is when I found out I was selected to this project. At first, I did not know anything about Slovenia but after a quick research, I fall in love with this green country. I love photography and film making and that is why I applied for this project. Joona Niininen, 25, Finland I volunteered mainly because I had nothing better to do and I wanted to check out Slovenia. I always wanted to travel, but never really had the money to do so, thus choosing EVS was the obvious choice. Andreas Aristeidou, 25, Cyprus The subject of this particular EVS motivated me to take part in it, because it is really important to help other young people in Europe to take advantage of the many possibilities they have to move abroad in order to train, study volunteer and after all explore the world outside of THEIR windows just like we did!!!

Aida Llukaj, 23, Italy I’m Aida Llukaj and I am 23 years old. I was born in Albania and I have been living in Italy since 2010. I have studied “Performing Arts” in Rome and I’m now doing my master in theatre. I’m interested in theatre, dance, cinema, music, sports, travelling, seeing the world and meeting new people. My philosophy: “Every day is a special day. Do always something that makes you happy.”

Karlos Rehe, 18, Estonia My name is Karlos, I’m 18 and I come from Estonia. I studied infotechnology, over the years I have a great handling over pc hardware and pc software. I came to the EVS because someone told me about it. I made a research and found out that it is free and plus that I can go aboard fore more than two months, so I liked the thought and pulled myself together and came to Slovenia.

Lembi Laaneoks, 25, Estonia I am Lembi and I come from Estonia, Tallinn. I am 25 years old and in my home country I used to do random work. I came here because I wanted to go to Slovenia and get out of Estonia. Now I am volunteering. On my free time, I like to hang out with friends.

Toomas Ginter, 23, Estonia After military and before continuing school I had free time and could not resist this great opportunity. Before coming, I didn’t know much about Slovenia, so it was a bit of a jump to the unknown, but definitely worth it. One amazing thing I have done so far during my EVS project: Conquered Uršlja Gora, which was fun since the highest peak in Estonia (and Baltic countries in general) is 318 meters high.

Kadi Alikas, 24, Estonia As I have been a volunteer before and as I am determined to do what matters to me and to do it now, it took me a fraction of second to decide whether to participate in a European Voluntary Service project or not. We were working as a team to inspire youngsters to go abroad and be a part of something uniquely exciting. We do not want them to sit and wait for things to happen, we want them to go out there and make them happen for themselves. For me, volunteering is an opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills, meet new people, do something I am passionate about, and get to know myself better. It is also an opportunity to discover all the things I like and that I would have never discovered otherwise. I know that this project will teach me a lesson that is not written down in academic books and that it will be an enriching and highly rewarding experience – the kind of experience that is difficult to put into words in order to truly describe it. I will cherish it and enjoy it.

Laura Juntunen, 27, Finland I am Laura and I am 27 years old. I come from Kokkola, Finland. I wanted to go abroad because I had nothing to do in Finland, so now is my opportunity to see what the world can give me. My hobbies are reading and crafting. I like dogs, my favourite colour is orange and I love the sea. Sara Casali, 29, Italy My name is Sara, I come from Italy, and I am 29 years old. I live in the centre of Italy and I am an educator. I chose this project because it is strongly connected with my career and I would like to make a stimulating experience in this field. We are working to promote EVS and mobility in the schools and in the youth centres, organising interactive activities with students and youngsters. I decided to participate in an EVS because for me travelling means broadening my horizons and discovering new cultures, new stories that you can’t find in a book or in a travel guide. I am also having the opportunity to improve my English. This experience is changing my life and I suggest everyone to leave his/her “comfort zone” and go abroad to discover new things and new cultures. Since I started travelling, I look at my life differently.

DIARY FITSR WEEK:

TRBOVLJE

Excited to move away from our countries and curious to discover what was waiting for us, ten volunteers for the project “There is a world outside your window” prepared their suitcases, said goodbye to our families and friends and one by one we arrived to Ljubljana. The first of us who arrived in the city was Andreas from Cyprus. He was so excited to meet the organizer of our project - Maja Drobne and the coordinator Heidi. After spending some time around Ljubljana they went to the train station to wait for the next volunteer. It was the first time in Ljubljana for the two volunteers, Aida and Andreas, and they went to discover this beautiful city. A bit tired they came back to the train station because it was time for the Italian girl - Sara - to arrive. After one hour the rest of the group joined them. Six young people from Estonia and Finland were flying together from Helsinki and during the long flight, Kadi, Karlos, Toomas, Joona, Laura and Lembi, had time to talk about their countries and to discover how close the Estonian and Finnish languages are. At seven o’clock our group was missing only one more volunteer, Jessica. The Portuguese girl couldn’t be there because her flights were cancelled twice. It wasn’t the best experience for her but sometimes these things happen.

SECOND WEEK:

KRŠKO

On Monday, we moved to Krško. Later that day a part of the group visited the History museum. On Tuesday, we had a presentation of Youth Centre Krško. We watched other EVS groups’ short films and after that the local decision makers told us about their work. There were also some other groups and they presented their organizations. On wednesday and Thursday we had a video workshop with Luksuz produkcija. We split into three groups and every group designed and made their own videos. Our mentors from Luksuz produkcija taught us all about cameras, filming and editing. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were our free days this week, so we had time for leisure activities. On Friday some of us went to Zagreb, Croatia. It was a good opportunity, because Zagreb is very near to Krško. We had great time in Zagreb. Part of the group went to the Krško Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday and on Sunday it was time to move on to Ravne na Koroškem.

RAVNE NA KOROŠKEM, RADLJE OB DRAVI and MARIBOR

THIRD WEEK:

After this event we visited the MAD center and Spajz in Slovenj Gradec where we got to know more about their project: it is aimed at young people aged between 15-25 to motivate them to finish school or get a job.

We stayed in Ravne Na Koroškem in the Youth Hostel Punkl until the 20th of May. This is the first hostel which is structured as an independent low-energy consuming structure. The whole building is made by wooden materials. When we arrived some of us decided to go hiking to the Uršlja Mountain. It is 1669 meters high and belongs in the category of easily reachable mountain destinations. The rest of us preferred to go swimming and to enjoy a sauna or a jacuzzi in the indoor swimming pool near to the hostel.

On Wednesday, we moved to Radlje ob Dravi and we stayed at the Marenberški Hostel. It is part of a youth centre that organises a variety of social activities, informal education programmes and creative workshops. In the morning we went hiking in company of a wonderful guide, Jaka who told us a story called “Melody of the Dragon’s Heart”. in the evening, some of us watched a Slovenian movie: “Rooster’s breakfast”.

On Monday we had first event at the school in the “Šolski center” of Slovenj Gradec. Awesome work was made with a class of students regarding European Voluntary Service opportunities and mobility in Europe. We used flags to talk about the countries in Europe and we invited the students to tell us something about their experiences of being abroad and what they would like to do in the future.

On Thursday morning we spent another day in the school “Srednja šola Ravne” to promote EVS opportunities to a group of students. In the afternoon the Youth Centre organised some games for us in a lake near our Hostel…it was a fun afternoon and we enjoyed it a lot!

On Friday a group of students from high school came in the Youth centre and we organised 4 different activities for them: a workshop theatre, a game with country flags, a fun game called “Pictionary” and a presentation of our project. After those activities, we went to another school where 150 students were waiting for us! It was an amazing opportunity to speak in front of so many people! We presented EVS and our project and we showed them the videos that we made in the workshop in Krško.

In the afternoon we had an event with youngsters in the youth centre and after our presentation we invited them to participate in the “Pictionary” game. They were very interested on EVS programme and it was a pleasure meeting them. On Saturday we left Radlje ob Dravi and we went to Maribor! Unfortunately, it was a rainy day and we couldn’t visit the city. But at the evening the rain stopped and we enjoyed many local city attractions.On Sunday we discovered Maribor and we spent much time shopping. Some of us went to the river to have an icecream with pancakes. Simply delicious!

FORTH WEEK:

MARIBOR, MURSKA SOBOTA and CELJE

The fourth week started with our third day in Maribor. However, that day (the 25th of May) we took the bus to another city called Murska Sobota. It was an opportunity to get to know the surroundings of Maribor as Murska Sobota is located approximately 60 km from Maribor. On our arrival, we were greeted by Ivor from the Youth Information and Culture Club (Mladinski informativni in kulturni klub Murska Sobota) and he presented us the youth centre as well as activities taking place in the centre. We were also shown around in the garden in which they take great pride as they emphasize the importance of growing your own fruits and vegetables. Thereafter - the moment we had all been waiting for - cooking and food. We were directed to the kitchen outside where the chefs were waiting for us. We were peeling onions, potatoes, chopping vegetables, but mostly eating.

We had freshly baked bread with some toppings and mashed potatoes with onions. After lunch, we walked around Murska Sobota and we also visited the community garden. Then it was time to head back to Maribor. On Tuesday, we had a workshop with Maja Hostnik from MreĹža MaMa on the topic of how to plan and organise public events. This was part of our preparation for our first public event that took place in BreĹžice. In order to balance our working hours, we visited the Vocational College for Catering and Tourism in Maribor where we received the warmest welcome one could ever imagine. And to top it off, we had a cooking workshop with Ms. Mojca Polak during which the students of the college served us some of the best dishes the Slovenian cuisine has to offer. On our way back to the hostel, some of us were lured by the second hand stores where they sell used goods. After our amazing culinary experience, we had to balance our leisure hours and start working. In the evening, we had a presentation about the Youth centre in Maribor. For the dinner we planned a barbecue. Bananas with Milka chocolate became our new favourite.

The 27th of May (Wednesday) started with our presentation on EVS and There Is A World Outside Your Window at Srednja šola za oblikovanje (School of design). Ms. Darja Kramberger, a social counsellor, first greeted us. We also had a short tour in the school and some of the students showed us their work. Talented students with lots of potential! When it comes to our mission that day, we were happy about the students’ interest in EVS and their questions.

After the presentation, it was a coffee time. We went in the centre. It was a street art walk through the city with Minka and we were shown all the hidden places of Maribor, such as Banksy’s street art, Kino Udarnik “the China Town”, the first legal graffiti wall, the living gardens (project by Hiša), etc. It was a great non-touristic experience in a touristic city! The rest of our afternoon was filled with laughter and work. In the evening we had a dinner at Slovenia’s first Roma restaurant Romani Kafenava; and once again, delicious food. This authentic experience was spiced up by coffee fortune telling and some of us now have an insight into what the future has in store for them. On Thursday we said goodbye to Maribor and hello to Celje.

Celje is the third largest city in Slovenia and for us, who love large cities, Celje is a wonderful city where to continue our journey. We stay in the House of Legends where each room represents a legend in Celje that has been told from generation to generation. Before hard work in the evening, the superb guide from the Kavarna Hostel showed us the best places in the city. He also showed us something that they call “the sea” in Celje … well, in reality this translates into the café near the river. Moving on, as you have probably understood by now, we very much like the balance of work and leisure in our EVS project ;) By “hard work” today we actually meant cooking our traditional dishes. Therefore, what was in the menu: meat balls (Albanian), filled eggs and a traditional dessert called kama (Estonian), pasta with tuna and vegetables (Italian), and sweet rice (Portuguese). It was a truly international dinner at MCC Hostel (Celjski Mladinski Center – Youth Center Celje) where we presented our dishes and ourselves to the visitors of the hostel. The 29th of May – the last day of the working week. As part of our stay in Celje we visited Gimnazija Celje where we had another presentation related to European Voluntary Service and our project. We would like to thank the students of Gimnazija Celje for their active participation, interest and questions. They were great! Our presentation was followed by social media marketing, and afterwards we were ready for the much-awaited weekend.

There is only one word to describe this weekend – AWESOME!!! Klemen – the superb guide from the Kavarna Hostel – organised our Saturday for us. Namely, we went to Lake Šmartinsko where for starters we had a boat trip. This was followed by all kinds of activities on the lake such as supping, jumping on a trampoline, water running inside an inflatable ball, etc. What made this day even more awesome is that some of the activities we had never ever done before – we got something to cross off the to do list. In the evening, there was also a concert in the youth hostel – a great end to a great day. In contrast with our active Saturday, we had a lazy Sunday, but we needed it. We walked a bit in the city centre, had a coffee, learnt Italian, relaxed in the hostel, enjoyed the sun and admired the beauty of doing nothing.

FIFTH WEEK:

BREŽICE

Moving on to the fifth week, we left Celje behind and took the train to Brežice. There, we headed to our new home, MC youth hostel Brežice. It is a really nice place, actually the biggest of the MaMa network. It is very close to the centre and has a big green park right in front of it.

Than we had a guided tour around the city of Brežice where we got to learn more about the history and culture, and enjoyed the sights like the castle and the water tower. As part of our EVS promotion, we had two big events. First one was a school presentation and promotion. This took place in Ekonomska in trgovska šola (School of economics). We presented our programme to the students as well as how EVS works in general and played a language exchange game with them.

Next day we had a public event in the city centre. Main object was again to promote EVS to as many people us possible. We started out with a Flash mob to attract people and then we separated into groups and handed out flyers with EVS information. At our stand, we answered questions about EVS, offered candies, and invited people to join us at the youth center. Overall we did a great job and had many people interested in our project and EVS in general. As far as the weekend is concerned, we enjoyed our free time in the water park, sliding down the slides, swimming, and enjoying the sun! Sunday morning we, in our cinnamon tans, took the train to the capital city of Slovenia.

SIXTH WEEK: LJUBLJANA, JESENICE, AJDOVŠČINA, KOPER, LITIJA

On Monday morning, we had a meeting in the offices of Mreža Mama where we discussed what we are going to do in schools and youth centres in the upcoming days. The rest of the day we had time for shooting our short movies. Tuesday began with a 5:30 am departure to Jesenice. We were shown the lovely local youth center and we explained them what our project and EVS in general is all about. Afterwards we had a presentation and language exchange game for the students of Gimnazija Jesenice. In cooking workshop we prepared some of our local dishes: cabbage rolls from Estonia, fresh fruit juices from Portugal and cookies from Finland On Wednesday morning, we packed our bags and headed to a lovely small town called Ajdovščina. There we had the opportunity to present youth mobility and our project in front of 90 pupils. We also had a relaxing game where they had to close their eyes and focus on positive thoughts. Afterwards we were guided through the local youth hostel and youth center.

The rest of the day was free time to finally enjoy the long waited beaches of Slovenia. Even though the weather was rather chilly for swimming, the sea and towns were still amazingly beautiful. In Litija we conversed with many young locals about volunteering: what volunteering opportunities they know of, why do people volunteer etc.

On Thursday we left for Koper to visit KID Pina - Association for culture and education, where we presented EVS to local youngsters. We presented together with 3 other organizations from Africa (Cameroon, Kenya and Tanzania). We now know more about volunteering options in Africa. More information on what happened can be found HERE.

SEVENTH WEEK:

VELENJE

At the beginning of week we arrived in Velenje where we were working on finishing touches on our video production. On Monday we went to Youth centre Velenje (Mladinski center Velenje). We met Marko PritrĹžnik from youth centre who took us on city tour, where we had an opportunity to see the biggest statue of Tito, ex president of Yugoslavia, and get to know how youth center in Velenje is organized. We visited House of bands, project that gives young, unknown bands and musicians an opportunity to practice and create music. Stara pekarna is also very interesting place in Velenje, it holds all sorts of activities, from exhibitions and installations to concerts and theatre performances. It used to be a power station, but now it is multifunctional space where young people can express their creative potentials.

GOODBYE TIME TO SAY

We spent all Thursday and Wednesday in Kunigunda - multi media center, where we were working on videos, social media and final publication, that is in front of you just now. At the end, we can show three different videos that talk about youth work (YOUTH WORK IN SLOVENIA), youth centres in Slovenia (YOUTH CENTERS IN SLOVENIA) and European volunteering service (KEPP CALM AND GO ABROAD). On Wednesday we presented our final video creations to our hosts, to those working at MreĹža MaMa. It was also time to look back and evaluate our working and educating process in Slovenia. After formal part it was time for nonformal evaluation. We had a nice picnic at Mladinski hotel Velenje and opportunity to start saying goodbye to each other. Here is INFOGRAM.

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