O testemunho do José

A primeira etapa da minha aventura SVE em Lisboa chegou ao final, e as sensações são excecionais. Depois de três meses, não tenho dúvida de que participar neste programa é uma das melhores decisões que tomei nos últimos anos. Portanto, enfrentarei os próximos nove meses do voluntariado com mais expectativa e energia para que este seja um sucesso. 

Mentor e Natalia

As descobertas e os resultados desta “viagem” são, principalmente, de carácter pessoal. Para mim, é uma primeira grande prova de autossuficiência e independência na qual estou crescendo muito, no entanto há sempre coisas a melhorar e defeitos a polir. Por outro lado, os apaixonantes projetos da Boutique da Cultura implicam, no meu desenvolvimento como voluntário, uma aprendizagem de habilidades e conhecimentos práticos muito valiosos pela sua utilidade. São uma fonte de inspiração para criar e propor ideias que fossem de encontro as já planeadas.  

Durante o meu percurso do SVE tenho relacionado com novas culturas. Estou assimilar os principais costumes deste País, como a língua, um dos aspetos fundamentais para compreender melhor esta cultura. 

Também, a convivência com os companheiros da “Casa Anjos” tem permitido interagir com diversos hábitos e sensibilidades, como por exemplo de Polónia, França, Itália ou Croácia, em redor da mesa da sala de estar ou da cozinha. 

Guimarães

É importante fazer menção à “mafia” hispano-turca, surgida do inolvidável arrival-training de Guimarães, com alguns deles tive a oportunidade de organizar uma pequena viagem de um fim de semana a Espanha para lhes mostrar a cidade da minha infância.

Sevilla

Sinto-me afortunado de estar numa capital como Lisboa pela variedade de atividades culturais e de lazer que oferece. Des de expressões artísticas e culturais alternativas ou urbanas, assim como outras da cultura portuguesa, até a possibilidade de assistir a um concerto do principal artista flamenco do momento.

Ademais, intelectualmente é uma satisfação ter a oportunidade de assistir aos seminários e congressos dos destacados grupos de investigação em História Medieval das universidades de Lisboa, os quais com tanto interesse seguia antes de chegar aqui. 

 

Feira italiana

Concluindo, posso afirmar que este ano que estou a viver em Portugal, é uma experiência única. Vou recorda-la para o resto da minha vida como um tesouro…foi isto que aprendi com uma “avó portuguesa”: “nesta vida devemos guardar apenas os momentos bons… as recordações são para sorrir, sempre!”.

José Carlos López García

O testemunho do Michał

My name is Michał. I come from the Czech-Polish borderland. I´m very happy because now I´m doing my EVS project here in Lisbon. I appeared here very suddenly. I don´t even know how it happened... I mean, I flew here by plane. I do not think it´s a good way of travelling. I just sat on a plane, which took me to my final destination a few hours later. In this case, it was 3 hours. 3 hours- it´s nothing! Normally in that much time, I'm not even able to get out of the bed after I wake up. And because of the internet, I feel my past/normal life just behind my back. Next time I promise myself to do this road by walking. Or on a bicycle. Just to feel the distance stronger.

Anyway. Now I´m here for more than four months. Unfortunately, after this 4 months being here, I still don´t have any conclusions about Portugal. Cause I had no time to think about it. Just now, when I´m writing this "testemunho", I'm trying to think about it. But it´s too late. So far, so many things happened, that it´s impossible to make some simple conclusion. 

I can say that Portugal is a very nice place. Lisbon as well. People here are nice, the architecture is nice, the food is nice, locals and the prices are nice too. Everything here is so nice, that it´s starting to get mixed together in one uniform mass made from these nice stimuli. It´s confusing, because sometimes I have the impression, that I will not be surprised anymore. But it´s not true! Every time, especially when I have some overwhelming thoughts, something new and unpredictable happens suddenly - which brings fresh air into the atmosphere. It has a very therapeutic effect. By the way, the air here is fresh as well. I appreciate it a lot! Nature and the weather conditions here are the most hospitable I´ve ever experienced. I´m living in an amazing house with amazing people. They don´t give me the opportunity to be bored. It may sound negative, but for now, they´re able to replace my closest people. 

Working in SPIN is such a pleasure! During my travels around Europe, I stayed in many different hostels. I love hostels. It´s a chance to meet a lot of people from all around the world. Here, I finally have the opportunity to observe how the hostels look from the "inside". It´s so interesting to me! Even simple tasks like cleaning the dishes or peeling potatoes became an important experience here. But of course, there is a possibility to work in a more creative way here. 

By the way, I think that Lisbon is a very spiritual place. As soon as I arrived here, I had the feeling, that I already knew this place. It´s because of the atmosphere of this city. It´s so intense, I would say “smooth”. I have the impression that people here, even if they´re not looking at each other too much, they are living in some specific connection. To me it seems like everyone´s aura is a little bit dissolved, so during a contact with someone else's aura, they stick together and then Spin, creating bridges similar to paste glueing between fingers. So in a crowd of it, it´s like a huge colourful spider web made of those connections... 

And I love the way how the time goes by here! Normally, according to the place I have a feeling that time is towing too slow or running too fast. But here I don´t have this stupid feeling. That is amazing, I love this state!

Erasmus para Jovens Empreendedores - a experiência da Camilla

O programa Erasmus para Jovens Empreendedores é uma ótima oportunidade para quem tem uma ideia empresarial mas não sabe por onde começar. Como no meu caso! Sabia em que âmbito me queria especializar mas não sabia como fazê-lo. No meu país, a Itália, eu já trabalhava com uma associação que coordena projetos europeus, o que estava a faltar era mesmo um conhecimento mais profundo dos mecanismos do programa Erasmus+. Já tinha conhecido alguns tipos de projetos pelo lado da implementação mas queria mais, mais, mais!

Na verdade, a minha experiência como nova empreendedora à procura de maior conhecimento no âmbito de projetos de formação internacionais, começou oficialmente no final de junho, mas na verdade eu já me sentia uma jovem empreendedora antes, antes de chegar a Portugal, antes de entrar em contacto com a Associação Spin.

Um dia um amigo falou-me do programa Erasmus para jovens Empreendedores, fui procurar no site (https://www.erasmus-entrepreneurs.eu) e descobri todas as suas potencialidades. Decidi então começar o processo de candidatura e procurar uma organização de acolhimento através da plataforma do programa Erasmus para Jovens Empreendedores, procurei e procurei dentro e fora da plataforma até que encontrei a resposta às minhas curiosidades e interesses: a Associação Spin que abriu os braços para me acolher.

Só então começou a parte mais complicada: passar para o papel todas as minhas ideias, fazer delas um projeto concreto com um nome, um logo, um objetivo prático, números e estatísticas: o plano de negócios. O plano de negócios é uma descrição detalhada da ideia empresarial, a missão e os ideais, como se pretende alcançar os objetivos, dentro de que prazo de tempo e através de que financiamentos.

A organização intermediária italiana que me acompanhou (e que vem indicada ao longo do processo de candidatura) foi extremamente útil no procedimento e até me deram sugestões sobre como melhorar o meu plano de negócios. Quando me registei no portal (entregando o meu CV, carta motivacional, plano de negócio e indicações sobre o país onde queria desenvolver o meu projeto) entrei em contacto também com a organização intermediária no país de acolhimento, a qual apoia os participantes quando chegam ao país estrangeiro.

A minha organização de acolhimento e eu formalizamos a nossa parceria através de um “commitment” onde tivemos que descrever as atividades semana a semana e os objetivos do meu período de estágio. As organizações intermediárias (a italiana e a portuguesa) continuaram a seguir-me ao longo de todo o período de permanência no estrangeiro.

Assim que cheguei a Lisboa, comecei a trabalhar e a aprender com estas pessoas maravilhosas, sempre animadas com muita paixão e, finalmente, tive a possibilidade de aprender mais sobre o lado formal do European project design…e não só! 

Com a Associação Spin vi e vivi também uma dimensão internacional que vai para além da Europa ajudando em duas edições do projeto de voluntariado ‘Live it Lisbon!’ criado pela Spin. 

Quando chegou a hora da minha experiência terminar, quer eu quer a minha organização de acolhimento fizemos um relatório da nossa experiência no âmbito deste programa. Estou extremamente contente de ter escolhido e ter sido escolhida pela Spin: a experiência, as boas práticas e o espírito positivo e acolhedor que encontrei aqui ajudaram a expandir os meus horizontes e a dar-me a confiança para, um dia, poder criar algo meu. 

Camilla Guerrato

O testemunho da Petra

So what happened since the last time I wrote the testimony?

A lot. New volunteers arrived, some left, then new ones came, I changed appartment, participated on on-arrival and midterm trainings, participated in info session and eurodesk session where I shared my EVS experience with portuguese youth, I led workshop “We are all equal”, I helped in the hostel, I replied on tons of emails, I learnt people how to make gluten free meal, I saw old ladies’ excitement when they renovated their old clothes, I shared Slovenian inventions on Noite Europeia dos Investigadores, I was part of Spin Banca for Sant’Antonio, I painted walls in hostel, I put dishes in and out of dishwasher countless times … 

I also got some visitors, I visited some places in Portugal, I got good moments and I had bad ones too. But this is all life. It really doesn’t make any sense to deny the reality. And at the end you realise you don’t need many things to be happy. All you need is to be true to yourself and others, be calm, have faith and life will show you a way. :) And you need a friend and a dog too. ;) :* :*

Petra Mršnik

Intercâmbio TH!NK: youth & the post-truth era

Aqui temos mais testemunhos dos participantes do curso do intercâmbio TH!NK, que decorreu de 9 a 17 de Outubro de 2017 em Lisboa.

Jakub Kitel, Poland
Post Post-truth

The most important part of youth exchange for me was talking to people. Despite cultural differences, we all share common fears and anxieties. In these times people either don't have a vision for themselves, or they don't really believe the narrative they are telling themselves. No one feels appreciated, no one feels in the right spot. Pop-culture based in democracy fed us with lies about being able to change the world, given that we work hard and really believe, but the world was never changed by the will of common men. Joining any kind of political or sociological movement will change every day to a game in which we think in terms wins or loses about cases that don't affect us. And being a part of this system based on the mirage of importance always means losing. These are not times of great ideologies or plans, rather a small prejudices and silent convictions that can pose as universal truths about the world. Trying to find a solution or those “universal truths” will only lead us towards more lies and cruelty. Because the only truth lays in people – our common need to feel safe – we can achieve it by choosing narration, joining the conversation within the system and losing, or ignoring conversation and focusing on people that are close to you, and trying to be the best version of yourself for everyone else. I want to believe, that post-truth society is heading towards the world in which we don’t lie to ourselves about the importance of our beliefs, but rather focus on the only truth that always mattered – other people.

Marta Kuncer, Poland 

Sunny Lisbon, or Spin Association to be precise, hosted youth exchange „TH!NK: youth and post-truth era”. Since I’m interested in critical thinking and role of media in a modern world I decided to take part in it. Group of 30 people from different corners from Europe met together in a street-art-dominated Barrio Padre Cruz. We spent a week exploring the topic in a non-formal education way and simply sharing a time together. Workshops were dedicated to critical thinking, freedom of speech, manipulative fake news, comparison of various national perspectives, guidance to facts checking and other. Participants had an opportunity to explore the topic fully but it, of course, depended on everyone’s own engagement. Surrounded 24/7 by Portugueses, Italians, Macedonians, Scots, Poles, Estonians for a week we had plenty opportunities for a cultural exchange. Some were limited to small talks, while others – fortunately - went deeper into political/social issues. It’s clear that there are some still rather big differences when it comes to gender equality, education, corruption, basic human rights, freedom of press, homosexuality and others in each European country. What I find pretty common after this youth exchange is universal lack of respect for each other. Even though we bonded and liked each other it didn’t stop some people from not listening to each other, being late, or simply assuming that they will get things done for them by somebody else – to name a few examples. It was a valid reminder that whether it comes to a short youth exchange, longer social project or a society itself – the participants who play a part in it are the ones who are shaping it after all. I had some interesting interactions and conversations. Upside was to see people who left their own country for the first time, being a bit insecure, and how much they opened during the whole week. I believe that’s where youth exchanges are truly fulfilling their role. They are safe, organized platform for the youth who never before had a chance to go abroad and have more engaging interactions with people of different culture.

Caroline Männik, Estonia 

Even though I have been in quite several youth projects, I still felt extremely excited when i got to know that i can go to the youth exchange in Lisbon. This experience was something completely different for me as I have never been in Southern country, neither been in a group leader`s position. But first of all, try to imagine arriving to Lisbon as an Estonian. You are used with cloudy and rainy weather and with wearing jackets and scarfs all the time. But then you take a flight and suddenly you have sun and can wear shorts even in October. I`m pretty sure that I got overdose of D-vitamin here. We came to Lisbon a day before the official beginning of the youth exchange and used the free day for exploring the city and it`s fascinating mosaic walls. I`m so satisfied that we came earlier because it helped to create strong group feeling inside our Estonian team. Next day we arrived to Spin and got positively surprised how cool Bairro Padre Cruz is, especially it`s street art. After introducing ourselves through couple of games, we understood that with these participants we will have really memorable project... and we were right. Throughout next few days we got more familiar with the topic of the youth exchange, we discussed what is the definition for the post-truth and shared examples from our countries. I enjoyed watching documentary called “HyperNormalisation” and I`m sure that I will watch it again once i arrive back at home. After having intensive workshops in Spin we also went discover Lisbon with the whole group, visited museum, Media lab and stunning castle. What made this youth exchange very different from my previous projects is that every nationality were responsible for preparing the whole dinner for the participants. It was obviously very stressful, but at the same time it improved our teamwork and cooking skills. Everybody seemed to love trying out different cuisines, starting from Italian pasta, ending with Polish pierogi. Overall, this youth exchange was magnificent and I`m going back home only with positive memories. 

Stay positive, 

Caroline

Esmeralda Ferati, Italy

Hi everyone! I'm going to write shortly for my youth exchange in Portugal. I didn't know about the existence of this project until me and my friend talked about it. I came from Italy where these programs are very popular but I never thought that I'm gonna be part of the similar one. Now I'm here, taking the best of it! At the beginning, I wasn't convinced about the success of the project. We were people from different countries like Italy, Estonia, Scotland, Portugal, Macedonia, Poland and I thought it would be difficult to interact with each other. But my suspicion wasn't real. Different activities made us know each other and now we behave like a family. Looks like we are part a TV Show and every day we have some tasks to complete to achieve our goals. Fortunately, we achieved all the goals together with no differences. When I write about tasks it comes up in my mind the firsts ones, when we had to remember all the names of 30 people. The very first one was that we had to choose by causality one secret friend and we had to do something special for them to make their day beautiful and interesting. I did it for my secret friend but unfortunately, I didn't receive anything from my own secret one. But anyway my days were beautiful and more beautifully. It wasn't just for the activities that made us know each other there were also activities that made us know more about the world around us, some things that weren't said before to us. We discussed too many topics that show the main our days problems such as was the Post-Truth, about media, politics and society.

O testemunho da Maria

I can’t write much about my EVS experience, yet. After all, this is the first month; I’m still getting used to my new routine, I keep meeting new people, I discover new places every day and I form new habits. In other words, I’m still setting up my reality for the next nine months. 

Like in every beginning, I feel like a child that has been given paints, a brush and an empty canvas to fill it with the colours they want. I’m full of excitement and anticipation, willing to undertake challenges, to create an impact to the society, to see myself grow and improve… I want to develop new skills, learn more about the area of youth work and discover new career prospects. I want to find new passions, learn Portuguese, adopt elements of a new culture and get a fresh perspective. This is an opportunity for me to fill my canvas with colours I haven’t used much before. The other days I heard some EVS volunteer who’s been here for a while already saying that this is the “honeymoon phase” when everything seems exciting and ideal and that later on there will be some moments of crisis along the way. But I’m looking forward to exactly that: the creativeness, the tiredness, the fun, the homesickness, the friendships, the frustration, the laughter, the “nice to meet you”, the goodbyes. It’s all part of the learning process. I don’t know if after my EVS I will know how to write or run a project or if I will be fluent in Portuguese but I’m sure that I will be more self-aware; a better version of myself.

So bring me the paints, the brush and the canvas and I will create a painting to make my life a little more colourful!

O testemunho da Olga

Confesso que nem sei como iniciar este post… Tive uma oportunidade tão única e especial que fica difícil transmitir por palavras tudo o que vivi e senti nestes dias… 

A Área Marinha Protegida onde faço o meu EVS colabora muito activamente com o Centro de Recuperação de Tartarugas Marinhas da Estação Zoológica Anton Dohrn de Nápoles. Para além do trabalho veterinário de recuperação de tartarugas e devolução à natureza, este Centro faz também investigação e dedica-se à identificação de ninhos na região da Campania, protegendo-os e estando presente no momento do nascimento das tartarugas para garantir que elas vão bem para o mar. 

Já no último dia de Agosto eu tinha tido a oportunidade de ir até Palinuro, praia onde está o ninho, para verificar a temperatura da areia e aplicar a fórmula que faz a previsão do dia em que acontece a eclosão. Nesse mesmo dia, uma tartaruga Caretta caretta foi encontrada ali perto e nós transportamo-la até ao Centro.

Falei então com o meu coordenador sobre a hipótese de ir com o pessoal da Estação Zoológica para a eclosão do ninho de tartarugas. A resposta foi positiva e eu parti para aquela que seria uma das aventuras mais lindíssimas vivida até agora em Itália

No dia 14 de Setembro fiz a viagem na carrinha do Centro. Para minha surpresa, três pequenitas viajaram connosco para se libertarem em Palinuro! E foi o que fizemos mal chegamos lá: libertar estes seres tão pequeninos mas tão fortes naquele mar imenso! Que sensação!

Voltamos para a praia e montamos acampamento. A organização Sea Shepherd Itália também estava presente! Suponho que já se estejam a questionar porque não deixamos que tudo isto aconteça naturalmente? Quando as tartarugas nascem deviam seguir o brilho que o mar reflecte. Infelizmente a mão humana encheu a natureza de luzes artificiais e quando elas saem da areia vão na direcção errada e a maioria acaba por morrer… Como não queremos que isso aconteça, ali estávamos nós…

Os dias eram preenchidos com os turnos de vigia (sim, o ninho não ficou sozinho por um minuto!), muita conversa entre todos os presentes e muitos banhos no mar (sim, também aproveitamos o facto de estarmos a viver numa praia!). A falta de conforto não parecia importar, estávamos ali felizes à espera de contribuir de alguma forma para a Natureza que tanto teimamos em destruir…

E eis que dia 19 de Setembro, por volta das 22h se começa a ver um bocadinho de areia a mexer… E sem conseguir explicar, os meus olhos encheram-se de lágrimas! Não sabia como um momento tão fugaz e tão simples podia ser tão belo e tocante! Vê-se depois um bocadinho de uma cabeça negra e puff, uma tartaruga! Que emoção! Passa um bocadinho e eis que surge outra tartaruga… Fantástico! E… um vulcão de tartarugas! Ahaha! 67 tartarugas a emergir da areia ao mesmo tempo! Não havia mais tempo para distracções, este era o momento para o qual estávamos ali! Pesaram-se e mediram-se algumas tartarugas para estudos científicos e depois foi a altura de elas começarem a andar para o mar. Mesmo com um corredor montado e ladeado por plásticos escuros, algumas não seguiam a direcção do mar… Nós ajudamos! E pronto, lá foram elas para a sua jornada… Quanto a nós, resta-nos continuar com os turnos e esperar caso alguma nasça mais tarde…

Como mais nada aconteceu, no dia 22 à noite abriu-se o ninho. O que significa isto? Os responsáveis escavam o ninho para verificar se há alguma tartaruga viva que não tenha sido capaz de sair e para perceber o sucesso da eclosão. Felizmente só lá encontramos 4 ovos que não se tinham desenvolvido o que faz uma taxa de sucesso de 95%! Excelente!

No dia seguinte arrumamos tudo e voltamos à nossa rutina (se é que isso existe num EVS). Estou felicíssima! Obrigada Area Marina Protetta Punta Campanella, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn e Sea Shepherd!

Olga Azevedo

O testemunho da Lucía

Sou Lucía, uma galego-portuguesa em Lisboa. Mais uma vez escrevo sobre o SVE. Gosto de reflectir a minha experiência no blogue para que pessoas interessadas no voluntariado vejam esta grande oportunidade.

Como referi nos artigos anteriores, estou a trabalhar no CAF (Componente de Apoio às Famílias) na Escola Básica de São Vicente, no bairro de Telheiras. Tráta-se dum espaço onde se desenvolvem atividades de ocupação de tempo livre para as crianças do primeiro e segundo ciclo da educação primária.

O meu papel aqui é dar apoio nas actividades rotineiras e saidas, dinamizar actividades, escrever reportagens para o jornal Vicentix (site: vicentix.wordpress.com), assistir às reuniões gerais da equipa, fazer decorações para as diferentes salas e cartazes, participar nas férias e eventos que decorrem no CAF, brincar com as crianças e tentar ser guia no caminho da sua aprendizagem.

Começamos um novo ano letivo com o aumento do número de crianças pelo que tivemos de fazer um horário mais comprido. Actualmente dou aulas de Filosofia dois dias por semana, sessões para o segundo ciclo e para o grupo do terceiro ano. Dispor dum tempinho próprio para fazer as minhas actividades é muito fixe! Além, tenho liberdade para abordar qualquer tema e utilizar os diferentes recursos que há no CAF. Já tenho implementado Filosofia Positiva, Filosofia Ambiental, Filosofia de Investigação Absurda, Filosofia Emocional e Filosofia Alimentar.

Depois de cada sessão é importante repensar e tomar notas sobre possíveis melhoras. Tento pesquisar e elaborar coisas relacionadas com os gostos das crianças para desenvolver actividades estimulantes e divertidas enfocadas nos seus interesses. Por exemplo, na próxima sessão tenho pensado fazer Filosofia Narrativa. Contar histórias através de baralhos de cartas do Dixit e do baralho espanhol. Estou a ver que a fórmula funciona. Acho que gostam!

De forma transversal abordo a educação em valores, o coperativismo e as inteligências múltiples. O objectivo fundamental das minhas sessões é aprender a pensar, mas sempre aprendendo felizes. Sem dúvida alguma, a materia de Filosofia para Crianças devia estar integrada no curriculo de todas as escolas pois é a base para construir o pensamento crítico.

Decorreram já quase oito meses e fico com grande pena porque o meu SVE está quase a terminar. Contudo, continuo com a mesma motivação e ilusão do início.

Sinto-me muito cómoda, valorizada e integrada na equipa Vicentix. Fico agradeçida pela ajuda e boas dicas de cada um dos monitores e do Guerreiro. Também gosto de ver como as crianças confiam em mim, sentir o seu carinho e respeito, ser um apoio para eles quando alguma coisa não está a correr bem.

A nível profissional estou a tirar boas aprendizagens na educação não formal. Ao mesmo tempo, tento contribuir no CAF com a minha bagagem na educaçao formal. Acho que o meu carácter pacífico e tranquilo dão serenidade e organização num ambiente onde às vezes há um bocado de confusão. Existe uma boa conjugação!

A nível pessoal apercebi-me que o voluntariado foi uma espécie de terapia para mim. Estou a ganhar confiança em mim mesma, perder medos e inseguridades. Nunca fiquei arrependida de tirar a licenciatura de professora porque é a minha vocação mas o facto de não encontrar um emprego digno no meu pais magoou a minha auto-estima.

Aproveito a conjuntura para fazer queixa da situação que está a viver a minha geração na Espanha sobre a fuga de cérebros. O Estado inverte na nossa educação e da-nos boa formação. O problema chega depois quando queremos abrir caminho no mundo laboral. As possibilidades de empregabilidade são baixas. Muitos jovens acham uma solução na emigração e procuram opções no estrangeiro. Um exemplo claro é o Serviço de Voluntariado Europeu.

No CAF Vicentix estou a ver que tenho qualidades suficientes para trabalhar na área da educação. Estou com fome de fazer coisas e crescer profissionalmente!

Geralmente sou uma pessoa demasiado perfeccionista e exigente. Neste tempo estou a pôr em practica a espontaneidade. Dei-me conta que nem sempre posso planejar tudo e ter baixo controlo as coisas.

Há duas qualidades que nasceram comigo, mas aqui estou a potencia-las: a responsabilidade e a empatia. As crianças são o nosso futuro, um tesouro que temos que cuidar. Indirectamente formamos parte do seu crescimento e adoro sentir que posso ajuda-las no seu percurso.

Apesar da incerteza sobre o meu futuro, o meu propósito nesta última etapa é aproveitar ao máximo a oportunidade. Só posso tirar coisas positivas do SVE como: aquisição de experiência para o cv, boas amizades e carinho dos miúdos, aprendizagem da língua portuguesa, qualidade de vida e independência...

No anterior artigo tinha dito que gostava muito de Lisboa e já quase era uma alfacinha. Agora tenho que acrescentar mais uma coisa. Estou a curtir tanto do CAF São Vicente que já me sinto uma Vicentix de coração. Obrigado a todos por fazê-lo possível!

O testemunho da Katerina

After I finished my bachelor degree in European Studies, I did not want just continue studying, I needed to experience something different. I wanted to travel, live abroad, learn new things and new language, but in the same time I did not want to lose this year for nothing, I wanted the gap year to be useful for me. When I found EVS opportunity it happened to be the best combination of everything for me. And so in October 2017 I started my journey in Associação Spin for 9 months.

My first weeks here in Lisbon were full of curiosity, exploring and searching for “This is my new home” feeling. Now already after 3 weeks I can say I found it, I am starting to settling down here, feeling very comfortable, having friends and getting to know the good places around. I fell in love with Portuguese culture, food, language, people, history, art and architecture on the first sight.

Until now in Spin we hosted an Erasmus+ youth exchange where I helped with many things and also the administration. I attended six similar Erasmus+ projects in my life, so to be in a new role was very interesting for me. Also I managed to get to know the neighbourhood of Bairro Padre Cruz where Spin is located. Our suburb is famous for the second biggest open-air street art gallery in the world. Now I feel more involved in this community.

For now, I find EVS an opportunity to grow, develop new skills and meet people but I am still at the very beginning of my challenge and I cannot wait for all my future experience, knowledge, challenges, self-growing, start of my Portuguese course, travelling and my on-arrival training course in Guimarães!

One Wild Life: testemunhos

O curso de formação One Wild Life decorreu de 15 a 25 de Junho de 2017 em Sintra. Aqui ficam mais testemunhos de alguns dos participantes.

Teja Pahor, Eslovénia 

This journey was something I will never forget. It was the first time I ever experienced something like that. And it was above all the expectations. It was not only about learning ourselves a different methods and receiving a lot of new knowledge of how to do training. The best value of OWL training was a personal development which came naturally and no one expected it. In 10 days I think I was manage to grow personally more then I have ever before. I am still in research of my vocation but that doesn't mean I am not grateful from the bottom of my heart for this experience. I will never forget the people, the coop and some useful methods which I will hopefully use in the future. 

Nil Roda Noguera, Espanha 

We live in a time of detachment and liquid societies, where individuals struggle to find their place in a highly globalized, ever-changing context. We live in a time deeply suffering from three major divides: the divide between self and nature - I am not my environment, I am not Earth; the divide between self and other - I am not you, your problem is yours; and the divide between self and Self - I am not playing my fullest potential, because I don't even know what that is. However, we also live in the time of data and information, a time where interconnectedness, interdependence and the living globality of the world are a matter of fact. A time where the complexity is visible, tangible and where we are just awakening to the understanding that, it's time to learn how to truly work together. It doesn't take much for youth to understand this reality: they are embedded in it, they both suffer and benefit from it. Formal and informal education are yet to truly evolve to be able to offer the right spaces to support this youth, manly because the People behind the structures, often doesn't have an embodied experience of how to proactively live in complexity and uncertainty, and therefore it is difficult to bring theory into practice. Everywhere I see in youth a growing and deep longing to consciously explore the question Who am I in relationship to the world? What can I do in such a complex world? What is my gift I can/want to offer? And what do I need to unfold my potential? One Wild Life was Experiencial learning for youth workers to get this embodied experience of connection, collaboration and interconnection. One Wild Life helped us be able to practice being the professionals we want to be, so we can be better examples to the people we work with. One Wild Life was the What and How of how to create the right spaces to host youth in this exploration. 

Nicoletta Benfatti, Itália

This experience was very interesting for me. It meant to discover myself and my ability expressing and telling my past and future projects. I learned that the images and the drawings are most important that lots of words, when you need to describe a project to other people. I took home a method with which I could tell and describe my future project of the ecological park that I am realizing in Italy, on the hills near Verona, in a more amazing and interesting way. At the same time I'll share my experience and teach this method to all the people with which I'm working in RIVE, the Italian Ecovillage Network. I suggest to other people to participate at this training course with Reka and Sara, because they are amazing and their sweetness and clarity in ascertaining the concepts are involving. All the people I met made me very happy and comfortable. I hope to see them again. 

Andrada Vaidos, Roménia
What am I going to do with this One Wild Life? This was a thing that I always had in my mind: we have ONE wild life. So why not make the most of it?! Though I kept having a hard time in figuring out HOW to make the most of it. The best gift we have in this life is humanity. And this self-explorative, intense, challenging training course accomplished it`s mission of giving us a vision, a direction about HOW we could make the most of this one wild life by using this gift of being humans. The structure was fascinating and extremely revealing. It`s as simple as that: in order to get an understanding about the world, we need to understand ourselves, so in order to make a change in the world, we need to make a change within ourselves. Each authentic action is driven by inner dreams, wishes, challenges. So first step is to make them clear in our mind. To make some order in the chaos. All the techniques used, all the exercises, all that sharing in circle what was in our mind and what we have been working on was extremely helpful in crystallising and prioritising thoughts. What is what I truly stand for in this world is a question that will probably stay in my mind always from now on. Because it is pointless to do things just because they need to be done and not because something inside drives you, pushes you towards that. Humanity consists in feelings, feelings that lead to action. Feelings need to be expressed, it`s unhuman to lock them inside, though we do that so much nowadays, out of fear of judgement, probably. Humanity is also about people getting united and fulfilling dreams together. One cannot do anything alone. We are meant to do things together, to listen and support each other. And, just like magic, the team and participants from One Wild Life were all there for the others. The connections that had been formed between people were out of this world. For those 10 days, we were a family, for the next decades we will keep on being connected. And this happened because we got a great context to open and connect, a safe and trustworthy one. The team knew what they were doing and how to make us feel comfortable with being ourselves and sharing, expressing what is in our mind and souls. We received priceless tools to work with in this lifelong mission of making the most of our (one wild) life. Long story short, One Wild Life was the trigger. A trigger to understand ourselves, to crystalize what we are standing for and to figure out HOW to take action and to make a difference in this world by doing things that we truly, honestly believe in. Some of us already knew, some others had their revelation, their “AHA” moment there, during the training course, and some others (including myself) didn`t know what they believe in, but now, after this experience they have a strong clue and some useful tools to keep on working on to find what is there worth to stand for. 

Chaotic thoughts about One Wild Life: 

• It was the confirmation that one can feel most valuable and useful when doing things together with others. 
• It was the push for setting an intention. 
• In order to take action out there in the world, first the healthy thing to do is to take action within oneself. 
• It was the challenge of being completely open and honest towards people around. 
• It was the revelation that giving and receiving support is one of the most human and constructive attitudes possible. 
• Introspection.
• Collecting the energy within and motivation to release it with a specific and clear direction. 
• Putting the chaos in order. 
• All the inspiring people! 
• Authenticity in the behavior, in the words spoken, in the actions taken.
• Pushing the limits. 
• Do it the hard way. 
• Self exploration and being self centered does not mean selfish. 
• It`s just that the balance within oneself is able and will bring balance in the world around us .
• You give what you are. 

Simina Tureac, Roménia

“One Wild Life” was a beautiful, rewarding experience for me. It was like a labyrinth with a lot of unknown paths and each path made my fears one by one to come up and at the end just standing there –being myself – trying to find out the way out. Even before coming to the training, I knew that the methods were interesting (knowing that some were based on the work of Bill Plotkin and Mary Oliver) but my expectations were over reached while participating in the training. Now, after one month, I still have glimpses of the best moments in the training, of the beautiful Eco Village and of the great people I met. I went through a deep learning process starting from who I truly am beyond the roles that we usually play in the society, connecting with myself and speaking about myself from the heart. Related to this, the methods used for this (map of life, charismatic communication) made me remember the relevant moments in my life, the ups and downs, but the most important were the threads – those states when I was driven by passion and excitement in my life for creating something/doing something. Going forward, remembering those moments, I had to confirm to myself that I still have the passion and the inspiration to create again and to know what I want to create: and here it goes the artistic techniques (Double circle and the Dyade) for taking a moment to write everything that comes to my mind and bringing the dream close to reality. 
Further on, with the session “me and the world” I went deeper in the emotional state of being by remembering and sharing moments when I felt “hit” by the world, meaning those moments when I felt meaningless and full of fears because I couldn’t control something bad happening from the outside. Actually, going through a few exercises, made me understand that I am the only one who can control the state I want to feel, maybe there is nothing to do to save the whole world, but for sure there is a solution for everything. It’s up to me to take action instead of watching TV and complain that nobody is not doing anything. The AMOEBA model by Alan Atkinson was for me the most relevant to understand how actually cultural change happens and how can an idea become an innovation, a part of the system. Furthermore, I find that the Nature Quest from Day 6 was really important for discovering how nature always helped me learn new things about myself, especially the things I could see differently- a new perspective for my life, new possibilities for starting something new or just confirmation about what I truly like to do. The quest in nature and the living beings from nature taught me a lot about weakness, being strong, not being afraid of showing vulnerability as long as I am honest and true to my soul. And of course, the most important, the nature circle of everything being perfect as it is, of everything happening for a reason, within a given moment in time and space. A lesson from nature’s order. 
The rest of the learning process that followed until the last day was for me about being inspired, finding partners and collaborators for the dream project idea I wanted to develop. Second by second, I felt inspired, stimulated and excited to make the plan for my dream project and the strategy to develop it once I arrive back home. Except for the project idea I discovered I want to create, I also brought home a lot of new techniques and methods that I can use for supporting a learning group towards personal and professional development. All the processes I learnt and the methods about facilitation at the end of each session are very helpful to make other volunteers and youngsters in my organization finding their own authentic vocation and encourage them to take action towards their dream projects. In the present moment, being at home, I have been working hard on my project since 4 weeks, it’s not easy, but I am working with a joyful heart and it feels great. The enthusiasm is still here. 

Anni Shakur, Estónia

Training course 'One wild life' is mainly a wild journey to inner self. I remember the day when I saw the call and I knew I'll be there. My struggles with world, other people, society, 'system' and myself got many answers. I'd say that many problems got finally talked out and even solved. With those people and environment I felt so comfortable that when I felt like crying I could do it. And of course this course was full of laughs too. I understood much more about my fears, passions and other people around me. What I loved the most about this training course was that I had the space to be myself and people from all over the world had the same opportunity. And that's where the magic started. The beauty of human being without any borders. I'm forever grateful for this life changing experience.