Testimony: Training course about Emergency Pedagogy by Maša

I first heard about this training course, when my Slovenian colleague send me a Call for partners from SPIN organization with a caption reading ''From crisis to chance'' – training course on emergency pedagogy''. She was ecstatic about this opportunity and her excitement transferred onto me. We soon started writing partnership proposal, asking our Slovenian organisation to back us up.

We're both personally and professionally connected to the field of pedagogy, but we never had any official training related to emergency pedagogy. Naturally, the title sparked interest, since growing our field of knowledge is one of the top priorities. Hearing about it straight form the horse's mouth, the founder of this field – Bernd Ruf – was like a cherry on top of the whole training.

What it did for me, personally, was changing my perspective of trauma and how to work with it. In the beginning, it was hard to follow the process of singing weird songs and simultaneously clapping to the rhythm. Why are we doing this? I look silly, it all looks a bit silly. We were thrown into the water – into the methodology, and for a first timer it didn't make sense. What then happened during the process of reaching the end of the training course, was that an understanding of why-the-weird-songs-etc. started to appear. I'm still way too inexperienced to feel confident using the principles we've learned in my professional life. This requires a lot more reading and a lot more experiencing and a lot more understanding. But what I'm very glad about, is that this training course gave me invaluable insights, a whole suitcase of new methods and motivation to dig deeper and explore emergency pedagogy even further.

Maša V.

O testemunho do Duarte

Between the 1st and 8th of December, Črnomelj, in the Southeast part of Slovenia, for those of you who never heard about this town, received 26 young people to discuss and learn more about how to make a difference through social entrepreneurship. 

This training course aimed to provide the participants tools, knowledge and skills on how to build our own project, by sharing our ideas and points of views about a wide range of areas where we can step in. Every participant prepared a presentation about a social enterprise in their country and how it could be implemented in the others participants countries. 

During this training course we also had the chance to see by ourselves how a social enterprise works. We went to Ljubljana and were invited to meet the Skuhna project – a restaurant focused on providing authentic food from Africa, Asia and South America, increasing the employability of migrants from these regions. 

By the end of the project, we were challenged to take on all the knowledge and skills learnt and build our own social enterprise. The mix of cultures and backgrounds created very interesting project ideas that would help to make the difference in our countries.  All the activities inspired us to be the difference we want to see in the world and how we can achieve it. We have to thank all of you who make this project work, specially the Mladinski Center Bit to welcome us and be our home during this intense week. 

Duarte Alves

O testemunho da Petra

Hmm, my evs experience ... It's hard to write anything, because there are many different shapes, colours and emotions in my mind when I think of my EVS in Portugal and Lisbon. 

I definitely think every person should go abroad for at least 6 months. It helps you seeing some things clearer and it sure represents big step in personal growth and understanding of the world around you. So go!! :) And if you have already done it, try to convince someone else too. ;) 

During my EVS experience I realized some of my flaws and some good qualities I didnt know I had them before. I realised I dont like when people feel sorry for themselves, whine, look for excuses, blame others and never do any change. You can not expect different life, mood, emotions, if you are not willing to change anything within yourself. 

I am very grateful and happy I managed to do EVS! I would like to thank all who helped me in any way to get there and everybody who I spent time there with. ;) Obrigada. Beijinhos :*