As you by now, the EFYL adventure has continues with another learning experience i.e. the job shadowing. Led by an experienced leader, 4 EFYL trainees have participated at the Youth exchange Celebrate Erasmus which took place in Agros (Cyprus) on 25th august - 2nd September.
This year, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus Program, 30 years of training, mobillities, exchanges and volunteering abroad.
That's why the organization Youth Dynamics from Cyprus have organized an youth exchange with participants from 10 countries: Greece, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary and Germany. The activities have offered a complete overview of the opportunities provided by Erasmus+ in the youth field, with particular interest on the principles, structure and characteristics of the Program in general as well as each of its Key Actions (KA1, KA2 and KA3). Beside the information about the Erasmus program that they have acquires, the participants could exercise as well their communication and organization skills, creativity the teamwork because they had to organize an workshop in order to explore the opportunities of Erasmus+ and stimulate the participation and the project implementation.
To see the impact of the project on the participants of the GEYC Community in this project, we have selected some testimonies:
"In the first day, we did a tour of the small village with 800 inhabitants of Agros: we visited the rose factories where I tried the rose chocolate, a local sweets store like: rahat, halva, fig jam and also an unique sweet jam made from carrots and cucumbers.
In the third day, we made a trip to Limassol where we stood at the beach and had a bath in the Mediterranean.
In the sixth day we made a trip to Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus where I visited the tower near the Turkish border and saw a live landscape of the two parts of it.
A part that I liked were the intercultural nights that were super interactive, with questionnaires and quizzes, games, funny challenges and short presentations about the countries including ones which I didn't know much like Slovenia.
It was the first Youth Exchange for me where there were about 50 participants. It is a must do for those who want to take the opportunity to meet and get to know some other students or youngsters from Europe." - Teodor
"The Cyprus Youth Exchange has been one of the most beautiful experiences. First of all, Cyprus is a beautiful country. We had de pleasure to stay 7 days in Agros, a fairytales village with breathtaking sights. Besides Agros, we visited Nicosia, Limassol, Pafos and Larnca, and I was fascinated by the beauty of the country. I think I was impressed mostly by the people. They were hospitable and super nice. The youth exchange was great. We had the honor to meet lovely people from 9 countries, to make friends, to share experiences and to learn things about Erasmus. For example, did you know that Erasmus study abroad program is “responsible” for 1 million babies? During the project, we every country had to do an workshop, and all of them were inspiring and challenging. P.S. We also had cake. Happy Birthday Erasmus!" - Diana
"A new destination, a new culture and, of course, a new Youth Exchange. How else should we celebrate 30 years of Erasmus+ if not through learning, through the experience of multiculturalism and by sharing with others the knowledge and the opportunities that Erasmus + offers?
First of all, I was very impressed by the good organization of the project and by the constant communication of the organizers with the participants.
Regarding the project, besides the excursions which let me discover the beauties of the host country, hospitable Cypriots, I liked that each team of the participating countries contributed to the project by organizing a workshop. Thus, I think that the diversity of informal learning methods and activities has been even greater. I am confident that what I have learned in this project will be applicable in many areas of my life." - Georgiana