16 December 2017

TC-"E+Quality Week" in Bari, Italy

Imagine one week in a small region from Southern Italy, together with amazing people from seven different countries, working for the same purpose. I haven’t imagined this, until I participated in the E+Quality Week in Bari, Italy, a training course about improving project management competences among youth workers. Looking back at my experience, I have a lot of mixed feelings.


Our group was formed by diverse people, but the most important thing, with the same values and aspirations. The first two days were about us getting to know each other and have a better understanding of what is going to happen during that week. If only someone have told me it would be one of the most intense weeks I have ever had! I used the word “intense”, because through the activities that we performed, I realised how important is the impact that we, as human beings, are bringing on other people, without even realising sometimes.




Talking about impact, I have to say that my favourite activity was the City Challenge. What does this activity mean? We were given the task to come up with both an online and offline campaign, which we were going to implement among students from Bari. The day in which we had this challenge was exactly the International Day of Volunteering. Therefore, we had to raise awareness about the importance of volunteering to other youth people, sharing our stories and empowering them to take action. What I enjoyed the most about this activity is that it took all of us out of our confort zones. 




Even though we had sessions and workshops in the most part of the day, we couldn’t resist to not explore the the beauty of the region, called Puglia, which is best known for its wine production. One week wasn’t enough to discover it! During our free time, we used to wander through the city and get lost in the narrow medieval streets and enjoy an Italian cup of coffee. I came across the fact that Italians have an easy-going lifestyle and they love to have siestas. A lot of siestas! 




There are a lot of things about this week, that cannot actually be put into words, because they need to be experienced, in order to be truly understood. 

Grateful I feel, for having the chance to bring an impact. Lucky I feel, for having the chance to meet great people. Incomplete I feel, for leaving a part of my heart in Italy.