This September nine Hungarian participants got the chance to take part in an Erasmus+ Youth Exchange with the support of Lélektér Alapítvány, that took place in the countryside of Lithuania. Our main topics were the European Parlamentary elections and active citizenship. Besides Hungary 3 countries were represented, Lithuania, Italy and Portugal, 36 young people came together to improve themselves and learn more about the world that surrounds us.
During the week we got to debate, worked on different project ideas, had simulations and visited institutions that make elections possible. On one hand it was a great learning experience for all of us but at the same time we got to understand more about different cultures and ourselves. In the first part of the week we mainly focused on getting to know each other, learning names, breaking the ice, as that is the base of a well functioning team, there must be a safe space created where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and opinions. Later on we started focusing more on the professional content and the improvement of our skills. Every country had a special cultural evening where they got to show the others their cuisine, dance, songs and basically anything they wanted. We proudly prepared some lecsó and pancakes for the rest of the team that they really enjoyed at the end. Our team also prepared with a special quiz that aimed to really show the participants our cultural uniqueness.
Everyday we had 3 main sessions and quite some free time to really bond and start conversations that might sometimes be about our countries, our hobbies, or happen to discuss some really deep topics as well. Of course, we had great parties as well where everyone had a lot of fun. Thanks to the amazing facility of our accomodation we also improved our tennis skills and had a lot of outdoor activities during the week despite the rainy Lithuanian autumn weather.
We came back to Hungary with a lot of information, knowledge and connections that will last forever. Working in an international environment might be challenging, you might have to face that not everyone agrees with you, but we became a well functioning team by the end of the project.
Balázs Kovács
lelekteralapitvany.com 