Noortevahetus "Migration Perspectives" Kreekas

Seiklejate Vennaskonna kaudu avanes mulle võimalus osaleda huvitavas nädalases (13.05 - 21.05) projektis, mis toimus Kreekas ja selle peamine eesmärk oli õpetada noortele migratsiooni ja põgenike kohta. Projekti atmosfäär oli mõnus, osalejad sõbralikud, kõiki huvitas seni tundmatute inimestega kohtumine ning uute teadmiste saamine. 

Projektis osales 53 inimest kümnest riigist (Eesti, Leedu, Poola, Slovakkia, Horvaatia, Türgi, Itaalia, Portugal, Küpros ja Kreeka). Enamik inimestest olid vanusevahemikus 18 kuni 25. Mõne jaoks oli see täiesti esimene projekt, millega välismaale reisisid - muidugi polnud see mitte kellegi jaoks probleem, kõik olid väga kaasavad ja kedagi ei jäetud tegevustest välja. 

Projekti käigus oli mul võimalus leida uusi sõpru kõikidest osalenud riikidest. Tegevused olid jaotatud täpselt nii, et igaüks leiaks endale sobiva ja igal päeval oleks rõõm kedagi uut tundma õppida. 

Projekt viidi läbi Lõuna-Kreeka väikeses külas nimega Geraki. Geraki küla oli ümbritsetud oliivipuu istandustest ja kaunitest vaadetest nii merele kui ka mägedele. Geraki paiknes mäenõlval, seega iga kord kui küla keskväljakule tahtsime minna, pidime ronima üles järskudest treppidest kitsastel tänavatel (Projekti lõpuks harjusime nende kõrgustega ära). Koht oli väga meeldiv, rahulik ja kohalikud inimesed välismaalastega sõbralikud. 

Majutus oli noorte hostelis, kus meid jaotati nii, et igas toas oleksid rahvusvahelised inimesed (4-5) ning mehed ja naised ka eraldi. MInu teada sobis see lahendus kõikidele - toakaaslased said omavahel hästi läbi. Igaühel oli oma voodi, varutekk ja kapp, kuhu oma asju paigutada. 

Koht oli igati tore, ainuke miinus oli see, et meil oli sooja veega natuke probleeme, kuna veeboiler töötas päikesepaneelide kaudu, siis said soojust ainult need, kes leidsid sobiva aja tegevuste vahel leidsid aja, et duši all käia. Samas olin mina projekti lõpuks palju karskem ja harjunud külma duši võtmisega. See oli isegi värskendav selliste palavate ilmadega. 

Tegevused leidsid aset hosteli konverentsiruumis. Samas ruumis sõime ka hommikust, lõuna- ja õhtusööki. Töötubasid veetsime enamjaolt mitmekultuursetes gruppides. Nendes vestlesime põgenike teemadel, püüdsime leida lahendusi migrantide probleemidele ja levitada teadlikkust nende kohta ning jagasime kogemusi olenevalt riikidest.. Paljudel osalejatel olid projekti tulles vähesed teadmised põgenike ja migratsiooni kohta, seega kõik said projektis võimaluse oma teadmisi laiendada ja enda arvamust avaldada. Korraldajate algatusel toimusid meil ka mõned loengud, mis käsitlesid põgenike ajalugu ja erinevaid aspekte, mis migrantidega kaasnevad. Praktilisemad teemad olid näiteks konkreetse põgenike probleemi kujutamine läbi kunsti ja seejärel selle stseeni näitlemine, mis oli kindlasti kõigile huvitav ja lõbus tegevus ning omapärane eneseväljenduse viis. 

Ühes tegevustest oli meil ülesandeks minna kohalike juurde ja intervjueerida neid põgenike teemal. Moodustasime selleks grupid ja suundusime Gerakisse teemakohaseid ütlusi jäädvustama. Hiljem mõtisklesime koos saadud materjalidel ja panime põhjalikematest mõtetest kokku sotsiaalmeedia postituse. 

Viimaks põgenike teemat veelgi kaugemale, tuua sellesse teemasse natuke helgust ja luua südantsoojendavaid elemente, lõime erinevaid videoid, meeme ja muid loominguliseid asju.

Üks mälestusväärseid päevi oli väljasõit Spartasse, kus külastasime erinevaid muuseume, antiikseid templite varemeid, aitasime korraldada Sparta Ööjooksu (mitmed võtsid osa ka sellest jooksust) ja saime ka muuseas Spartas ringi vaadata. 

Kokkuvõttes oli projekt väga nauditav, täis positiivset energiat ja inimesi. Korraldav organisatsioon oli sümpaatne ja meie grupi osalejad väga abivalmid ja sõbralikud. Projekt andis mulle juurde julgust inglise keeles suhelda ja tänu sellisele kogemusele võtan kindlasti veel teistestki projektidest osa. 

Eesti tiim

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Migration Perspectives

Through Seiklejate Vennaskond I had a chance to participate in a supercool week-long (13.05 - 21.05) project that took place in Greece and was focused in teaching young people to learn about migration and refugees. The atmosphere of this project was very chill and the participants were very friendly and keen to meet new people and learn new things.

The project involved 53 people from 10 different countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece). Most of the people ranged from ages 18 to 25 and for some it was the first project they had ever attended. This was not a problem since everyone felt very welcome and not left out. During the project I had opportunities to make friends with people from every single country. The activities were evenly balanced to make sure everyone can socialize and get to know each other every single day.

The place that the project was held was in a little village in the south of Greece called Geraki. The village was surrounded by olive tree plantations and good views to the mountains and the sea. The village is located on a hill so every time we wanted to walk to the centre we had to climb steep and narrow streets, but by the end of the project we got used to the heights. Overall the place was very nice and quiet and the local people were very friendly with us foreigners.

The accommodation was in a youth hostel, where we were put into mixed culture rooms, men and women separately and 4 people in each room. As far as I know nobody had troubles with that and everybody got along very well. Everyone had their own bed with sheets and blankets and closets to store their stuff. The place was very cozy and nice, but the only downside was that we had problems with the warm water, since the water boiler only worked via the solar panels and only the people who managed to pick a good time to shower got to enjoy the warmth. In a good light, by the end of the project I got used to taking cold showers and that was actually very refreshing in the sunny weather at the time.

The activities usually took place in the same house in a big room that we also used for having breakfast, lunch and dinner. We were mostly doing workshops in mixed-culture teams, where we discussed the refugee problem solutions, spreading awareness and talking about the experiences in our own countries. There were not many participants who had very deep knowledge about the subject, so everyone had a chance to learn and share their own opinion about the topic at hand. We also had some lectures from the hosting organization, who spread the knowledge about different factors and history of the refugees. More practical activities involved us making an act about certain refugee problems and then acting them out for everyone, that was surely very fun to make and to express to others.

In one of the activities we had to go and gather information about the opinion of the refugees from the locals, so we formed groups and went around Geraki to find people to interview about the topic. Later we reflected on the opinions we had received and put together a social media post to spread the most powerful messages we had gathered. We also took the same idea one step further and had an opportunity to create creative videos, memes or anything else to put the problems in a humourous or heartwarming light.

One of the most memorable days was a field trip to Sparta, where we visited different museums, the ancient ruins of the Spartan temples and people who wanted had a chance to participate in a night run event inside the city of Sparta.

In conclusion the project was very enjoyable, filled with positive energy and people. The hosting company was very nice and people from my own group were very helpful and friendly. This project has definitely given me more confidence in socializing in English and I will surely take part in another projects to come thanks to this experience.