Great Youth Exchange in Turkey!

And here we go, another improbable project of Erasmus+ past by already a month ago. Going through pictures and videos made me feel so nostalgic and sad for not being able to repeat the same projects with the same people.

Ten amazing days in Turkey, Diyarbarkir (I actually learned how to write it what seemed impossible in the first place), with 60 people from 6 countries. It passed so fast. Beautiful nature, culture and historical roots of the city left us all speechless. I am really thankful for the opportunity to meet these people, for the motivation they gave me!

This is my personal experience as a participant of the project called «Eco-sports».

I really loved the idea of organisers to step aside this time and let the participants to run all the program activities. Everything was clear- what we had to do and when we had to do it, which is very important in my opinion. All 6 countries had their three performances: workshops, team buildings and cultural nights. All the performances were so different and so unique that even the participants who had taken part in more than 10 Erasmus+ projects learned something new and interesting from it. All the members, from the youngest ones to the oldest (teachers from the school) had a chance to stand out and share their initiative and ideas in this project. No time was wasted, because all the time we had some task or activities to do what divided us in this really good way and made this project so interesting and worth going.

I loved stepping out of my comfort zone, taking the risks, creating new ideas and learning new things. I enjoyed the project from the very beginning – when I met my teammates and we had these horrible but amazingly funny 4 flights to Diyarbakir – to the last day when I cried my eyes out in the hugging activity before departure.

We also went hiking in the mountains, something I had never done before, and absolutely will do again in the future. We also swam in the mud in the football field and drank 6 cups of water at a time. We also created an eco-friendly business and learned about volunteering, which was also a new and interesting thing for me.

Oh! Regarding the Lithuanian team – I am more than happy to be a part of their group, because what we created and experienced together was just truly magical. All those amusing performances we came up with was just iconic and all the positive vibes we all created just somehow made me reborn and show the crazy and true sides of me.

Thank you for the main creator of the project Mehmet Altuntop for taking us to his amazing hometown and showing us that we don’t need materials goods in order to have fun, just the nature and a lot of amazing people. Many thanks also to the other leaders Jørgen J. Jenssen and Burak Mazak for all the help, energy and experience they shared. And of course, thanks to all the others who put so much effort, energy and time to make this project such an amazing experience for everyone!

A special thanks also to the Lithuanian organisation WE GO for giving the opportunity to young people like me to go to different places and make this priceless memories for forever.

Written by Paulina Galinytė