Between 2nd and 10th of May we, Dimitris, Eleftheria and Ilia, participated in a training course with the title “Tools for sustainable Social Inclusion” which was organized in Paralimni, Cyprus by NECI EU. The participating countries were Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Portugal and Romania. The following text refers to the whole experience of the project and as well as to our personal thoughts and impressions.
At first we started with name games, icebreakers and team building activities. It was easy enough to learn the names of the participants because the group was not so big and the name games were really effective. As for the team building, which was “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”, we managed as a team even from the first day to have good cooperation and at the same time a lot of fun.
The following days were full of activities. At first, we had an introduction to the topic. We talked about exclusion first so through brainstorming with the other participants we now have a better idea for this term. Secondly we started to talk about social inclusion and we used different activities.
The most interesting activities were the ones with role playing because through theater you have the opportunity to express your feelings and at the same time you are in the shoes of another person. After these activities we were provided with the theory as well, so with the combination of them, we understood better inclusion.
Some of the participants felt more emotional in some case studies because when we performed the role we realized that some people are suffering in their everyday lives and these cases are not so rare.
Through some stories like the one with Abigail or the one with the park we understood that people perceive the same story differently because it depends on their bias. So when we heard others stories we figured that each person has a different bias and this defines his thoughts and perception about inclusion.
Some personal thoughts from us, about the project:
“It was pretty interesting and useful for me, the activity that we had to prepare by ourselves in teams: an energiser, an icebreaker, two activities and evaluation. Through the presentation of all of them and through feedback I think my team managed to do a great job and the outcome satisfied me a lot. Now I feel that i know more about social inclusion”
(Ilia)
“During the program, I had the opportunity to be included in many activities that were well organized by facilitators for specific participants/volunteers and improve my skills or even discover others. I became braver to speak in public and share hidden personal stories. It was also my first time that I contacted Croatian and Estonian people, learned information about their cultures and tasted their national cuisine. Overall, I never felt excluded l, which was the first and most important aim of the program.»
(Eleftheria)
Thank you for the opportunity!
Civil Education and Training Platform – Hellas 