November 12, 2014
Moldova
Caritas Czech Republic, with the support of the Erasmus + programme, organized a training called “Wear the COAT, bring the change! Youth involvement in COmmunity AcTions” in October 2014. Young people from Poland, Belarus, Moldova (including the Transnistria region) and the Czech Republic took part in the training.
Representatives of five non-governmental organizations were involved in the training: Stowarzyszenie Moje Marzenia Spelniaja Sie (a Polish association: “My dreams will come true”), Civil Forum (a Belarusian organization), SUCCESS (a Moldovan association for fostering women’s business activities) and a civil association called Hodina H (from the Czech Republic).
The training session was chaired by Lorenzo Nava and hosted by Štěpánka Pecháčková. It took place in Prague and Pelhřimov, where the participants could have a chat with people from local public administration and local NGOs. For nine days, young people engaged in various activities, learned how to prepare a project of their own and find potential partners for their projects as well as new friends.
There was a lot on the program. Young people learnt how to analyse beneficiaries’ needs and create a logical project framework, identify and analyse problems and find possible solutions. They also got an insight into the project management process as a whole. The chair and host of the event emphasized the ability to cooperate within the group of participants. Thus, inter-cultural evenings, lectures on social inclusions and various other activities with the purpose of bringing people together took place.
Near the end of the training, the participants, divided into groups and worked on a project of their own. In these projects, they took into account their interests, not the background from which they were coming. As a result, young people with different opinions and worldviews got to work together; language barriers were breached, which was one of the goals of the whole meeting.
The project was a success thanks to the active approach of all participants. All of them were really eager to learn and participate in all the activities. They accepted every challenge and worked with great enthusiasm. For those who were active, there was an opportunity to get a small project grant. Despite the early deadline, representatives of the majority of the organizations submitted project proposals. At the training, demanding theoretical foundations were followed by various warm-up activities and games and vice-versa. After hours spent in the training room, the participants thoroughly enjoyed an activity that took place in the Sapa market in Prague. There, the young people had a task to approach the vendors and give them information leaflets about a Viatnamese information phone line of Caritas Czech Republic.
