still alive:)

nice to see some movements and words in weblog..
how are you doing, dear participants of the TC?
has summer brought new things, new ideas int oyour lifes?
greetings from Bulgaria, Marius

posting in the Blog

hello folks, some clarifications about posting here.
when you create a message, blank window appears with the line of all kinda tools.
for posting a picture, you choose the icon with the picture and choose the file, size and position.
in case your browser dosn't support these functions - try another one:) it should work.
kind greetings from sunny as well Lithuania! Marius

Flash News issue #9 [2006 07 17]

The Planning Tools

Today, the community of YEU Almada started the day by being told that they needed some tools. Everyone was scratching his head: what to do? what to do? where to find tools? Ms. Tanie – the TRAINER - was very nice to tell exactly what tools are needed. And surprise surprise - it turned out that they were not so difficult to find! A comment for this small, but effective energizer, was: “Hey people, never get scared when you face something which is impossible to do. There are many ways HOW to do it. There are even more people WHO will help you!”
The planning tools were used by the community to close the circle they started to construct at the beginning of their training course.

The Personal Action Plan

The community of YEU Almada also wrote a short term action plan. Three questions needed to be replied for this action plan:

WHAT SHALL I DO?
WHEN SHALL I DO IT?
WITH WHOM SHALL I DO IT?

The action plan, along with a letter addressed “To Me” (which reminded the community what they learned in Almada) was posted. Unfortunately, the post office here in Almada is a total disaster and the letter will take six months to arrive to destination. Looking on the positive side of this, the delay will make people reflect… did they manage to succeed to do what they promised themselves.

Coming to the feedback for the participants, trainers were interviewed in order to collect some ideas dedicated to YEU.

What to do? What to do?

There are two ways:
- to do nothing.
- to make it real!
Choose people, choooooose!

REFLECTIONS AND PHRASES FROM THE PARTICIPANTS

Keep the memories alive!/Charis
Keep your mind open!/Jorge
I’ll travel back in time to project the future./Luis
I am not the same person I was seven days ago!/Annarita
Finally I am a part of the European youth team and The Modern World!/Anar
Nice to share ideas, food & the ocean with you friends!/Sasha
Be as strong as the tsunami!/Patrycja

Organizers' word:

Dear participants,
What to do?
YEU is a space to do so many things so I wish you a great present and future involvement in the network and beyond, promoting our values and improving ourselves and others in the process. Let’s be more human and humanize our organization and our network!
Uélélé! Nuno Da Silva.

Dears!
Thank you for your smiles, energy and devotion to keep YEU ball rolling. I hope your trip back will be safe and you will loose neither luggage nor motivation to implement your new ideas and to make a change in the world. At least the YEU world…
Yours, Marius.

Hey, people!
Congratulations!!! We did it! We passed through our TC!
I think we will never forget these days. Keep on touch!!!
We are a crazy team☺
Buski, Alesia.

Lovely, friends and pets!
I wish that I could have spent more time with each of you… Who knows next time! Yeah?! 8 days are not enough to take all from everybody… Hopefully, this is not the end but just the beginning of wonderful and amazing friendship and networking!
Keep on grooving and moving the world, babies!
I will always keep you on my mind and heart…
See you and take care!
Big BEIJINHOS, Tanie.

This group was a real challenge for me, from the beginning. Like the cat, which you called, but there is no answer. But I like this cat because of this specific independence, more and more…
Marko.

Crazy ppl of Jah…
I hope that you have enjoyed your stay in Portugal!!! I loved to receive you all here… and for sure we will meet again soon!!!
Beijos na boca for all you panaskas and panaskinhas! Bruno

“QUESTO NON E’ UN ADDIO, SOLO UN ARRIVEDERCI”

Today was the last day of our Training Course here in Costa da Caparica; a day of learning, a day of tying up everything we learned in the last days together, a day of reflection and evaluation. From this group you will find people who are tired, others who are a bit homesick (even though during the final evaluation we didn’t see this. Woo hoo!!!!), others who are still full of energy and still want to party and enjoy the last few days in Lisbon, but the general feeling of the group is SADNESS. Sadness because our training course is coming to an end, sadness because we are leaving the people we have become friends with while living with them for ten days, sadness because we will not see each other for some time, sadness because a great experience is coming to an end… Yeah, we knew this all the time, because in this world every new beginning has an end – we only did not want to face this horrible truth. Today, suddenly and unexpectedly we had to face this terrible reality. It is our honest wish and hope that this terrible reality will not be as horrible as we were expecting it to be, I hope that tonight we will not say “goodbye” to each other, but only a mere “see you soon”. Tonight, as Nicoletta and Annarita would say: “non sarà un addio, solo un arrivederci”.We shared joys, sometimes maybe sorrows. We shared experiences, realities; we shared our culture, our knowledge. We helped each other become better people, better leaders. With the help of one another and a lot of input from each of the trainers we managed to become good, strong Leaders in Diversity.

So, farewell, good luck, bon voyage and thank you for everything dear friends. We just want to say: “SEE YEU SOON”

Flash News issue #8 [2006 07 16]

INGYO work

This morning trainers wanted us to have “double personality”. This activity made us feel how it is to work in head office, in funding body and in MO1, MO2, MO3. The experience was stressful for some of the participants and funny for the others just like in real life.

In the afternoon we were asked to start thinking about changes, in ourselves and in the organizations. This was the closing of the training circle. In the beginning of the TC each organization worked individually, then in intercultural groups and today back in national groups. Here we could use all the gained knowledge.
In the end of the evening session … Zzzzz… Zzzzz… Who??? What?? When?

Glossary

Head office
A place between post office, copy centre and a wonderland where everything is possible (or impossible). Usually you get out of there with a headache because of a lot of questions, copies and mails in waiting list.

Fundraising
Place you can find money if you look carefully. Or you can lick someone’s ass…

Member Organizations
They think that head office has nothing better to do than reply to their mails.


Change management: what we want to change after participation in this TC?

* to loose stereotypes;
* to be able to say no;
* my hair;
* to be more punctual;
* to be optimistic;
* to be more social;
* to be less lazy;
* to be more creative;
* to be more sensitive;
* job;

Flash News issue #7 [2006 07 15]

NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US! !

Am I really a coach ????????

During the morning session, we individually reflected on our experience within YEU, drawing our role in the organization. Then, we put the most necessary skills in the hierarchical pyramid.
YEU members become animals. Brrrr´s, miau´s and etc.
In the end of the session, there was a role play within four groups: frogs, lions, monkeys and cats. This experience showed us that we need to take into consideration each situation and then adapt types of coaching.


THE AFTERNOON SESSION: YOUTH POLICY & DECISION MAKING

Exercise: we were divided into four groups: -Local Government;
-NGO;
-Young Citizens Group;
-Media.
The exercise was all about negotiating with various stakeholders about different aspects of cooperation. The exercise was successful!

Here are some comments from participants:
Alexander: We must be clear as much as possible about explaining our requests!
Oana: We come from different countries; have different problems, and different ways to resolve them!
Marius: It is important to mark what we really want. This way, in the end we get it much easier!

« « « Also, very important » » »

FUNDRISING

At the end of the afternoon session, the group members saw a Power Point Presentation and got useful information about what to do and how to request EU funds as needed to implement youth projects.
Below are several web addresses that will help youth organizations to search for more information:
www.fundersonline.org
www.coe.int.youth
www.europe.eu.int./youth
www.training-youth.net

Flash News issue #6 [2006 07 14]

Intercultural day and team work

Who we really are?
To be or not to be?

Questions like above made participant minds start thinking & wondering. Answers were difficult to found, so the only solution was to make our “identity onion”.
Even though we have 35 degrees in Almada we found ourselves near to “personality icebergs”, so… what to do? We had iceberg crush… but we managed to survive. And we learned how to deal with difficult situations in intercultural exchanges.


What about cooperation and teamwork?
Does anyone know what the borders of Europe are?
Did the egg really break?
Is vazeline written with a v?
Team work and cooperation made the core team staring our achievements admiring!!!
We finally manage to gather 1245 points…
And of course football until night ...beautiful!


[anthem of TC 2006]

In Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun,
in Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun
hello Almada,
Lisbon obrigada
We are doing crazy things,
But also a team.
In Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun,
in Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun
hello Almada,
Lisbon obrigada.
We need to activate and
also motivate.
In Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun,
in Costa da Caparica is a lot of fun,
hello Almada,
Lisbon obrigada.

Flash News issue #5 [2006 07 13]

"The BUS" helped us understand the differences between messages we’d like to send for various people. And that we should find the most relevant information for each member of society: bishop, 15-teen boy, school headmaster, mother of teenage daughter, etc. After, we prepared flipcharts with different targets (media, non-organized youth, university, schools, local community as well). But even if the targets were different, messages sometimes was too similar:

º Who we are
º What are we doing
º What are goals
º Where we are
º Where are we going

So, we had the target, found out the tools, chose the most sufficient message. But who, who does help us to spread our ideas & values among the potential members? Do you know this open-minded, unselfish, fair, hard-working people? Aaaa? Yes, of course, this is VOLUNTEERS.

An important idea that was discussed is WHO IS VOLUNTEER? What is clear definition of volunteer? Question is still open…

Roger Hart’s THEORY (on participation)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Research of the day

How you find food in the hotel?

Excellent 3.7%

Good 40.7%

Usual 44.4%

Bad 7.4%

Very bad 3.7%

Are you sleeping enough every day?

Yes 29.6%

No 55.5%

From day to d ay 14.8%

How you feel dynamic of the group?

Good 51.8%

Normal 48.1%

Too slow 0%

Do you find TC information useful?

Yes 96.2%

A little bit 3.7%

No 0%

How often do you visit the bar?

Only once 14.8%

Some times 74%

A live in the bar 11%

What do you prefer more?

Role playing 48.1%

Listening trainers 14.8 %

Preparing flipcharts 18.5 %

Discussing 11.1 %

Doing nothing 7.4 %

(mixed) 3.7 %

prepared by (c) Maria (RYE) & Aleksander

Flash News issue #4 [2006 07 11]

A little step for Europe, a BIG step for YEU!

Yesterday was a GREAT day! In the morning we learned how culture and leadership can affect the “life” of the organizations.

We finally got a clear idea about some fundamental issues like structure, specific gooooooooooooals (!!!!!!!!!!) and strategies to achieve our targets. We understand that among all the organizations the mission was almost the same.

On July 11^th evening we “begged” for money, Anar became Christina and we make ritual (taka taka taka) so we can catch the attention of new members.

Comments

Almost the most famous girl of the newspaper, Annarita, declared that: “I learned a lot today and I have a lot of information to take back with me to my country” and the other Italian participant said to us: “I like a lot the knowledge that we get from the theatrical methods about different kinds of organizations.”

GLOSSARY OF THE DAY

gooooooooooooals(!!!!!!!!!!):

Is the objectives that you are going conquered in your specific mission/life. We inspired from mundial about the writing.

(taka taka taka):

Was example that we show how to get more members for one organization with a purpose. The original ritual you can see in the film “Baraka”

theatre:

“Is the mime of an act which is great and complete. The sentences have certain metro, you do not just say the story but you make it real so everyone will be able to learn through this procedure.”/ Aristotelis

Flash News issue #3 [2006 07 10]

Gap vs. Space

On July 10^th a group of leaders in diversity discussed the reason for the existence of youth organisations in today’s civil society. “Are NGOs filling existing gaps of needs of the youth or are they creating new spaces for youngsters?” – this was the Big Question for the participants for today.

Two ideological gangs fought against each other. Both of the alternatives were supported by participants with strong arguments and some also reached a compromise by agreeing that different NGOs fill existing gaps and create new spaces for young people at the same time.

Refreshing news…

In case you don’t remember what you did on Sunday, let us refresh your very, but very short memory.

The greatest team of trainers leading this Training Course gave us today the potentials how to map an organization in the external environment and expand its bidirectional cooperation with other structures.

A wide analysis of needs of the youth and opportunities plus threats of NGOs led us to an environmental scanning of our NGOs. After a sharp comparison of these needs in different regions, both local and international level, we unanimously agreed that what we need is to relate YEU International to local level needs.

GLOSSARY of the day:

Organisation map:

A sheet of paper which helps to not get lost in the organizational labyrinths and is also a way to create modern art.

Environmental scan:

Exercise to work out lazy brain muscles. Used in environmental engineering, NASA and youth organisations. Side effects: can cause obsessive thoughts of “making changes”.

Flash News issue #2 [2006 07 09]

Come on people… LET’S MAKE A CIRCLE!!!

Europe and Asia meet once again for discussing major youth issues. Their similarities create a long bridge between them and make them believe that if they want to fly nobody can stop them! So it all depends on clouds!

«I believe I can fly ...I believe I can touch the sky..

I think about it every night and day …spread my wings and fly away..»

R. Kelly
writte by, Charris (first day cloud reporter)

Today a cloud in underwear was a very unique thing… but this wasn’t the only joyful moment.

Clouds washed some elephants with such a satisfaction that only clouds can understand. They were polishing their nails and painting their hair without knowing their orientation!!

Lunch time came with a lot of clouds sandwiches…

After hours party…was as a trainer said: “totally disaster” but in a very good way. So the laughter is one of the clouds methods to relax and to prepare for the Next day!

Reflection: Interview with clouds!

Beside the intercultural process it is a really nice experience to put your “brain – bicycles“ to work in very creative way.

The question to be put is… what did we come here for?

· For individual experience

· For helping others to understand your reality

· For improve your contribution to your community

· For being useful to the world you live in!

· To make the ”World a better place!”

For having fun in a lot of languages: petrecere, vakarelis, tusovka, fiesta, party, pidu…and a lot more

three tenors gives special performance at Costa da Caparica!!!

YEU 20 celebration!!!!

night of 2006 july 8...
+ nice weather...
+ portugal...
+ 21 participant..
+ YEU 20 anniversary
= PPPPAAAAARRRTTTTTTYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

after YEU Bingo, TOSTS and CHAMPAGNE we alll are singing KARAOKEEEEEE!!!
YEU is great FUN - it is unanimous decision!!!!