Service Projects at GLOW & YMLP camps 2019

Latest News Service Projects at GLOW & YMLP camps 2019 At camps, young men and women across the country are coming together and they participate in various activities like workshops on various topics, they have sports activities, they have employability fair, they have activities where they are developing deeper cross-cultural understanding among themselves – but they also have different outdoor activities, of which the volunteering aspect is predominantly stressed – and that is the service project done at camp. Our facilitators are responsible for designing and implementing the Project Design Module intended for campers to envision an idea for a service project at the camp, the to work through it, prepare the materials needed for executing the service project and finaly organize every little detail in order this to really happen. And, at this year we had several smaller service projects and one big. The several smaller service projects included mural painting with the camp logo in indoor camp facilities, painting and decorating several wooden palettes intended for holding vases with freshly planted flowers (for decorating outdoors of the camp facilities) and cleaning and painting with protective paint the wooden signals in the shape of arrows for marking of the camp grounds. The big service project was all about outdoors. The general idea was to gather all together and to clear an old shorter path through the forest, abandoned in the meantime, but leading to an open space in the forest that was used for activities. This spot was accessible, but from a longer half round path, used for other purposes. Then to put, before already prepared, long pieces of wood on the sides of the cleared path and to fix them in the ground, so they will stay there and basically give an outline of the forest path itself. And since this was a major thing, it was not possible to be done in one service project, so we did it in two phases – the first one at the YMLP Camp. and the other one at the GLOW Camp that was after the YMLP. The goal is to have good practice of the whole process – form idea to implementation of service activity that will be later reproduced in the clubs, with the purpose of doing this in a local community setting. All went well at the end and the path was cleared and marked! It is now ready for use for the camp facilities, but also for the other local people Mins near by. And of course, at the end be want to especially thank our corporate partners and donors: Mermeren Kombinat, OKTA SASA Mine TAY Airports, Alkaloid and Kromberg & Schubert ESM. EED. Horus as well as individual donors for providina the monetary donations to make the camp possible.

Wonderful days in Denmark 2019

Latest News Wonderful days in Denmark 2019 Wonderful Days is the biggest national event of YMCA and IVKA Denmark. It is a festival where in a period of 6 days more than 1000 participants and volunteers gather to have an amazing party together with guests from more than 10 countries. This year the event took place from July 8th to 13th. The goal of the event with all the workshops and discussions was clear to them – without action there is no reaction. We learned that we need to take responsibility for our actions, we need to take care of the environment because we are part of it and help build it right. We also learned that we don’t have to go with the flow and let things flow. These were some of the questions that were presented to us here. There were many open discussions, fun and physical activities related to the theme of the year. To illustrate, we played volleyball on the beach, sang and danced the night away in the performance tent, did yoga in the morning, played with fireballs, and had vintage prepared by the fire. It’s the perfect place to meet new friends from all over the world, challenge yourself and have fun for six days. All in all, we definitely had the best time of our lives. The beautiful days helped me to think about my actions, to think about the importance of nature and that I will continue to take care of everything that surrounds me.

Updating the Camp Standards in France 3

Latest News Updating the Camp Standards in France 3 Jul, 2019 This event is a continuation of the activities for agreeing upon the common standards for the camps in YMCA Europe. This project is a part of wider and long-term international cooperation, coordinated by YMCA Europe. This time we focused on management of human resources. The host of the conference was YMCA France, and the project was funded by a grant obtained from the French National Agency of Erasmus+. The partner organisations represent 16 European countries that sent 40 participants. Traditionally, the team of trainers had an expert provided by YMCA USA. The programme of training was implemented in the form of workshops that belonged to 5 key modules: Module l’Bullding a Good Team is Essential” Module 2. “Tra ning System for Camp Staff and Volunteers” Module 3: To Be Employer, To Be Employee” Module 41-Human Resources – Challenges) Module 5: “Camps in Euroce Programme Coalitiont The prograrime me edoc estes thet pnesented frasma Page 1 Pease. – 00 + Youthpass. The venue was Le Rocheton YMCA Centre – a place, which has all the necessary facilities for running training events. This is also a place where migrants, refugees and asylum seekers have their temporary home – the YMCA of France is well known as an organization that runs such projects. This was very important for the conference programme as it included sessions, where the matter of diversity, tolerance, prevention from xenophobia and violence at camps was a crucial topic. The project was the continuation and development of the YMCA Europe Camp programme, however, it has brought some new elements: for the first time we had participants and trainers from Southern and Eastern Europe and there were some representatives of non-YMCA organisations that run camps. All that makes the project and its outcome widely available and open to European communities. Wator wew mn o testr actwioCo ns iem s Bermang hron hca cagSoaCsa Traditionally the YMCA of the USA sent a trainer – Bernard Rocca (second time in this role) provided several sessions that helped to ear and adopt American methodology of running summer camps and training human resources – that was extremely valuable. The entire conference was a good example of the interaction of overseas and European experts. Among the participants and facilitators was Claude Redoute, President of YMCA Le Rocheton Thanks to him a lot of erganisationa Issues Vient smoothly and the conference became much more attractive for the participants. Аctvties and dissemination of the тtraining was co-funded by the French National Aгеncy or Erasmus+. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Spring) 2019

Latest News Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Spring) 2019 The GLOW and YMLP Youth Fund by YMCA provides opportunities for GLOW&YMLP Clubs throughout the country to implement skills theyve learned in service project design and management by writing a grant and implementing a project to improve their community, In this years round of grant applications, 11 clubs were awarded the grant based on their project proposals, written by youth leaders, in the areas of environment, civic engagement and arts. GLOW & YMLP Club Ohrid decided to use their Service Project Grant -to establish recycling stations at each of the four secondary schools in Ohrid. Working with the student leaders from each of “St Cyril and Metodius? sister schools. (St. Kliment Ohridski, St Naum Ohrldski and Vanco Pitoseski), the Club provided each school with paint, tools and banner material so each could create its own unique recycling banner and containers. PAKOMAK Skopje agreed to donate four recycling containers to each school, and a local recycling company agreed to pick up the collected materials on a regular basis during the school year, After this, students trom each school wil be able to recycle paper, plastle, aluminum and glass every day! GLOW & YMLP Club Kocani had their spring service project where they picked up trash and spray painted over graffiti at a local kindergarten. As previous GLOW & YMLP campers, the leaders as well as the mentors were more than proud to lead the club by allowing members to talk about tabboos, organize parties with them and share their knowledge. We sincerely hope they taught them something worth knowing! As leaders, their hope is that the club becomes even better with the next-year leaders. FORESTS ALE CAREN ICEANS ARE BLUE EEP THE EARTH CLEAN GLOW & YMLP Club Kumanovo volunteers painted a beautiful environmental awareness mural at the local high school, as well as doing a trash clean up! Here is what they had to say about their club and the past year: Just realizing how fast time flies as this year’s club meetings comes to an end. it was truly an interesting experience and as people came and left all leaving a unique mark with their words and actions our club bloomed and grew into what it is right now, and this is just the beginning. Our biggest success would have to be when we all gathered in one place for the service project which turned out beyond arnazing and we’re all super proud of it. Having an impact on the society in which we live in is one of the main things about GLOW and YMIR, and we are planning on doing exactly that. in the future, With much more organization and With dedicated members we will make our dub a place for improving our inner SeIVeS and Eventhing arcund us.” GLOW Club and YMLP Club Gostivar had their Serne service project where they spread the love w passng out complimentsaround their community GLOW and YMLP Clubs Kicevo completed their Spring service project by handing out handmade bracelets, flower seeds, and compliments all around the city. A beautiful idea that will help their community bloom in multiple ways! GLOW and YMLP Club Gevgelija held their spring service project at the local kindergarten.! The club painted a nice mural on the wall and planted flowers in the garden! GLOW and YMLP Club Shtip had their service project where they partnered with their local rotary club to plant flowers and paint a playground at at local primary school! GLOW and YMLP Club Bitola had their spring service project and partnered with their local Red Cross. Together they painted a mural at the rehabilitation center for children with hearing and speaking impairments. GLOW & YMLP Club Tetovo had their spring service project teamed up with other local organizations and selected areas with the most garbage. They enjoyed the beautiful weather and serving their community by picking up trash. GLOW & YMLP Club Struga had their spring service project where spent the afternoon picking up trash outside a daily center in their community. GLOW & YMLP Club Delchevo had a cleanup and repainted murals at their local park. Check out their before and after pictures of their beautiful murals. We want to especially thank our corporate partners and abhors: mermeren Komolhat UKiA, donors for providing the monetary donations to make this activities possible.

Camp Staff Orientation Training 2019

Latest News Camp Staff Orientation Training 2019 On March 23, 2019, YMCA Bitola hosted a full-day training for camp staff, which took place at Nova International School in Skopje. The event was attended by 80 facilitators, instructors, instructors-in-training and support staff within the framework of the Youth Leadership Project (YMLP ) and Girls Lead Our World (GLOW) – our leadership development programs. YMCA also welcomed two new media interns: Ivo Damanovski and Vera Solevska, who will be hired to support our communications and social media team. . The daily sessions were started by the YMCA leadership team – Viktor Iliev, Jovce Krsteski and Marcus Harris. The leadership team praised the diverse ethnic, religious and geographic backgrounds of this year’s staff, and outlined the expectations of YMLP and GLOW staff. After the opening remarks, participants had the opportunity to break into working groups to discuss topics such as: Effective public speaking and facilitation, camp setup/assembly, and managing behavioral issues among others. We have an energetic team preparing for YMLP and GLOW 2019 and we know this will be the best year yet! We are already hard at work designing the schedule and recruiting this year’s group of campers and would like to especially thank Nova International School for being open to our event, as well as our corporate sponsors Okta, Mermeren Kombinat, TAV Aerodromi and Kromberg and Shubert for sponsoring the activities on your day.This event would not be a great success without you!

Testimonials 2018

Latest News Testimonials 2018 Riste Gjordjievski – Olde Vechte, Netherlands “I think that the EVS projects of Erasmus+ are generally a good idea and an opportunity for young people from all over Europe and Macedonia to be able to travel more easily, to upgrade themselves culturally, to learn more about themselves and about all cultures in Europe. In the Olde Vechte center in the Netherlands, there is even more than that, there is too much socializing, enjoyment and fun, and sometimes work, which is still an opportunity to improve practical knowledge, improve English and communication skills, learn a word from the languages ​​of almost every country. I met people from Cyprus, Greece, Portugal, France, and Italy, all the way to Norway. After these EVS projects, you can meet and create friendships with young people literally from all over Europe. Through various games and entertainment held every Wednesday in the organization, I learned a lot about the Netherlands, and about the cultural differences and similarities of young people in all of Europe. I have many friends and acquaintances who went to EVS projects in different places in Europe, but I still think that I made the right choice by choosing this particular organization and I got too many life experiences that I will never forget.” Pece, Nadica, Andrej, Marijana and Slave – Natural Like in the Hollywood industry – when a movie becomes a hit, you have to make a sequel! Well, last year’s hit was Natural (only one person reprises a role in this year’s installment of the franchise, and that’s Pece). This summer, we attended a youth exchange seminar that dealt with both employability and outdoor activities. We shared our ideas with 50 other people from 10 different countries and we all interpreted their experiences differently, but we were eager to share our impressions with each other. The entire project was divided into four parts. This exchange is truly life-changing, as we have experienced life at both its highest and lowest levels, and found it to be the same. After all, life is life and we are the ones who hold the key to it. We own the future, and the future owns us.” Iskra, Angela, and Anastasia – Innovation Camp in Switzerland 2018 “Again in Leysin, Switzerland, from September 20th to 24th, this year the innovation camp was held. This camp covered the same topics: youth and parliament, environmental action and advocacy, mental health, and youth empowerment. We as ex-campers of GLOW were sent by YMCA Bitola, to continue our involvement by creating clubs in some of our local towns, where ex-campers are present. These clubs are a new initiative and sharing the experience with others has been very productive for us.” Gordana Blagojevska – EVS experience in Aalborg, Denmark “It was a pleasure to be a part of KFUM-KFUK in Aalborg, in these 8 months I spent here, I had an amazing time, and experience meeting many people. I saw the Danish culture, the differences we have, but also many similarities. I am very lucky to have been a part of an amazing organization and to be surrounded by amazing people from whom I have learned a lot, I hope others have learned something from me as well. I just want to say thank you very much to everyone.” Filip Cvetanov – Caring to communicate – Czech Republic “After returning from this event, my adaptation to daily routines was fine, although I noticed that people tend to be attracted to me more than usual. I also noticed in my family that they become calmer than usual. What remains alive from this experience is the fact that if I’m not in the right energy, things are done around me without my participation in them. The experience has brought me awareness of how I can be more in tune with what is happening around me. I think this is the most important experience I got from the entire training that will help me shape my own path better. For me, returning to my daily routines was a bit strange, because we spent 10 days in a completely different environment, it was 10 days of love, appreciation, calmness, non-judgment, and being aware and feeling everything around us, like a different dimension of freedom. My surrounding home is usually not always like that, it was disappointing because now I knew how things could be. However, I decided to work on myself and try to implement what I learned and improve more and more. It was hard to adjust at first, but now I’m trying to use what I’ve learned and make it work. I can’t write everything I’ve implemented or learned because it would take too long, but I’m grateful for everything.” Andriana Aleksovska – training course in the Netherlands “The camp in the Netherlands was an amazing experience. Its purpose was to improve our camping skills and learn new things about this area. We got to know many different games and information about camping, dangers and consequences, and how to escape from them. A lot of attention was dedicated to leadership as well. We stayed in tents and it was a unique experience, anyone who wants to be a part of our camps like GLOW or YMLP must experience it. We learned a lot of new things, which will not only help us in organizational camps but also in everyday life. I just love these camps, because they help you not only improve your skills in the area that is our main topic but also give you a priceless opportunity for self-development. From Macedonia it was me, Marija Luseva, Mihail Naskovski, Fatlinda Zekiri, Valenja Ilevska, Andriana Aleksovska.” Martin and Radmila – “Free ways” – Netherlands “After being part of the short program called “Free Paths” of the Olde Vehte Foundation, we decided to continue our stay in the Netherlands. We did it through the EVS program of the Erasmus+ platform. We were happy and able to contribute and help

Impact Summit GLOW-YMLP 2018

Latest News Impact Summit GLOW-YMLP 2018 On December 14th and 15th, YMCA Bitola hosted the third annual Impact Summit at the Continental Hotel in Skopje. Each year, the Impact Summit serves as an opportunity for YMLP and GLOW club leaders to showcase their service projects and explain the impact of their projects in their communities, and most importantly, it serves as an opportunity for club members to meet and reach out to other civic young leaders throughout Macedonia. This year, 77 club leaders attended the event in Skopje to showcase their service projects. Regional clubs were responsible for designing, implementing and fundraising their own service projects, including applying for grants from YMCA Bitola for any materials they required. Clubs this year had extremely creative and impactful projects including: working with youth with special needs, upgrading playgrounds, running healthy eating workshops and designing city murals among many others. In addition to collaborating on service projects, the YMCA invited special guests from the Peace Corps to train students on topics to encourage clubs to keep giving back. Until now, these summits had one-day agendas, but this year we had two days to offer the following curriculum focused on: 1. Fundraising and development of corporate relations 2. Recruiting and promoting active engagement among clubs 3. Investment management 4. Product Data Management From recent survey results, students were extremely satisfied with the weekend classes and events. We especially want to thank our donors, the European Foundation for Democracy (EED) who supported our work with the development of the clubs, as well as our corporate partners OKTA: Tinex, SASA mine, Alkaloid, Pekabesco, Zhikol and other corporate and individual donors for providing monetary donations to enable our service projects and the impact of the Summit. We look forward to seeing all we can accomplish in our communities this spring.

Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Autumn) 2018

Latest News Service Projects of GLOW & YMLP clubs (Autumn) 2018 GLOW and YMLP Clubs Leading Positive Change in Their Communities! Every year, our GLOW and YMLP campers reconvene in their communities to initiate and lead a series of service projects throughout Macedonia. All service projects are developed within regional YMLP and GLOW clubs – local, youth-led clubs which empower young men and women to become leaders in their communities. These youth are often GLOW or YMLP Camp alumni who, through their club activitles, are able to apply what they have learned at camp about leadership and civic engagement in their communities. Our clubs were responsible for designing implementing and fundraising their own service projects including applying to grants from YMCA Bitola for any materials they require. We’re excited to share the below projects YMLP and GLOW leaders carried ou throughout ther communities in Fall 2018! We also want to especially thank our donors: the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), and our corporate partners OKTA. Tinex, SASA Mine. Alkaloid. Pekabesko. Zikol and other corporate and individual donors for providing the monetary donations to make the 2018 service projects possible. Thank you clubs for leading change in your communities! Kocani: Club members purchased blanket making materials for families in need for the winter. Club members worked together to make their own blankets and deliver the blankets to familles who needed additional warm clothes for the winter season. weder. Ohrid and Strumica: In Ohrid and Strumica: club members sought to fight trash around their schools, by cleaning the trash around around local playgrounds and schools. In Ohrid made trash receptacles brighter and more obvious to the eye with bright paints. In Strumica, club members created an environmental awareness campaign so keep their city clean. Kicevo and Bitola: In Kicevo and Bitola, club members and local community members sought to cover hate speech in their community. (a swastika). The Kicevo club painted an electrical box with a friendly mural. Similar in Bitola, club members painted a mural of the mountainous Pelegonia region over hate speech in their community. Shtip: Realizing youth with special needs continue to be a marginalized community in Shtip. The club of Shtip did arts and crafts with 20 disadvantaged students in their community. The community of Shtip hopes to build lasting connections with the youth they Supported. Deicevo: In Delcevo, club members sought to create a more comfortable space for people with special needs in their community. They painted the day center with colorful murals to make the kids feel more welcomed. Skopje: in Skopje, the club led workshops in their community about leadership and the importance of freedom of expression.

Formal reception for corporate partners 2018

Latest News Formal reception for corporate partners 2018 On October 29, 2018, the YMCA for the fifth time received the corporate partners of the premium leadership camps GLOW and IMLP. This was an event where we reminisced about the fond memories of this year’s camps and thanked our corporate partners without whom the entire YMCA youth development program would not be possible. The event was opened by the Executive Director of the YMCA, Viktor Iliev, who welcomed everyone, thanked them for their interest and then invited the American Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Jess Bailey, who spoke about his visits to the GLOW and ILMP camps, the progress he saw in the development of the program and determination of the young people who could testify. After that, Sonja Boyarovska, Tinex’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager spoke about the importance of investing in the youth of this country. Ambassador Bailey shared some thoughts on the importance of investing in the youth in Macedonia and also introduced the attendees to the idea and need for holding these camps. Afterwards, some of our campers gave short speeches and shared their personal experiences of their participation with the guests present. YMCA Executive Director Viktor Iliev spoke about the importance of outdoor education and camps as a form of informal learning, after which he presented the awards to this year’s corporate partners: Gold Sponsor: OKTA, Silver Sponsors: Tinex and SASA Mine, Bronze Sponsors: Alkaloid . Peccabesco and Zhikol. Then there was a period of informal socializing with some of our campers. This was an opportunity for the representatives of the companies to become better acquainted with the results of the program through the personal stories of the campers, but also an opportunity for further cooperation with the YMCA and the Peace Corps. This was an excellent opportunity for companies to demonstrate their corporate responsibility and build a good image for themselves and the products/services they offer. Becoming partners in the implementation of the GLOW and IMLP youth development program of the YMCA means creating a tradition in the development of top leaders in Macedonia supported by one of the best companies in the country and the region. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Here and now in Romania

Latest News Here and now in Romania Here and now was a training course for 26 youth workers from 8 countries (Bulgaria, Italy, Macedonia, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Romania). It was held from July 25 – August 1, 2018, in Maramures, Romania. A project organized by the association YMCA Baia Mare, financed by the Erasmus Plus Program, with participants aged 18+, youth workers, young leaders, active volunteers in their organizations, volunteer coordinators, staff, etc. they were the beneficiaries of this event. The development of social competences (e.g. critical thinking, sales, communication, trust, helpfulness, problem-solving skills, leadership, acceptance and tolerance, intercultural learning), by experimenting with different methods of non-formal education using “Going Outdoors” as a tool for social inclusion were the main goals of this training. The main goals were to support the participants in the creation and design of different and innovative open methods for inclusion in order to reach at-risk youth, as well as promoting the importance of non-formal education and social inclusion methods. The first days of the training were indoor activities, brainstorming games and communication style discovery. The other days we had activities like energizers, teamwork, rope climbing techniques, reflections, we had an intercultural night, the World Coffee, etc. We had the opportunity to discuss with a group of participants about our ideas for creating our own activity, and to do this with other participants. Any journey can profoundly change the way we experience our world, and this was unique and invaluable to my personal growth. It was a great opportunity to look at new cultures, to communicate with people, to share different impressions and thoughts. Achieving common goals with joint effort was present in all activities and this played an important role in building my skills. As an additional issue, it increased my desire to acquire new knowledge and develop myself, because only by self-improvement can we contribute to society and influence others. The here and now is all we have, and if we play it right, it’s all we need! “After some time away from such trainings, I renewed myself and allowed myself to become one with everything we were doing. I was curious about every activity and forced my mind to think “How do we do this now?” and we all came up with different ideas, gained trust in each other, challenged each other, learned and eventually met people who taught me how to care and loving myself, others who have inspired me to never stop dreaming and achieve my goals. I made friends and had wonderful moments that I will never forget. These trainings opened the curtains and offered me a chance to see a colorful multicultural world, take something from everyone’s uniqueness, learn new things and improve my professional skills. Youth has so much to give, the world can be a better place to live in and Erasmus Plus is all about that.