YMCA Berlin Work Camp 2016

Latest News YMCA Berlin Work Camp 2016 By Marija Tomevska In the period from 19th to 28th August in Berlin was held the trinational Work Camp organized by the YMCA, which was attended by 25 young representatives from Macedonia, Germany and France. The participants were accommodated in the youth hostel “Gaste-Etage” located on the street Osloer, where the camp acted as one big family, where each participant took care of the food preparation and the maintenance of the space on a daily basis. The first day began with introducing of the participants from the three countries with a help of couple interesting games, followed by language animations. Throughout the duration of the work camp the participants used rented bicycles in order to accelerate the movement around Berlin and thus closely to acquainte with the beauties of the German capital and the sense of freedom that the cycling brings. With the bicycles they visited the airport Tempelhof which is no longer in use, but it is now transformed into recreational space for bicyclists, joggers, rollerbladers, urban gardeners & yoga enthusiasts where the residents and the tourists spend their free time. With this visit they learned about the concept of urban gardening and got ideas on how to organise an urban garden, which was supposed to be done near the French Centre in Berlin. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group was responsible for the cleanup of the landfill that was located near the French Centre in Berlin where the urban garden was supposed to be formed. The second group was performing activities in a workshop where they built furniture and props from wooden pallets and other natural materials that were going to be placed in the urban garden as equipment. This working part durated every day for four hours, afterwards followed by language animations and games in French language center. During the free time that the participants had, they visited the Bundestag, Mauer Park, Alexanderplatz, Berlin Wall, The Memorial Museum of the Jews, Tiergarten, and they also enjoyed swimming in one of the many ponds near the Tegel airport. One of the most interesting evenings was the international evening where all of the participants prepared traditional food from their country, they presented it to the others, tried the different specialties and drinks and sang traditional songs. The last day of the camp was reserved for the presentation of the final form of the urban garden. Plants were planted in large pots by all participants of the camp, and afterwads was organized a party with barbeque and German beer, where not only the participants were present, but also the local citizens from the nearby buildings. After the ending of the official part, all of the participants shared their experience with the successfully organized camp and the way the language animations were held, which helped in getting familiar with Macedonian, German and French language. Apart from the learning and practicing the three languages, the pleasure of meeting seemingly different people, get close to them and to create something together suggests that we, the young people of Europe are not so different after all.

Empowering Summer Camp Youth Leaders – a fantastic experience for everyone

Latest News Empowering Summer Camp Youth Leaders – a fantastic experience for everyone By Jovche Krsteski May 2016, a period when I had an incredible journey, a valuable learning, a memorable experience that will stay in my mind and soul forever. It was not an ordinary trip; it was an enormous opportunity for discovering myself, for meeting new people and new country , for expanding my knowledge, skills and creativity, for finding out my purpose and enjoyment. This magical voyage was a lovely, enthusiastic camp training program known as the “Empowering Summer Camp Youth Leaders”, simply called the “ESYL”. The whole story took place in the Netherlands, the beautiful, flat, green land of the tulips, countless canals and bicycles. The kindness, politeness and friendliness of the warm Dutch people make the country more adorable and lovely. In the center of Holland lies a small town named Leusden and near the town, there it was: “The YMCA” Camp, a place where the ESYL training happened. The huge campsite was impressive, set in a big forest with many tents, some of them prepared for us. As we reached to our part of the camp, we were immediately welcomed by the friendly Lithuanians who brought us the positive energy that we also had. Conversation started in the same moment. And while the other countries were coming one by one, we also shared the welcoming greetings and bonding like the Lithuanian campers shared with us. After us came Romania, The Netherlands, Kosovo and Moldova. Everyone increased the euphoria and excitement more and more. Somehow we began to talk with them like we knew each other for years, no awkward moments, no shyness, no introversion… Everybody wanted to learn more about each other’s country, culture, every-day life, habits, food, traditions… Even though it is a bit cultural shock to talk, play and laugh with boys and girls you met two hours ago, I figured that I like that, meeting new characters, perspectives, personalities, feelings. The moment we finished dinner on which we were coincidentally completely mixed, I knew that this camp will be fantastic. And it was! Not only for finding many new great people, but also for upgrading myself on a higher level in future bigger challenges. Learning how to be a leader, a good communicator, a team player, a volunteer manager, a workshop creator, how to act and react in practice situations, learning how to discover your true talents, skills, motives and way of acting. It was a program that helped us to create the perfect combination of success, the perfect combination of our success. The new relationships between all of us were also strengthened through the workshops. The day was full with many other interesting activities and learning experiences, every free time was spent on hanging out on the trampoline, playing table-tennis or volleyball, discussing and laughing on the benches, during meals or while walking to the tents. Everything that happened was funny and wonderful; doing pushups for being too late, singing “Cheap Thrills” or “YMCA”, staying late in the night for playing one more round of “Wolves of Walkerdam”, enjoying laughing with people even though they don’t know English quite well but you want to have fun… Going to bed late, getting up early in the morning, but ready and energized for any new activity, for new entertainment with lovely people for today, sad for all the hugs that were so strong and warm on the departure day but happy that you will meet all of them again one day… Every second, every moment is memorable and magical. ESYL was not an ordinary camp; it was a special journey for me. A unique, sweet and epic one 😀 .