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nty years old and participating in the Erasmus Plus project with Youmore Morcelli Giovani: this is in short the experience that three young students from Chiari lived between March 28th and April 8th, when, during the Easter school break, have joined a European exchange project in Kaunas, Lithuania, themed „We grow Leaders for Europe“ and thus, kicking off the programming developed by Youmore Morcelli Giovani in Chiari.
The Project Coordinator, Justina Krauledaitė, reports: „The Italian group led by Leandro Savino from Bologna was, on one hand, made of young students from Chiari, Valeria Carminati, Cristiana Kacori and Giulia Cavalleri and, on the other hand of Jacopo and Beatrice from Verona. Giulia, Valeria and Cristiana have opened up the annual programming of 2015 Youmore Morcelli Giovani developed by Project Manager, Sona Arevshatyan.
In Kaunas, the next most important Lithuanian city after the Capital Vilnius, our three ambassadors have even had the opportunity to promote Chiari Eurodesk activities using illustrative materials on the Italian artistic beauty and to make known Youmore Morcelli Giovani to the other European participants at this international exchange. Cristiana, Giulia and Valeria are the first three young girls from Chiari who received the YouthPass, the Erasmus Plus certification through „Youth in Action“ programme, useful as individual recognition of the skills acquired at European level. New destinations are already available for other international experiences organized especially for young people from Chiari in very advantageous conditions, consisting of 100% reimbursement for travel expenses, meals and accommodation, all thanks to Youmore Morcelli Giovani. To learn more about our activities, we kindly invite young people aged 18 to 25 years old to visit us at the Youmore Morcelli Giovani Secretariat, Monday to Friday, from 16.00 to 18.00. See you there!“
Upon their return from Lithuania, the three young girls from Chiari provided us with their impressions on the experience lived in Kaunas. Cristiana Kacori, who attends the fifth year of Rovato Scientific High School, Giulia Cavalleri, graphics graduated from IPS Falcone of Palazzolo and Valeria Carminati, enrolled in the first year of Mathematics at the University of Milan, have embraced for the first time the Youmore Morcelli Giovani proposal consisting of an international exchange, which brought them via airplane from Milan to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, before reaching their final destination, Kaunas, by train.
„We were the only Italians within a group of forty young people coming from Lithuania, Germany, Turkey, Portugal and the Czech Republic“, Valeria said. „The Conference themed We grow Leaders for Europe consisted of several „lectures“ as theoretical activity as well as several practical workshop and exchange of experiences between the various groups. We had no difficulty speaking English and we managed to establish excellent relationships with everyone! At first, the various national groups remained divided within each other, but soon after, the informal atmosphere and the friendship climate have created an international mix, especially during the practical workshop activities.“
„We found ourselves in a large family with many other young Europeans“ – Cristiana confirmed. „I am ready to go again! We did a lot of networking and changed contacts with all the young people we met and we continued to stay in touch even after our return to Chiari. At the beginning I felt uncertain and had a few doubts…. I didn’t feel ready to face this new experience. But I have to say that I discovered a side of me I didn’t know about. I got myself into the game and I won my own shyness. I met new people and I had the opportunity to understand how labor force works outside of our country.“
”The over-spicy food aroused some doubts“ – admitted Giulia – „with plenty of garlic, onions and potatoes, cooked in every way but always present in every dish…! However, we adapted also because the environment favored mutual knowledge. It wasn’t easy to overcome the „tests“ of public speaking and debating on the issues developed during the workshops. We were able to speak English fluently, to improvise and to moderate the group conversation. An active blog among the participants which was part of the programme helped us monitor our impressions during the exchanged and also strengthened the team spirit. All nationalities were entrusted with thematic workshops on youth unemployment: for Italy, we created a PowerPoint presentation in English showing our current national situation and the possible opportunities existing in our country. We spent a rather different from the usual, snowy Easter in Vilnius!“
As part of the experience there was, in fact, organized a visit to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. „We were particularly impressed by the picturesque district of Uzupis, set up by the Vilnia River, which literally means the other side of the river” – said Valeria. “Since 1990, the year of the independence of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, this degraded area has become the home of the artists and today it is known as a small Lithuanian Montmartre. Here was founded in 1997 the Independent Republic of Uzupis, endowed with its own Constitution of nonconformity, peace and freedom, as shown in the panels displayed on a wall in Paupio Street, one of the main streets of the neighborhood. We perfectly fit into the unconventional atmosphere of this setting and we even sang along with some street artists playing their guitars. We concluded the European exchange in Kaunas with our „Cultural Night“, a thematic evening where we brought a breath of the Italian culinary tradition which was much appreciated by everyone. We taught our friends how to make pizza and we prepared a quiz on Italy, rewording the candidates with Baci Perugina. But we also brought from Italy tasting of local salami, typical local cheeses and even Nutella. And we have to admit that we got an extraordinary success! The cost of this Erasmus Plus Exchange in Lithuania was of just 20,00 Euro each, thanks to a 90% refund of travel expenses, while the food and accommodation were already included.“
Starting blocks, with a 100% reimbursement of food, accommodation and transport expenses, the second European exchange project in Turkey for young people aged 18 to 25 years old, promoted by Youmore Morcelli Giovani, is also coordinated by Justina Krauledaitė. Seven young people (three from Rome, one from Bologna and two from Turin, including a group leader and a young girl from Chiari) take part in the project named „We will call you“ held in Izmir, Turkey from April 17th to 26th on the following topics: „Youth Unemployment“ and „European Citizenship“.
Here you can find the article where the girls share their great esperiance:
We grow leaders for Europe
Enjoy the reading!
