Questo post è disponibile anche in: Italian
Twenty-three year old young girl from Chiari, studying Law at the University of Brescia, Federica Turotti, was part of the international project “We will call you”, coordinated by the Youmore Morcelli Giovani’s Project Manager, Justina Krauledaitė and which took place at Izmir, Turkey, from 17th till 27th of April. Upon her return from Turkey, Federica has not hesitated to call this experience beautiful. At this project participated a total of forty young university students, aged 18 to 25 years old from Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Slovakia, while the Italian group included, in addition to our participant from Chiari, three young men from Rome, one from Bologna and two from Turin, including the group leader, Paolo Emilio. “By participating in this European exchange project, “We will call you”, was also the first time I went abroad – said Federica. I travelled by air from Orio al Serio with a stopover in Istanbul and from there to the final destination, in Izmir. I can say that I went to discover Turkey not just from a tourist point of view.
The transnational exchange program “We will call you” was focused on the issue of youth unemployment and was entirely organized by a student association which operates within the University of Turkey. We ran every day, in groups divided by nationality but also mixed, workshops and brainstorming sessions in order to explore the employment potential of the young people in our various countries of origin. For ten days I was “forced” to speak English only and this has significantly improved my skills of this foreign language! But most of all I made contact with so many different cultures thanks to the intercultural evenings which were organized in turns by all the participants. For us, the Italians, this was a great opportunity to export among our new friends our traditions and the culinary specialties of our home which are always greatly appreciated! There have been guided tours to Ephesus and to the city of Izmir, the ancient Smyrna. Turkey presented itself as a country that aspires towards the EU integration, in a fascinating mix between the Orient and the Occident. Among the activities developed in this exchange project, we have made a ten minutes video to which we added subtitles in the various languages of the participants. The title of this short film is just like the one of the project, “We will call you”: on a theatrical canvas we played the story of an Italian young person who understands the importance of personal development in order to have a better chance regarding the employment prospects. But in the video, there’s also space for a love story… not only for the professional development of the protagonist based on the commitment to acquire the right skills that make a difference in the world of labour. I approached this experience with curiosity and I feel I can recommend it to other young people like me since it’s the right way to open one’s mind and to dismiss prejudices. The international exchange is a personal enrichment that allows you to discover new cultural horizons among your peers of other nationalities. I am ready to leave for a new European destination among Youmore Morcelli Giovani proposals! In Izmir, among other things, food and accommodation were fully expensed and Youmore Morcelli Giovani reimbursed me the 80% of my travel expenses. These details can also make the difference in bringing young people to these new international exchanges that allow you to make contact with interesting reality that only seems so far away from our city of Chiari. With Youmore Morcelli Giovani Europe is really close!”
