Do you know you can go to another country for one week, meet with great young people from different countries, engage in meaningful conversations, share your ideas, learn from each other and all this for free? No, this is not a scam!! This is Erasmus+-the program of the EU for young people`development ! Erasmus+ is based on non formal education approach-thus everything you learn is by doing and sharing so it is much more fun to learn! Volunteering-a path to employability was a youth exchange, held in Bansko, Bulgaria with young people from the UK, Spain, Italy and us-from Bulgaria. And that is not anything like school-it is full of fun. How cool is that-to learn in a fun way! We were learning every day so much sometimes without even realizing that but it was great we had time daily to stop and reflect on the experience. We learnt about youth unemployment in our countries and Europe, we discovered about different policies on EU level to boost youth employability, we also understood what modern employability skills are. Moreover, it was really useful to talk about soft skills and its importance for employability. We also discovered the power of volunteering-as a tool not only to help society, but yourself as well-as a way of acquiring new skills and competences to boost your employability. We also learnt about amazing programs and opportunities for youth related to volunteering-such as ESC and of the Bulgarian team-Ivan even got his ESC placement as a result of the project and he will spend 6 months in Italy as a volunteer, wow!
Ivan: it was one the most amazing weeks of my life!! I met friends for life, I opened my eyes for the new cultures, I was able to learn traditions of another countries. Every day I felt I was learning more and more-for the first time in my life I was playing theatre that boosted my creativity! Mot of all –I learnt so much about amazing opportunities I did now know before-thanks to the project I am planning now my first volunteering experience abroad trough ESC and I am ready to jump in for the next life changing journey of my life!
Ivan , 22, Bulgaria