Partnerships in youth projects

I think I will start the new category and add my few comments about this what I see how the international youth work in Europe works.

And for the first topic I wanted to comment partnerships. Long time ago, might write ¨when I was younger, so much younger then today¨, each project that I was doing was a treasure. Was something that I dedicated a lot of time and energy and it was part of my life. And of course there were problems, but I always had a feeling that I ahve a great team (parterns) and we are doig stuff together! And always people gave me the motivation to continue!

Right now what I see the biggest nightmare of each project is how to find partners and then how to find participants. The yhoo mailing groups, as well as facebook groups are overcrowded. First if you need a partner just post one mail there and in one hour you will have the scans of part III. People over there can provide you everything, y want part III (document that confirms partnership) you have it, you need specific profile - you have it, you don´t want tons of questions type ¨can Turkey/Georgia/Macedonia (etc) participate¨ - well you have it!

But let´s be honest, when your boss two days before the deadline tells you find partners, as well not knowing a lot about the project, what can you do - go online and have all the part IIIs within an hour. but what next?

I have just checked the facebook groups, what can we find there today! And in teh first one:
- Very Urgent!!!! We are Looking for 2 romanian participants for a Training course!! (5 days before the training)
- Urgent call for 2 Croatian Participants for a TC (4 days before the training)
- Looking for participants from Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland or Lithuania for an approved Training (...) in Armenia (5 days before the training)
- Association (...) from Macedonia is urgently looking for 2 participants from Croatia, 1 participant from BiH, 1 participant from Russia (with valid schengen visa) and 1 participant from Ukraine (with valid schengen visa) for a Training Course - 2 days before the training, and here comes the issues of visa as well;)

And because today is 1st of November (deadline) on one group where people were trying to look for the partners for the last 2-3 days congratulate everybody for wonderfull job, and wished all the projects will be approved (please not!).

Honestly, making the projects only to do them, because they might be approved, and then fighting with organization, trying to find participants in the last moment, who are mostly very random, and doesn´t necessary have a profile needed is pointless. I did it as well, but experience teaches. And I don´t want to continue like this.

My suggestion:
- those people who are spending tons of time on facebook preparing the projects should move their asses and go to one project my themselve and fint partners there. Why not write the project within one facebook group to establish partnerships...
- before preparing the project think if it is really worth to prepare something that noone wants to take part (and the motivation that I need money is not enough)
- make the projects with your partners, make the needs analisis, it is really worth to make a project that is usefull
- and I think that we should open the discussio about the partnerships and quality of the projects, because I don´t want that my taxes will be spend on the projects that sucks (and remember the differece between project and activity - I am not comenting the second one. And I don´t want that the youth sector in Europe will have a bad fame, I have already spend a lot of time explaining that my work is not international drinking activity.

Ups and downs of being adult.

Finally I have reached that age that I feel adult. I don´t know if it is about the age (I am only 27) or it is because I have changed my life style. I have seen that my needs and aspiration changed, as well as my habits. Like some time ago inviting people for a dinner Friday night would be really strange, it is what my parents does from time to time, but right now I am doing it very often and enjoying a lot. I can notice that my way of thinking, values are different then of 18 years old kids. I can notice some significant change between me and them (I wanted to say the change of generation that would fit into this situation but it happens usually every 15 years).

I feel smart, I feel satisfied, I feel I am on a right way with my career, I feel liked, I feel I am doing something meaningful, I feel happy. It is totally not like I have imagined it, that the adult file is boring, consist only of work, home, house work and raising children. That adults cannot do many things anymore. I realized it is totally not true. I have time to be a kid again, and to do stuff I have never had time to do because there was always school, exams, some house work, or activities that my parents told me to do. I can do all the things that I enjoyed when I was younger, and in terms of parties some of them are even crazier. And the life got more comfortable. I have my flat where I can invite whomever I want and do there whatever I want. Many of my friends have cars, what makes life more easier. As well I have time and money to enjoy my life, because work is one things, and after work is for whatever I want.

And downs… I don´t see a lot. I think that thanks to being adult I realized that life is flowing so fast that I should enjoy it as much as possible, and I am doing it.

Lorca after the earthquake

The life is slowly coming back to normality. It is Monday, for many the first day of work after ¨terremoto¨. There is a lot of people on the streets slowly moving in the direction of their working place. I am one of them. It is and it is not hot and cold in the same time. For the first time I take some of the small streets and as the majority I try to avoid the side walk. I have time to discover which houses are green and which red. Many roads are closed so I am walking around like the tourist who lost his way. I am talking out my camera to take a photo of the places I liked. I don´t enjoy taking photos of destroyed buildings, I prefer to picture the life on the streets. Almost everything is new, just the habit of drinking a coffee with friends in the morning didn’t change.

For me the proof that everything come back to the reality is when I see the people selling lottery, although there is not a big interests in lottery today. I guess we already used all our luck. Streets looks like ¨after the earthquake¨ but the people used to this view. There is only one place that is different, in each sense – acampamiento, that many of my friends call refugee camp.

Acampamiento it is the now home for over 2000 people, who lost their houses during the terremoto. Most of them are migrants with the few exceptions – gypsies. My first impression about his place is that it looks like the prison. From outside there are grating. People are communicating with their friends who are on the other side through them. Inside there is a fight for survival. Besides those lucky one who managed to get place in the tent, many people still live without the roof, making beds from cartoons and, houses from the blankets they got, which pretend to be a walls. No roof included and the weather forecast is not promising. Cold and raining.

It took them just few days in acampamiento to developed their new culture, and change the daily habits. Over there, there is a fight for survival. They sleep, pass their time in the queues for everything, and protect what they have (in case they rescued something from house, or got necessary things from other people). A friend of mine was almost robbed of shampoo, which cost only 1€ but over there is worth much more. Almost no one have tooth brush or past. People are afraid of each other. This place change people in the very strange way. And they are monitored by police, army, volunteers or people from red cross. That they are over there partly voluntary (they can leave, but they don´t have other place to go), they are watched, they have no privacy, and what they have is a bracelet with the number to be easy to identify.
To be continued…

How I have survived the earthquake in Lorca

It was something that I would have never expected. It was the day when I came back from my holidays in Poland. I had some difficulties to come back because my plane was delayed, and I couldn’t find any bus or train going to Lorca. Finally I have arrived on 11th of May in the morning and went to work.



I returned back home after over 3 weeks away. The only thing I was able to do was unpack myself, make my laundry, take a shower, and go to sleep. Then it started. I didn’t know what is happening; I have just seen tons of birds flying very fast in one direction. I felt that everything is shaking, my cupboard falling down, but I couldn’t say what it is. I don’t know when I stand up and how long was the earthquake. I just went out of my room looking for my roommate that was at home just before I went to sleep, but she wasn’t there. The doors were bright open. I still wasn’t sure what have happened. There were things on the floor but I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not.



I went out to the balcony and I saw unusually big amount of people on the streets. A lot of them were crying, a lot of them felt lost and shocked. I had a strong feeling to go on the streets as well, but I wasn’t rational. I found my mobile and money and I felt my home as I was standing – actually as I was sleeping.



I had to sit down. I did it close to my home and I was observing people for a while. It looked nice. Besides some people who cried, I saw very nice atmosphere and the bar close to my home had a very good day. All the people were getting out of this place with coffee or beer. Many people were chatting and they looked happy. I guess I was still in shock, I was alone and I didn’t know what really happened. My neighborhood looked good I thought.



Then my phone started ringing. I don’t know who was the first one checking on me. I talked to some people from my organization and my roommate called to tell me that one more earthquake, the stronger one is coming in 30 minutes. It was the moment that I fully realized what is happening around and I started thinking about my own safety as well as safety of people I know.

To be continue…