Students of specialty “Philology” of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Viktoriia Shefer (group 401-HF) and Yuliia Hordiievska (group 201-HF) actively participated in the online training “Volunteers beyond borders” under the Erasmus+ program, which was held during from November 17 till November 27. The co-organizers of the training – “Popoli Insieme” together with “Development and Initiative” – took care of a convenient format and favorable conditions for constructive dialogue and fruitful communication.
The project involved 35 active young people and youth tutors from Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Greece, and classes were conducted by trainers with many years of international experience and deep knowledge in the field of volunteer and social inclusion.
During the training, youth discussed general ideas of volunteering and specific practical cases on the peculiarities of other European cultures, migration issues, the situation of refugees and the development of youth activities in the world. Different countries’ representatives shared their views on the issues discussed and unanimously concluded that despite differences in cultures and mentalities, people should remain tolerant of each other, since even a simple understanding and respect for the culture of other people can change the world for the better.
The aim of the training was to draw the attention of youngsters from around the world to volunteering, exchange international experience and the most effective tools for such activities in different countries.
The first day of training began with the acquaintance among training participants. During the “warm up activity” they asked each other questions, shared the brightest moments from their own lives.
The organizer of the international training from Italy Noemi Riga (Popoli Insieme) told about the main objectives and goals of the project, and representatives of each country were tasked to draw a tree of expectations and rules, presenting their own creative ideas. In particular, the rules were to be depicted in the roots of the tree, and the expectations on its leaves.
The team from Ukraine consisted of 9 participants and was led by team leader Lesia Doroshenko. Young people had the following expectations: establishing friendly relations with representatives of other countries, positive impact on modern youth, improving leadership skills, developing thinking, developing and mastering new soft skills, intercultural and language exchange.
The rules of the team were: do not interrupt each other, fully dedicate oneself to the project, be active, be attentive listeners, communicate effectively with all participants, make sure the microphone is turned off and the internet connection is good, speak loudly and correctly, respect each other’s opinions.
Invited speaker Ilaria Ferraro (Popoli Insieme) presented her own experience of volunteering, told about the most popular volunteer service centers and asked participants to share their experience of participating in such projects.
Poltava Polytechnic student Viktoriia Shefer shared her experience of volunteering before the global pandemic COVID-19. Together with a team of other volunteers she visited the children’s oncology, psychiatry and tuberculosis departments, and a care home for the elderly. Volunteers prepared concerts, played with children, made applications from paper and fabric, tuned in to positive emotions and cheered up their parents. It should be recalled that Poltava Polytechnic volunteers were awarded a diploma of the Poltava City Center of Social Services for Families, Children and Youth for active charity work.
Future professional translator Yuliia Hordiievska has also repeatedly participated in volunteer projects, for example, during her stay in America under the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program she took an active part in socio-cultural events and was a creator of media content. Yuliia conducted English language and art classes for children and worked with a teachers’ team to develop cultural awareness among adolescent students in Ukraine and the United States. The student also organized a puppet theater, parade and participated in two charity fairs.
The second day of the training was organized by a team from Spain, starting with a small “warm-up” – participants named colors and looked for an object of that color. Laura Gonzalez introduced her own Red Incola organization, answered questions from participants and invited them to volunteer in Spain.
After that, representatives of Spain covered the topic of migration; participants were tasked on the jamboard platform. Young people were divided into national teams and given the task to write words that come to mind when they hear such terms as: refugee, third country national, migrant, internally displaced person, asylum seeker and a person in an irregular administrative situation. The second task was to compare the terms in the board with their definitions. All participants coped well with the task as well as passed a small quiz on the quizizz platform.
The guest speaker was Heba Maded (Popoli Insieme), a refugee from Syria, who told her own difficult story of migration and integration in addition she answered questions from participants.
The third day of the organization was shared between participants from Spain and Greece. Spaniards (Mireia and Laura from Red Incola) told about the history of volunteering in Europe, and invited to join their organization. And Greeks (USB) talked about volunteering online. Participants were divided into national groups and given a task at the jamboard to share their experience of online volunteering, preparing a script, identifying the target audience and choosing the appropriate practical tools.
The fourth day began with participants from Morocco, who presented their own country, its distinctive features, and then other participants were divided into international groups and asked them to present their countries with main features in the jamboard. After that, students from Morocco held a small game of kahoot, the questions of which concerned the national characteristics of the participating countries.
Participants from Italy organized the fifth day. Leyla Khalil (Popoli Insieme) divided the participants into pairs and gave time to communicate in separate rooms of the Zoom platform. The informal atmosphere facilitated opportunities to learn more about each other and make friends. In the second half of the conference, the Italians invited guests from the organization Cucina Brigante, who presented the topic of food waste.
On the sixth day, the team from Ukraine presented their own experience. Team Leader Lesia Doroshenko has prepared an Oxford debate on migration and refugees. The participants tried to present themselves to foreigners as much as possible, to prepare more interesting activities and to provide maximum benefits to the participants. At the beginning of the session, Lesia Doroshenko told what a debate is, how to take part in it and what needs to be done. After that, the participants had to practice. The topic of practice was the issue of death sentences: one team had to present a position for and another – against. Moreover, it is important to note that in such debates, arguments are what is important, not the participants’ own opinion.
In the second half of the training, participants played a game called “Is migration doing more harm than good?” In the heated discussions, the team that argued “FOR” migration won, as participants provided more convincing evidence and arguments, answered questions and fully disclosed their views. At the end of the session, participants prepared Kahoot on migration in Europe.
On the seventh (penultimate) day, teams from Italy and Greece were the organizers. During the day they discussed the theme of photography, its colors, divided the participants into pairs and offered to tell about themselves, and then make a portrait of the interlocutor, which will convey their character as accurately as possible. The participants really liked this activity, they enjoyed the communication and the aesthetics of the photos taken and posted on the jamboard.
In the second half, the Greeks talked about YouthPass, what competencies we acquired and asked questions about them. At the end of the session, participants drew pictures of what they had learned about the project and said goodbye to each other. The final day was spent within respective national teams, discussing dissemination activities, sharing achievements with others and saying goodbye.
Students Viktoriia Shefer and Yuliia Hordiievska hope that there will be many more such trainings in their lives, because now they can't imagine life without Erasmus+ projects, a morning without coffee and laptop, heated discussions and new impressions.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the organizers of the training – “Development and Initiative” organization – for the opportunity to deepen our knowledge and improve our skills in a foreign language for eight days and personally to the project coordinator – Head of International Projects of Dnipro Polytechnic Kateryna Priazhnykova for support and assistance. Special thanks to our teacher – PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation Anna Pavelieva for thorough preparation for participation in the program. During the meetings of the students’ scientific club “Philology” Anna Pavelieva showed us a wide range of opportunities of Erasmus+ programs and motivated us to give it a try,” – said participants of the youth exchange Viktoriia Shefer and Yuliia Hordiievska.
According to Anna Pavelieva, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Department of Germanic Philology and Translation at the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, this is the fifth joint project of the university’s Faculty of Humanities with the NGO “Development and Initiative”.
“Lecturers and students of the Faculty of Humanities of Poltava Polytechnic have already had considerable experience in participating in prestigious international projects and youth exchanges under the Erasmus+ program. Personally, I am currently participating in the Erasmus+ online training “From youth to adult”, which is taking place from November 28 to December 13 in Spain. In my firm belief, for today’s student youth, non-formal education is an additional opportunity to “level up” their soft skills. We thank Kateryna Priazhnykova, Head of the International Projects Department of Dnipro Polytechnic, and the entire team of the NGO “Development and Initiative” for the opportunity to participate in Erasmus+ international academic mobility projects, acquire unique professional skills, improve foreign language skills, and enhance our skills in the context of global trends in science as well as be involved in the best world practices!” – the scientist commented.
Previously, a Poltava Polytechnic lecturer became a participant in the project of international academic mobility for youth workers Erasmus+ “Speak Up, we are Listening”, a student of philology became a participant in the Erasmus+ youth exchange project on social stereotypes, and a student of the Faculty of Humanities became a participant in a youth exchange under the Erasmus+ project, dedicated to digital skills.
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