// Project summary
This youth exchanges has as main goal to raise awareness among European youth about the multiple dimension of campaigning and voluntary activities as a way of active participation in the civil society. Each group of participants will create and run a campaign about Youth information on European Elections in their own country before the exchange. They will come in Athens to share and discuss the tools and metodologies they used and the experiences thei lived in order to participate and create a campaign event in Athens before the end of the exchange. Participants arriving in Athens will have the chance to present their best practice concerning the national caimpaign and to elaborate new and innovaive tools of campaiging to reach as many young people in Athens and inform them about the issue of the importance of voting for the June 2009 Euroelection. For 10 days they will represent in athens a ''living expemple'' of the europan youth policy being ambassadors of several european countries.Stress will be given to the investigation of innovatinve tools for campaiging such as open space, direct dialogue, forum theatre, expressive artistic workshop and much more.
// Thanks a lot to our National Agency and the Neolaia Insititute (Culture)
posted by margherita on 05/06/2009
// Our team : D (Culture)
FINLAND - Alianssi
Jenny Katarina Montin
Vilhelmina Sinervo
Mari Jarvinen
Noora Raina
Krista Heinonen
ESTONIA - EstYES
Alissa Aramas
Nadezda Avdejeva
Irina Kuzina
Jana Postolova
Ljudmila Usakova
NETHERLANDS - SIW
Vincent Liemburg
Winnie Dekker
Jet Janssen
Gea Helms
Jordy Sweep
U.K. - UNA Exchange
Hassan Abdi Mursal
Vandy Forbes Ralph
Kalim Ali`
GREECE - Elix CVG
Christos Chouliaras
Margherita Tecchio
Girogia Von Berger
Kyriaki Metzaki
Myrto Tsoukia
Agapi Zarda
Orfeas Manolidis
posted by margherita on 04/06/2009
// Departure (Training)
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey bunnybunnies!^^
Oh dear..............Now Im home writing this blog while others are on their way home and others ''rot'' downtown 'till their departure time..........Jana left first...Mari,Miina,Jenny and Krista followed.......I left 'round 09:00 along with Sexy Time Vandy,Hassan and Kalim.......
Saying goodbye is never nice.....I prefer c ya ^^.......And the truth is that Im going to see some of them really soon in Finland and Estonia ^^.......sooooooooooooooooooooooooo no worries ^^ I hope I see the others in the near future as well.... :) ........It's not like we live endless miles away =D.......
I'll leave some space for the others to write ^^.......C YAAAAAA :************ <3
Kiki
posted by margherita on 03/06/2009
// Last day out *sigh* (Event)
Hi everyone!:D
Today was a really nice day although the sun was burning ^^.....Im sooo glad I didn't go out for coffee as I had planned!..........This day was the evaluation day.We all met @ the meeting room and started the evaluation process.....I think more or less everybody had the same opinion on different matters such as accommodation etc.....Then we played a game in which each one had another person's certificate of participation in the programme and he/she had to describe that person for the others to guess who he/she is.....Gea and I were the outcasts because our certificates weren't printed.......BOOOOHOOOHOOOO....oh well......What could we do?
Then we had to decide who wanted to leave earlier to go downtown before the campaign and who wanted to stay.......Unfortunately the same people gathered and left the camp @ 14:00 and the others left @ like 16:00.....if I remember correctly.....Christos,Jenny,Jet,Winnie and I were in the first group of course =D..........We walked all the way from Syntagma to Monastiraki,wandered around a little bit and then went to a nice cafe/restaurant/bar and drank ouzo........It was pretty funny 'cause we did many stupid things and laughed =D.......Then it started raining every 5' but still we decided not to take the metro to Keramikos =D..........The highlight of the afternoon was a Greek kamakias hiting on Winnie.....AND SHE ACTUALLY STAYED AND TALKED TO HIM =D HAHAAHHAHA.....if you are not Greek you can't realise how funny this is.....XD
Soooooo a few minutes later we joined the others @ the square in Keramikos......They seemed really tired....but that's what happens if you have to carry all this stuff from miiiles away........oh dear...............There weren't many people and we didn't do the happy dance we had prepared :(........We distributed many flyers and eventually went to eat ^^ WOOOHOOOOO.....The food was pretty good actually......I liked the sausages XD......Mari honoured 2 plates(I think) of tzatziki as always ^^ =D and Winnie was taking pictures......Noone wants to miss those fine dinner moments of divine beauty with chicken stuck in one's teeth XD...........After the dinner most people wanted to go to a juggling performance @ a theatre nearby but by the time they got there it has already finished =(.....I'm sure Miina and Vin were really disappointed :( .............Many decided to leave and go back home to light a bonfire but the rest wanted to grab a drink before that ^^ * so happie*
Winnie,Christos,Myrto,Margherita,Giorgia,Noora,Miina,Christa,Jenny,Jet and I went to a bar and drank margueritas and daquiri and wine and mojito and WOOOHOOOOO....I liked it....it was realy relaxing talking to them and spending some time out together ^^
By the time we went home Jordy had made a HUGE bonfire........Jordy likes fire......Jordy likes fire scaringly much ^^ =D.......We sang Happy Birthday to the raspberry muffin princess Noora in order to make her feel less homesick on her birthday <3......Some people left really early but then Christos brought the computer and put some music and Nadja started dancing-her moves are really gentle by the way ^^......Soon Vin and Alisa joined her ^^............It was 02:15 and I was sitting next to the fire and it felt as if I was in the sauna......and I was feeling really sleepy so I went to bed leaving everybody else partying.....DAAAAAMN......XD..........They must have had a great time since Miina didn't sleep at all.....and I dont think Vandy,Hassan and Kalim slept either.........^^ crazy people ^^ <3<3<3
Huuuugs <3
Kiki
posted by margherita on 02/06/2009
// Shopping morning and T-kit! (Party)
HEEEY Y’ALL! =D
Today was a pretty relaxing day…at least I think so…I don’t know about the rest of the people here XD…We had some free-time in the morning to go shopping downtown etc…
Noora says they bought many random things like soaps and stuff…XD
In the afternoon some people tried to finish their campaign preparations and others made a T-Kit and wrote blogs…The meeting room was like a kindergarten =D There were colourful papers,scissors and glue everywhere =D…Winnie, Jana and Krista made national flag toothpicks which turned out to be really good =D… believe many people were really tired ‘cause when we decided to go to the bar nearby to have a drink or two,only like 8 people showed up….oh well…t was pretty funny though =D…I really enjoy watching Vin and Gea drink ^^…I can’t explain why…They really seem to enjoy every drop =D ‘Round 1:00 we returned to the camp and met Miina,Kalim,Vandy and Hassan…
Some went to sleep and the rest continued having fun XD…Then we started saying random stupid things and we laughed so hard =D…I wish the rest were awake so we could laugh together XD…FUN TIMES WOOHOOOOOOO! Oh well…Thats all I remember anyway XD lol…c yaaaaaaa
Hugs and Kisses
Kiki <3
P.S. OMG!Jenny just reminded me our supermarket tour HAAHAHAH…These Finnish girls were really indecisive =D...Krista and I actually talked A LOT @ the supermarket…and by ‘A LOT’ I mean ‘Which ¨submarine¨ flavour should I buy?’ ‘The masticha flavoured one’..lol…
Jenny actually managed to buy halva for her mom…XD…=D…I had a really fun time :D supermarket tour ftw.
posted by margherita on 01/06/2009
// Sunday- SUNNY day =) (Event)
We started the morning with breakfest around 9 at the Boy Scout House......planned to leave from camp at 10...well it tooked a bit longer, so finally we were at the bus stop about 10.30 heading to the beach to Glifada...
Travelling to the beach was interesting...first bus, then metro and then an hour with tram...totally it tooked 2 hours to get to Glifada. We started to build our stand "Be an EU STAR" with the Europolis- game and STARball-game, our team designed =) at the square at Glifada. Sun was shining and it was hot, hot, hot! so we did all the funny designings from the campain t-shirts =)
Somewhere in the middle of campaining we had lunch "pita giros" yammyyyy! After luch we started to pack the stuff all together and tooked a lot of pictures of course.
And then jippiiiii! We went to the beachbeach, the real beach! To have sun, like we didn´t got it earlier ;) At the beach we spent a rest of the day untill it was almost dark and then returned to camp. Back at the camp we had a nice campfire with the hole group, NICE DAY =))))
Mari from Finland
posted by margherita on 31/05/2009
// Enjoying Athens and campaigning in Keramikos! (Event)
Today it’s Saturday, again it’s a beautiful sunny day! We all wake up very early in the morning to go to the Acropolis. After a fast breakfast we walk to the bus-stop, already the sun is burning on our heads. The bus arrives soon and in 45 minutes we are at the entrance of the Acropolis. At this moment the sun is even more burning on our heads. After a steep climb and passing the theatre of Dyonissos and the beautiful Odeon of Herodes Atticus we are at the top of Athens! Everyone is enjoying it. A lot of pictures are being made, especially by the girls from Estonia.
After half an hour we walk down to the old Agora. Also this place is very beautiful with a lot of old Greek stuff. Because of the walk everyone is a bit hungry. We eat at a typical Greek restaurant. The food is really good! Much better than, for example, the Dutch kitchen. After lunch the free time is very nice. Most of the girls did the first ‘shopping’ and liked it to show their new clothes. In the afternoon the real campaigning starts! At Keramikos is a stand of Elix with music and of course Europolis. Europolis is a game about Europe. People walk over a map and are answering questions. In the beginning not quite many people are in the square, but when a big group is playing juggling it starts to get busy. All of us are campaigning a lot. We really deserve the big pizza we get, unfortunately we discover at the end that ants are walking over it, cause we are laying in the grass.... A lot of leaflets are handed out and young people can also apply for a trip for two persons to Strassbourg. Later in the night a lot of people are very tired and decide to go back home, a small groups enjoys the Athens Jazzfestival. The night ends in a nice club with a lot of dancing!
Written by Vincent, from Holland
posted by margherita on 30/05/2009
// Active teamwork! (Event)
It is Friday morning and our fourth day being together in the camp. As usual we had breakfast and gathered at the working room to discuss our activities for the day.
Rajip explained us how to prepare our own campaign, then we split up into four groups and started to work. Every group had one or two persons from every country. So, actually it was more pleasure than work for all of us, because the schedule was opened. We had breaks when we wanted and we worked very hard when needed J!
In the beginning we were sharing our ideas among the group about how and what we will do and sunbathing at the same time. After an hour the groups gathered together again to share what we had and make some changes. Then we had lunch and a FREE TIME!!!!! J After we had a rest and got the materials, we started actively to prepare our campaign. It was a really great pleasure to see how everybody is doing different things and helping each other! Some people were making the BIG poster with the European stars and the sentence ”Be a EU star” on it, some were preparing the game. Some of us were making the suitcases with the questions on them, some taking the pictures of that all, which was undoubtedly the most difficult job J!!! The most interesting and funny thing we prepared was a group dance. People around the “great dancers” had a lot of fun J!!!
After we have lost so many calories we needed to fill our batteries and... Of course, we had a wonderful dinner! During the dinner everybody was talking about the great day we’ve spent. Do you think the day is coming to the end? NO.........
It was just the beginning of the intercultural evening J! After the dinner we had some time to prepare for presenting our countries and the party started!.. We got to know a lot of interesting about UK, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia and Greece that evening. We’ve tried different food and dances! We kept dancing till 3 o’clock in the morning, yeaaahh J!!! (and it wasn’t funny next day....) That day was the first day, when everybody was happy!!! J
Written by Nadja, from Estonia
posted by margherita on 29/05/2009
// Greek campaign & euro elections & experts (Training)
Greek campaign
During the Greek campaign we listened to there plans to get people aware of there campaign. From this information we all discussed ways they could improve there campaign and picked out the good pints. From this we evaluated our answers and decide the best way to tackle the campaign.
Eu Parlament Office in Greece
During our visite in the office of the Eu Parlament office in Greece we have partecipated in a trial of how the Eu Parlamentar are taking decisions. We where split into four groups and discussed about a topic and then we made our proposal to other people. After we became representatives of each country of EU and we voted our previos proposals.
In the afternoon we met some campaign experts:
Fair trade campaign
A campaigner came in and spoke to us about fair trade and how it affects the world today. Fair trade is about farmers having the right to get a fair amount of money for the products the produce. Without fair-trade there would be more and more farmers having to sell their products really cheap because they can not afford to say no to money.
Amnesty International
We all had an expert come in and explain loads of intertsting facts of guns in the world and mainly Europe. He set us tasked to put the questions to the right answer. He also described what it would take to start a campaign for such a big topic.
Greenpeace
The campaign was one of the best because it has an affect on our living. During this talk he showed us how pollution is going to affect the o zone layer and a project time scale on when it will be too late to change anything.
Action Aid
We had the possibility to understand how a campaign is developped from the begining and the concrete example of their campagn for the European Elections. We reflected about the main
topics that must be on the base of a campaign.
Written by Hassan and Vandy from Wales
posted by margherita on 28/05/2009
// European Campaign Presentation (Training)
MOIKKA! ^^ How are you today?
Soooo……Today it was campaign presentation day…..Oh well…..Campaigns were all awesome each one in a special way XD…..The Finnish campaign was hillarious ‘cause the girls were like ‘ Mitä on …..?’(What is….?) every 30 seconds so we had a chance to hear some Finnish XD……It was fun……:D
Then came the Estonian campaign…..We played an interesting game which was like a poll…..We learned many things about the complicated situation in Estonia as far as nationality is concerned…
The Dutch presentation was probably the most professional of all….The guys were well-organised, they provided much useful material such as CDs and Jordy looked like a pro lector (it’s in his blood-Jordy I’ll take my money later ;) )….
Last was the Welsh campaign….They informed us about their motives and it was a very touching speech according to Miina – who’s sitting next to me by the way commenting on everything. I write and being mean :P….I’m kidding…XD. Of course Christos and I hadn’t prepared absolutely anything ‘cause –as we say in Greece- we are two lost bodies, meaning we are too lazy to do anything and kinda useless LOL…..:D…
In the evening we had a European trial simulation….It was pretty funny….Winnie’s and Noora’s reactions were hillarious and Irina was really convincing as a judge…Miina and I were the journalists.
In the night we actually encountered a problem since we didn’t know where to watch the Champions League’s final as Stephen - that very interesting guy who travels across the world on his bike, campaining about raising awarness on the epilepsy and the way of having a normal life for epileptic people - was going to give a speech at the same time @ the meeting point……But we managed to watch the game with beers and stuff at Spryros' place (the guard of the park) along with good company….We took a break though to attend Stephen’s presentation…….We were awed by the places he showed us and the stories he told us……He’s a really amazing guy to listen to….After that we went back to watch the game and hung around…..:)
BTW Barcelona won….2-0…
I think the Brits weren’t so happy about that hooohohohohooooooo
XoXo Kiki/Miina <3
posted by margherita on 27/05/2009
// Arrival (Diner)
Hallooooo everybody! This is Miina and Kiki =) ..........and we are going to tell you about the first two days of the youth exchange programme about the European elections' campaign in Athens (Greece).................
Ooook. We arrived at Syntagma around midday and waited everybody to arrive. It was hot and lots of baggage. I (Kiki) arrived a little bit later 'round 13:00 and started looking for the Elix group and the other participants.....The first person I saw when I set foot on Syntagma square was a dude with a suitcase who turned out to be another of the participants, Christos......I thought I'd go talk to him and ask him if he was waiting for the same people but I thought it would be totally random so I just called Elix and they told me everybody was waiting at the busstop next to the square....XD......
Me (Miina) and other Finnish girls arrived the day before in same plane with Estonian girls. Mari said at the airport that those girls could be coming to the camp, but we didn't go to talk to them. Later we found out that they were the ones, and we had actually slept in same hostel.
Kiki again =) When I met the rest at the busstop I was so excited that Mari was the first person who talked to me XD.....hoohoohoo....Then I met Miina who was really friendly and outgoing =D.....She attempted to make me speak Finnish a little bit but I wasn't really ready to make a fool of my self yet =D Back to you Miina.
So when most of the people had arrived ( British had missed their plane and some others were going to arrive later) we took a metro to Omonia and went to eat. Bagage we left to the office of Elix. There was lots of it. We ate in a nice Taverna, it was quite different from restaurants in Finland-of course Miina hasn't eaten overboiled chicken legs with rice in Finland =D!
Well, after a very nice foodexperience we decided to have coffee in some other place. That was a nice place too.I think it was Kiki who knew the place.We had some cold coffee,which name I don't remember right now. It was more like a ice chocolate than a cup of coffee.
After we had eaten and drunk we got our bagage and took a private bus to Park Tritsis. We were expecting some place with nice lake and lots and lots of green around us (of course park means green, at least for a Finnish girl!). Well, first we were a bit dissapointed but still nice in a Greek way. Well I (Kiki) was expecting grass as well but when I saw the site I said to myself "YO GIRL! That's an awesome place for watergun duels Wild Wild West-style =D".There was a lake with duckies and a turtle(WOAH!) =D......
Sooo.......We picked beds, left our things and went outside to play some name-games =D I was a name-game virgin and it was real fun :D......Later that day we gathered at the meeting place and Myrto informed us about the weekly programme and our tasks.....Miina says that the programme looked quite hard and busy and the Finnish girls where kinda worried about the Finnish campaign presentation next morning....The Dutch people we were waiting for arrived and we ate hot dogs for dinner ^^....Everybody was so tired that I thought there was going to be a zombie attack that night......Luckily they all went to bed.....I couldnt sleep and 'round 5:00 Myrto and I went to pick up the UK guys.......I was wearing only my boxers and a t-shirt and it was pretty ridiculous 'cause there were many many cars driving by XD......oh well.....=D ......The British were kinda noisy but it was funny 'cause 5' after they went upstairs to ''sleep'' Jordy came down wearing only his boxers and walking like a zombie.......Vincent followed....I don't think they even remember anything from that night but it was pretty hillarious HAHHAAHAHAHA=D
xoxo Miina,Kiki :****
posted by margherita on 26/05/2009
// Before the arrival! (Training)
We are going to begin the Youth Exchange "Active European Citizenship"...here we are going to add what we need to get ready to start with the right foot...
In each of your country some youth organizations or the local office of the European Council organize an information campaign about the European Election of next June. It is extremely important if you can come into contact with these bodies and bring materials of the national campaign with you! We sent you a list with some organisations which are working on this topic in your counties!
On the third day of our project we are going to organize all toghter the Inter-Cultural evening. You will present your own cultures – national, regional, personal or any kind of culture you feel you belong. This presentations/activity won`t be just a “lecture” so try to find most creative way to show your culture. It means that all options are possible. A culture may be presented by a song, a story, a poem, a dance, food, trivial game etc. You can bring pictures, music or anything you consider to be most appropriate to present your culture. Let us know if you need some specific materials! We would like to ask you to make your presentation as much interactive as possible!
So..see you very soon!
posted by margherita on 25/05/2009
// Programme of the Exchange (Culture)
CAMPAIGNING FOR ACTIVE EUROPEANS
Athens, 23/05/2009 - 03/06/2009
26/05 Tuesday
11.00 - 13.30 Arrival
13.30 - 15.30 Lunch
16.00 - 21.00 Get to Park Tristis and Games to get to know each other
22.00 - 23.00 Presentation of the Youth Exchange
27/05 Wednesday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 10.30 Aims & Objectives - Fears, expectations, contributions - daily programme
10.30 - 11.30 Presentation of the Finnish Campaign for Euro Elections
11.30 - 12.00 Coffee Break
12.00 - 13.00 Presentation of Estonian Compaign for Euro Elections
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 16.30 Presentation of the Dutch Compaign for Euro Elections
16.30 - 17.30 Presentation of the British Compaign for Euro Elections
17.30 - 18.00 Coffee Break
18.00 - 21.00 Trial Game, Jundging Globalisation
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
22.00 - 22.30 Presentation of a Campaign about Epilepsy (Stephen and his bike)
28/05 Thursday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 11.00 Presentation of the Greek Campaign for Euro Elections of Elix (Pare Thesi)
11.00 - 13.00 Participation of one session of the Conference about Euro Elections
organized by AEGEE
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 16.30 Workshop about Campaigning with Action Aid
16.30 - 17.30 Workshop about Campaiging with Greenpeace
17.30 - 18.00 Coffee Break
18.00 - 19.00 Workshop about Campaiging with Fear Trade Hellas
19.00 - 20.00 Workshop about Campaiging with Action Aid
21.00 - 22.30 Dinner
29/05 Friday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 11.00 Workshop for preparation of Outdoor Actions
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee Break
11.30 - 13.00 Workshop for preparation of Outdoor Actions
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 18.00 Workshop for preparation of Outdoor Actions
18.00 - 18.30 Coffee Break
18.30 - 21.00 Workshop for preparation of Outdoor Actions
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
22.00 ......... Intercultural Night
30/05 Saturday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 13.00 Sightseeing in Ancient Athens
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 21.00 Partecipation in the Event in the Campaign for Euro Elections organized by Elix
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
31/05 Sunday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 13.00 Implementing the Outdoor Actions in Glifada
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 21.00 Afternoon in the beach
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
01/06 Monday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 11.00 Workshop for the T-Kit & Reporting for the Blog
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee Break
11.30 - 13.00 Workshop for the T-Kit & Reporting for the Blog
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 18.00 Workshop for the T-Kit & Reporting for the Blog
18.00 - 18.30 Coffee Break
18.30 - 21.00 Workshop for the T-Kit & Reporting for the Blog
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
02/06 Tuesday
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 09.15 Energizer
09.15 - 11.00 Workshop for the T-Kit & Reporting for the Blog
11.00 - 11.30 Coffee Break
11.30 - 13.00 Presentation of the T-Kit and the Blog
13.00 - 15.30 Lunch
15.30 - 21.00 Evaluations & Follow up
21.00 - 22.00 Dinner
22.00 - ........ Fair Well Party
03/06 Wednesday
Departure
posted by margherita on 12/05/2009
// ELIX - CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERS GREECE (Culture)
ELIX is a Non Governmental Organization (N.G.O.) which cultivates voluntary conscience and promotes voluntary offering. It is a civil, non profit association, and its main activity is the organization of international programs of voluntary work and youth exchange.
Since 1987, Non Government Organisation ELIX has been cultivating voluntary conscience and promoting voluntary service. ELIX’s main target is the contribution in the development of the person and his evolution as citizen of the world through his active participation in public life. ELIX realizes international actions of voluntary participation with main targets the protection of the environment, the preservation of cultural heritage, the promotion of civilization and social service. In order to realize its actions, the organization cooperates with Local Authority Organizations, Government Bodies, Companies, Institutions as well as local environmental and cultural clubs and associations. ELIX is a member of the international network Alliance of Voluntary Organizations, of the Pan-Hellenic Network of Ecologic Organizations and of the Network Volunteerism and Environment.
www.elix.org.gr
elix@elix.org.gr
posted by margherita on 11/05/2009