Thank you and good night

I know im a bit late on doing a final post but ive been very busy since I've been back,  also the time has given me time to reflect on the week just past and how  great it has been. First of all I would like to thank Andrew, Paul and Trevor for giving me and Chris this huge opportunity and actually entrusting in us to represent Momentum World.

Chris and I would like to thank Altino, Pedro and everyone else involved in the week, it was absolutely amazing thank you for all your hard work and experience you shared with us.

It has been amazing meet so many different types of people from all across the globe, we have met some incredible, hilarious and sometimes downright bizzare at times people. But thank you to everyone who participated on the course ive made some great friends and hopefully some great partners who I look forward to working on projects in the future with.
So yeah im going to wrap up now. I hope everyone had as an amazing week as I did

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Conor.

The final day

Today is the final day on the course. In the morning we paired off to discuss what we felt like we had experienced during the week, what we will be taking home with us and what we are going to do with it.

For me, as I am very new to this I found the week very interesting for many reasons. 

First, I learnt a lot about non formal, formal and informal education styles, which I didn't know much about before this week.

Second, I really enjoyed gaining new skills and improving the ones I already had; such as team work and communication.

Third, the people I met and got to know over the week have provided me with a valuable insight into different cultures that I would not have had sat at home back in  the UK. 

But there is so much more to add to this list that I just can't fit into one blog.

In the afternoon we learnt about Youthpass and wrapped up the week with the presentation of certificates and a few closing statements.

Even though Conor and I are leaving tomorrow, some people have already left and more are due to go later tonight.

The group formed a bond right from the beginning and it is somewhat sad to see the first ones go. 

Yet, I feel like we will all stay in contact and we might even meet each other again on future events that may be formed from new partnerships that began this week.

Dinner Last Night

The importance of cooperation

Hello!

Today was only a half day. In the morning, following a presentation from a french organisation about teaching tools for illiterate children, we were tested on our ability to communicate and work together as teams in a scenario which placed us into 4 groups of people: Farmers, Fishermen, Oil refiners and transporters.

All four teams had to work together for mutual gain. For example, the farmers needed the transporters to transport goods and in return they were willing to help them out as it would provide them with income. This scenario was set out for us with a giant sheet of paper that had been divided in quarters (one for each team), the teams then had to select one negotiator who would do the talking with the other negotiators, and a builder who would draw on the paper a road between the sections (providing that the team had permission from the owner of that quarter) linking the groups for trade.

The idea is simple but for some reason communication broke down a bit and rules were broken... in the end however the group managed to implement a solution to the chaos, stressing the importance of cooperation and compromise.

Then, after lunch we were allowed some free time to explore Beja.

Khaleel

Meet Khaleel from Jordan.

He is from Dana and Qadesiyah Local Cooperative, a non profit organisation based in a small village called Dana in the south of Jordan which aids female education, the promotion and knowledge of contraception use, environmental  problems/ solutions and more.

He is enjoying the week so far and has come on this course to exchange knowledge, ideas and culture with the others.

He says that the future of his organisation is dependant on what they are building now and would love to learn more about how to host people from other countries, how can they apply, and how can his organisation can get funding for youth exchanges or any other kind of programme that they might do in the future.

Good luck Khaleel, you are a very nice person and I hope this week provides you with all the answers you are searching for.

Day 4

Our first energizer today was run by Pierre and it was a laughing workshop, where for almost an hour we had to continuously laugh, it was very entertaining and was a very fun way to get our endorphins flowing.

Later, we had an introduction to the Euromed programme with a power point and an introduction to the Youth in Action programme. This stuff was less exciting but a lot of necessary logistical information was taken from it.

After lunch we had a communication exercise. The group was divided in two: one half was blindfolded and taken into a room, and the others were led in and had to direct them to sit down at a table while over coming obstacles like over turned tables and chairs. Then we swapped over and they had to lead us. It went much smoother this time round as they had learnt from our mistakes.

All in all a very enjoyable day, we have also now after much deliberation decided which organization we would like to work with and will put projects forward to them tomorrow. We shall keep you posted.

Conor

Pictures from our day in Serpa and Mertola