disconnection from technologies - reconnection with our 5 senses 

9 days without an internet connection.

9 days without smartphones.

9 days without the laptop.

9 days without a watch.

9 days without social media.

Are you ready?

The description of the project doesn’t sound like an experience we are living everyday. Exciting and a bit worrying at the same time.



Like a blind dance: What will expect us in Cortemilia

Nevertheless or just because of that 25 young people from Croatia, Italy, Romania and Austria gathered in beautiful Cortemilia (Italy) and took part in this Erasmus+ project. The Youth Exchange took place from 18th to 26th of April and was organized by Associazone Vagamondo and their partner organisations.




Ready to be disconnected? Locking up our technical devices

The week turned out to be full of learning, low moments, reflection, sharings, challenges, singing, dancing, conversations, creativity, enjoying the beautiful venue, tasty food, the smell of biscotti di nocciola (hazelnut cookies), massages, laughing and reactivating our 5 senses. But most of all it was full of magical moments.



The “real” social network

During this project we created a “real” social network and enjoyed the positive impact it had on our wellbeing. Despite of the fact that in the beginning a lot of us were struggling with locking up their technical devices, most of us were almost sad when we got the technologies back at the end of the week. Luckily, we created a great a support system in order to stick to our goals and to implement what we have learned in our daily lives.

Di5connected contract - support system for achieving our goal back at home
Get an impression what the Austrian team experienced there:

#my expectations before the project

As I signed up for the project, excited and curious as to how it will be and what kind of people will the students be I generally had the feeling that it’ll be somewhat energy draining, peaceful because of the absence of technology, refreshing and highly enjoyable.

Reading through the posts on Facebook before the beginning of the project I can safely say that I had a glimpse of what it’ll be like with the others in this project and so my expectations were reshaped due to that.

Mohammed




#what it feels like being disconnected

Being disconnected felt strange for me at first. It didn’t really realize that I had given my phone away until the next morning when I automatically reached for it to turn off the alarm. Only that it wasn’t there. Throughout the first day I had these urges to check my phone regularly, but from the second day on I started to enjoy this freedom from technologies, and maybe also responsibilities.

Without technologies, I was much more aware of my surroundings. I started paying attention to small details, such as the flowers in the grass or this particular texture of wood. It also allowed me to be more attentive when it came to getting to know other people, because there was no distraction for both parties. Not having a phone allowed me to give the people I was talking to (and also the sessions that we had) my full attention, I listened more carefully and paid more attention to what people said and how they behaved. But what impressed me the most was how creative we got, both when it came to completing tasks (e.g. preparing the national evening, creating a board game, …), but also when it came to free time entertainment. We couldn’t just google things and have it the easy way when we wanted to know certain things, we had to use our brains, imagination and memory in order to remember the lyrics of a song or what the beard of DJ Ötzi looks like. It is impressive how much you actually remember when there is no small machine that gives you all the answers you want (but not necessarily need) instantly.
Marion




Cultural evening: The Austrian showed the best aspects about their culture by presenting the “Musikantenstadl”

#what I’ve learned during the YE

Being one week without ‘technologies’ thought me a lot more things than I had expected. It was a very intense time because as I was open for the different quality of living. I realised how much I was missing because of the frequent distraction of my phone. I learned that waking up and starting the day with a calm moment in the nature instead of checking WhatsApp and YouTube lifted my day to a completely different level. In general, I relearned how much confidence and strength the nature is giving to me! Furthermore, I realised what a huge negative influence technologies have on my social relationships between me and the people around me. In this week I got to know 25 people on such a deep level, I would need at least 2 month for that if I’d have my phone with me all the time. It was really great to have such a close community where people speak and laugh instead of watching their phones. Except that I learned how I lack concentration if I have a ‘normal’ day with technology. It was really nice to see again how fast I can learn if I really concentrate on something and how creative I can be if I give 100% of me. In general I can say that I learned how the technology sometimes keeps me from having the best time possible because it disconnects me from my surroundings and that creates a bad feeling over a long period. I didn’t know that a certain unhappiness comes from my ‘daily abuse’ of technology but know I’m a aware of that and I will feel it directly if it comes back!

Gregor



#my magical moment

My magical moment? Well, that was a question I had to answer myself almost everyday. A moment, that is still in my mind, was the moment we created our own board game “Game of phones”. Thinking about it, I still get excited.

Antonia






Disconnection woke up our creativity: Presentation of “Game of phones” - our fantastic board game



#how I will apply what I have learned

The experience and the knowledge that I gained during this youth exchange is life changing for me in the matter of how i see the connection between me and technology in my daily life.
I have set some goals for myself that I am going to achieve on a certain date. Hopefully, these will become part of my lifestyle. I will be creative without using technology and will be doing things that I never thought I could do (like when we invented a sound and the board game during the YE) It was mind blowing after I realised what I am capable of so much more than I thought and I am certain that I would have never believed that i have such skills if I hadn’t participated in this YE.

By avoiding technology in my daily life:
I have a greater level of presence
Deeper and more meaningful conversations
Increased productivity
I started doing outdoor sports and
I am getting to know myself better
Probably at some point I am going to forget what we did during this YE but I will never forget how it made me feel and the impact that it had on me.

Samire




Together we mastered all the challenges



A big thank you to everyone who made this experience possible - especially to the project team with Fabiano, Fabrizio and Merche!


Here you can find out more about the project and the participants:

http://di5connected.simplesite.com/


That post caught your attention and you can’t wait to learn more?

Keep informed - we are looking forward to meet you on our follow-up event :)




All the best,

your Austrian team



Antonia, Marion, Gregor, Mohammed, Samire and Elisa

Elisa

Hi, my name is Elisa and I am from Deutschlandsberg. I am 21 years old and I study Sustainable Food Management at the FH Joanneum in Graz. In my free time I enjoy organizing and taking part in Erasmus plus projects, doings sports like mountain biking, travelling and spending time with my friends and family. I also love being in the nature, cooking and Spanish and Italian language.

What do I like about youth projects?
My first project was the European Voluntary Service in Santiago de Compostela. It was an amazing year and the start of my “Erasmus life”. Taking part in these kind of projects gives me a lot of new perspectives of life, makes me meet amazing people, allows me to travel all over Europe and encourages me to develop myself. Organizing Youth Projects gives me the opportunity to share all that with young people and to give back what I receive.

What have I experienced by taking part in Youth Projects?
I experienced how diverse Europe is and how many things we have in common. I experienced that stepping out of my comfort zone can lead to great results and is definitely worth it. I experienced that there are a lot of people who follow their dreams and work everyday on their goals they want to reach - and that I can do that as well. I experienced that strangers become friends in a couple of days and spend an amazing time learning together.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it ?
This summer I applied for a project in which wEUnite was the Austrian partner. So I met Nina for a chat over a cup of coffee. We immediately grew sympathy for each other and were all sure that our collaboration would turn out to be successful. I hope to collaborate with wEUnite in a lot of projects in the future.

Ibrahim

Ahoi ! My name is Ibrahim. I`m 23 and I live and study in the beautiful, chill city of Klagenfurt. I`m a psychology student who likes to read in empty libraries, working out when the gym is not so crowded and to sleep when it’s snowing cats and dogs outside. For the time being, getting my bachelor and other self-improvement activities are the center of my attention.

What do I like about youth Projects?
I love the diversity of people and their Ideas and World-views. People and their stories are very interesting for me as there`s always an idea, a though or a perspective that’s new to me. I also love how relatively fast one can make life-long friendships during projects. I met amazing people and I know that there is still new and interesting people for me to meet.

What have I experienced by taking part in youth projects?
Its very hard to express what I experienced in youth projects. Shortly said, I`ve experienced self-development, meeting great people and learning from them.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it?
My amazing friend Tini introduced me to a wEUnite project that tackled a very interesting topic, which was youth leadership. The Project`s Title was “Desire to inspire” and it was the first project that I took part on with wEUnite and that proved to be a very good decision.

Hey. My name is Matthias and I've spent most of my 27 years of age studying computer science and mathematics. At the moment I work as a Data Scientist at Catalysts and I will at some later point go back to university to pursue a PhD. I love playing, watching and discussing football, I adore many old French movies and more recently I have started to very much enjoy film photography. I also do and care about many other things.

What do I like about youth projects?
They represent an endless source of opportunity. Opportunities to learn new things you didn't know you want to learn. Opportunities to meet open people from all over the world. Opportunities to travel to new places that you had never even considered.


What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
I've met many fantastic people from all over the world. All of them kind, open minded and interesting in their very own way. I learned many things about myself. For some of them I am unsure if I would have been able to learn them by myself.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it?
By pure chance I met Manuel G. one evening. Almost immediately he invited me to a project that was about to start in a few weeks from then. I was in a spontaneous mood and so I agreed without understanding what any of this was about. It turned out great, the lesson here is to always trust strangers.

Hello lovely People! I'm Magdalena, I'm currently 19 years old & live in Vienna! I study social work & besides that I would call myself a political activist. What I enjoy in my free time? Good discussions, food, friends & sports ( Cross fit & Yoga).

What do I like about Youth Projects?
First the most obvious part: getting to know new People, new countries, new languages, new traditions.. and so on. However, apart from that: getting to know myself better, especially in challenging situations.

What have I experienced by taking part in Youth Projects?
Ups & downs, tears & laughters, foreigners becoming friends.

Why am I part of wEUnite and who told me about it?
Establish connections, gain experience, create & be part of a beautiful movement. And I got to know about it from a friend.

From 3^rd until 9^th of March wEUnite had the pleasure to take part in the second part of the Youth Exchange “I feel good” which was called “Music Makes Feelings” organized by Syncro Synergy Croatia. As the title already says, the participants explored their experiences and feelings about all that has to do with music while being in the beautiful city of Rijeka. Pato, Tini, two Manuels, Marion and Nina started their journey to Croatia with lots of motivation and enthusiasm. And they came back happy and with many new songs stuck in their head! 

The first day started with great teambuilding activities in the sun. After finding all the seven dragon balls the participants could make a wish. They chose Karaoke, and magically, their wish was granted later that week!

Apart from nightly jam sessions and cool activities in the hostel, the participants got the chance go to the city as a group. Half of them visited RiRock, an organisation that helps to connect youngsters with music through music lessons and providing them with places where they can practise, and the other half Radio Rijeka. Both trips were really interesting and everyone was happy sharing their impressions later in the big group.

Another great experience was the flashmob that took place in the centre of Rijeka. It started with everyone standing frozen on a spot and then being “defrosted” by the tunes of “Don’t Worry Be Happy” played on the clarinet. The joyful atmosphere was enhanced by the sunny weather, and later everyone gathered for a picture.

During “I feel good” the participants did not only learn about music and feelings, but also about different countries and cultures, numerous languages, their personal strengths and weaknesses (enhanced by acting out all Youthpass key competences during the city rally in Rijeka), the idea behind those Erasmus+ projects, and most importantly: they made friends. Spending a whole week with 30 people from officially 5 (but really more) different nations makes you see the world from different angles and understand opinions that differ from yours. You learn so much about others but also about yourself and your country as you talk about all the similarities and differences in your free time. (Which was always a lot of fun, as you can see on the pictures below).

Now each member of the Austrian team will share their thoughts on the Youth Exchange:

Nina:

Music makes feelings - what a beautiful title for an amazing youth exchange. Being in Rijeka again with many people I had the pleasure to meet before and also lots of new faces was simply great! Never have I seen a group of strangers grew together to such a strong team this fast. Having been part of it makes me feel proud. This experience and all the memories will stay with me for a very long time :)

Tini:

It’s hard to describe this week in just a few sentences. I learned a lot about myself and experienced what it is like to be dragged out of my comfort zone right into the stress zone. But life starts where the comfort zone ends. I’m very thankful that I got the opportunity to improve myself and got inspired to try new things that used to scare me. This week in Croatia made me a better person :)

Marion:

This was only my second Youth Exchange, but I could feel from the beginning that we all would have a great time together. Our group dynamic was just so purely friendly and full of positive energy. When thinking about it now, I feel really grateful to have been part of it and to have shared happy and sad feelings with such wonderful people.

Pato:

This YE was something very special. I think it was one of the greatest experiences that I could have ever had. Creating music out of nothing with people who are unique in every different way you can imagine. Starting from the first day on we all shared a deep connection together. It was being open-hearted and open-minded. In fact, it didn’t take us a day to learn all those names by heart just because we were so different. Some played an instrument, some didn’t. Some had their funny dance workshops some had their own private time with a companion at the seaside. And everybody was still part of this amazing group. We were one big amount of kindness and amazingness.

Manuel E.:

Never have I ever … felt so emotional on a project. This Youth Exchange was not only interesting or just a good idea. It was timeless and sometimes breathtaking. Now I know that music truly makes feelings. 

Manuel G.:

After this project I really believe that “Music Makes Feelings”. Within this awesome week with so many great and lovely people, I learned and experienced a lot that helped me to grow once more. I feel so much better, so much more motivated and so much more positive than ever before. I am still overwhelmed by all these wonderful memories in my head. A big thanks and a lot of hugs to every single one of you! You made this project very special to me!

What's the best way to start into a new year? For me personally, it's by having fun, meeting friends and travelling. It is even better to combine these things - that's why I started the year 2017 in exactly that way - having fun with my friends in a different country!

Anna (from Latvia) and me decided to meet up in Budapest, as she was on her way back to Zagreb/Croatia from her Christmas holidays and family visit in Latvia. Anna is doing is doing an EVS (European Voluntary Service) in Croatia currently, with the organization Syncro-Synergy Croatia (NGO's Facebook Page). Before Budapest, we met in Rijeka/Croatia on an Erasmus+ project. 

You might know the song "Can’t Feel My Face" from The Weeknd. This is how we felt walking through the city all the time. It was a new temperature low record in Budapest - something like -10 °C to -21 °C. Nevertheless, this freezing temperatures didn't change our positive mood!

Anna and me had a great time in Budapest. We did one Free Walking Tour, visited some hipster shops and famous ruin clubs and just explored the city by ourselves. The weather - besides the temperature - was perfectly sunny and we visited many beautiful places, as you can see on the pictures.

   

Thanks to social media, it was very easy to contact other people who were in Budapest on that weekend too. And look whom I found - András and Bálint. Two friends from an Erasmus+ project in Estonia last year. It was great to have some local guys with us as they know all the good and secret (at least for tourists) places. We had a really good time together. Thank you guys for this great evening!



This are just some good reason to be part of the big Erasmus+ community : ) Such projects and shared experiences connect people from all over Europe and that is really important to me. I think it is the foundation for a great future of multiculturality. Don't be scared of things you don't know yet, but be open-minded instead and enjoy all the new possibilities and experiences by meeting other people, visiting different countries and get to know new cultures.

I hope to see you all again soon and I wish you all the best!

Yours,
Manuel G.

As a part of the Youth Exchange “I feel good” in Rijeka, Croatia, each country team was supposed to pass the on the spirit of sports & a healthy lifestyle to their friends, families, neighbours, colleagues and as many other people in their daily surroundings as possible. As our team is spread over Austria, we had two follow-up events, on the 19th and 26th November, one in Graz and another one in Vienna.

#1 Graz

During our Youth Exchange in Rijeka we had the possibility to participate in a really cool treasure hunt that enabled us to explore the city and have fun together in a group. Nina, Konrad, and me (Marion) then thought that it would be great to implement a similar event in Graz for our follow-up.

Said and done! We decided it would be best to have 20 tasks for the participants to fulfil within three hours. The tasks were a mixture of fun-facts such as “Which international popstar went to school in Graz?” (Conchita Wurst, by the way) , exercise “How many steps lead up to Schlossberg?” (260) and specific Graz knowledge like “Find the friendly alien” (nickname of Kunsthaus museum). I think we had as much fun thinking about them as the participants did completing them.

We then gathered on Saturday 19th of November at the main square to meet the contestants and let them embark on a self-guided exploration around Graz.

Because it was also a delight for us and because we got so unlucky with the weather the first time, we then decided to do a treasure hunt 2.0 the following weekend. It was a great success not only because the weather was a lot nicer, but also because even more people showed up and wanted to explore the city. And, of course, because there was chocolate as a prize.

Organising an event like this and especially thinking about tasks for participants let us get to know our own city better. We worked as a team and everyone contributed something and had good ideas, so we learned new interesting things about Graz ourselves.

#2 Vienna

The team in Vienna (Alex, Bartek, Manuel) organized a Football Match in the Westside Soccer Arena, on 26th October 2016 at 10:30 am, for their friends and friends of friends to spend some good and active time together. There have been fourteen people who played football in two teams for 1.5 hours. Some of the participants were professional players, whereas others were just amateurs (and sometimes even afraid of the ball); so we had a huge variety of players which was no problem at all, but rather beneficial as we could learn a lot from each other. The primary goal was not to win, it was to be active, have fun and enjoy time with people that share the passion for football. And those goals were definitely achieved!

See them in action:

Thank you very much for having all of you as participants and stay active & healthy! :)

Yours, Marion and Manuel

From 3^rd until 11^th of November wEUnite had the pleasure to take part in the Youth Exchange “I feel good” which was organized by Syncro Synergy Croatia. As the title already says, the participants punched their daily routines while being in the beautiful city of Rijeka. Alex, Bartek, Konrad, Manuel, Marion and Nina started their journey to Croatia with lots of motivation to do sports and experience a different, healthy lifestyle – as those were the main themes of the exchange. And they came back with an even higher level of motivation!

Directly after arriving, the team decided to explore the hostel’s

surroundings – as you can see it was breathtakingly beautiful and the weather made the view even more perfect!

With such an amazing view and the welcoming atmosphere, it wasn’t even that hard to get up for Yoga, which started at 7am, the next morning. After having tried out a new sport early

in the morning, there was breakfast and free time until 10am every day. And because all participants were very active and keen on sports (that’s why they chose to take part in this project) there was another sport session from 10-11am each day. Right after the workout all participants had time to write down their feelings and thoughts about the sport activity in their personal sports diaries. Using this tool was new to nearly everyone and seemed strange in the beginning but gave positive energy at the end of the exchange while reading how one’s fitness level and attitude towards sport can change within only a few days.

During “I feel good” the participants did not only learn about healthy lifestyle and sports, but also about different countries and cultures, numerous languages, their personal strengths and weaknesses (enhanced by ‘finding’ all Youthpass key competences during the city rally in Rijeka), the idea behind those Erasmus+ projects, and most importantly: they made friends. Spending a whole week with 30 people from officially 5 (but really 7) different nations

makes you see the world from different angles and understand opinions that differ from yours. You learn so much about others but also about yourself and your country as you talk about all the similarities and differences in your free time. (Which was always a lot of fun, as you can see on the pictures below).

For most Austrian participants this Youth Exchange was the very first Erasmus+ project but definitely not the last :) They all agree that this week was fabulous due to the big variety in the program, the mixture of nationalities, the unexpectedly minute-to-minute changing weather and mostly because they learned in a way that was unusual to what they were used to from university. Non-formal and informal learning was the biggest punch in the Austrians’ daily routine and they will miss it. By the vast amount of hands-on activities and creative tasks throughout the week they learned without having to sit down and study. Having had extremely well-prepared organizers and facilitators all the team realized how easy it can be to feel better and feel good with just little changes in their daily lives.

And what they said right after coming back home from Rijeka:

“Really nice, new experience and a lot of fun!” (Konrad)

“This week in Rijeka was an unforgettable, pleasant experience for my body and my soul that I would not want to miss. :)” (Manuel)

“I really enjoyed the week and I am happy that I learned so many new things.” (Alex)

“Definitely one of the best projects I've been to, where I’ve learnt numerous useful things for my future!” (Nina)

“It was great to do so many different activities and having a good time together.” (Marion)

“I really liked the sport activities and that I could push my limits a bit further.” (Bartek)

Big thanks once again from wEUnite, Alex, Bartek, Konrad, Manuel, Marion and Nina to Syncro Synergy Croatia for this great Youth Exchange! See you soon :) 

On tuesday, november 1st, 2016, Sigita, a new friend from Latvia had a stop in our beautiful capital Vienna on her way to the Youth Exchange "I feel good" in Croatia. She started with a Free Walking Tour where I first met her. Not only for her, but also for me, it was nice to hear interesting and even unknown facts and stories about my home town. As many other people, I never did a tour in my own home town; I mean I did, but it was a long time ago, when I was still in school. Hence, I enjoyed getting my mind refreshed. After this tour we met Pato and Manuel and continued with a private tour of Schönbrunn. The weather was just perfect and we really had a great time. I am looking forward to show my beautiful city to many friends from abroad.

What Sigita said about her short cultural visit in Vienna:

I arrived in Vienna just after the Halloween evening and one of the first things that came down the street was literally - death. Ouh, welcome, welcome! 😀 But to be honest, I enjoyed the beautiful Vienna architecture, statues, fountains and fantastic autumn colors so much! After two more or less successful explanations on the phone, where I am, my first guide, Manuel, however managed to find me and later his friends joined us, at the end of a free tour. In the metro to Schönbrunn, they suddenly pulled out little notes with compliments and made lot of jokes, how to say non-compliments, it was very funny. At our destination, Schönbrunn Castle, they gave notes to people, it was very nice 🙂. 

Thank you guys for chestnuts experiment! This was the first time I ate them. Thanks for photo session with "rain" of autumn leaves 😉 I enjoyed to see this little piece of Vienna together with you! Thank you for discussions about procrastination, old-new ruins and that you didn't let me get lost in metro tunnels! 🙂

Thank you Sigita for visiting and exploring Vienna! It was a lot of fun with you:D


Yours,
Manuel G.

Hi, my name is Elena. I am 23 years old and studying Slavic Languages at the University of Vienna. In my free time I try to do as much as possible like going out, doing some sports, travelling, meeting people etc. To get this balanced I also love to stay at home doing nothing and just being lazy.

What do I like about youth projects?
Youth projects are the best way to get to know people from all over the world. It’s not just meeting them, it’s a chance to get really acquainted. It’s unbelievable how much you can learn from other cultures. Another great opportunity are the different topics of the projects. I loved the way of learning, which is proceeded by creative, active and non-formal methods.

What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
I get to know a lot of interesting people, learned a lot about volunteering and could experience pure humanity with a lot of fun!

Why am I part of wEUnite? / Who told me about it ?
One of the founders asked me if i would like to participate and spontaneously I agreed. It was a really great opportunity and for sure it was not my last project! :)

Hi! My name is Patricio, but everyone calls me Pato and I am 22 years old. Currently I am working as a part time social worker in a refugee center and I’m studying international business in the Economic University of Vienna. I have so many hobbies that I stopped counting them – but mostly I love to play guitar and get into the subject of technology.

What do I like about youth projects?
I love the idea because it connects so many young minds and create unbelievable deep bonds in no time. Within one week you will meet people and get so close to them that you get the intention, not even at home you will find such connections. Additionally, you learn so much from every workshop session and every presentation.

What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
I experienced not only a completely new country, but also numerous different mindsets. Working with people with so many different mentalities let you change the way you think about your surrounding. When you get to know a person during a YP, you start to put yourself in their head. And meeting not only one, but many people during an entire week in a relaxing environment you are more or less empowered to look at situations from their points of view as well. This is basically enough to teach people how to communicate and act in a peaceful way.

Why am I part of wEUnite? / Who told me about it?
Actually I know wEUnite since the first post on Facebook. I know this because a friend of mine - which I regret not having talked to her about wEUnite much earlier – is one of the founders of wEUnite. She is one of the most motivated and caring people I know. I am part of wEUnite because WE UNITE. Learning in ways that are presented at YPs is completely different than what I have ever known before – and I think this has to be spread. wEUnite can definitely help to do that.

Heyo! My name is Manuel, I am 26 years young and I study Software Engineering & Internet Computing at the Technical University of Vienna. I would call myself a Web Engineer, because this is where you can find my profession. Beside that I also work as a Software Developer at Catalysts. I love to travel and to explore new places all over the world. On my trips and during my daily life I enjoy taking lots of photos; not only, but also because I am a visual type. 3D animated movies, computer graphics and drawing are also part of my life to express my creative nature. Fitness and sport activities like running, climbing (indoor and outdoor) and skiing belong to myself to keep my body in shape.

What do I like about youth projects ?
First of all the possibility to get out of your normal living. To step out of the comfort zone is what I like most about youth projects, because this is how we can grow. Beside that as a participant you have the possibility to travel around Europe and to meet new open minded people which, at the end of a project, you can call friends.Especially the topics of the projects where I was able to participate were very interesting and I could not even learn new things, but also change my behaviors towards a better way. „Sharing is caring“ was one of the projects (unofficial) slogans which we have created and the time, stories, experiences and learnings we have shared and spread, I will never forget.

What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
At the beginning of each project it is always very exciting to meet a LOT of new people from all over Europe. Different cultures,different looks, different opinions. What you learn really quickly is to get rid of stereotypes that have been created in our minds. I took the opportunity to get lots of background information from people and to get new views and opinions on many things(people, country, culture,…). During this process you really get to know several people very well and real friendships arise. At first you might not believe this, but maybe at the last day and for sure some days after a projects has ended, you know that you miss some people and that you want to see your new friends again. Most important: It is never a `Good Bye!`, it is always a `See ya!`. The spirit that evolves during the project within the whole group is most exciting. It is kind of hard to imagine that you just have met most of the participants some days ago. You can feel the power that is created, when all people just work together and try to create something big. And most of all, I never could have imagined that it is possible to just sleep three to six hours per night; but time passes by so fast, that you really do not want to miss a second with this wonderful people.

Why am I part of wEUnite ? / Who told me about it ?
I am part of wEUnite, because I really like the people and the idea behind this whole organization. The enthusiasm, motivation and love they spread is addictive. You immediately feel that you are part of their family and that you can easily be part of their activities within the organization, if you want so. I was kind of surprised when I first heard about wEUnite and what they offer to young people. Sarah, friend of mine, introduced me one day (I still can remember: it was 1th Mai 2015, Maifest in Praterpark, Vienna) to Tini, who is also a very good friend of her and – as I got to know later – one of the founders of wEUnite. We become good friends and after some time she asked me, if I would like to be part of a Youth Exchange in Ireland. It took me just a second to say ‚Yes‘ to this great opportunity. Since the first day, I really love the way wEUnite works and how nice and helpful all members are. I am proud to be one of them!

Hi! My name is Julia, I am 23 years old and I study Business Informatics at the technical university of Vienna. I have various interests reaching from IT obviously to fantasy novels and superhero movies. One of my passions is acting and I have been part of my university’s theater group for three years.

What do I like about youth projects?
I like getting to know young people and learning about their perspectives about different topics. Furthermore, I enjoy working together in groups and developing new and innovative ideas.

What have I experienced by taking part in YPs?
Meeting people from all over the continent made me realize how diverse Europe is, but also how much we have in common. I opened my mind about many countries and I am very eager to visit them and find out even more.

Why am I part of wEUnite? / Who told me about it?
I found out about the program accidentally on Facebook and decided to take part in it right on the spot. I am very glad I participated :)

Once again we were lucky to send a team on an amazing project - Palmse (Estonia) it was this time. Wanna know how it was and what it was all about? Read Manuel's impression :)

The Youth Exchange 'The Science of Boomerang' was not my first Erasmus+ project, but it was my third project. It was the first time, though, that I participated in another country. We started our journey on 14th October and came back home on the 24th October.

First arrival was in Tallinn, where Pato, Elena, Julia and I met. We spent the first evening checking out the secrets of this town and enjoying the tasty medieval food. On the next day we met our last participant of the Austrian team, Manuel. And here's our first group-picture: (left to right Pato, Julia, Manuel, Elena, Manuel)

At evening all 50 participants of the project gathered at a meeting point and we drove off to Palmse by bus. I remember me talking to myself: “Oh my god, who are all those people?”.

Everybody seemed very excited so we spend our first night with some drinks, talking and singing together. It was the beginning of some awesome nights with a lot of joy and activities prepared by the participants. Now, being back home, I would definitely call them friends.

The next day the first project session started, so I was curious and really wanted to know what the “Science of Boomerang” is. As in any of my attended projects so far we started with some icebreakers and group activities. Pretty soon everybody could feel the awesomeness of this group. I never learned 50 names that fast before!

During the project we learned lots about formal/informal/non-formal learning, Erasmus+ and EVS projects, intercultural learning (ICL) and of course about volunteering. But still I couldn’t see what the science of boomerang was... Coming to the end of the project we prepared some volunteering activities, which we were actually doing in Tallinn. 50 people separated in groups were walking with dogs or helping at an animal shelter. Some of us worked with kids like my group. We prepared some dances. At the end we found out, that some of them where awesome dancers. It was a mistake to think that we could teach them something new. After the dancing we all sat down in a circle and talked about our hobbies, dreams and of course about volunteering. Hearing those kids singing, dancing and talking about their dreams was very touching to me. I still think about that sometimes.

After this activity all 50 participants met again in Tallinn city center. It wasn’t planned by the facilitators but the participants organized another big event at the Old Town Square. We organized a flashmob where we danced together in the name of volunteering. We gave it the Hashtag #voluncare so check it out on Facebook and Instagram :)

So the YE came to an end after this event and I thought about the science of boomerang once again, but this time it hit me. I remembered how many people started to dance with us on the square. I remembered the smiles of the participants when I did some nice things for them. Mostly I remembered the kids we danced with. I knew that all this happiness didn’t come by accident. It acted like a boomerang that I threw away at the beginning of this project and it came back at the end but much more powerful than I expected.

A big thanks to everyone who made this project this amazing!

Yours, Manuel (without beard)

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