North Macedonia follow up

Follow up Activities are been done in different places for the group of participants from North Macedonia. To be more specific one member of the partiipants made a follow up activity in a project that took part following days and the other 3 members in North Macedonia. Follow up activities are described in the page.

Marija Jovcheska organised the activity at Spinea in Italy on the 3rd of July for 50 minutes. Due to the fact that it was a youth exchange in the activity took place 30 participants aged 17 - 50 years old, they were young people and youth workers. The dissemination took place during the project Social and Digital Youth coordinated by Discover Together organisation from Italy. The people involved in the activity were a combination of young people and youth workers, youth leaders, and heads of NGOs.

The activity was the activity on communication which the Armenian team developed during the TC in Cyprus.
You can find the full description in the Facebook group of the project Reconnect with nature. We chose that one since it connected well with the theme of the project which our representative attended as a group leader.

The activity was met very well and the participants enjoyed it very much. They enjoyed it so much that almost half of them continued for another hour to immerse themselves in their emotions, nature and communication with themselves and others.

The activity helped the target group to realise the intricacies of communication and to better connect with themselves.

Video of the Activity:

https://www.facebook.com/100970395043953/posts/pfbid0PPAJ4gz939F3LHZYnijqUTZrfa4aB9CHmvkv1ofvZAtTpTtm52B65HDD35aUHWPyl/

2nd follow Up Activity:

trhe second activity has been done from the participants STEFAN MUKOSKI, IVA SIMESKA, ELENA TASHEVA in the town Ohrid, North Macedonia at the 3rd of August for an hour. 18 people including the participants who attended the PDA in Cyprus took part in the activity. Most of the participants were youth workers, youth leaders and other technical staff/members of NGOs from Skopje, Ohrid and Struga. The activity was a guided meditation.

The aims of the session were to help the participants connect with their inner self and see through their mind's eye more deeply while connecting with the natural world surrounding them. The activity took place outdoors in a welcoming natural environment which boosted the participants' overall experience.

The reactions of the group were mainly positive ones and the overall impact was that the participants in this dissemination activity would like to try meditation again so as to identify some of their struggles and simply connect with the parts of themselves they had forgotten or ignored.

Video for dissemination of the activity: https://fb.watch/ePd8vQ71sc/

Links from dissemination that participants done:

Links of video:

What our participants said:

ELENA TASHEVA

I'm Elena and I am a youth worker. I'm a Macedonian who took an active part in the project "RE-Connect with Nature protecting the Environment For Inner Health" representing the Association Centre for Rural Development - SEE from Struga, Macedonia.

I have several points to share about my experience in this project. Here they are:

1. Logistics - very well taken care of from start to finish.

2. Groups - wonderful young people!

3. Venue - absolutely gorgeous!

4. Trainers - amazing, driven and supportive. Great sense of humour, too.

5. Workshops - satisfactory and effective.

Bonus points - new partnerships!

Well done, ACPELIA!

STEFAN MUKOSKI

My name is Stefan Mukoski and I was a participant in the Erasmus training course RECONNECT WITH NATURE that took place in Pissouri, Cyprus in June 2022.

The project was an amazing experience for me. I learned so much about meditation and about mindfulness. I learned about channelling emotions and communication with myself and with the people around me. Another important thing I learned is how to use my creativity to plan activities for young people and help them to connect with the natural environment around them.

As far as the organisation of the project goes, I must say that our sending organisation the Centre for Rural Development - SEE from Struga did an amazing job, as did our hosting organisation Acpelia.

As a participant in this project, I received support all throughout the project from the preparation of the activities to the travel and dissemination activities. Both organisations are ones with long experience and they know how to hear and support young people.

Erasmus is changing my life and I look forward to my next adventure.

IVA SIMESKA

I am Iva Simeska. This post is about my participation in the Reconnect with nature... project that took place in Cyprus in June, 2022. The topic of the project interested me a lot because I personally adore nature and spend all my free time in nature.

The goal was for us participants, as youth workers, to increase our skills and competencies for working with young people by connecting with nature for self-discovery and learning about the world around us.

The workshops helped me personally to discover things about myself that I was not aware of before, to learn to deal with challenges more easily and to nurture my strengths.

In terms of the organization of the event, the hosts did their best to provide us with top-notch service in accommodation, supported us during the trip and provided us with an excellent team of coaches and support staff.

The trainers were people skilled in performing the task assigned to them and I would like to personally thank both Erma and Kyriakos, as well as Marina for everything they provided us during the training.

Huge thanks to the European Union and the Erasmus+ Program, because of which we young people have a unique opportunity to upgrade ourselves, to put our ideas into practice and to support each other.

Finally, a huge thank you to the team of the Center for Rural Development Association who, with their professionalism, ensured that our experience in the project ran smoothly and that we reaped the maximum benefits.

MARIJA JOVCHESKA

From June 16-25, in Pissouri, Limassol, Cyprus, the #RECONNECTWITHNATURE training took place under the guidance of Acpelia NGO . The event focused on reconnecting with nature - returning to the primal, developing key abilities and skills for youth work, self-awareness and creativity - innovating new activities based on contact with nature. The workshops were realized at a high level with the full commitment of the trainers Erma Georgiou and Kyriacos Stouppas , the facilitator Marina Georgiou and the main coordinator Νικόλας Νικολάου . The Macedonian team received unreserved support in all stages of the project and thanks to our selfless efforts, we can now boast of enhanced skills, new knowledge and contacts through which we can introduce innovative activities for young people. Huge thanks to the entire project team and the Macedonian team for the unforgettable experience.