Poland 

Follow Up Activity

Date: 15.02.2024

Place: Wrocław, Poland

On the 15th of February, an engaging follow-up activity took place in Wrocław, hosted during the Open Soul's meeting. This event provided a wonderful opportunity for both youth and youth workers to come together and engage in meaningful discussions about the organization's future and reflect on its past achievements. 

The meeting was highlighted by insightful presentations during which valuable experiences from the "GET OUT" project were shared. We were offered with an in-depth look into the journey, detailing the activities carried out during the project and emphasizing the importance of seizing Erasmus+ project opportunities. Also, pictures were presented to visualise how the project looked like. The meeting concluded on an inspiring note, with a focus on future plans involving Erasmus. We encouraged new participants to explore the enriching experiences that such projects offer, fostering a sense of enthusiasm and anticipation for what lies ahead.

Links for online dissemination

Article 1 : https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7154461968752402432/ 

Article 2 : https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7154850026131726336/ 

Link to Video (GET OUT Facebook group):

1. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1076010870203229 

2. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1042626410334485 

Evaluation Paragraphs from Participants

Anastasiia Saltasiuk

I am absolutely happy to say that my year has started in a productive and motivating way! I was lucky enough to take part in a project "GET OUT of your comfort Zone" that took place in the Klodzko area in Poland. From the first day, I could feel the professionalism in the organization, as well as the individual approach to each participant. We were provided with a large house, where was enough space for both relaxation and privacy as well as for excellent integration of the whole group. We were pretty well fed with traditional Polish cuisine and of course we were taught how to leave our comfort zone. It was an interesting challenge: getting out of your comfort zone in such a comfortable place.

The program and the whole organization of the project meant daily classes prepared by excellent trainers Eva and Orfeas, where participants could form the concept of their comfort zone, understand it and create (or not) a plan to get out of it. I can note that the program that the trainers prepared was new to me and I have almost never encountered such sessions (or their interpretations) in all my experience of participating in Erasmus+ projects. My attention was almost always focused on activities, which was facilitated by excellent discipline (time management, respect for others and rules).

I think it is quite difficult for me to say which of the exercises I liked the most and which least, since they were all unique, interacted well with the group and at the same time gave each participant the seed for their own reflections. However, my clear favorites are creative tasks with a theatrical twist (playing a strange role), interpretive drawing of circles, and continuing story descriptions. I am also pleased with the fact that in almost every lesson we as a group managed to have a lot of fun and laugh a lot, which helped us get out of (comfort zone) embarrassing situations very well.

I am very glad that I ended up on this project, at this particular time and with these people, because everyone knows that 60% of a good and successful project is the group, the participants, the people. This helped me broaden my horizons, take a closer look at certain things, become more self-confident and make new interesting acquaintances. And this is important. It is important both for me and for each participant (whether they consciously understand it or not).

Since the participants in this project were considered as serious, adult people (and professional as the organizers themselves), in addition to pre-project tasks such as homework, self-presentation on created Facebook and Whatsapp Groups, preparation for formal (sessions) and informal (intercultural evenings) activities, we also had post-project responsibilities, such as disseminating knowledge and our own experience after the project on our social media, adding documentation and certificates, as well as creating an activity for young people to personally share with them what we learned during the project "GET OUT of your comfort Zone". At the moment I am in the middle of my post-project duties, reliving this difficult but wonderful first week of the new year, which I think will be very important in my life.

It's difficult to say what could have been done better by the organizers when everything has already been done. However, the only thing for the future that I would like to admit is to move forward. Forward and only forward. Who else except the organizers knows that professionalism comes with experience. Professionalism, which we all saw and experienced, and I would justify all the shortcomings by the fact that we are all human, that is, we are not ideal, and we cannot foresee some circumstances and reactions, and this is normal, and perhaps unique.

What I would like to suggest is that the organizers should take me on their projects. We have a great match, don't we?