Youth Exchange in Turkey – YAMNFL project

Arrival day was challenging but joyful to all of the participants as well as the first night, with the participants gathering around the fireplace introducing to each other and having a relaxing time by enjoying dinner together. It was a nice start to gather energy so they will be ready to start with this project’s activities for next eight days.

The whole YE was loaded with lots of activities during the day, starting off with a welcoming speech from the host organization and games based activities to let participants know more about each other's personalities and common things. 𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 was the main topic of this project that's why it includes a lot of sessions and activities such as games base learning activities, outdoor activities, touristic-education tour etc. through the whole week.

One of the most exciting activities was the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 where each participants had the opportunity to represent their country’s culture and share more about the history and traditions.

Next day continued with a 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰-𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 that included visits in some of the cultural and historical places in Istanbul at 𝗦𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲, 𝗔𝘆𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘆𝗮 and 𝗚ü𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸. Going back to the city center, the participants had the opportunity to visit some of the 𝗯𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗮𝗿𝘀 in Istanbul and finished the day with a dinner there.

On the day 4 of this youth mobility activity participants started with a 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗙𝗟 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 leaded by NGO Iuventa. This activity gave participants the opportunity to share more experiences and knowledge about non-formal learning among each other. Later on continued with a session leaded by The Future Now Association that was focused on 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆. The day ended with a discussion of the concept and content for the workshops.

Days ahead were busy with great sessions and workshops for Non-formal learning where participants share their knowledge and discuss more about the topic. Also 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 and 𝗝𝗼𝗯 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 held a session to share their experiences and results of their activity. And in the end of course this kinds of mobility includes the 𝗡𝗚𝗢 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 where NGOs get the chance to represent and share more about their work.

In the 6th day of this Youth Exchange project participants enjoyed an outdoor activity “𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗸𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲”. Dressed in comfortable clothes and accompanied by each other, they enjoyed lunch in nature. In the afternoon they had free time to relax a bit. The next day a 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲 was also included in the program, there participants got the chance to try making fabric for clothes . After that they got the chance to 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝗲 and present the project as well as discussed about the importance of 𝗻𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. In the afternoon that day participants also visited natural beauties, 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 and the 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗿” and learned more about the culture heritage of Istanbul, Turkey..

In the end of the day they gathered for a short meeting where they talked about the activity and how important is to learn by doing. The last day of the activities was loaded with sessions in the morning, starting with a 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 and discussion about the 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘆.

Also we had some other activities leaded by participants to finish the concept and content of the topics. In the end we wrapped up the project activities with the 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to each of the participants how will return home and will be able to share their knowledge and experience on the non formal education in their local communities.