*ENG below

‘NaÅ¡el sem se. To je bilo težko narediti, a 100 % vredno.’

V okviru mladinske izmenjave Come Out and Play, z vodilno organizacijo Active Rainbow in številnimi partnerskimi organizacijami, smo preživeli 10 dni na oddihu v Copesu v Latviji. To je bila večkulturna izkušnja, katere glavna cilja pa sta bila osebna rast in učenje.

“Come out and play je bila priložnost in varen prostor za nas.”

Projekt je marsikomu od nas odprl oči, saj obravnavanje tem duševnega zdravja ali deljenje naših izkušenj kot del LGBTQ+ skupnosti še vedno velja za neprimerno ali celo tabu v večini držav, iz katerih smo prihajale_i udeleženke_ci.

Dneve smo porabile_i za odkrivanje in raziskovanje novih stvari o sebi. Naučile_i smo se veliko novih načinov skrbi zase z različnimi dejavnostmi, kot so delavnice na teme identitete, skrbi zase, duševnega zdravje itd. Pomemben del našega učnega procesa so bile tudi debate in pogovori z različnimi ljudmi iz skupine, ki prihajajo iz različnih kultur, okolij in imajo različne izkušnje. Teme, ki smo jih obravnavale_i, so bile težke, a skupaj smo uspele_i najti duševni mir in se sprostiti skozi dejavnosti, kot so kuhanje, petje, ples, ogled Evrovizije itd.

“Morale_i smo se naučiti, kako se spoÅ¡tovati in se postaviti kot tiste, ki si zaslužijo biti prednostna naloga naÅ¡ega dobrega počutja.”

Zelo smo hvaležne_i, da smo lahko sodelovale_i v tem projektu, samoreflektirale_i, rasle_i iz te izkušnje in kar je najpomembneje, svoje novo znanje delile_i z našo skupnostjo v Sloveniji.

Več fotografij z mladinske izmenjave: dan 1, dan 2, dan 3, dan 4, dan 5, dan 6, dan 7, dan 8, dan 9, dan 10.

Projekt je financiran s strani Evropske Unije v okviru Eramus+ programa. V programu so sodelovale organizacije iz 6. držav: Active Rainbow iz Latvije (vodilna organizacija), Roes Cooperativa iz Grčije, Bilitis Foundation iz Bolgarije, Pinky Promise – Informal Group iz Nemčije, YoWo Poland s Pojske in DruÅ¡tvo DIH – Enakopravni pod mavrico.

.

***ENG***

‘I found myself. It was hard to do but 100% worth it.’

We spent 10 days at a wellbeing retreat in Copes, Latvia as part of the youth exchange Come Out and Play, led by Active Rainbow in partnership with 5 other organizations (listed below). It was a multicultural experience with the main objectives being self growth and learning.

‘Come Out and Play was an opportunity and a safe place for us.’

The project was very eye-opening for many of us since addressing topics of mental health or sharing our experiences as being part of the LGBTQ+ community is still considered inappropriate or even a taboo in most of the participating countries.

We spent our days discovering and exploring new things about ourselves. We learned many new ways of taking care of ourselves through a variety of different activities such as workshops addressing topics like identity, self care, mental health etc. An important part of our learning process were also debates and talks with different people from the group, coming from different cultures, backgrounds and experiences. The topics addressed were hard, but together we managed to find peace of mind and relax through activities such as cooking, singing, dancing, watching Eurovision etc.

‘We had to learn how to respect ourselves and put ourselves as deserving of being a priority of our own wellbeing.’

We are very grateful that we were able to participate in this project, self-reflect, grow from this experience and most importantly, share our new knowledge with our community in Slovenia.

You can find more photos from the youth exchange: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10.

The project is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program. Project partners: Active Rainbow from Latvia (leading organization), Roes Cooperativa from Greece, Bilitis Foundation from Bulgaria, Pinky Promise – Informal Group from Germany, YoWo Poland from Poland and DruÅ¡tvo DIH – Enakopravni pod mavrico from Slovenia.