It’s October 27th, I’m walking slowly along the Malta lake in Poznan towards the camp place where the project is going to take place. Strong sun and fresh air make it feel like it’s May. I see positive and vibrant people enjoying their morning walk making it even more enjoyable for me. Yes, it feels like a good beginning. Day one is the most interesting one for me, because it’s when we all meet for the first time and the surprise moment is at it’s highest. All the beautiful people representing our continent are making impressions as fresh as the morning sun lifting us up from the bed. This moment makes me realy happy. Our beautiful and as much colorful trainers Goska and Natalie are already there to welcome us with their smiles and ready to jump into the business…
Few days later I’m starting to catch the “behind scenes” – learning process, that we are undergoing. They tailored the training so good that it gave us experience of having the birth and a lifecycle of a trainer. Trough the various games and activities we could see them in action and also have our own reality check. Every session is interactive and the participants are the ones that actually create everything while being led and helped by the trainers. It varies from writing, singing, dancing, discussing, storytelling, drawing, acting, sharing experiences and I’m sure there are many more ways to describe them. For example one acrivity is called open space for our own try-out. Here we get into the role of a trainer and try to make and activity that should be new learning experience for the participants and also fun. I did one hour activity about non violent communication and the outcome was amazing. And this is the part where the social power of the group comes in. After the sessions we spend hours talking and trying to learn as much as possible in this short period of a week. During the coffee brakes and meals everyone was sharing their beautiful stories about their work with young people in their organizations. This is very much connected to our personal lives as well and that is what makes the group grow a family feeling. That is the best things about this kind of trainings. I could listen to their stories forever, they are so rich and inspiring. And we had vegetarian food that was the best I’ve ever had in my life. I hope other organizations follow this example as well. Even “little” things like this are part of molding that youth trainer superhero that is supposed to be a good example himself for the young people in the society.
At the end of the training I was lucky to have my ride at 3:00 o’clock in the morning so I skipped the hardest moment of every training, the departures. These are moments full with emotions and they are part of the journey to becoming a good youth trainer. I took with me a delicious polish chocolate, written notes from the friends and family I met there, that I read time and time again and so many memories that I keep on thinking every day since.
One thought sticks out the most of all, “I wish I’ll see them again”.
Dragan Milanov
November 9, 2022.