TsaMpa went to Stara Zagora, Bulgaria for the Training Course "Take Up, Help Yourself " May 2022

 

Elektra, Vaggelis, and Christina were the amazing greek team who traveled from Greece to Bulgaria and Stara Zagora for the Training Course" Take up, Help Yourself" which came to life with the great work of the organization YDCMA.   

We would like to thank them, as well as the Bulgarian organization “YDCMA” for this amazing cooperation.

About the project

The core objective of TC “Take up, help yourself.”, was the introduction of the nonformal and informal methods and tools for youth workers that can foster their contribution and support in the integration process in the labor market.  

The group of participants consisted of 30 participants coming from 9 partner countries, over 18 years old motivated to develop their competencies in applying nonformal methods to facilitate the young people’s integration into the labor market. We aim to increase the level of awareness of youth workers from Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Greece, Czech Republic, Spain, North Macedonia, Sweden, and Portugal regarding the impact of using nonformal methods in helping youths get a job. Participants come from similar backgrounds: countries with an increased level of unemployment and limited competencies of youth workers where the young people face difficulties when searching for a job.TC comes as an answer to this problem and aims to help young people to increase their job perspective and also from a macro point of view leads to an increased level of youth employability. The profile of the participants fulfills the following criteria: 

-be a youth worker in the sending organization; 

-active in the youth work field; 

-have a B2 level of English language; 

-interested to develop their competencies regarding nonformal methods to empower youths; -motivated to contribute to their communities; 

-come from communities with an increased level of unemployment;

-the availability to get actively involved in all phases of the project until the end (including the dissemination and exploitation of results); 

-gender balance and non-discrimination principles are considered.

The 3 participants shared with us their thoughts after the Training Course Take up, help Yourself " by the organization YDCMA ORG ❤️

Ilektra Simonetatou Christiadou

My participation in the training course ''Take up, help yourself'' which took place in Stara Zagora between 30.04.2022 and 09.05.2022 was constructive, useful as well as fun. The topic was employability skills. The participating countries were Greece, Spain, the Czech Republic, Portugal, and North Macedonia. It was constructive because of the knowledge I gained through the sessions as well as by interacting with the other participants. The sessions covered a wide range of topics. First of all, we learned about hard skills and soft skills and we contemplated which ones are useful to the labor market. To name a few, we reached the conclusion hard-working, responding well to change, reliable, good at communication, punctual, team player, time management, procrastination-proof, critical thinking, and working well under pressure are the soft skills with the highest demand in the labor market. We also shared the situation of employment in our countries and we did a small survey about the situation in Stara Zagora and in Bulgaria. Our findings were that young people have a high rate of unemployment, there are few employers available and there are gender-based professions. The finding about youth unemployment is especially interesting because in other European countries we have the same problem: high-skilled, high-educated young people struggle to find work in their field. In addition, we learned about sending NGOs to all the participants. Last but not least, we learned about Youthpass and its usefulness as an employability tool. As far as the interaction with the participants is concerned, it was such a positive experience. We discussed and learned about the economy, politics, and culture of each country in a friendly and loose way. Personally, a lot of things made impression on me. First of all, the fact that we all almost deal with the same problems in our countries more or less. Another thing is how everyday people can become friends despite politics. With this statement of course I refer to the Greek team's interaction with the North Macedonia team. Moreover, I learned how close Bulgarian and Macedonian languages are. Lastly, we tasted every country's food and drinks and I found many similarities between Bulgaria, Greece, and Macedonia. To sum up, I learned a lot of information seen through the eyes of other people. It was a super positive and valuable experience and I am glad for the things I learned and the friends I made. I would definitely recommend young people to participate in erasmus+ programs.

Vaggelis Paxinos 

"Through my first Erasmus+ project, TC “Take up, help yourself”, I had the chance to meet new people and gain more knowledge based on our future youth work environment. The project by itself in combination with the activities we had, educated me in a way that I have never imagined before. We approach diverse subjects in a controversial way, which was something new for me. The city that we stayed in, on top of all of that, was magnificent, with great landscapes and large parks filled with people and trees. The common activities that we had with the other participants, in this project, brought us closer and we create a strong bond. There aren’t enough words to describe this experience other than you should go and try it out yourself."

Christina Mpasouna

My first Erasmus+ was absolutely perfect, the project was called "take up, help yourself".  I met a lot of awesome people, learned a lot of new things, and exchanged ideas. Participants came from countries with a high level of unemployment and faced similar difficulties when searching for a job. The activities promote initiative and creativity.  We were able to see Stara Zagora and spend time with each other.    It was a unique experience that changed me and gave me the opportunity to make new friends from different countries.

Keep Erasmus-ing people! 

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