Youth Exchange  “Meeting of the Invisible People” in Galicia, Spain

Between 18.06-26.06.2023, within the Erasmus+ programme, a youth exchange entitled "Meeting of the Invisible People" took place in Galicia, Spain, organised by Sustinea, with the participation of 28 young people from Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain. Two young women from the Greek group write:

"We are Katerina and Marilena and we participated in the Youth Exchange entitled "Meeting of the Invisible People" in Galicia, Spain between 18-26 June 2023. In the same program we were joined by people from Italy, Turkey and, of course, Spain, with whom we had the pleasure to collaborate in group activities and projects. The aim of the programme was to promote values such as social inclusion, respect, equality and transnational cooperation.

It was for both of us our first participation in an Erasmus+ programme and we were very happy with this unique experience. Firstly, we had the opportunity to meet and work with national and local organisations, including the Acquired Brain Injury Association, with whom we played the Paralympic sport of Boccia, the ONCE Association, who showed us how to dance and cook with our eyes closed, and the Fibromyalgia Association, who organised theatre exercises for us and educated us about the symptoms of fibromyalgia and how it affects patients' lives.

Apart from getting to know organisations, through the project we also came into contact with the nature and culture of Galicia. In particular, we went hiking by the river in the Ribeira Sacra area, while we also got to know some of the customs of the region through the local celebrations of San Juan Day in the city of Ourense. Another important part of the programme was our contact with other peoples, as through the intercultural nights organised we were able to taste traditional Spanish and Italian food, dance traditional Turkish dances and sing some Turkish songs, as well as show our own culture through traditional Greek songs and dances.

Finally, we had the opportunity to participate in awareness-raising activities on issues such as gender equality, disability, diseases, migration and social exclusion. During our walks in Ourense, we documented the elements of feminism and accessibility in the city, which gave us a lot of food for thought and prompted us to discuss the problems and concerns of minorities in our countries. Thus, we concluded that these problems are not limited to one country, but are global problems common to all countries of the world".

ERASMUS+ 

This project was co-funded by European Union, the Erasmus+ Program