Three representatives from CVS – Bulgaria were happy to take part in the most useful training for youth workers in Poznan, Poland from 09 to 15. May 2024. Institute Perspectives was represented by the secretary, that will organize a course for our Youth coordinators.
The participants were from 10 countries and presented young people and youth workers involved in non-formal education. The training course: “MINDFULL YOUTH WORK: Cultivating well-being in yourself and others” was a part of the project “Stop, Reflect, do better” of the Association “Jeden Swiat”, SCI Poland that is implemented in 14 months and involves 10 countries and 60 participants.
Knowing the youth workers well-being is an important factor for the youth organizations and their sustainable development, the trainers: Natalie Jivkova and Goska Trud used non-formal educational methods in the most effective way.
Let us tell you about the last day of the training course that was the most entertaining because we had to remind ourselves about all the things that we have learned so far during the time in Hotel Camping Malta, to highlight the Mindful youth work for cultivating well-being in ourselves and others.
The participants were divided into 4 groups and had to answer as precisely as possible to the questions concerning the information on the topic of well-being: ‘What we understand by well-being”, “The eight “Intelligences”, “The steps to well-being”, “Non-violent communication”. It was exciting because of the short time allocated to the speakers of each group. Having received the points for the correct answers we were granted special rewards – cookies and chocolates.
The afternoon sessions again were devoted to getting the feedback from the trainees. The small sheets of paper that each of us took divided us in groups of 5 people which had to find the partners by imitating the Snow, the Waterfall, the Wind and the Rain. Each group had to highlight the most interesting and unforgettable moments during the workshop. The improvisations included ad hog performances demonstrating in the funniest way the Jackal and the Giraffe – the methods used by Marshall Rosenberg – the author of non-violent communication who advises people to use the language of compassion and “speak peace in the world of conflict”.
Then we watched the short video that represented the screen testimonials of all of us for the excellent training and extremely beneficial training for the well-being of the youth workers and the young people.
Further interesting activities followed, especially the way we received our certificates that were “marked” at the back of the paper with our photos from childhood. Trainees had to guess the person by a photo from our childhood – an activity that led to deeper understanding of our life, sharing best moments and reminding ourselves about peaceful childhood. At the same moment it seems we traced our personal development from childhood to Youth work competencies for well-being coach.
It would be very important to write about the details for disseminating the information of the training course by follow-up activities in every country. There will be organized 3 presentations in the universities in Berlin, 2 discussion groups in Italy, workshop with People with slight mental impairments in Bulgaria, webinars in Spain and Portugal and the reports of the events will be collected on a special folder on Google drive.
The workshop ended by a night party with lots of wishes for happiness and plans for future joint events. All participants became close friends and were wishing to stay longer on the course. They expressed their desire to take part in similar workshops under the guidance of Gosca and Natalie.