Hi, my name is Dada and I am from a little town in Orava region, where the Slovak letter „ľ“ sounds much more euphonious ?.
My why? started on one beautiful and warm summer day when the temperature was also sharpened by the stress of passing my diploma work. Meanwhile, I was offered an opportunity to participate in an international project which took place in Košice in Slovakia.
Since I had an opportunity to try Erasmus in various forms such as student- youth exchanges, volunteering, study visit or practice- I did not hesitate for a second and I signed up. Košice is a beautiful city though.
A lot of inspirational young people from different parts of Europe came to Košice to discuss a „very hot topic“. I seemed that in that moment the door to the world was opened in our town, ani if we start telling our story, the people will truly listen. When I was talking to young Slovak people – by the way, people with great potential- they sounded quite negative, in the sense that our situation in Slovakia is in dire straits and European Union is very distant.
I am not surprised by what they think about our situation. Especially when they soak negative broadcast from our mind-forming media. It is difficult to form their own different opinion.
They claimed they would like to travel but they did not have an opportunity, or traveling is only for those who can afford it. Here I saw that they still do not know about the opportunities which EU provides.
Yes, Slovakia has a lot of problems and even more things that are necessary to improve. On the other hand, we still have loads of things to offer if we start presenting them properly ( I purposely haven’t used verb- to sale because in Slovakia it can cause other connotations).
And so my reason Why? came. After the years spent abroad where I traveled, lived, studied and worked, I have forgotten a little bit that I had spent lots of time searching for different projects on my own. Now, thanks to organizations as Youthfully Yours it is much easier, accessible and transparent.
To sum it up, in my opinion, work with Erasmus+ has some purpose. Specifically, it can help young people to travel beyond the limits of their comfort zone, who after a return may no longer be so passive. On the contrary, they may have the desire to change things and improve them. What may happen is that they will be shocked by comparison of foreign countries and Slovakia. In different circumstances, they will also see the other side of the coin and that people from other countries are also dealing with similar issues. That every change needs time and right people in the right place.
