How does actually democracy work?

How does democracy actually work? It has been known in Slovakia for years,  however, we came to the conclusion,  that  it differs from  land to land a little bit. This was the topic discussed by our Slovak team and youngsters from another 4 EU  countries  and  Turkey.  We spent together 10 beautiful May days on the youth exchange All for Democracy in Romanian Aninoasa.  

You may now ask: "Romania? What would I do there?"  Honestly, we didn't know what to expect from this country before we visited it. Our sending organization Youthfully Yours provided us much useful information, but it was up to us to discover Romanian life. The country looks very similar to Slovakia, although it has a very beautiful nature, we wouldn't change it for our motherland. However, we came to Romania to take part in the youth exchange and it was much more amazing than we had expected. 

Why do we find this youth exchange so amazing? In the first place, we got to know many young people who shared with us their experience and information about their countries. We talked to Portuguese for the first time and sang the famous song Dragostea din tei with Romanianative speakers. During the plentiful program, we developed our critical thinking, presented our attitudes and experience to an international audience. Mainly, we discussed the topic of democracy and the principles which should be fulfilled in a state to be considered democratic. Nearby, we also discovered that the political systems of our countries aren't always flawless. Thanks to the presence of our foreign peers we saw the attitude to the global issues also from the other side. 

Romanian Association Be You made our program very interesting with the help of a cultural visit. In the Town of Targoviste, we met local authorities and discussed the upcoming EU elections. At the end of the youth exchange we even created a video campaign to motivate young citizens and raise their participation in the EU elections. 

This youth exchange gave me lots of positive energy, which I kept for a long time after my comeback to Slovakia. I recommend you to take part in a similar youth exchange because it is a great opportunity to develop your soft skills and to get to know amazing people. To that, you can taste the local cuisine and explore the beauties of Europe!