Once upon a time

It’s been quite a long time without any chance to participate in a youth exchange, and finally, in midsummer 2020 we learned about ‘Once upon a time: myths and fairytales across Europe’ youth exchange in Latvia. After discussing all the pros and cons, we decided to try our luck. Although the journey was quite long and we weren’t completely sure if we could reach our distention, it was a nice adventure. After 3 days of traveling, we finally arrived at the venue.

The project took place in stunning surrounds of Jurmala, located between the river Lielupe and the Baltic Sea. Shortly upon the arrival we met other great participants, who came from Estonia, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Lithuania and Latvia.

The main goal of the project was to highlight European values, such as mutual understanding, tolerance, dignity, and combating negative traits such as, racism and homophobia. Fairy tales became the main tool for achieving this goal.

Throughout the whole week, we had a chance to get to know numerous interesting stories not only from Europe but also from other countries around the world. Such experience helped us to realize: we all are more similar in a way than different.

However, the main task for all of us was creating our own puppets-show. Although this task seemed to be tough for us at first, the result of our efforts was 5 amazing performances that we played in Riga. The week flew by so fast and it was time to say goodbye. Full of new experiences and nice memories, we set off on a long journey home, during which we recalled all the beautiful moments we went through.

On this occasion, we would like to thank the Youthfully Yours organization for giving us this opportunity in spite of the ongoing pandemic. We have gained this unique experience and will be glad to share it here in Slovakia one day.