Young people from all around the world took part in the Youth for Solidarity project. In addition to Slovakia, Bulgaria was also visited by teams from the Netherlands, Italy, Romaniaand Turkey. Our team had time to admire Sofia for a while before starting the project. Then we went to the destination of the project, a mountain town called Bansko. We often spent the evening relaxing in the hotel pool, and every day we could look forward to local Bulgarian cuisine. This exchange program was an unforgettable experience for all its participants. The theme of the project was solidarity between the countries of the European Union, and therefore it included activities aimed at discovering the differences, but also the things that unite our countries. We learned a little about the problems that individual participants deal with, as well as the countries themselves. Often there was a passionate exchange on various topics, but everyone’s opinion was respected. The open debate allowed us to look at certain things from different point of view and to reevaluate many things.

The program was enjoyable, we got to explore the beautiful Bansko surrounded by breathtaking mountains and also got to know the culture of other countries by tasting their traditional food or dancing traditional dances. We obtained valuable information that will help us in participating in other projects or future studies. We met inspiring people from different countries of the world with whom we often had long evening conversations. We managed to learn a few foreign words from each language and we also did not refuse the chance to spread the Slovak language further into the world.

The Slovak team was in charge of organizing a workshop called Europe and me. We started the program with a so-called energizer. In addition to an interesting and surprising quiz, we also opened a passionate debate about the European Union and its role in Europe. While preparing the activities was challenging, but after a healthy dose of stress came a good feeling from the successful workshop, which all participants enjoyed. This challenge strengthened us as a team, we learned to cooperate better and we also gained some new knowledge.

In the end, on the plane from Sofia, we were really exhausted, but at the same time enriched with new experiences, information, friendships, looking forward to our families and friends back in Slovakia and excited about the projects and opportunities that the future will bring us.