Brainstorming. Energizers. Video. Climate justice now! Inspirational people. ”Snoring” game. Strange UNO card game. Lot’s of hugging. Collectiveness. Laughter. Happiness. – Some of the words that pop up into my head when I think about the last couple of days spent in Switzerland. It isn’t very easy to put such an intense experience in just a few words, but I’ll try.
After traveling for about 15 hours from Croatia and spending a day in Bern, me, Rina (Croatia) and Duška (Bosnia) arrived at the venue – the village of Zollikofen which is just 15 minutes away from the Swis capital. I don’t really know why, but I imagined we’d be surrounded by high mountains with cows and sheeps around us. You know, like on the postcards. Some people had a good laugh when I shared this thought with them.
But nevermind the cows, the place was just astonishing – surrounded by woods and the beautiful river Aare. Perfect for a five day meeting! As it was my first ever YFoEE event, I didn’t really know what to expect. Even though most of the people knew each other from before, I can say that it didn’t feel like a closed-ended group – everyone was welcomed with open armes and you could really feel that. So I soon realized that there was no need for nervousness (and a few sips of rakija helped, too ;). Just to be yourself!
Work, work, work!
We had sessions from morning till evening and it was quite intense, but that’s what I really liked. Work, work, work! And the feeling of togetherness; the feeling that you’re not alone. Even though we come from very different countries, speak different languages and work in different ways, we could relate and understand each other, because we have the same goal – fighting for a better world, for a brighter future. In that moment I really felt that anything is possible, that together we could do big and amazing things.You could just feel the willingness of all the young people from various countries that came to work, share their knowledge and inspire each other; their positive energy, goodness and love of the whole planet. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to get to know each other better, but I believe we have enough time because we’ve got a long way to go. And most importantly, lot’s of energy and determination.
And what I took back home with me? Inspiration, positive energy, new friendships, knowledge, new experiences, more work, beautiful memories, prolonged life because I haven’t laught that much in a very long time.
So thank you all! I’m so lucky that I had the oportunity to meet you and I’m so excited to continue working with such amazing people. And like one of The Smith’s songs says:” There is a light that never goes out” – I believe that together we could be that light! Had to be a little cheesy.