International Youth Conference

Between 20-26th of November, a delegation of six students was travelling to Slovakia to the International Youth Conference organised by the Slovakian National Deakonical Organisation.

The conference, which was organised in the Slovakian Jelka, was the second trial for motivating young people from different European countries for cooperation. The first similar seminar was organised in Germany in 2004. The theme of this consultation was “Self help - the volunteer work”.

Jelkas water was poisonous in the past and caused illness, nowadays it assures the best quality of potable water for 10 localities. The struggle in the past for improving the water quality became a helpful cooperation for the favour of the neighbour localities. The common water-feed expresses it.

There can be symbolical seen, that the Bethlehem Missionary Centre from Jelka became for a week the source of cooperation for five different countries. The youth delegations (Poland, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania) started to work with this good feeling.

The participants fraternized in the arriving evening with each other very reservedly. Nevertheless, the first games stimulated them to accept the amicable approach expressed in their towards.

Which experiences do have the participants with the matter of conference? What do they need to realise their ideas? Which instruments are at their disposal? These were the first questions of the mixed workgroups. The representatives of the different countries could know each another as active or potential volunteers. The necessity of the translation into four languages (German, English, Polish, and Hungarian) awaked the feeling of responsibility at the beginning to each other.

The second task of the country delegations was to “plan an own project”.

“The power of convincing and how to win volunteers for the project” was also a challenge for the enthusiastically co-worker delegations.

“Communication techniques to observe through role plays” has inspired the participants for a free and relaxed teamwork.

What is the opinion on the EU level about the volunteer work? The question was it cleared not just through the presentations. The performance of the Slovakian delegation was also a good example. At that place where people are respectful to each other anyone will feel comfortable himself - could we remark.

There was not any occasion, which should not have been characterised by the merriment of the participants. The delegations of the countries could also remark that the youth pledged itself to help each other, and to take responsibility for the realizing of the presented projects.

The group, that was counting about 40 persons, had time also for getting know the remarkable atmosphere of Bratislava.

In the last presentation of conference, the Slovakian agent of the National Agency “Youth for Europe” encouraged the participants for planning and delivering of common projects and to involve more different countries in the circle of the international exchange programs.

The closing day was characterised by bad feelings and sadness of leaving.

Nevertheless, we - the organisers of the conference and the group leaders - decided, that we will not let pass the here developed friendships away, but we will use all the given possibilities to work further together.

The small Transylvanian group says thanks to the Slovakian organizers and to the sender organisation that they could take part on this conference.