Members of Young Leaders club got an opportunity to participate in a youth exchange “Modern Shepherds 3” in a small town in Spain.
There were participants from 6 European countries: Spain, Macedonia, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Lithuania. Aurėja Kavaliauskaitė, Gabija Kaulakytė, Miglė Makuškaitė, Lina Balčiūnaitė and Kornelijus Baltrūnas represented Lithuania in these exchanges. During the program all of the participants, who were living under the same roof, got to know each other, taste and exlplore rural spanish areas and made wonderful memories. Every day there were national evenings, where everybody represented their own culture through dances, games, dictionary and of course food.
This project focuses on ecology, so we had a lot of discussions about environmental problems: each group presented their country’s biggest environmental issues, and all participants have jointly searched for ways of dealing with the problem. Also one of the project goals was to promote entrepreneurship. One day we went to a very cozy village coffee shop where we got a chance to listen to three different local people’s success stories about their businesses and we had the opportunity to ask them questions. We also had a chance to work on our own start-up ideas and to get valuable feedback from other participants.
For Miglė one of the most memorable things in the project was to visit local entrepreneurs founded co-working office in a mountain village, which is home to only 18 people. There owners organize various projects, invite entrepreneurs, digital nomads and remote employees from all over the world to live and work together and to generate new ideas. Besides, what can be more enjoyable than working in the mountains? Another participant Gabija will remember these youth exchanges because of the Spanish mountain beauty and pristine nature, where peace and harmony prevails.
International youth participation in youth exchanges offers unlimited opportunities to learn about other cultures, to discuss about the biggest issues around the world and of course memorable adventure. We are glad that we participated in youth exchange “Modern Shepherds 3” and we are looking forward for other opportunities. We will always carry modern shepherds spirit in our hearts.