Implementation Day 3
Day 3 - Saturday February 21
Written by the Georgian team π¬πͺ!
Trees and travelers
The first activities of the day were trees and travellers. The tree's role was a participant who stayed still in the "forest", which took the space of the activity room, while travellers wore blindfolds, they could not see anything, and the trees made a circle around them. Then trees were gently guiding travellers not to crush each other, fall or bump into anything. When travellers were walking around the "forest", the trees were giving short directions. We also switched these roles and tried both conditions.
Activities like this not only build trust between participants but just as importantly improved listening and communication. And the most important - encouraged teamwork.
Introduction to the Air element mixed with creativity.
As the previous activity, this one was also about building teamwork, serving as an interactive and at the same time interesting activity. Involving balloons, participants created their balloons, yet focused on numerous aspects of interacting with them, and in turn, with the air inside said balloons.
The trainers asked for different forms of interactions, such as keeping it up only with fingers, then only the elbow, the knee or the foot. Going to the next stage, mini challenges based on the colour of the balloon, as well as team-based "loss", should a balloon fall to the ground. Activities like this, focused and simple, work with coordination as well as teamwork, essential especially when youth are involved.
Air, straws and color
We also had a chance to concur the art with the use of air, meaning - we painted our pictures with just blowing from straws. This activity took a lot of focus and concentration, which motivates participants to be more mindful during the process. It may sound like an easy task, but it took a lot of effort to just make a simple shape. This activity focuses on the use of a factor that every living person has, the lungs, yet, by unleashed creativity and drawing in a method no participant has drawn with before is important.
Interpretation of Photography
An activity involving art and even a competitive aspect. Participants were given time to take photos in groups with 4 different topics. These were love, co-dependency, boundaries and identity, specifically topics that may easily be presented in similar ways.
Yet, art is subjective and can be represented in many ways. The goal of the activity was to compete, where 4 teams would have to guess which topics were which photos. As such, each team created a collage of their photos, with other teams guessing. Should other teams guess correctly, teams lose points.
Below, you can also see the photos taken by each of the 4 teams.
Mindfulness and Breathing techniques
The last activity of the day was breathing techniques, where we studied breathing techniques and relaxation methods. Participants practised breathing in through one nostril and breathing out through the other. First, we closed one nostril and slowly breathed in through the open nostril. Then switched sides and slowly breathed out through the other nostril. This activity helps improve focus, calm the mind, and relax the body. It also teaches us how to control our breathing and be more aware of how we feel.
Overall, this activity not only teaches a simple breathing method but also encourages us to pause, pay attention to ourselves, and relax in our daily lives.
At the conclusion of the session, a reflection period was conducted to allow participants to express their ideas and share their perspectives.
Cultural nights of Romania, Austria and Ukraine
At the end of the day, we had a cultural evening where four countries presented:
Romania, Austria, Ukraine. Each national team used different methods of presentation. Romania prepared a presentation, and we were given red and white strings, and we learned about the meaning of MΔrΘiΘor tradition.
In turn, Ukraine prepared videos, presentations and also they prepared some games: we were divided by country. Everyone answered the same questions about Ukraine and teams with low scores had a small punishment, and the process was very entertaining. Austria prepared a presentation and during the presentation, we studied the Austrian slang word "oida". It was surprising that this word can have completely different meanings depending on the context. Each country also had a table with snacks, drinks, and flags, where participants were served.