All the students know about the Erasmus exchange semesters, which allow you to study somewhere else for a specific amount of time. But not all of us know about other opportunities offered by Erasmus: short- and long-term projects. You may have heard about gap years and how people sometimes go for a year to work with children or help the local community with organizing events – and these are European Solidarity Corps (aka ESC or EVS in the past) projects. However, today I will talk about short-term projects and the one I have recently been to. The short-term projects are all about informal education. The idea is that we can learn a lot when people with different background knowledge gather together and discuss some hot topics or share the skills you have already acquired. This has a small resemblance to the usual university education, and when university life becomes intense, going on a project is a great opportunity to recharge your batteries.
Erasmus+ projects, both long- and short-term, are projects for young people usually between 18 and 30 years old. There are always people from different nationalities and a team leader or facilitator. The aim of these projects is a cultural exchange, and everybody gains new knowledge on a certain topic while being part of various activities. The duration is between 5 and 21 days – it depends on the project. There is more good news! These projects generally take care of your food and accommodation needs and additionally travel costs are also reimbursed after the project is completed successfully. You can read more about short-term projects on this web-page.
I got lucky and got to go for one of those projects, as one of the Belarusian NGOs needed participants for the CooperAct project in the Czech Republic. I applied and was accepted to be part of it, so I began to plan my trip and pack my things in mid-March. On the 18th of March I was sitting on a plane to Prague, still fascinated and not entirely sure that what was happening was real.
The CooperAct was a contact-making seminar, the aim of which was to bring educators together and reflect on the capacities in human rights education and intercultural learning. In my opinion, the goal was achieved! Our program was full of activities: starting with team-building and get-to-know-each-other games and ending with the development of our own project ideas, which could be implemented. I remember several very distinct ones – and I can not wait to share them
First was a card game. Although it sounds like nothing special or even boring, it was none of these. We played the game in teams of 6 at different tables, and each team had the rules of the game. As was found later, the rules were quite different among different tables. However, there was a strict rule for everybody: the winner leaves the table and goes clockwise, and the loser – in the opposite direction. I happened to stay at the one table during all the games, and the more we proceeded with the game, the less I wanted to leave. You cannot imagine my disappointment when one of my colleagues, with whom we stayed longer, was obligated to move to the other table.
What is the result of such activity, you may ask? Well, this is a good question. I guess the organizers wanted to show us how a “system” works, how it is to be a person who always moves from one place to another and tries to learn new rules each time, and how it is to be aware of the regulations or how to be completely lost in them. Example? Here it is, as simple as possible: moving to a different country. The surroundings are not familiar, everything you knew before may be useless or at least inapplicable, and you have to somehow survive. It was a great game to reflect on after, which we did within a discussion right after.
Reflections from the discussions usually look like this
The other activity was an actual project development. It was so nice to work with people from different countries, backgrounds, and interests on the same idea, although it required a lot of work. But no pain no gain, right? It also helped me to gain new skills, like improving my English skills and expanding my network for instance.
Working on a project
Apart from this, we always had things to do: training about human rights, culture evenings, a trip to Franz Ferdinand’s castle, Catan board game nights, mindfulness activities, and many others! I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this wonderful experience, and I will definitely apply to other Erasmus+ opportunities that come my way. I would recommend you to keep an eye out for these opportunities as well!
Ferdinand’s Castle
Part of the group at Ferdinand’s Castle
Now moving on to the organizational part – how can one even become a participant?
As a rule, a person should be a volunteer in a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) or have some connections to it. Basically, what you can do is try to find the organization in your home country and stay in touch with them: ask about becoming a volunteer during summer break or express your interest in a short-term project. This is usually very welcome 🙂 When there is a new Erasmus+ project coming up, the NGO posts about it so that the volunteers learn about this exchange or training program and can apply. The application form usually consists of your personal information, motivation, previous experience, and expectations.
It is much easier to apply for a project from the NGO of your home country, because your colleagues know you and how you work – and this means you are a reliable candidate. However, it is also possible to go from an Estonian NGO, but in this case, it may require more effort. Why? One of the reasons is the language barrier. Another problem is limited time. It can be hard to manage both studies and volunteer work with NGOs. It is worth mentioning that all the applications are processed by your home NGO and the hosting NGO, so the selection process is fair.
It is also possible to monitor “open calls”: they are posted in Facebook groups. Basically, “open call” means that any person could apply and become a participant. Keep an eye out – there might be some project waiting for you!
Useful links:
Some Estonian NGOs: https://ngobridges.com/ngo?countries[]=7
PartnerUp Estonian NGO: https://www.partnerupestonia.org/
Facebook group with open calls: https://www.facebook.com/groups/erasmusplusestonia/?ref=share
All pictures belong to the author.
