It feels like it was just yesterday when I found myself on a plane not really knowing what to expect but excited for what the future had in store for me. When our Computer Science teacher told us about ERGO I immediately applied for it and I was given the chance to take part in the first short-term exchange of groups of pupils from ERGO (Equal Rights Great Opportunities) Erasmus+ project, in Istanbul, Turkey, at the end of October(27^th October-2^nd November)

On our arrival we were greeted by our Turkish hosts. It was very nice of them to give us the chance to find out more about the Turkish culture, traditions and lifestyle. 

 It was a great opportunity for me to improve my English skills, to learn new things related to human rights, to become more responsible on how we treat other people, to be more tolerant, to respect the other’s opinions and feelings, to make new friends.

About the activities that I carried out I have only praise words, because they were very well organised, we were given clear tasks and working in teams maximized shared knowledge and fostered creativity.

The learning activities started with presentations about each team’s  country and school. We went on playing a mapping game, which I found very useful for our general knowledge. We also held a logo competition and the Cypriot students’ logo proved to be the most voted one.

Other interesting activities were:

-           Change Your Words, Change Your Mindset Activity, in which we modified some words and phrases in order not to discriminate.

-          Brainstorming – Causes of Gender Inequality + Making a Mind Map – we worked in groups and we discussed about the reasons for which gender inequality appears in different situations. This method of working in teams was great because we had the chance to know each other more and to exchange interesting opinions.

-          Teachers from Istanbul shared a presentation about Gender Equality.

-          We completed different forms, diagrams and questionnaires. Our teachers coordinated us and helped us with some tasks.

-          We prepared a glossary on Gender Equality.

-          We played a Kahoot game, which helped us a lot to remember and to master the most important information we achieved during the meeting.

Being passionate about history and visiting historical places, my host offered me this great chance to find out more about Turkey and its culture. 

I am grateful to be part of this team and I look forward to participating in another mobility or in other Erasmus+ projects. This new experience helped me adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and made me become bolder and more confident.

I am so thankful to my Turkish host and friends for an unforgettable time!

It was my first experience of the kind.. going to another country, meeting new people and new cultures, discussing opinions about gender inequality with others with different mentalities.. I have to confess that it was one of the best and one of the most educational experiences of my life. 

            Everyone was so warm and friendly to us, beginning with the teachers and students, not to mention the host family and even the random people in the streets. Their hospitality was just perfect. Turkish people really know how to treat their guests.

            Concerning the project, we had several activities about gender inequality. The one which seemed the most constructive for us was the ‘Brainstorming – Causes of Gender Inequality + Making a Mind Map’ because we got the chance to discuss extensively about the causes that lead to  gender inequality in this world. Thus,  I was able to understand how other nations see and treat this problem, and I have to admit that, indeed, I had a lot to learn from them, and I hope they found my point of view about this just as valid as I found theirs. All the debates we carried out made me more sociable, confident, adaptive, flexible and definitely more tolerant.

            Another activity that I personally found very interactive and educational was the mapping game. Based on the presentations about our countries, the Turkish students wrote on pieces of paper different names of places (or information) that were found in what we presented, and then we had to say to which country they belong to. I think it was an excellent idea to help us to self-evaluate, to see what we learned from those PPT presentations.

            We also visited some museums and historical places. I am passionate about countries and their history, traditions and languages. In other words, being in a country like Turkey made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. 

Turkey and its people is one of a kind! I want to thank to my host for accepting me in his home and treating me with so much hospitality, and for showing me the beauty of Turkish culture. I made a lot of new friends that I hope I’ll keep in touch with! 

May we meet again soon!

 

I decided to apply for ERGO Erasmus+ project, the 1st short-term exchange of groups of pupils that took place in Istanbul, Turkey, at the end of October (27th of October- 1st of November) because I really wanted to learn about another country, another culture, and of course to meet new people and to make new friends. 

It was one of my greatest experiences and a chance for me to improve my English skills and learn about  human rights, diversity, gender equality and acceptance. 

The learning activities were captivating, well prepared and useful. The teaching staff was very competent and arranged a relaxed friendly atmosphere. Being along with people from different countries of the world, having discussions, presentations and listening to different ways of thinking was an unforgettable experience. For instance, we started with presentations about each country and school, then we went on with a game to test our general knowledge and how much we learned from the presentations. We also voted for the best logo for the project and the Cypriots were the  winners.

Brainstorming on the causes of gender inequality made us share our opinions regarding possible reasons that lead to this issue and ways of preventing it.

Change Your Words, Change Your Mindset Activity was another task in which we had to change some words or expressions into something that refers to both genders and is regardless of discrimination.

The Kahoot game ended our activities and helped us remember the things we learned throughout the meetings.

From my point of view, all these activities got us aware of the real problems our world is facing nowadays and I’m pretty sure we all understood  that we can be better people only if we give ourselves the chance to know each other better and to accept each other just the way we are.

Furthermore, another  important aspect of this project was the fact that we visited some historical places like Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Galata Tower, Beylerbey Palace etc. I am very thankful Iwas given the chance to discover bits of historical Instanbul. 

I would also like to thank to my host for their hospitabilty and kindness. I really appreciate his family’s availability for showing me the surroundings and for the way they treated me. We promised to each other to keep in touch as much as we can. 

To concIude, I am grateful to my teachers and the Turkish team that I took part in this project. I really hope I will soon enjoy another exciting experience of the kind!

I would like to share with you one of the most fantastic experiences I have had so far! At the end of October I took part in an Erasmus+ project in Instanbul, Turkey. When our Computer Science told us about ERGO (Equal Rights, Great Opportunities) I knew this was my chance to share my opinions with other people  and to get to know a different country. 

My Turkish hosts  made my six days stay wonderful. They were very kind and hospitable and we spent a lot of time talking about our countries. We were really amazed to discover the similarities in our languages.

The learning activities were interesting, useful and very well organised. Each day we were given different tasks to complete and the fact that we had to work in teams gave us the chance to know each other better and to share our opinions, beliefs and ideas. The main topics to discuss were causes and solutions to gender (in)equality, diversity, European culture and civilisation, tolerance etc. All the activities were carried out under various forms: we either played games, did some brainstorming or debates or even competitions. Throughout the activities we were given clear instructions and our teachers  were very supportive. 

The most attractive part of the project was the sightseeing. We  were very impressed to discover just a small part from the historical Instanbul. We visited Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Basilica  Cisterne and Beylerbey Palace. 

I am very glad I was given the chance to experience such a wonderful way of improving ourselves as humans, one of the biggest advantages being one’s gain of  international and intercultural competencies, as well as cultural awareness. More than that, Erasmus projects create strong bonds and most likely friendships for life.

Once again, I am very thankful to all those that made this unique experience possible and I look forward to taking part in other Erasmus+ projects. 

            At the end of October (27^th October – 2^nd November)  I had this great chance to participate in the first exchange of pupils from ERGO- Equal Rights, Great Opportunities, an Erasmus+ project that took place in Istanbul, Turkey.

This whole experience, right from the initial application process till writing this final report, will always remain of great importance throughout my life. 

I will start with the accommodation part. My Turkish host was very kind and  hospitable. In fact, the whole family took care I wouldn’t want for anything. We talked a lot about our countries and traditions and we promised to each other to keep in touch as much as we can.

Concerning the learning activities, they were well-organised, entertaining and useful for our general knowledge. We started by presenting our countries and some interesting facts about them, then we presented our schools all to end with the logo competition which was won by Cyprus.

The mapping competition – a funny ice breaker - was the first group activity to require all our attention because we had to match pieces of information with the correct country.

”Change Your Words, Change Your Mindset” was an interesting  activity in which we had to change some words in order to make them genderless. It made us understand that even such “small” things make a difference.

“Brainstorming – Causes of Gender Inequality + Making a Mind Map” is another activity in which our group had to find causes that lead to gender inequality and ways to solve them.

Kahoot was the last game we played as a way of saying goodbye. It was hard for me to concentrate on the game because there were a lot of feelings and thoughts coming to my mind (knowing that we were going to leave and not seeing all of our new friends at least for a while or thinking about all the great moments we spent together).

This project made us become more aware of the people rights and led us into developing new skills. It also helped us improve our English and understand others’ opinions,  feelings and needs. After this experience, I am confident to say that all of our skills were improved and now we can make friends from all over the world.  I am sure that some of us even discovered new things about them and got to understand themselves better.

            I will conclude by stating that this was undoubtedly a unique and life changing experience for me. Every moment was full of learning and fun. Thank you very much for providing me with this opportunity and I hope I`ll take part in other Erasmus+ projects. I can`t be grateful enough for all the things that our teachers and the Turkish team offered to me.