Meeting of European Clubs Kielce, Poland 12/11/2011 – 16/11/2011 Volunteering for Tolerance

Participants: delegations of students and teachers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, France and Poland. Anxhela Malo, Saverio Bonini and Ms Giordana Mutti represented EuropeanClubEuropeo

2011 is the Year of Volunteering, and the annual meeting of the European Clubs was dedicated to voluntary work. The Polish Robert Schuman Foundation supported the meeting, financed by the European Union.

Day 1 Integration Games: we talked with the other participants and exchanged information about our activities and hobbies.

Day 1 “Welcome to Poland”! evening offered by the Polish participants

Day 2 Simulation Game: we took part in a show and then answered some questions. In the end we saw a sort of pyramid where the high part of society was at the top. After the games we had time to discuss the results.

Day 2 Map of Europe: we had to draw a map of Europe on a piece of paper and then we compared our maps and found the mistakes. This is a way to understand our knowledge of Europe.

Day 2 Living Library: each teacher represented a book and in small groups we ‘read’ these books and asked questions about the story.

Day 2 Evening 2: the participants from Italy, Spain and Portugal introduced their Countries, danced, sang, and offered some traditional food.

Day 3 Debate: in the morning we had a debate about European laws on Tolerance. We were divided in two groups and the former had to support the law, the latter had to find better ways to obtain tolerance.

Day 3 Conclusions of the debate: we concluded in a drama form; then we formed three groups and made short movies on the theme of tolerance and discrimination. At the end we voted the best production.

Day 3 Evening 3: participants from Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Sweden and Netherlands introduced their Countries, offered typical food and and organized games for the others.

Day 4 City Game: we went to Kielce for a City Game. Divided in three groups we had to carry out three tasks based on Volunteering and Tolerance.

Day 4 One of the groups went to an orphanage and to a school of integration for disabled children.

Day 4 Last Evening: on the last evening we sat around a fire, reflected on the meeting, the activities organized for us, and our experiences. Then we spent the rest of the evening dancing and singing.

Conclusions At the meeting we learned about other Countries, other cultures, the European identity, and also about the world of Volunteering: all the volunteers who were at the meeting told us about their experience and how you can become a volunteer. The meeting was a really interesting experience. Anxhela Malo and Saverio Bonini