Enthusiasm without borders
National Youth-Meetings of SocioMovens are promoting european engagement
At the end of August 2017, there was a national meeting with 75 young people in lipova, romania. They all participated in the social project weeks of the Kommende Dortmund and the SocioMovens e.V. This meeting belongs to a project, which stimulates a youthsocial movement in east-europe.
Facilitating Young talents
The weather is on their side: a beautiful summer day is spreading over the Banat-area in west-romania, when the 75 youth from different cities are arriving by autobusses. In a lonely placed house in the mountains near the small city of lipova they spent the next four days. Most of they don’t know what to expect of the next days. Their teachers and priests promised them: it will be creative. Everyone who can play an instrument should bring it with them. Who can’t play an instrument should just bring him- or herself and their talents. After a short introduction there is a head start. Members of the international performance Group GenRosso from italy were preparing different creative workshops for the young people. While dancing, singing and making music together the younger people should realize that everyone got a unique talent. And together they can reach enormous things. The initial uncertainty, to use the own talents and skills, is diminishing fast. That was an unfamiliar experience for the young people, for example for Luisa (18). She said at the end of the day:
The experience, to bring in your whole heart and whole soul, was absolutely new for me. To create something, where everybody is able to participate: That’s how the whole life should be.
Young People are facing the social questions and problems of their hometowns
The youngsters from different cities were all part of different youthsocial project weeks, which were organized by Kommende Dortmund and SocioMovens e.V. in the last years. Over 500 young people from all over east-europe participated since 2013 in more then 25 project weeks. There they learned look at the social situation in their hometowns in a sensitive way. They acquired social and political knowledge, talked to the representives of different initiatives of the civil society and met people at the edge of society and talked to them about their situation.
The project weeks are based on three pillars: The young people can experience a community, are engaging in social projects and getting the opportunity to reflect these experiences thanks to the spiritual supervision. Especially the contact to the poor people and the spiritual elements are moving the young people a lot. These aspects are the motivator, to become active on their own. In them lies the hope that they can move something on their own. That’s also what Andreea said, who participated in different project as a teamer:
While the projects of SocioMovens you just feel that the values, which should be communicated, are not only existing in the paper, but they were exist here. There is a spirit, which i never experienced before at only youth projects.
The project weeks are standing under the motto “Giving Europe a Soul”. To give europe a soul (back) means for the young people: To yield their skills for the welfare of all the others, to engage for the weak people in the society and to observe what connects europe over the borders of countries and cultures. This is their way to form the social life in the hometowns like Wroclaw, Szeged, Temeswar, Poznan oder Ludbreg. Most of the young people are well aware of the wide-spreading europe – scepticism in their countries. But they want to show a sign of hope against that and for a worth-living, european civil society
Jugendliche in Szeged. Foto: SocioMovens.
Jugendliche in Szeged. Foto: SocioMovens.
Jugendliche in Szeged. Foto: SocioMovens.
GenRosso in Lipova. Foto: SocioMovens.
National Young Meeting to get to know each other
How much enthusiasm there could be, when you engage for the social disadvantaged and when you set a sign for a worth living society shows the dynamic which the single projects of the last years have developed. At some places there are stable youth groups now, which help to passover the experienced from the project weeks into the daily lifes. They found places and people, were they are needed and whom they can help. There are similar developments in others cities. To help the young peoples and groups on their way and to link the different citys and projects in the coutries, Kommende Dortmund and SocioMovens are organising national meetings in hungary, romania, poland and slowakia in 2017. They are supported by Evonik Industries and the Kommende-foundation beneVolens. In the next year there should be a big european meeting. Attila, who also already participated in different projects, feels confident:
Together we will help europe to find his soul.
While the youth meeting the young people will prepare performances, which they will perform on the last evening. When the lights tuning on at the 30. of august 2017 in lipova at the local cultural centre and the young people were starting to sing „Don’t stop loving, don’t stop giving!”, the enthusiasm captured the numerous viewers quickly. The message was clear: don’t follow your own interest, but do something for the whole society. The dynamic of this youthsocial network in east-europe will spread wide circles. Like Adreeas said:
The enthusiasm of the young people is endless and knows to borders!
The younthsocial projekt weeks of the Kommende Dortmund and SocioMovens are supported by Evonik
