At Egyesek Youth Association, we are committed to continuously improving our methods and expanding our professional toolkit in the field of local and international youth work. This is why we are participating in the APERO project, which aims to encourage youth work organizations to share good practices, innovative solutions, and experiences with one another.
In September, our colleagues, who besides coordinating youth work in Szécsény, are also involved in developing the Youth Center and local programs took part in a job-shadowing program in Spain. The goal of the visit was to gain insight into the operation of other organizations and to collect inspiring ideas and methodological tools that we can integrate into our own youth work.
Below, you can read our colleagues’ account of their visit:
Between September 15 and 19, we had the opportunity to travel to Spain, where we took part in de Amicitia’s “Big in Japan” workcamp and learned about the organization’s daily activities.
The program provided us with a wealth of valuable experiences. On the first day, we were given a tour of the organization’s volunteer house. The three-story building, including a rooftop terrace, contains two rooms with eight beds each and two additional rooms reserved for camp leaders. The volunteers themselves had the chance to design the shared community space on the ground floor. At the end of the day, we also visited a local nursing home, where we took part in simple, joyful activities together with the residents.
During the week, we also visited four school classes, where we brightened the children’s days with games and dances. The sessions focused on Japanese culture: we hosted a country quiz, tried writing kanji characters, made origami, and presented traditional Japanese clothing.
Later, we visited the local Youth Center in Pego, where two educators introduced us in detail to the center’s operations and its program and event management processes. The Youth House mainly offers leisure activities for primary school children and young people with disabilities. We saw firsthand how great the demand is among young people for after-school programs and community life. One of the highlights of our trip was meeting the mayor of Pego, touring the town hall, and taking a guided walk through the town’s history.
Our conversation with Ignacio, the director of de Amicitia, was also extremely insightful. He gave us a detailed overview of the organization’s structure and management. He emphasized that workcamps are the organization’s core activity, which is why there are no separate staff members for each task. The camp leaders enjoy a high degree of independence, ensuring diversity, as young people from different cultures can integrate their own uniqueness and mindset into the programs. This rotation system allows successful methods to be passed on continuously to new groups. As an example, he highlighted the importance of involving local resources in the programs, something we experienced ourselves when we got to try motorboating.
Overall, it was a highly enriching and inspiring week. We not only gained new knowledge and experiences but also established many valuable professional connections.
We are glad to have been part of this journey and to have brought home fresh inspiration and partnerships through the APERO project. We look forward to welcoming our partner organizations’ representatives to Hungary soon, where we can show them the Szécsény Youth Center, our local youth work, and how we operate.
You can read more about the APERO project here: https://egyesek.hu/en/news/apero_en
