TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Marius POP
On the 5th edition, Balkan Leadership training aimed to bring key leaders from Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Albania, Bosnia and to creat a programme team for the Balkan area. The objectives of the training were very clear and some of the most important were to make them able to write and implement projects, team building, skills for management and leadership. 37 people took part in an intensive basic leadership training. The pick of the training was a "small grant competition"where the best projects of the participants were granted by YMCA Europe and Horyzon Switzerland.
As a part of my job was to coordonate the training, to create the materials for it and the handbooks for the participants. This time, the team was a very small one (4 people)but due to the involvement and interest of the participants everything went smooth and nice. On the other hand, my role was to ask 2-4 people as guests in the event: from Spain, Ukraine, Lithuania and Switzerland.
The main target group was composed of members of Balkan YMCA organizations, thus the focus was on designing a development strategy for Serbian, Romanian, Greek, Kosovan, Macedonian and Albanian youth life. Also taking part in this training were other members coming from 4 european country organizations which are more developed and which served as role model for the main target group. These 4 countries were invited to share their method, strategies and tips with the rest of us. Our idea was that, these examples can be very well adapted to local cultures and implemented in the balkan region also.
Our main method was experiential learning. The participants were guided, during a variate series of exercises, towards finding their own solutions and insights. The training was not based on identifying problems, as we already were aware of those, but on solutions and visual results. Therefor, during this 7-day experience were encouraged to learn, create, develop and bond by simply playing, acting and imagining.
The trianing has reached it's goal. Today, a team consisting of few member from each Balkan country, is in permanent contact, working to improve and deliver quality services for the youth in this region. This team was born during our training, is constantly growing and implementing more and more international projects. They also have a big input in their community life as they design local projects, inspired from their neighbor countries and adapted to local cultures.
I was one of the initiators of this project. My vision was to connect alike organizations and joining resources to grow and develop in a homogeneous way. As head trainer, I held the main lectures and guided the practical activities related to them. As initiator of this project I was involved in preparing the project as well, having logistical responsibilities even though the event did not take place in my country.