The Training Course “GROW” took place from April 4 to April 9 and focused on Intercultural Competence of 17 youth workers from six countries: Germany, Sint Marteen, Aruba, Croatia, Bulgaria and Turkey. We were a diverse group of open-minded people which was a great learning environment. With everyone having the common goal of contributing to their local community back home, we had much in common and it was very inspiring to us.
After focusing on team building in the beginning, we learned about different topics regarding intercultural communication. We learned about intercultural dimensions to understand different cultures better, meaningful communication and how our identity is different in different settings like arounder other nationalities. Moreover, the trainers Andre and Cici shared their expert knowledge on how to design educational programs and how different learning types can be addressed with informal education. After that, we had the chance to design our own workshop, and we even had the opportunity to execute it. Two people from the group presented their workshop and the others participated, which is a great example of how we also learned from each other as participants with our expertise from different areas.
During the program we also had a team-building challenge in the capital of the dutch side of the Island: Philipsburg. We had to find out answers to different questions about the city and the island. Therefore, we had to organize ourselves and ask locals for help. It was a great way to get to know the team members, learn about the islands and having ice-breakers to get in touch with locals at the same time. For the reflections in the afternoon we also went to Mullet Bay once, one of the most popular beaches of the Island. We stood there to watch the beautiful sunset, which was also an amazing experience.
So besides learning a lot in the different workshops, we still had the chance to explore the Island of Sint Marteen. Last but not least, we had intercultural breakfasts and two intercultural evenings. So each delegation was responsible for preparing a typical national breakfast for the rest of the group. During the intercultural nights everyone had the chance to represent their county by dances, singing or in another creative way.
Personally, I (Henri) wanted to participate in an Erasmus+ project with NaturKultur since I heard of them in October 2024. Since it was difficult to during the semester, the chance finally came with TC GROW in my semester break. Having the chance to participate on a project on Sint Marteen made it an even better experience – I had the opportunity to travel to the beautiful Caribbean, which made it such a unique experience.
I (Nini) was lucky enough to have an opportunity to experience Erasmus on the other side of the world. It was interesting to see how well-known things are done and adapted in an unknown area. It was an adventure to have a sneak peak how youth work is done on the other side of the world and share told and methodologies between the diverse group that was represented in the project.
The Training Course “GROW” is financed by the Erasmus + programme and organized by our partner Caribbean Youth and Sport Foundation.
