Baby steps
Yesterday, April 3rd 2014, I’ve managed to organize my first event as a Youth Ambassador. Together with two fellow ambassadors, Catalin Balan and Adina Marinescu and one fellow counselor from the Alexandria Local Youth Council, Pisica Mihai, we hold a meeting with a group of students form a rural educational institution called Liceul Teoretic Olteni.
I have to admit that I was surprised by the receptivity of the youngsters who were quite reticent at the beginning, but who soon relaxed and followed us through the non-formal educational process.
The themes discussed were Decision Making Institutions of the European Union, Citizens’ Initiative, European Citizenship, the needs of the youngsters in their community and ways of communicating with local, national and, why not, European institutions.
After a little energizing activity, we started discussing the themes with the participants. It was a great opportunity for me to realize how an ambassador should hold this type of seminar and now I am fully prepared for my next one, tomorrow, on April 5th, in my highschool, Liceul Teoretic Alexandru Ioan Cuza
The meeting ended with a World Cafe which helped the students to better assimilate the information presented by us. The discussed themes were mostly chosen from the list mentioned above. It really had results and most of the participants went home with a clearer hierarchical structure of the European Union and its main institutions.
I am looking forward to organize this type of informative events because I support the idea of active social participation and the responsibility young people should have in expressing their opinions, in making their community a better place to live and in being informed about how European political structures work.
Dissatisfied people change the world!
by Andrei Zamfir
