Comments from the participants...

This is a collection of some of the comments that participants wrote on their evaluation forms.

The most important things that happened at camp...
- "trying to learn something from every person"
- "what we've learned from the workshops and ...about the other cultures"
- "feel more confident, met new friends"
- "to see nature with different eyes (positive)"
- "I met wonderful people, I did a lot of new things...I really learned a lot."
- "We manageed to create an international community and build lot of friendships"
- "That we actually were able to bond with each other, making the learning part more pleasant...it changed me in a good way and now I understand a little better the world that we live in."
- "we combined learning with playing."
- "inspire myself, reach my goals, find new friends, get new experiences, enjoy nature, develop my skills, feel more confident, get motivated to do something"

The things we liked most...
- "last day - action plans"
- "sleeping outdoors"
- "this camp was like an escape from the routine!"
- "rafting, solo sit, open space, teambuilding activities, cultural evenings and the workshops which we organized."
- "my motivation grew and now I really think that I can change something"

I learned this about myself...
- "I can face everything and I can handle any situation"
- "letting go of responsibility...trusting others."
- "I must stop sometimes and enjoy life...and I really need nature!"
- "I can be a good leader, I can inspire people."
- "There are times when I can work in team, I can accept the others ideas."
- "I am more confident now...I can do things that I have never thought I would."
- "to be myself"
- "inner peace, innner freedom"

I learned this about other cultures...
- "even if they are different, we can find the balance between our cultures and we can understand so well together."
- "there are people in the world who care about their environment. We should stick together, because together we're stronger. I'm really impressed by the plastic bag campaign of the Austrians, I've never thought that teens can do so many things for the Earth."
- "Although we are different in so many ways in the end we're all humans and we all have feelings."
- "Different cultures can't come together always without conflict."
- "Every culture is special"
- "Eventhough we are different, we can find common ground and establish easily a connection."
- "Differences are never as big as commonalities, if both want to connect/communicate."

What has changed in you after the camp?
- "My way of thinking about the nature and the environmental issues. Now I believe I am able to change the world."
- "I realized that if I want something to happen I should put a lot of energy in it! Now, I have a lot of energy and motivation to change the world!"
- "I will try new things whenever I have the opportunity. I will think more about the environment and how my actions can affect it."
- "I learned that I should do what I want without being worried about what other people think. I am more thankful for everything that I have."
- "I grew up. I took some risk in doing things that I was afraid of. But I'm not sorry for that!"
- "I can understand other people and their specific reasons to do or not do something, listen to others, respect the different people."
- "I'm much more motivated and optimistic."

How will you apply what you learned/experienced at camp?
- "I will get involved in the next steps of this project"
- "I really want to share my experiences with my community!! They can learn a lot from them."
- "A goal will be to all meet again!"
- "I will try to involve other teens also increase awareness and actually do an action for the environment."
- "I will buy food from my community or my country."
- "I'll organize a green club in my school."
- "I'll help organize a Danube Clean up Day. And I'm looking forward to do many more projects!"
- "I will think more about the food that I eat"

Tuesday 19. July 2011

Waking up on Tuesday morning it was time for us to pack our bags. After eating our last breakfast together and before heading back to Vienna and our home countries, we had the chance to sign each others tshirts with nice wishes we had
for each other.
The EYTAE International summer camp was by no doubt a very intense, powerful and amazing experience, which most of us will always be glad to remember.
And as already mentioned before, it was hopefully only the beginning of a big and bright future.

Monday, 18. July 2011

The last whole camp day arrived for the participants and it was time for us to look into the future. After writing a letter to ourselves, which included our plans and wishes for the future, we split up in our country groups to talk about the possibilities and steps to bring the Camp theme and the EYTAE idea to a wider public.
The next important step was to make international plans for the “after the camp-time”.
At latest at this point, it became clear that the last day of camp was just the beginning for something big and everyone planning on one of the three international projects probably is now even more excited as before arriving in the National Park.

The powerful last day ended with barbecue and a closing ceremony to remember, and even though some of us tried to stay up the whole night, most of the people had a good sleep and maybe even dreamed of one or more camp experiences.

Sunday, 17. July 2011

After we slept outside it was really hard to wake up.
It was very cold and we hadn’t even sleep to much. Before we came down, we had some solo time in nature and ate an amazing lunch. We left the camp around at 3 o’clock. The back down was not as easy as we thought, it was faster, but it was harder too. Finally we arrived to the camp after 2 and a half hour.

It was already dinner time, so some of us made some pizza to eat. It was very successful, everyone loved it. After dinner we talked a bit more about the tour. Than we get some free time to do what we want. The last activity started at 10 o’clock. Everybody was tired, so we thought, we all will sleep immediately. But no. Someone watched a movie or just talked t someone, so we went to the bed late. I think it was a very good day. I really enjoyed it.:)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Today was a big day! We had a Backpacking-Workshop in the morning and then we went up the mountain to the "Hochscheibenalm", a beautiful place in the National Park. This was a first time experience for most of us and because of that it was not so easy for everyone. The view was amazing, the mountains and woods really beautiful and our "Jodeln" ... uhm, quite nice. ;-) It was worth every second, because when we got there we were very pleased with oureselves.

After we set up our camp and cooked dinner we had a night walk with Erich the ranger. Some of us were scared by the darkness but actually that was the idea. We had to walk alone through the woods without flashlights to conquer our unfounded fears. It was a very interesting experience which taught us much about self-consciouness.

The day also ended with a first time experience: sleeping outside without a tent. The weather was
like the cerry on the cake. Great day!

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Afte Breakfast we had to choose between two Workshops today. The Project Management Workshop, done by the Austrians which was about how to plan, start and keep a project running. The second Workshop was about how to work with the media, done by Lisa Simon, the Press Expert of the WWF Austria and how to create a good short film, done by the Hungarians. And today we had no Open Space, but nobody minded it because we did something, we had been waiting for over the whole week.

We went RAFTIIIIING!

We also stopped for canyoning in an old logging rift. When we were back This was the best part of the day but also the evening was very special.

The days before always one country cooked for all but this evening there were people from four countries cooking together pasta. After dinner we all gathered around the fire, played electric shock games and joked.

Thursday, July 16th, 2011 - A wet day

The people who slept outside this night had to go under their tarp. And it kept on raining the whole day. . .



















After breakfast we learned the basics about WWF and than we had to choose between Babsi's workshop about the ecological footprint and the bulgarian workshop about climate change. It was very interesting to find out something new about the permafrost, especially about the CO2.

After lunch we had our third open space/free time where we went hiking again, planed the last workshops and did some creative stuff like painting, acting and cut some hair.



















Than we had a nice reflection, we went in the nearby woods where we made our freewriting and than we talked in mixed family groups.

At the hungarian dinner time the "Big ear"(a box for ideas or feedback for the whole group) had spoken its first words.

The hugurians also organised a funny night walk where we had to answer some question and had to do original activities.

It was a great day even if the weather was a bit unfriendly.

Wednesday; 13.07.2011

On Wednesday morning we had one workshop about how to be a good leader held by the Romanians. Afterwards we had to choose between one about Group Motivation and Facilitation Skills by the Bulgarians and one about Public Speaking by the Hungarians.
We liked all three Workshops and found them interesting, we also learned very much to take home with us.
After lunch we had our second Open Space, some groups worked on preparing their workshops for the next days. Some people went swimming or hiking, some relaxed and some did Teambuilding Activities on the slackline.
After Open Space we went into the forest (near the river) to have our second reflection. It started with a freewrite and ended with a discussion in our familiy groups.
Dinner was prepared by the Romanians, they made polenta (or Mamaliga) with eggs, cheese, greek yogurt and tomato sauce with salad. For dessert they made a special cake with philadelphia cheese, marmelade and butter cookies. After dinner they started with a very funny game of which we'll just tell you this much: tied legs, dice and reaching the finish. After we found three winner groups we continued with two very funny games (Pantomiming Animals and Honey, do you love me?).
We went to bed quite late, but the evening was worth it.
-Fini, Jojo, Gabe

On Monday our first cultural evening took place. The Austrian group started to cook dinner which was a typical YTAE dinner, chilli. Even if it was new for some people they liked it and afterwards they presented us the history and growing of their group. The evening was ended by sitting around the campfire, eating apples filled with nutella and cereals.

Our third day arrived, and we started with two interesting workshops about intercultural communication presented by Romania and Austria. Through playing games, making brainstorming and giving feedback we were able to get the first insight on this topic. After lunch we had open space where every person had the chance to choose what to do. Some people went swimming, others prepared their workshops or just chilled.

Another new thing of today was our first reflection. The activity took place somewhere in the forest and it contained three parts. We worked as individuals (freewriting in order for us to express our thoughts), with our family group (we answered three questions) and in the end with all the group.

Monday. 11.07.2011

We arrived at the camp yesterday. The weather was really great. We started with the water ceremony which is already explained in an earlier post ;) Later everyone played lots of 'get to know' games which helped us to learn each other's names, hopes and wishes. After dinner we divided into family groups and defined the chores at the camp.
Today we got up early and had breakfast. It was raining heavily but we went to the forest for more 'getting to know' and teambuilding games. After lunch the weather became sunny again and we went to the river for more teambuilding and trust-building games. Later almost everybody jumped into the river in spite of the fact that the water was freezing. It was such a fun :))