PEOPLE+ | THE STORIES WE TELL

“THE STORIES WE TELL:

CONNECTING WITH YOURSELF AND WITH OTHERS”

in collaboration with Synergy Bulgaria NGO

Stories are more than entertainment: they can be a tool to express yourself, achieve a goal and inspire or create connections with others.

For this reason, Alice and I were very interested to join this event organized by Synergy NGO, in Bulgaria. Actually, this event was structured in two different sessions and we appreciated the fact that it wasn’t online. We met with the other participants in a big room localized in a building called MOVE.BG, very near to the Central Mineral Baths and, to be safe in this pandemic period, we wear masks all the time, keeping the necessary distance. The facilitators of the sessions were two young women: Zoi Driva, a psychologist from Greece with experience in organizing and delivering non-formal events, and Paula Aragoneses, a pedagogue from Spain with experience in the field of social work and therapeutic education.

The focus of the first meeting has been storytelling. I liked how the activity was structured: little steps to arrive at the final point, this allowed the anxiety or the stress connected with the public speech to decrease. Usually, we are afraid to speak in front of other people but, in this case, there was a good atmosphere characterized by both funny and challenging aspects. We all had handouts to be guided in the experience and in the construction of our little story: I took them to my apartment and probably I will use them for future activities with my team.

The second meeting was about another very interesting topic: active listening skills.

I had real fun at the beginning when we did a little game as ice-breaking pretending to be little Martians and calling each other in a strange way: it was like we were returning children! Throughout this activity, I improved my awareness above all about the non-verbal aspects of the communication and about my personal resources or limitations regarding my listening skills.

In my opinion, it was worth joining this event: it challenged me to tell my story in front of strangers, breaking down the fear of failure and it was a very good occasion to reflect on both my speaking and listening skills in an interactive and unusual way.

“Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you.”

---

Ilaria Staltari, intern@ICDET

LIFE+ | To be a better version of myself made me very excited

Hello everyone, I am Elif. I am from Bilecik, Turkey. I am 22 years old, actually almost 23 but I don’t want to accept this truth yet. I am still a bachelor’s student at Kadir Has University. My major is Radio, Television, and Cinema. This is my senior year so I feel a little bit worried about the future.

I was living my best possible life in Istanbul before the pandemic. I was doing theatre at my university’s theatre club for 4 years. I was making unforgettable memories with my friends. We were enjoying Istanbul and loving every part of it. We were getting together all the time, going to concerts and some festivals and even doing our own theatre festival once a year. So I had a very busy life which I had no complaints about. At my university, where I am very happy to be a student, I was taking many courses that attracted my attention and had the opportunity to develop myself in many subjects both practically and theoretically.

In all these beautiful years, I had a chance to go abroad and have an Erasmus experience in Austria. These 5 months are the highlights of my life. I had a spectacular time with my new international friends who became really close to me. We have a special bond that we still keep alive. The people who I met, the places that I have visited, the things that I learned about myself during this period, made me who I am today.

After the pandemic, everything has changed for all of us and it affected our way of life. During this process, I felt like there was a void in my life, even though I had developed positive habits for myself in so much negativity and tried to focus on positive things. While I was feeling like drifting in a river, I met people who had been involved in ESC projects before and asked myself why I wasn't involved in such a project. With the comfort of taking my lessons online, I realized that I wanted to make the most of this time and I started looking for the most suitable project for me on the dates suitable for me.

After a search, I came across ICDET's project and I thought it was very suitable for me. I thought that I could contribute to this project with my background and experiences. I felt very lucky that I found a project where I could improve my language, my skills, my ability to communicate. Meeting people from different parts of the world, getting to know a new country and the people of that country, getting out of my comfort zone, and trying to be a better version of myself made me very excited.

Thanks to the trainings I have received at ICDET so far, the events I have attended and the people I have met, I believe that I will return to my country with much more than I expected. I know that we are going to improve each other and ourselves a lot, thanks to the opportunities we have here.

---

Elif Mülayim, volunteer@ICDET

VIE+W | A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step

Hello everyone! My name is Elisenda, but everyone calls me Eli. I'm almost 24 years old (getting old, I know) and I'm from Tarragona, a small Roman city by the Mediterranean Sea where I live with my parents, my twin sister, and my old sister. I graduated in law at Rovira I Virgili University and I'm currently studying for a Master in Taxation. During my university studies, I made an exchange with the Pablo Olavide University, located in Seville. I have been playing saxophone since I was 7 years old, and also I am a member of a human tower group called “Els Xiquets del Serrallo”. I am an animal lover, especially sloths and bulldogs.

Ever since I was a little girl, my mind was always thinking about what it would be like to travel by plane and discover new countries, cultures, and food, so as soon as I could, I started working to pay for my trips. I have been to several countries in Europe and my final year trip was a month traveling alone in Malaysia and Oman.

I really enjoy traveling alone, because I feel free and contrary to what it may seem, you never feel like that, you always meet people wherever you go.

The internship at ICDET allows me to gain experience in a field closely related to my studies as well as providing me with the non-formal education that I have not received during all these years, which I consider very important to be able to fully develop myself professionally and personally.

---

Elisenda Amor Lorente, intern@ICDET