First Day

6. April, 2012.

Yesterday we had a really nice day. We started getting to know each other. We played name games and team building games. We learned more things about Serbia. Also we made artistic photos. We felt very friendly with participant and organizers. The day ended with a nice party with music and birthday cake, drinks and dancing! In the end of the first day, we felt a real team

Second Day

7.April, 2012.

Since the Sun was shining, we decided to swap the agenda and do creative workshop. The day started with very useful presentation regarding photography (meaning of photography as a concept of communication). Nick told us about the perception of beauty and explained different photo concept. We learned about basics, tricks and rules of using photography for sending a message to the world. Then we went to a national park Bubanj so we could practical use all the lessons we learned. During a visit in the park we wrote short messages and wishes to the world, the one that we released after up to the sky with colorful balloons. The colors in the sky were amazing. In the evening we went downtown and enjoyed night life. There were a mix of sounds, nice people and night dancing. Nis night life rocks!

Third Day

8.April, 2012.

We started the day with a short presentation about peer education. It taught us how best to communicate ideas to our peer groups. Then we were separated into groups and competed in a quiz about women in the world. It was fun, but more importantly we learned about how under-represented women are in political institutions. Then we had lunch at the Serbian kafana Čitaonica. After lunch we had a workshop about the CEDAW convention (Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Woman). We finished the workshop with a discussion about attitudes toward women in our respective countries. The day finished with intercultural night. We ate a ton of delicious food and danced traditional folk music. It was so fun!!!

Fourth Day

9.April 2012.

We started the day with a short movie about Masai girls. Then we had a discussion about their tradition of marrying at early ages and how we see them in the future. After that we went for lunch in a nice restaurant. And after lunch we had a photo workshop. We took pictures to represent gender equality and they will be shown at the exhibition on the last day. We ended the day with a lovely dinner in the city center.

Fifth Day

10.April, 2012.

Yesterday, we took a taxi to Masinac, the woman’s football club. The manager of the club told us story of the club, and showed us how hard is for women to be equal as a man on a pitch. But with hard work and determination, they’ve got what they always dreamed of, what actually gives hope for gender equality. After lunch, we went to city center where we’ve visited the fortress “Tvrdjava” and shops around the city center. It was great afternoon, touring a place and relaxing. Later in the evening we had dinner at traditional kafana with good food, music and dance – traditional Serbian night. We’ve loved every minute of it!

Sixth Day

11.April, 2012.

After starting our day with a delicious breakfast, we went straight to a teambuilding exercise called “the Bomb” that tested our memory and ability to communicate nonverbally. Then we moved into a reflection activity where we considered how best to use our new skills with photography and our new knowledge about gender equality back home in our respective countries. A television station came to the hotel and filmed us working on our ideas. We followed that activity with a quick lunch and then we set up our photography exhibition in the city center. We had great music, great photographs, and great dancing. A few people from the crowd even started break dancing alongside a few of our talented group members. The performance was a huge success, and got a lot of people to stop and see what it is we wanted to say. After wrapping up, we went back to the hotel and finished our youth passes. We relaxed a little, talked a little, and then prepared to go out. Our day finished with a farewell party at Sunset, and even included a midnight birthday celebration. The training could not have ended better!