Volunteering
Sigulda meeting-Summary
MONDAY 1/10/2018
Our journey with our new friends from Portugal, Greece and France started on the 1st of October. We all met at Siguldas Culture Center "Devons" at 10:00 am. There we were greeted by 2 guest speakers - volunteers, they share about their volunteering past, present and hopes for the future. They don't just help us Latvians, but also foreigners by teaching them school subjects like English, Maths and of course by doing ecological volunteering like cleaning cities, nature. After these lovely and heartwarming speeches it was time for the project teams to present their local volunteering activities. That lasted until lunch time. After delicious Latvian dishes we were divided into groups, each team had a color. A scarf was given to each group members representing their color! To make the team work stronger we had group activities, we had to make memes about volunteering, about the good side of it and the bad one-different aspects of attitudes to volunteering." Because we worked so much we had to relax! At 17:00 we had a welcome party at Sigulda Town Secondary school. We had the opportunity of learning how to play the drums! It was called the drum circle. We danced traditional dances from each country, listened to music, socialized with others and ate all kinds of goods! And, at almost 10 pm it was time to go home and rest up for the next day. Written by Samanta Gudovska
Transnational meeting in Sigulda - October 1st (photo album 1 by Marjolaine)
Work presented by the French students during the meeting
Work presented by the Portuguese students during the meeting
TUESDAY 2/10/2018
The ''You Can be a Hero'' project members from Latvia, France, Greece and Portugal went to the town of Cēsis. First students went to the castle of Cēsis where the students spilt in to two groups. One group went with an ancient jewelry expert and found out about how ancient Latvian women dressed and what the meaning of each item was. The other group was waiting till it was there turn. During this time the students and teachers were given information about the orientation game that had to happen later. When the time came the groups changed and the ones who were waiting got to enjoy the most interesting thing there- story about ancient jewelry. Some of the girls even got to try out the jewelry and display their beauty and wealth. After the second group was done both groups went on a tour of the castle of Cēsis by two guides in monk costumes. During the tour the students found out about the castles and Livonian Order history. How it got rich, what made the castle special and how it got destroyed. Students of both groups were given lanterns and got to see the inside of the castle and also hear an interesting story about a Polish commander who did not know that smoking in a room full of dry gunpowder is dangerous. After the castle tour the students had lunch. After lunch the students went to a place where all the project members tried to sing a Latvian song. After that the orientation game began. All 8 international teams had to find 10 different objects. Their task was to gather pieces that combined made a sentence. Most groups managed to make the sentence, but there were also some groups who weren't so lucky. One group had one piece of the sentence in Latvian while the rest was English and another group had some pieces of the sentence in English and some in German. After the game was done everyone had free time. During this time some people went eating, some shopping, some sightseeing, some just stayed at the meeting place and then there were some Latvians who didn't even realize they had free time. In the end at 16:00 all the students and teachers got in the bus and returned to Sigulda. This trip was considered a good one by the students despite the cold and rain Over all this was a good day for the project and a solid continuation of the week with high expectations for the coming days. Written by Martins Rudzats
Transnational meeting in Sigulda - October 2nd (photo album 1 by Marjolaine) (photo album 2 by Inara)
WEDNESDAY 3/10/2018
On Wednesday, all students, divided in the 8 groups, did their volunteering works around the town. Every group had a different type of work: ecological, social or educational volunteering. Some of them had to work with children in school, some in charity shops and some with people with disabilities. For example, the purple and red team worked in Cerībuspārni, an organisation that works with people who have special needs. There the red group had the choice of making candles or making something out of a fabric while the purple group made book marks out of children's drawings. At the end there was some time left to talk and drink tea with the staff. It was interesting to hear their stories and what they exactly do. When the volunteering activities ended the students got back together to share their experience by working in TwinSpace. Written by Libelia Storm and Alicia Panegos.
Transnational meeting in Sigulda - October 3rd (photo album 1 by Marjolaine) (photo album 2 by Inara)
THURSDAY 4/102018
On Thursday, the students spend the day in Riga. In the morning they learned more about a local hero, as they visited the memorial house of Žanis Lipke, a Latvian who saved the lifes of Jews during world war II. There they learned more about how Žanis Lipke was and how he became a hero. The students and their teachers even got the chance to see a draft of the movie based on his life. After lunch the group was split in two smaller groups based on the 8 colors. On group went on a guided tour through the history museum, where there was a special exhibition about the 100 anniversary of Latvia. The guide explained the history of Latvia and how people became heroes during these 100 years. At the end of the tour there was a possibility to leave a note behind with your answer on what you can do for Latvia. The second group went on a walking tour through Old Riga to learn more about the city and his history, this activity was guided by one of the Latvian teachers. After an hour and half the groups changed so that both groups could see the same things. At the end of the tours there was an hour of free time were the students could explore Riga on their own and buy souvenirs. Thursday was a very busy day but also a day where we learned that you don't need to have superpowers to be a hero, just by helping others you can also be a hero. Written by Libelia Storm and Alicia Panegos.
Transnational meeting in Sigulda-October 4th (photo album 1 by Marjolaine) (photo album 2 by Fernanda)
FRIDAY 5/10/2018
Each group had to work on a game scenario. The topic was ''Volunteering''. Everyone dod their best and tried to help their group as much as they could, so that their idea would be the best one. Later every group presented their ideas. It was interesting to listen, because each group had something different- the same idea, but different concept. As a gift we were given certificates that showed that we all have participated in this Erasmus+ project. It may sound sad, but it was also time to take some last pictures with each other and say good-bye. Written by Samanta Gudovska
Transnational meeting in Sigulda - October 5th (photo album 1 by Marjolaine)
SATURDAY 6/10/2018
The French and Greek teams left at 3 a.m. It was hard time for us all. We had made a strong bond with each other. So saying ''good-bye'' was heart breaking. You could even say that the town had almost drawn in our tears. No one wanted to leave, but we made a promise- we will meet again !!!! 😊 The Portuguese team had to leave at 9 a..m. So it was time to repeat everything. Saying our fair wells, tears in our eyes, we how they drew off. It`s funny how new people come into your life and leave such a hole when they have to go. This project helped to meet new friends, some even so close we could call them family. Hopefully we can all get together one day and make new memories. Written by Samanta Gudovska
Transnational meeting in Sigulda 1 - 6/ 10/ 2018 (photo album 1, photo album 2 & photo album 3 by Fernanda)
Welcome Drum party