Follow Up Bulgaria

The sport club "Gram v Raya" Svilengrad organized two small events in our city Svilengrad, Bulgaria.

1st Follow-Up activity 

First activity was on 7th November, where Stoycho one of the group leaders invited his colleagues from his workplace, Vocal school "Hristo Botev" Svilengrad to present and talk about his team and their experience during the amazing youth exchange "Sport and Mental health", Pissouri, Cyprus. Stoycho shared a lot of moments from the exchange, but he had to put his colleagues through some of the activities so they can feel just a little bit from the two weeks project. Here are some photos:

2nd Follow-Up activity 

Our second event was organized by the participants in one of your class rooms in our school Vocal school "Hristo Botev" Svilengrad. The participants were sharing their experience with their minors, friends and classmates. They had the opportunity to use an interactive board, on which they were showing some of their moments during the project. After the presentations they did some energizers. At the end there were many questions from the audience, such as: "What was your best day?", "Did you meet new friends?", "Would you go again on a similar journey?", "When is the next project?", "Can I join the next youth exchange?" And of course the answers were all positive! Here are some photos from this event.

Of course we haven't stopped sharing with our friends how amazing, educational, exciting and satisfying our journey was in the beautiful part of Cyprus. We loved every single day and we will remember it for years to come!

Impressions of participants during the youth exchange "Sport and Mental Health", Pissouri, Cyprus, October 2024.

Our leaders would like to share their thoughts first, so it is a summary from both of the leaders Zhivko and Stoycho.

"We enjoyed the project very much. On the contrary, the weather was with us, the place, Hylatio Tourist Village, was stunning and amazing as always, as the staff and the boss! Many thanks to the organization "Active Cypriot Programs and European Learning Into Acceptance, ACPELIA" for making this amazing memory for our participants.

We liked the project a lot, as we said already, because there were many activities during our stay. From sports to meditations and relaxation activities. We were very pleased to see our youths growing by doing things and interacting with the other participants from different countries, cultures. There are no words to express our feelings seeing them like that. But now we are leaving the rest to the participants:

Ivayla Kostova: The day I found out I am going to Cyprus to participate in the project I was full of happiness and surprised,because I didnt expect it at all.I started imagining how are we going to enjoy our time there and what activities would we take part in.Also,I was a little nervous,because I was wondering if I would get along with all the participants.I couldn't wait for the project to start so I can finally experience such thing.During the project ,I realised many things and the main thing was that we should get out of our comfort zone more often and that we ought to take the opportunities for a new adventure that are given to us.While we were there ,I also realised that we should enjoy the moment as much as we can and live life to the fullest,because all these good moments will end after we blink once.I saw how different the people from the other countries are and how beautiful every nationality can be on it's own.This project encouraged me to keep improving my skills,to try as many new things as possible and to continue visiting more countries all over the world.I learned about the other countries's culture and traditions which was very interesting to me.Despite the language barrier and the different mentalities between us ,we still found a way to communicate and be friends which proves that everyone can be united,because at the end of the day we are all human.I met a lot of new people and I understood that we should not take any good moment for granted no matter what.I am very thankful that i had the opportunity to take part in such a wonderful project and meet all these gorgeous people.I would definitely do it again and I hope I have the chance in the future.

Dzhani Karanachev: I participated in Erasmus+ project "Sport and Mental Health: Don't bury your emotions let it flow" in Cyprus. This trip was incredible, we had a possibility to meet people from different countries (Lithuania, Romania, Portugal, Cyprus and Poland). We've done a lot of interesting activities and sports. From the project I obtained a lot of benefits such as improved communication skills in english, motivation for sports, information about nutrition and many more. Overall, these days were amazing.

Radoslav Vulkov: This was my first and the best project! I was really shy at the beginning but after the first day of the project I saw that there is nothing scary or to worry about. I made a lot of new friends from different countries. I was having a lot of fun as well. But I learned a lot of things as well. I really enjoyed the basketball and the football tournaments. This project helped me to communicate better in english with other participants, to trust people more and to work in a team. I will never forget this experience!

Maria Apostolova: For me it was an amazing project. I really liked the sporting activities, they taught me to trust my teammates, to not give up in hard situations and always focus on the goal. This experience gave me a lot of self-confidence and self-improvement from the mental activities. I also really liked the place Hylatio Village. This project also made me more friends from other countries. I really didn't want it to end. Thank you ACPELIA!

Teodor Stoyanov: When Stoycho called me to ask me if I want to participate, I answered "Yes" immediately! "Sport and Mental Health" project was amazing and very exciting for me. I was giving everything I could during every activity and every day, which led to being first in almost everything like the basketball tournament, the football tournament, and some small competitions during the activities. I learned that I need to trust more in my team and believe in other people, because alone one person can reach somewhere, but together we can reach the end of the road! This will leave a mark in my heart! I really liked the whole organization during the project. Hylatio complex was amazing, staff was great and ACPELIA was wonderful with everything!

Kristian Mitrev: At the beginning I was really shy, I didn't trust myself to communicate with others so I preferred to stay more with my group. But during the project I learned that I am not that bad talking to other people from another country. "Sport and Mental health" thought me to believe more in myself and have more self-confidence. I really liked our hiking near the village, I enjoyed the football tournament, creating our posters, how we see ourselves in the future and many more activities. I am happy to meet so many people from different places.

Ivanina Ivanova: I really loved this project! For me everything was amazing, the food, the people, the place and the hosting organization! I really liked that we had a lot of physical activities, all together, balanced with some relaxation activities. I met a lot of new friends from distant places, I learned a lot new things about my health, my mental health and even about myself during the project! My favourite part was when I was invited to dance with the famous brothers that came twice to make a show for us! During the cultural nights I learned a lot about the other participants, my favourite- new dances. I am very grateful to ACPELIA for inviting us as partners. Thank you!

Simona Dimitrova: For me this project was first and I really liked it. I learned a lot of new things about my health and myself. During the activities I was trying to give out everything I can. We were very busy during the days and very tired in the nights, but that didn't stopped us from making new friends and learning new things from other countries. My favourite activity was the five zones, where we had to go through different emotions, such as anxious, happy, frustrated, focused and etc. The beauty of Cyprus was astonishing as well! Everything was perfect!

Maria Toncheva: This project for me was amazing and wonderful! I am very happy to be part of this amazing experience. I really enjoyed the activities, the energizers and the things we learned during the project. We explored the village Pissouri, we visited Paphos and Limassol where we had many exciting tasks to complete. The project was amazing for me also because I learned a lot of new things about our mental health, ourselves and more importantly met amazing new people from different countries. My favourite activity was creating our health future posters and our live map until now. The project helped me to open more to others, to trust my teammates and the people around me. It was a great experience!

Mert Aldin: When the leaders called me to invite me to take part in this project, I was really happy. I never participated in an exchange before. At the beginning I was very shy, but with every day that passed, I opened myself to others and managed to make a lot of new friends. I really enjoyed every activity that we had, I was giving everything I can and I was gladly happy at the end. Thanks to this project, ACPELIA and my leaders I learned a lot about myself, how to relax, how to meditate and how to trust other people with the things we were doing. Thank you!

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