Testimonials

Testimonial from partners

Kristinn Heiðar Hugarafl About the project

I was involved in this project from day one. I took part in all of the transinternational meetings and the training in Romania. For me it was a great learning experience. I could feel both during the training and also during testings in schools that the curriculum is working. The non formal method of teaching works really well for the activities and fits perfectly for the age group that we were focusing on.

From Video interviews in Romania

Aurora – Johari window

It was a very revealing tool for reflection and mirroring yourself and the others. And also realise that sometimes we project on the others things that are in ourselfs. Or the other way around. The others project on us, things they find in themselves unconsciously or consciously

The perception of others might improve our self knowledge. Also we might help them to know themselves by showing them their strong and less strong points.

I found out things about myself that I didn’t know before. So it was a real useful instrument getting to know myself better.

I would suggest to make use of Johari window because it might help you and the students you work with into having insights into their qualities and flaws, their emotions and states of minds, self awareness and also their relationships with their parents, their colleagues, their teachers and so on. And might prevent some behaviors that are not socially acceptable.

The students might realise that some of their behaviours are really harmful to others. So from this point of view this tool might enhance social awareness and also sympathy and empathy.

We intend to think of ourselves as good or bad but never in between.

Aurora – Erasmus+

I went to this Erasmus+ program that was very useful and revealing. Because it offered many tools that help self awareness and the awareness of others.

Aurora – What she liked most

Every day there were activities scheduled in such a way that helped us, and hopefully the teenagers we work with, to cope with everyday problems, real life situations and also challenges that might face us as teachers, psychologists or youth workers and help the teenagers to cope with those situations.

What I liked most was the diversity.

Fanney – Abigale

This is a subject that you can debate on a lot so it was better to get restricted time. So we just had to make a decision. But it was very good to do it in the groups because we got different points of view. I thought we would fight about it because it is very controversial. But we didn’t. We just brought on our points of view and it actually went really well.

Fanney – The intention of the activity

I think it was to see different points of views. To really put yourself in the shoes of the characters. But also to … maybe realise how easily we can judge somebody without realising the whole story.

Fanney – learning points – highlights

I think it is important to see different points of view. It’s important to realise that sometimes a reaction is just a reaction. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person feels that way forever, for example.

It reminded me how easy it is to judge somebody and how we should give them more time, more space.

Fanney – enjoyed most Speed dating

I really enjoyed the Speed dating. Because it happened really fast and it was a way to communicate to other people. And it was amazing how much we could talk in such little time. And it made me think that it’s easy to talk to people. It’s easy to communicate with people.

Cristina – about emotions

Emotions are things that we are dealing with everyday. But in such an interesting activity we can discover more than happy, joy, sad and other emotions. We can classify them. We can put them on two sides. Helpful side. Unhelpful side. There are helpful emotions and there are unhelpful emotions. And of course we can decide what strategy to use to help and to deal with these emotions.

Cristina – Card she picked in reflection
When I had to pick a card for my 10 minutes of reflection, I picked up a card with a bomb. And the explanation was that all the activities were like a bomb. Like a fire. I felt very hot because of all these activities. My brain was very hot because I had to think very quickly. Individually and in groups. And to pay attention to others and learning from others. I think this is the main conclusion that here we learn everything from everyone. Every experience and every discussion is useful to go further. To teach others how to manage their emotions. And for me as a teacher it is very important to me to understand, what are emotions and wich strategy for every student.

Cristina – Teaching and teenagers

Teaching is more than explaining and giving information. Teaching is about the soul and about understanding their needs. Teenagers have alot of needs. Teenagers need to be understood by someone. And if there is someone that can understand them, I think it’s ideal.

Cristina – about the training

It’s marvelous experience. Very useful for my profession and for my career in general. And for myself of course.

Stefania – Wheel of Health

I’m amazed to find out that there are so many activities and tools for us to use to improve our health. Our own and our students health. Cause I’m a teacher. And my priority is to make them healthier as they are not very aware of being healthy. Physically first and of course in their soul and mind.

Heath is the base of persons life. You can’t be achieving and make progress in your life being unhealthy. You can not be happy being unhealthy.

I found out myself that there are two very important things that I might need to work on. Like sleeping and exercising. So it is a very important instrument for me and my students. And as soon as I go back to school, I will use it.

Sefania – About the training

Everything I learned here is very useful and has taught me everything that I wanted to find out here.

The colleagues I work with are amazing from all the countries. I’m very happy. And I think it was my luck to be here. Sent from God.

Lionela – Not sure about the activity cause sound was missing from start. Persuading another person to do something.

For me it was light a fight. Fighting with words, you know? And with all kind of emotions coming back into my mind. Yeah – it was a mixing of emotions and words and the thoughts and everything. Everything was there for me. It was like a fighting area. I found it difficult but in the same time useful for me because I learned a lot of things from that activity and I can use it with my students. And why not with the teachers? It is a great tool for me.

Lionela – about training

It’s great. It’s really interesting even though I have to fight with some emotions. Yeah – but I think it’s about this. Handling the emotions. First I have to handle with my emotions because some of the discussions remind me of other situations you know. But Yeah – It’s about handling the emotions and I have to learn how to do this and how to teach my students how to handle with their own emotions in order to be healthy.

Lili – about the training

I feel like home. It’s very rare for me to say that but I’m super, super glad that I applied to this project and that I was accepted and Im here. Most of the activities I already knew but I used to do them in a different way. So I have new perspective on doing things. And very, very useful tools. I can’t wait to use them at my tutoring class.

Lia – About the training

I’m feeling very good and surprised. Because it is not boring at all. We are having fun and we are learning new things. And knowing new tools to use in our professional life. And also in our personal life.

Bruno – About training

Everything I have learned so far, I feel I can really use it. So not a second has been a waste of time for me. And the group is great. The trainers are very good too. The environment here is fantastic. So yeah – I’m loving it.

I have been training to be able to train others with some very good materials that I think will really change some lives. And I think it gets implemented really fast in a lot of places, because we really need prevention, instead of just going around putting out fires. And those are very good tools and they can really help.

Lia – About the training

The thing is that it’s technique that we didn’t learn in our psychology school. So the thing is we are learning new ways how we can reach people and how we can teach and tell them something that will improve our quality of life. Mental health in this case specifically and with teenagers. So for me it has been very positive experience and I will recommend it. And I’m looking forward to go back to go back to Portugal and to apply this that we are learning here. Not only to the teenagers but also to the professionals. Teach them how to do it.

Everyone can do this. We are learning here to give this course to young teenagers but everyone at any age can do it.

Lia – about the group

It’s also a very multidisciplinary group of people. We have teachers, we have psychologists, we have social workers. It is also people with different ages. So it has been a very enriching experience. So we are getting to know each other, new cultures, new habits and also different situations that the people have to deal with.

Lia – Wheel of Health
The wheel of health is thinking about your life and set priorities for you to improve your quality of life. And mental health as well.

Then you are able to see, when you make the circle. But it’s not a proper circle. It’s not a proper wheel. So it makes it difficult to ride your bicycle in life. It was the example they give to us. It was very good. Then you can see what you can improve in order to have more balanced lifestyle. And to have more quality in life.

Bruno – Wheel of Health

And we learned that we shouldn’t be trying to make the wheel smaller. We should try to improve our lifestyle, what we value, what we really want from life and be more healthy.

If anyone before had asked me “Are you healthy?”. “Ye – of course I am!” But now that we have cut it into a cheese, then we can look at the particular areas of every aspect that we value. It hasn’t been chosen by anyone else. We choose what to put in there.

Lia – about using wheel of health with teenagers.

I think it will work really well with regular teenagers. For prevention in high school for example. So I think it is a very useful tool for them to use in their life. Maybe it can be more difficult for kids with some cognitive damage. But with some guidance – they can do it. Because it’s things that everyone has to do in life. Like eat properly, take part in sports, enough sleep. So I think it’s a tool you can use with everyone that can communicate.

Bruno – about using wheel of health with teenagers

I think it can be used for both prevention and intervention. If you have a group that you do not see any particular need, just want to keep them informed about life and think about their health style it would work really good. Like I said – Most of them would say “I’m healthy”. But this will make them think about it a bit harder. And if you are working with a group that has particular needs – I think it becomes even more relevant. Because it makes you self aware in a way that you maybe wouldn’t be. For example talking about obesity.

Lia – Voting after wheel of health

I think it is a fun and interactive way to share knowledge. And also to implement the will to know more. We will have contest so its better for me to be informed. And it’s also a way to transmit knowledge to each other. And it’s a fun way.

Lorena – About the training

I told others that we are living an amazing experience with people with the same interest here. And we are learning each second and it has been really amazing experience.

Catarina – About the training

I said I was in a story. This environment is just like a book description of some magical forest. We have been testing some group dynamics to see how those dynamics work with us.

Laura – About the training

I’m in the middle of the mountains. Experiencing like a “Big brother” workshop about education. Like we are sharing a lot of time together with other people from different countries. And we are testing different dynamics for working on emotions and mental health care with adolescent and youth.

Laura – Johari window

The activity was kind of a self awareness activity. I would define it as mirroring activity. What we project and how we think we are.

The outcome that I personally got from this dynamic was like clearing in my mind my strength things. The things that I’m good at.

Catarina – Johari window

You get to notice what you know about yourself that the others don’t. Because sometimes we think we show up like something and then we notice that the others don’t see it at all.

Lorena – Johari window

I think it is a very useful when you want two persons to meet more deeply. And also focusing in their strengths and not so much in the weaknesses. But they are also important.

I think it would be interesting to apply this workshop for young people. But if they are too young, it would be necessary for me to give them very exact instructions. To give them some vocabulary and some limit to implement it well.

Lorena- The three columns

We had three columns and we had to fill in the the activities and skills we are good at, the activities we are bad doing and the activities that we perform like average. I would say for me it was easier for me to focus on the activities that I do well and those activities that I know I’m not good at. And the average ones I found a little bit more difficult. And we also had some time pressure so we had to be very fast writing it down.

Catarina – The three Columns

When we tried to fill the columns by the extremes – it’s really easy. Because it automatically shows up, the things that you feel you are very good at. And the others that you feel you are not good at at all.

We intend to be good at the thinks we like or we like the things that we are good on because we feel rewarded by it.

Laura – The three Columns

It makes you think about yourself. How you know you are good at something or not? How do you react in front of certain situations. It comes easily. I think we are all very critical with ourselves so going to the bad thing was easy. And maybe to the good one as well.

Lorena – about the training course

I have been part of seven training courses and what I notice here is that here is huge work in all the sessions. All of them are perfectly organised and with objectives. And this is very evident during the workshop.

I also feel after 3 days working here that I will improve my practise in my country.

Catarina – About the training

We are also here to learn about ourselves and about the others. I think that learning about ourselves that work with other people is crucial because we are mainly working with teenagers because they are building their personality. It is very important for those that work with them to be sure about themselves and their identity.

Belen – Copying methods
It is about ways that you can deal with your emotions. Ways you can understand them maybe and make them useful. Because talking about emotions is not about if they are good or bad. They can be pleasant or unpleasant to feel them. But then it’s also about if they are useful or not. If they are going to help you react in a way that is gonna bring something positive to you. Or if that emotion is going to take you deep, deep, deep where you can not get out. And make miserable in a way. So copying methods are a way to take the best out of an emotion. It can be just understanding it, or dealing with it in a way that you can get something positive out of it.

We had this chart that I really think was super useful. I mean – I’m going to keep it next to my bed in the future. It was a chart with alot of strategies but very clear. It wasn’t abstract concepts. It was real situations, very specific that you could understand. So you had the name of the strategy and how it will be implemented and the short term and long terms consequences of that. And there will be alot strategies that could be seen as bad or could be seen as good.

Belen – Copying methods – what is needed for the teens to take part

The first thing is of course to create safe environment and some trust has been created. You can not arrive to a regular classroom even if they know each other for years and just tell them “Hey you three – come here and tell me about your emotions!” That’s not how it should work. You have to build the trust. Build the environment where they can speak freely. Where they know they are gonna be safe. They know they are not going to be disrespected. That comes first.
And also.

In society nowadays we are definitely not taught how to talk about emotions. Like – we have zero emotional education and therefore, a high lack of emotional intelligence. So what happens many times, is that we don’t have the vocabulary. We don’t know how to talk about emotions. And we don’t know how to recognise them. We just don’t know. They will tell us – “disappointment”. Just the word. And you understand the word. You could say the definition in your language. But you can not relate it to anything you felt. It’s very hard. For some it will be easier. For some it will be harder of course because emotional intelligence is not the same for everyone even if you have simulare life and have gone to the same school and have the same family and everything. Even tho – it won’t be the same. The emotional education will need to be taught first. Just like we did today.

We started with; what are emotions? How we feel them and how we can talk about them. We seperate them in parts so we have this process before getting dealing with them.

Belen – Copying methods. Why to use them with teenagers.
I would use it to develop their emotional intelligence and their ability to speak about emotions. And this part about copying methods – I would use to deal with situations. The four situations that are shown – it is very easy to relate to them. It’s not something abstract.

Catalina – Detectives and highway to health

I think both Detectives and Highway to health are very useful tools in working with youngsters, with students because it is a fun way to get to know your bad habit. To get to study and to get aware of it more easy and then the action plan is very useful tool to get rid of it.

After detectives we did the individual activity where each of us took the highway to health. That means each of us had an action plan about how to replace the bad habit with a good habit.

Catalina – about the training

The training is great because it is so full of techniques and of ideas and information and getting closer to people that you just met. But sometimes it is a little too much. It’s getting emotional and you feel like you are getting a little overwhelmed. I have been here for 3 days and it feels like a week.

I would like to thank the designers of this training. All the NGOs that worked so much to create this training. I’m very grateful that I’m here and also I want to thank them for thinking of writing this project and I’m glad it got approved. I’m glad that I’m here and I’m meeting all these wonderful people. And I hope that I find a strength that I saw in my colleagues in order to use everything, or maybe only a little part of what I have learned here. Because I really think it’s a wonderful learning experience.

Þórður about the group

It’s a very diverse group from four countries and each country, every person bring different experiences and point of view. So it’s wonderful to have this diverse group and these diversity in opinions and points of view. Then you can learn more.

Our role here is to take in this curriculum so we can spread it on. So we can use the materials that’s being made and have an impact in our society.

Þórður – Feedback

It’s a very efficient tool for giving feedback. Cause after the activities we go off on our own and we write down everything we can think off in the feedback. It is then all collected together in a big stack of paper and we give it to the trainers so they can use the feedback to improve upon what has already been made.

Þórður – Abigale

The Abigale story is a moral quandary and it’s very interesting to see the difference in opinion about who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Because there are people that you think are very like you, but they also have very different opinion in this activity. And also people that are very unlike you, but have similar opinions to you. So it’s a very good tool to find out your values in this regards and also see other people values.

Carlos – Abigale
The Abigale activity consisted of the trainers told us a story and we have to judge how the characters of the story behave. So then we share our opinions and our judgments and see the different.

Carlos – Abigale what he got out of it

You don’t have to think about what other people think or what other people judge. Try to explain yourself, listen to the other one. But you might have to fight and argue if you are not agreeing.

Þórður – Abigale what he got out of it

For me it was that you can have widely different opinion from people. But it doesn’t need to change the way you feel about them. Doesn’t need to change your friendship or your working relationship. There was one person that had almost list that was opposite to mine. But that didn’t change the way I felt about the person. Because this was just an exercise and it’s ok to have different opinions.

Carlos – Abigale with young people

I think young people have alot of intercultural experience since they are very young. So to grow up in a peaceful environment, they have to learn how to respect other opinions and share it with no fear. Express themselves freely.

Þórður- Abigale with young people

I think it can teach tolerance, acceptance of other people’s opinions. And also teach each and every young person that they are allowed to have their opinion. They have the right to have their opinion.

Þórður – About the project

I have been like a tiny part of this project now for some time. And I have seen the material grow and improve over time. And I’m really proud of the materials and activities that have been made and I think they will do great job in teaching young people about emotional awareness, learning in a group, respecting others people opinions and everything like that. Im very happy with the materials we have been given here.

Carlos – About the project

I’m having a lot of fun here. Im learning alot and also my english is developing so I think this is probably one of the best experience I’ve had in my life. And I think I can use these activities when I go back home. I like it.