Milena Morari grew up in a small town of Glodeni, in north of Moldova. Luckily, there was a youth centre, were Milena could gain her first local youth work experiencies. But only participation in Erasmus+ youth seminars and trainings allowed Milena gain experiences that led her to become a general secretary of National Network of Local Youth Councils and a EU4Youth Alumni. “For me, Erasmus+ trainings were a chance to exchange practices with youth workers from other countries and a source to learn new ways in working with young people back home” – says Milena
Three key youth trainings that shaped the path
Milena’s traveled to Spain for her first Erasmus+ training course only in 2022. It was thanks to MilleniuM, an experienced organisation from Chisinau that is also a Moldovan Info Centre for Erasmus+, she leaned about international opportunities for youth workers. „During my first international training, I was quite withdrawn and avoided interactions with other participants. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to express my thoughts in English and that I would be misunderstood. It was a moment of awareness, when I understood that I’m just projecting my fears that are creating barriers for me. It was my first international youth work experience, and it was very valuable one. I learned more about children’s rights and joined various activities that helped shape my attitudes. I also had the opportunity to discover new perspectives on youth work” – says Milena.
Few months after, Milena was already in Poland, at another Erasmus+ seminar. She was already representing the National Network of Local Youth Councils, as she got a job of communications’ coordinator there. Milena continues the story: „I went to Poland together with 7 other young people from different youth councils. It was a great experience for me, because for the first time I accompanied a group of other participants and took responsibility to involve them into the seminar. There had also been some surprises during the travel that I had to cope with. But luckily all ended up well”.
After a few months of break, Milena participated in yet another Erasmus+ youth seminar in Turkey. In fact, her National Network of Local Youth Councils from Moldova was an official partner in this project. During the event, Milena could already interact with a large number of youth workers from all around Europe, to report on different youth work aspects and share practices from Moldovan youth sector. Milena underlines: „During the seminar we focused on a set of civic competences of young people. It was a complicated process, but it was a good chance to identify the diversity of skills, knowledge and values of young people from different countries”.
Spreading the word further, EU4Youth Alumni network
„And then I found out about the EU4Youth Alumni Network! Decided to apply and was accepted, along with a colleague from the National Network of Local Youth Councils. The network allows us to develop and implement joint initiatives to promote Erasmus+ and international projects for young people and youth workers. We have already organised a series of local trainings and reached a large number of youngsters. Also within the network I was in Georgia for the EU4Youth meeting, where I worked on further development of the initiative in Moldova and learned what colleagues from other countries are planning” – Milena says with sparkles of emotions in her voice.
In the end Milena concludes that the international trainings and seminars she has joined, allowed her to discover how much Erasmus+ contributes to development of youth work skills, but even more importantly, to development of new perspectives and opportunities. Milena reflects: „Of course each event was different and came with different lessons and learning moments. What I should mention is that Erasmus+ allows to see how the youth work is meant in other countries. I have always believed that young people have a particularly wide variety of opportunities these days, and I think they should take advantage of them, because every learning moment is valuable and offers new perspectives for the future”.
