Activities

Pro Futuro youth group participates in „East-West COMPASS: Gates to Democracy”

In the early November of 2009, we, a team of four energetic youth volunteers from Latvia, participated in an international Youth-In-Action training course “East-West COMPASS: Gates to Democracy” held in Lithuania. Along with youth workers and volunteers from 4 other countries, we spent an unforgettable week in a classy remote hotel in the quiet town of Trakai, only a 30-minute bus ride away from the cosmopolitan Baltic capital - the city of Vilnius.

Time flew as we went through the nicely planned schedule of the training course (titled Gates to Democracy) where the main emphasis was put on nationally and globally relevant gender issues. With a blend of lectures, presentations, games and first-person accounts from the representatives of the involved countries, we gained valuable insights on how different cultures and social groups perceive and cope with different gender-related problems like discrimination in the workplace, unjust representation in a court of law etc. Together we broke through the unnecessary stereotypes and worked mainly on ourselves to ensure a better, more accessible, integration not just between members of the opposite sex, but members of different ethnicities and social groups as well.

Along with practical learning, we spent time socializing and having fun in the evenings. With different topical events like Intercultural Evenings, a Pajama Party and an evening in Vilnius, we all got to know each other much better. So much better, in fact, that it made saying Goodbyes on the last day pretty heartbreaking.

I met a lot of interesting people and I had a really great time and I wanted to thank you for the opportunity!

Imants Latkovskis