An Erasmus+ Youth Exchange took place in New Caledonia on 10-17 March, 2019.
“Lace up, Speak Out” is Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project, was organized by two partner organizations from Georgia and New Caledonia. The project took place in Canala and Noumea, New Caledonia, between 10-17 March. Throughout the project, participants from Georgia and New Caledonia worked on and discussed issues of gender equality and domestic violence in a friendly, non-formal environment. The main aim of the project was to promote gender equality and develop participants’ competence about gender issues and gender based violence, all through the informal education methods.
On the first day, after the long and interesting journey we finally arrived in Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia. Local participants, dressed in a colorful national dresses, welcomed us with a song and small traditional presents. Then we had a meeting with the Minister of Sports and Youth, who talked about the gender equality issues in New Caledonia, problems of the youth and stressed the importance of the projects such as ours. After the official meeting we started to get to know each other with the help of some ice-breaker activities and then we went to explore the city of Noumea. City game (city tour) was thoroughly organized by the local participants and was based on our project’s main topic. We visited local non-governmental organization where they shared their experience of fighting gender inequality and helping victims of domestic violence. With that the first day was over and we knew it was the beginning of the life changing journey. On the next day we set out for Canala, old and traditional commune of New Caledonia, where the main part of the project sessions took place. Again we received a warm welcome in a traditional Kanak manner by the local government, commune pastor and all the members of community.
After the first and delicious encounter with the Kanak cuisine, we set and made some ground rules for our project. On the third day we went on the active phase of our sessions. We started with the presentation about Erasmus+ and presented all the opportunities it provides for young people; then we learned some gender related terms and types of gender inequalities. We also had an activity called ‘step forward’, which helped us to see the inequality through other people’s perspective and acknowledge the difficulties they face on a daily basis. Fourth day of the project was extremely exciting for us as well as for local participants. After the informative sessions about famous, fierce and successful women from Georgia, New Caledonia and the world, we had the chance to introduce our cultures through our traditional food, dances, songs and national apparel. We went to the river surrounded with stunning tropical flora, where we were introduced to local traditions of knitting and instrument making. Our trip to the river was covered by the local TV channel, they were interested about our purpose of visit and our project. This day was full of joy, laughter and definitely lots of singing and dancing. Fifth day was the last one in Canala and loaded with the activities. In the morning we had an exhibition at the local school. The exhibition was the central part of our project; We exhibited photographs taken by young Georgian and Caledonians about the gender equality/inequality issues. At the exhibition we also organized “Georgian Corner”, presenting our country and the culture to Caledonian students. We also conducted small, introductory lectures in classes about the Erasmus+ and its programmes. At the evening we had our last activity in Canala, in which we worked on the different youth project ideas and shared them to each other. On our last day, we had a goodbye party, received handmade gifts from our kind hosts and exchanged presents and sincere and warm goodbyes. Back to Noumea we prepared visual materials such as project video, educational quiz, infographics, project book and etc. On our last project day we opened our exhibition near the Noumea market, where all the locals gather on Sunday morning.
Our photographs and visual materials caught lots of people's eyes and they were eager to get more information about them. Finally, after the exhibition we had a chance to evaluate our project, share our experience and reflect on the things we learned and the things we gained. On 17th of March we said goodbye to our Caledonian brothers and sisters (as they call each other in New Caledonia) and left the island with our hearts full of love and our minds full of unforgettable memories.
“Lace up, Speak Out” Project report by participants.
Comments