In Sarata Monteoru, Buzau, Romania, we participated on Erasmus+ project that took place from 11-21 November 2024. In addition to the Macedonian group, there were participants from: Latvia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Romania and the Czech Republic. The name of the project was: “When sorrow turns to pain”. These projects, in addition to joint learning, sharing values, learning about the different cultures that exist among peoples, also aim to encourage mutual friendship among the participants, which would later grow into true friendship.

For the first time, I had the honor of finding myself in the role of team leader. I can freely say that I am overjoyed with the manner of cooperation, participation in the workshops and the overall engagement of the Macedonian group. I am also overjoyed with the engagement of the other participants and the fact that everyone was sociable and there was mutual communication and friendship. We, as a Macedonian group, believe that we managed to present our country in the best possible light and fully responded to all the challenges and tasks that were before us. Of course, we were guided by a daily agenda that we respected in its entirety.

In the daily activities, it was planned that the participants would present their own country, which was a great experience, because in that way we learned and heard things that we did not know about other countries. For these reasons, it was also interesting when we worked in mixed teams. We also had the opportunity to present the conditions, rights and integration of communities that are not the majority in each country separately. Through videos that were prepared by all participants mixed in groups, activities were presented that aim to improve the situation of members of minorities. Of course, we also had free activities during the day that we used to the maximum for socializing and cooperation.

Regarding the organizer – we only have the most praiseworthy words that we wrote in the evaluation questionnaires.

Finally, I recommend everyone to participate in such projects, because they contribute greatly to personal development. My message to anyone who is hesitant or has a dilemma regarding whether everything that is planned will be realized is the following: Do not hesitate at all, apply and participate, because representing your country in such projects contributes to personal development in many areas.

Bojan Petreski