From August 29 till September 4, five VCS members attended a youth exchange in Ireland. Together with them were people from five different countries, naming Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, and Ireland. The topic of the exchange was ‘Teen healthy
relationships,’ and the participants got deeper into the relationship issues. They discussed about different forms of abuse in a relationship, such as physical, emotional, social abuse etc. Working with experienced people in that field, professionals from the biggest shelter for women and children victims of domestic abuse, the participants learned a lot about this issue, how to recognize it, fight it,

and ultimately, get over it. Breaking stereotypes, speaking up, getting out of the comfort zone, and getting aware of different issues were some things our

participants were making on daily basis. Despite that, our volunteers made a lot of
hopefully long-lasting friendships, had a lot of fun, and visited some amazing places
in Ireland. In a nutshell, they are happy for such an experience and looking forward
to the next exchange in Ireland, which will happen in November.

Autors: Vanesa Prculovska, Nikola Dumovski, Natasha Ivanoska, Mine Ibraimi, Andrej Naumovski