Miguel Gallardo Albajar, former Comité Directeur member, Carmen María López, former Network Commissioner, Pablo Hernández, Policy Officer and former President are just some of the names immediately crossing our mind when we think about this amazing local. Another interesting fact is that two members of AEGEE-Alicante, Jorge Sánchez Hernández and Pablo Palazón have founded new contacts in Dresden and Manchester. For all these and many more reasons, The AEGEEan tried to reveal the secrets of their success by talking to Melissa Carreres and Mar Valero, current board members, and Sora Chung, current Subcommissioner to NetCom Olga Rivero Menéndez.

The AEGEEan: Tell us something about the history of AEGEE-Alicante. When was the local founded? What makes you stand out from other antennae?

AEGEE-Alicante: It was founded in 2002, becoming an antenna in 2003. What makes us unique is that we work differently than other antennas, we are a group of friends who work in a singular way, AEGEE-Alicante is someway known for great events. As Lucius Annaeus Seneca once said: “It is quality rather than quantity that matters.”

How many active members do you have? We know many of them are active on the European level. Is it hard to motivate them to work on the local level too?

We have around 30 active members and, as you pointed out, some of them are active on the European level, too. Sometimes, it is hard to combine the local and European level, because both of them require a lot of time, but these members are motivated enough and manage to also work hard on the local level. It is a pleasure to have so many people involved on the European level because their achievements and knowledge help AEGEE-Alicante a lot to grow as an antenna.

Do you have any special activities for team building or traditional local events you want to share with Network?

Our philosophy for a good team is that it has to be formed by friends or at least by people who get along well. We are a big diverse group with lots of things in common, often proposing informal meetings and different activities just because we want to meet up. A traditional event is our symbolic Christmas dinner, which is very special for us since it is the opportunity for most of us to meet. We have some members who are living abroad and Christmas is the perfect time to come back home and the best opportunity for AEGEE-Alicante members to gather. During the last Christmas dinner, we were with almost 40 members, and it was awesome!

This is the second year you are organising the Buddy Program. Please tell us what the main aim of the project is and what the program means to your local?

We are organizing an edition every semester, and we are currently working hard on the fourth edition.The Buddy Program is a mentorship program whose aim is to provide support to international students by pairing them with local students, who help them to settle in during their stay in Alicante. The program is offered to all students, not only to AEGEE members. The University of Alicante collaborates with us, contacting and offering the program to all the international students. At the beginning, we only had a small group of 25 internationals but during the last edition we managed to have 260 matches. The Buddy Program has brought lots of benefits to our antenna, such as gaining more visibility and improving the institutional relationships with the university. Besides that, some of the local students have become members of AEGEE-Alicante and what is more important; we acquired loads of experience and knowledge by working on the program.

First of all, congratulations for the 2nd best Summer University of 2014. Can you tell us something about that experience? What are your plans for the next SU?

Mar Valero: Personally, it was one the most amazing experiences of my life. I was very enthusiastic about the project, all thanks to Rocío Calvente, the Incoming Responsible and with motivation, hard-work and a team willing to do it,  the results show that we did not do it that bad, right? For the next Summer University, we would like “newbies” to take over. We think it is a good opportunity for them to learn about the organisational part, but the most experienced members will be helping for sure!

AEGEE-Alicante is famous for its creating awareness for charities. On the Human Rights Day and International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women you shared pictures on social media. Do you have any more ideas for raising awareness of similar issues on the European level?  

Last November we participated in a cycling meeting to defend the fights against climate change and the poles melting. We also participated in a blood donation marathon that was held by the University of Alicante.  Furthermore, AEGEE-Alicante is going to donate 20% of the sales of their promotional t-shirts to beneficial projects. Our first donation was 50€ for the Election Observation Project of Moldova. We really love doing this kind of activities; you get more than you give.  We try to collaborate by means of small contributions. And sometimes we say: Make others change by your example!

I must confess, I kind of love Network Meetings (NWM). From my very first one in Gijón (which really motivated me to become the AEGEE freak I am today) to the last one hosted by AEGEE-Alicante, my beloved antenna (which nearly killed me of exhaustion but also of satisfaction).

This one has been even more special to me as I was part of the local organising team and I was also part of the NetCom team for our region, “La Tripulación”. The preparation was pretty long and tiring for all of us, but I think each little achievement, all the happy faces and every single smile were worth it!

Some words from our happy participants. Javier Aguerri (AEGEE-Zaragoza): “AEGEE-Alicante and NetCom showed again what they are capable of. Flawless organisation and a seductive program. What a great event!” Javier Uceda (AEGEE-Madrid): “A NWM like a blow of fresh air, which caress everyone’s skin and makes them feel that they could actually change anything.” Consu Ródenas (AEGEE-Valencia): “It has been a very inspiring event for some new members, who have realized how big this is, and now have become more active.”

Not only the participants were happy with the results of the NWM, but Sora Chung (AEGEE-Alicante, main organiser) too. She said: “Together with Carmen María, organising a NWM was something we wanted since we joined AEGEE’s active life. This NWM was a challenge for all of us, not only because of the number of participants, but also because half of the team were newbies. I’m happy to be in such a hardworking team. I was never able to attend any of our NWMs before and organising this one made me realise even more how wonderful our region and people are. For sure, you can expect to see me in next NWMs.”

The local organisers did their best trying to fill the participants with wonder by taking care of every detail they could. There was even a nice opening ceremony due to the support of the Local Council of Moraira, who was quite helpful from the very beginning. We all suited up for the occasion. Three participants celebrated their birthdays during the Animal Party, having a proper birthday song with cake and candles, some little presents and, last but not least, a special present, choosing the task for AEGEE-Lyon members to earn their precious flag back (this picture says it all).

But well, shall I stop making people jealous with so many good details and speak about the contents of this NWM?

The workshops contents were really wide and varied. Volunteering, Erasmus, participation in democracy, quality events, YVote2014 (with two representatives: Léa Charlet and Aleksandra Kluczka), Action Agenda and Strategic Plan, conflict resolution, IT tools and much more… But in general, the workshop that people enjoyed the most, was the Bar Camp session where loads of ideas came out (ways to improve NWMs and make them more fruitful for everyone). Long and productive discussions were held and everyone had the chance to ask questions to three present candidates for next Agora Patra. Cool, right?

Also our Network Commissioner expressed her good impression: Pauline Létard (NetCom) was “really happy to hear what people had to say: opinions on what works in AEGEE and what does not, ideas on how to improve our organization and work. Now I’m convinced that we have to give people more space to talk and invent tools to make them feel comfortable to do so. The results will be published soon, the most important comes after we have implemented all ideas and tools from this event!” Patricia Anthony (NetCom) said: “NWM Alicante was fantastic!

It is striking to see the cooperation between these antennae. It was even greater to see participants were engagingly talking about actual topics, and my highlight: the open sessions where participants chose what they wanted to talk about. It was inspiring to see the eagerness to learn, grow and work together; talking about removing the gap between the European and the Local Level and increasing the feedback to the active members of for example the Comité Directeur and the Network Commission, pointing out the importance of speaking up and being heard to help AEGEE move in the right direction.”

The event could have not finished in a better way than by eating paellas and the local cake, cocas, cooked by local housewives in front of the sea while drinking mistela. Everyone enjoyed the local gastronomy and hospitality before having to say good bye.

Let’s keep increasing our participation in debates, decisions, interaction with the European level and so on because we ALL have something to say and to contribute with. The limit is only defined by you!

Written by Carmen María López Banegas, AEGEE-Alicante