AEGEE-Skopje, the only antenna in Macedonia and with 70 members, has become well known for its Travel Summer Universities (TSU). We spoke with Maria Davceva, External Relations Responsible, who told us about the results of the last Winter Event, which the Macedonian antenna organised for the International Volunteer Day. She also explains their involvement in “Democracy in Practice”  and focuses on previous experiences in TSUs.

The antenna took part in the “International Volunteer Day”, celebrated every year on the 5th of December. It aims to motivate young people to become active volunteers in order to contribute to their society. Also, it encourages people to understand the importance and the benefits of volunteering. This December AEGEE-Skopje was part of the NGO fair in its city, where more than 50 NGOs presented their activities and future plans in order to motivate people to join them as active volunteers. They presented their past projects and future activities in front of thousands of visitors and managed to share  AEGEE’s vision and mission among them.

AEGEE-Skopje also participated in a project called “Democracy in Practice”. This is an AEGEE-Europe Project that aims to raise awareness among young people about the importance of human rights as the basis of a healthy democracy in order to promote social and political participation of young people in their local, national and European environment. This year there was an initiative to celebrate the Human Rights Day by doing interactive workshops across AEGEE antennae.
The Human Rights Day in AEGEE-Skopje was well accepted and integrated in the weekly meeting on the 11th of December. 15 members of AEGEE-Skopje, divided in two groups, participated in the activity drawing a “human rights tree”. After finishing their drawings, they had a short discussion about which human rights are violated in Macedonia. The members were really interested in the discussion about the factors (the roots) that make human rights flourish, such as: no corruption, health care system, social care system, education, moral, ethics, police, law, democracy, etc.

The last events that were related to motivating and training members were: a Local Training Course (LTC) about Democracy in Practice on 14.12.2015, and a motivational weekend on the 23.10.2015 (Mountain House Papradiste).
The LTC was a three hours course, during which new members gained knowledge from the beginnings of AEGEE, history and its structure, but also the activities in AEGEE-Skopje. They also went from newbies to motivated active members all through a series of workshops and thematic exercises .
The motivational weekend on the other hand, apart from information about the possibilities in AEGEE, its history and member bonding experiences, gave the members two whole days to be part of trainings in the areas of fundraising (how to achieve long-term fundraising success), human resources (emotional intelligence), and informational technology (protect your online data).
Although in both LTC and motivational weekend the basic workshops and activities were tied around the five different working teams headed by the board responsible (HR, PR, ER, IT, FR and Fundraising), their structure and goals are somewhat different (training them with knowledge vs. motivating them to use and point that knowledge towards a goal).

From the 7th to the 12th of January AEGEE-Skopje had its winter event “WinUp-It’s Snow Time”, which took place in Skopje and Mavrovo. The participants enjoyed a workshop about traditional Macedonian dances, lead by a professional folk dance group which taught them how to dance like a true Macedonian. The second workshop was about Macedonian Christmas traditions. It was interesting for the participants to hear and see pictures of the various traditions around Macedonia, considering that it is an Orthodox country. The participants were amazed by the Matka canyon and its untouched nature, the city tour in Skopje followed by the pub crawl in the Old Bazar and the fresh mountain air in Mavrovo. The Macedonian antenna was happy to have a really united and amazing group of participants in which they all felt connected.
“The gossip box was always full, it fulfilled its purpose of breaking the ice and improved the love factor of this event. The energy of the participants was endless, never ending singing, laughing and drinking of course. The party bus in Mavrovo has a lot of stories to tell” says Maria. The best way to spend time after New Year’s Eve is traveling, mainly in the capital of Macedonia where the winter event took place in the middle of the Christmas spirit in Skopje and the breathtaking Mavrovo. “We didn’t have snow, because our participants were so full of love that they melted it all” adds Maria.

About the TSUs, Maria says “A Travel Summer University is a great responsibility and even bigger pleasure to organise”. In fact, the antenna had two great summer universities with two amazing antennae in the summer of 2015, which it had a lot of workshops about their cultures, national dances and history, trying to make the participants feel their way of living. At the TSU with Belgrade “YUGOvision- Balkan is calling”, the participants had the chance to visit two countries which not so long ago shared the same name, language, monetary system and president. The monuments they visited and workshops they attended got them closer to the theme of their TSU, to their culture, history, life and to Yugoslavia. At the TSU with Istanbul “Greater than Alexander, more Magnificent than Suleyman”, the participants got closer to the history of Turkey and Macedonia through multicultural activities, which in the past has intersected more than once, leaving traces that are present even now.

About the last elections of the board, only one of the old members remained and that is the president Ivan. Members attend different universities, meaning that the prosperity of the 2016’s productivity is immensely high. Nenad has his Master’s degree in Business Law, Marija and Stefani are students of psychology, Elena is an IT student, Saska is attending business academy and Goran is an economist. “Together we are one team and for almost two years now, we have been spreading the AEGEE spirit” adds Maria.

During the 2015, AEGEE-Skopje slightly altered its logo. The old one consisted of the word “AEGEE” and the name of the capital city Skopje, as well as a map of Europe next to the word. The new logo is enriched with a picture of the biggest and most beautiful bridge, and also one of the greatest monuments in Skopje – The Stone Bridge. The Stone Bridge or “Kameni Most’”, as they call it, is a bridge across the Vardar River in Skopje. The bridge is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element is the coat of arms of the city, which is incorporated in the city’s flag. The Stone Bridge connects Macedonia Square, in the center of Skopje, to the Old Bazaar.

At the end Maria reminds that all AEGEE members are invited to apply and participate on the next TSU whose name is “Balkanize your summer from Danube to Vardar”, which is going to be organised in five cities (Serbia- Novi sad/Belgrade, Macedonia-Skopje/Struga/Ohrid).

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.

One of the best existing events is called Summer University. AEGEE-Thessaloniki organised one for the first time in seven years. 25 participants from the whole of Europe were the lucky enough, to enjoy this Travel Summer University through Greece, where they had an amazing time in the four destinations.

Thessaloniki

The sun was shining bright, the mineral water was cold, and the gym was ready next to a school in beautiful Thessaloniki. This was the place and city for the Summer University, which was promising to be a great one. As more people arrived, beds were set up and games were played in order to get to know each other. The beautiful day turned into night and everyone had a Greek dinner, then moved to the dock and the salsa bar, where we could show either our dance moves, or our nerves.

The next morning we woke up and we showered at the gym, which would be our home for three nights. After a great breakfast, in the city centre of Thessaloniki, where the white tower is always lighten, we had a city tour. We learned about the history and landmarks of the second biggest city of Greece. After a great learning experience, which included a boat trip, we went to party and destroy all the newly developed brain cells. We discovered that it was not a lie, when the Greek talked about their amazing nightlife.

To ask for indications in Greece, some Greek language lessons came in handy, but what we mainly learned were bad words and how to hit on guys/girls, which was actually more useful. A scavenger hunt, combined with a pub crawl made the group become even closer, and international friendships were created. The day after the crazy European night, the planetarium and eating next to the city wall, where is the best view of Thessaloniki, we packed our stuff, and tried to get some sleep before the next crazy destination, Possidi.

Possidi

After the exams all the students from Thessaloniki grab their tents, swimsuits and booze to spend some time in Possidi, which is a student camping ground full of music, pretty girls, cute boys and a lot of “yolo”. The moment that we arrived, we ran directly into the sea.

The awesome time in Possidi was full of parties and hanging out with each other. We got to know each other so well, you couldn’t tell we had met half a week ago. The theme of the Summer University was environment issues which were covered in a workshop. The four groups, in which we were divided, had created instructive presentations, videos, interviews, posters and even a renewed garbage can. Just like in Thessaloniki, some more games were played which involved random people. For the last and most artful activity, we walked the beach during the amazing sunset. We got some paint and energy to “go totally Picasso” on our new friends. The result was a mixture of paint on all of us, which looked like anything from good paintings, to funny things, to a toddler’s creation. After some fun, running, fooling around, and some bottles of paint, the result was awesome. We ended the night with wishing balloons, and then went to drink and party. To be totally in the Possidi spirit, the amount of sleep that night was even less then we had before. With a lot of καλημέρα [Goodmorning in Greek, ed.] screaming from one tent to the other, at six in the morning, we packed or stuff and went for our next destination, the amazing city of Volos!

Volos

The old city looks over the sea as many beautiful cities in Greece do. Even better than the time we spend there, was the place we stayed. For two nights we had the luxury of our own room. Of course that’s not what Summer University is about, but it gave us the opportunity sleep and get some rest for the days that followed. In Volos we had a little city trip which presented us the atmosphere, history and life of Volos. After a water balloon fight and a lovely day spend in the boulevards and in the city, we had a resting evening to gather energy for the next amazing thing. Volos has mountains where at night light shine, which create a gorgeous view. A tour guide showed us the way up via an old stone path which the locals where using in the past to go from the mountains to the seaside. During the adventures and tough climb, we could slowly see Volos becoming smaller and the authentic villages becoming bigger. It felt amazing when the walk ended, and we reached, our literally, high goal. It was breathtaking! Next on our schedule was a party in a bar with in tequila, dancing and some real Summer University romance. When everyone was tired, we got on the ferry and went to, sadly, our last destination called Skiathos.

Skiathos

The island of Skiathos, full of beautiful places and beaches, was a good destination to slowly get to the ending of our amazing trip. The water was blue, the sun was hot. Some people were lucky enough to see dolphins jumping in the water on the trip there. The first night in Skiathos the positive words about the Greek night life were again confirmed. After came the city trip. We walked around the city and learned about it, we saw the great sightseeing places and crystal clear waters.

One if the most amazing things was the boat trip. It wasn’t the boat that was so special, but the places we went to. The first stop was a beach so beautiful that it was like a postcard. An all-white beach with rocks and water more clear than the liquid which flows from the tap. We climbed on the rock, to jump from a high point into this postcard sea. It was amazing! Next stop was a beach which was located next to the old town. The only one hour we could spend there, was not enough to fully see it all. We climbed up a hill with stones and some demolished stairs, which brought us to the top where in the past used to he houses. The town was full of old houses and little churches, and at the end of the hill there was this view from which you could see as very far. The view was of gorgeous beaches, mountains, the sea and rocks.

During our time on the island, we visited a museum, more beautiful beaches, clubs and parties. The most popular beach, Bananistas was also on the list of the beaches we visited. We saw many people wearing merchandise from this beach and the beach club that came with it.

The two weeks were almost over, which was a big pity. Back in the gym, which was our home on this island, we had a workshop about national stereotypes. After that, the graffiti party was on. We wrote on each others t-shirts as a way to say goodbye, and imprint the great memories we had experienced with all these people. The result were t-shirts full of text, jokes, names and love.

The worst part about the Summer University was here: the goodbyes. One by one people said goodbye to the others. A lot of hugs, kisses and exchange of numbers. The last persons to leave thanked the organisers with all their hearts.

The Summer University was amazing, two weeks of meeting people, travel, gaining knowledge and love. We hope that the organiser felt the same, and we are forever grateful to them. Those where the last words we said/thought as we waved them goodbye. Thanks so much!

Written by Midas Veraart, AEGEE-Nijmegen

From the 21th of July to the 5th of August, 24 crazy participants were ready for a new adventure: discovering the “other side” of the Netherlands by joining the Travelling Summer University (TSU) of  Utrecht, Delft & Amsterdam: Discover Your New Partner in Crime. During these two weeks everyone found their partners, worked together on several tasks and got to experience the real Dutch culture.

The adventure started in Utrecht: the city that hosted the start of the Tour the France. The city was discovered firstly by following the Trajectum Lumen: a city tour passing by different light artworks in the city centre.  However, a different side of Utrecht could be experienced through the Underground Tour. In this tour an ex-homeless/addicted person told his life story while showing the places in the city where he lived and slept. The tour was not finished, because there was a possibility to see the ancient city in the DomUnder tour discovering the ancient ruins of the old city of Utrecht. By canoeing through the channels and climbing the Domtower, the city of Utrecht was discovered from all different views.

But there was more to discover than just the city. In a Dutch course the participants got an opportunity to improve their Dutch skills and practice their typical Dutch G (Gezellig!). With the help of these language skills the Crazy 88 was easy: 88 crazy challenges in which the participants could show their crazy and criminal side. Asking a stranger to marry them or ordering oysters at McDonalds, nothing was too much for the amazing participants. Also the trade game was a big success: the participants had to trade a tea bag for something of more value. Many people were surprised by the helpfulness to participate in the games stating: “This would be impossible in my country”. More Dutch experiences were given by typical Dutch dishes, a lecture on criminality in the Netherlands by a professor of criminology and typical Dutch games in the park.

After five fun days in Utrecht it was time to go to the next destination: Delft. And what better way to travel through the country than by hitchhiking? Although for many people it was their first experience with this way to travel, everyone arrived safely with nice stories to the university campus of Delft.

Here the participants had to face another Dutch experience: rain in summer. However, this didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the programme in Delft to the fullest. While discovering the beauty of Delft, people began to find their partners in crime and the group became closer and closer. In the days that followed a lot of games and activities took place. From being tied up to a partner, to pretending to be an airplane, everybody was in for anything. With the energy provided from tosties (grilled cheese sandwiches which are eaten a lot by Dutch students) the groups of participants tried their best to win the challenges and be their best at everything.

A trip to the political capital of the Netherlands was also on the programme. The Hague was popular and the rain decided to stop. This motivated some brave people to take this opportunity to swim in the sea when the beach near the Hague (Scheveningen) was visited. Others watched while drinking hot chocolate with their sweaters on. What a difference. After this little trip, the European Night was on the programme. Everybody put a lot of effort in cooking delicious food, teaching the toasting habits and motivating people into tasting their national dishes.  The night became one big party, the morning a little less. But despite the hangover, people worked hard to produce the best smoothie in a real smoothie competition. Strengthened by the power of the tosti some really delicious beauties were produced. The last night a real moonlight cinema was organised which meant being cozy in the sleeping bag while watching a movie in the open air.

After the relaxed times in Delft, everyone hitchhiked to the next and most famous location: Amsterdam. During the days in Amsterdam the participants got to see a different side of Amsterdam than most tourists do. The days in Amsterdam started of with a city tour which, besides the famous sights, showed locations of recent topics like the student revolutions and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT). People were very impressed by the big rainbow flag which was hanging from a church, something that says a lot about the attitude towards LGBT people in the Netherlands. The whole city was full of rainbows for one important reason: the Gay pride. After some introduction and workshops on the topic, a nice sunny afternoon was spend at the Canal Parade, where different organisations showed their support for LGBT people in a boat parade. Although for some people it was kind of out of their comfort zone, it was a great party.

Amsterdam as its seen by its inhabitants was also shown in a tour of a local brewery, a red light district tour and a pub-crawl through the Jordaan, the old part of the city. Between the different pubs, there were several challenges which had to be completed. So once again the teams got ready for selfies with public toilets, sharing of clothes etc. Luckily by this time the group was close enough to not care about this.  Furthermore the weather had decided to be good for a change, so there was also time for chilling at the city beach.

The last night ended perfectly with a boat ride through the channels of Amsterdam. And what do you do when no music is allowed? Exactly,  – you sing yourself! All countries presented a famous song: a perfect way to finish a perfect Summer University.

For the organisers and participants one important goal was achieved: the real Dutch culture was discovered. The last night ended with a lot of smiles and tears: we all found a lot of new partners, but not only in crime.

Written by Diede Oudenampsen, AEGEE-Utrecht

Being awarded the best Summer University is never an easy task, due to the big amount of contenders. Being awarded twice with such a distinction is something to be proud of. Well… in Autumn Agora Cagliari, AEGEE-Catania received this award for the third time in a row! We were wondering what the secret of the organisers of AEGEE-Catania is to organise what some might consider the perfect Summer University. The AEGEEan interviewed the members of the antenna located in Sicily, and discovered some of the ingredients for a wonderful SU!

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations! How did you feel when the awards were announced and you were up on stage in Cagliari?
AEGEE-Catania: Well, actually we were optimistic regarding the result, and this is not a matter of presumption, but of good feelings, even if we knew it would not be a piece of cake this year. We were there, all together, sixteen members of AEGEE Catania and around fifteen partycipants, fingers crossed and ready to celebrate… The proclamation was an explosion of joy and happiness and up on the stage we felt so proud: the dream came true once again!

Can you tell us briefly about the main activities you had during your Summer University?
We planned a series of activities, fun games and interesting workshops (theater, sand castles, city tour, photography, body painting) and neverending parties, from early in the morning until late in the night, related to the winning theme of the Pirates. We carefully divided our 45 piratecipants in six crews and let them live a fairytale in the treasure island (our beloved Sicily) thanks to an exciting tournament.
We had the chance to bring our participants on top of the volcano Etna during a wonderful eruption, and we found a restaurant which perfectly matched with the theme of our SU for a special dinner.

How many organisers and helpers did you have?
Actually there were many organisers and helpers this year, around 25 in total. We decided for this big group in order to involve new members of AEGEE-Catania, let them understand our philosoply and teach the new generation of orgasmisers.

And which are, according to you, the ingredients for the perfect Summer University?
The perfect Summer University has to be planned at least three months in advance, and needs a group of friends organising it rather than a team of organisers; in Catania we use to define ourselves as “the family”! Regarding the magic ingredients: passion, love for the own country, willingness to let the participants live a fairytale, integration among the participants and between participants and organisers are the key.

What about AEGEE-Catania, how many members do you have, and which are your main activities every year?
AEGEE-Catania was born in 2003. In 2004 it organized its first Summer Event. From 2005 untill 2014 our Antenna has been organising Summer Universities that have become famous for their high quality (according to the evaluations of participants) and we recently achieved the third Best Summer University prize in a row! The success of these events depends, in our opinion, on the perfect mix between shared experiences and strong motivation which characterizes our antenna.

Next to Summer University, AEGEE-Catania has also organised a NWM and European and local events. Our antenna is active in local activities connected to the Erasmus project; from 2004 up to this semester we have been organising the so-called Anfitrione Project. Trusted members and students that we involve in this project give logistic support to Erasmus students and participate in organising several activities (such as trips, courses, meetings, linguistic aperitif and parties).

AEGEE-Catania consists of 80 members, who form a close-knit group that has being working hard on a lot of activities and initiatives for eleven years. This way, it has earned the esteem of many associations and institutions in Catania.

How do you motivate members to be active?
Every year, AEGEE Catania organises Local Training Courses for its members and weekly meetings to spread the knowledge of AEGEE among young students and motivate them to join our intercultural activities. But I am sure that the Erasmus activities are the main attraction for new members.

And what about AEGEE-Catania’s future plans – any foreseen events soon?
We applied for the next Spring NWM and we also applied for AEGEE’s 30th Anniversary. We hope to be able to organise both events!

Do you have any ideas already for next year’s SU?
There are some members that want to organize the best crazy TSU ever, but it’s a secret and we can’t reveal it yet. However, we can say that there will be three different antennae in two different countries involved!

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona

How do you feel about being an antenna already?
We are really proud of it, because we have been working very hard to be upgraded. It was our dream when we started and now it has become true. But this is only the beginning.

What local activities do you organize to motivate members?

Normally we arrange social meetings in bars, go for tapas and wine, have endless dinners where we discuss about our next steps… On the other hand, we also enjoy hiking, cycling and going on weekend trips, an amazing opportunity to make knowledge transfer with a less intense planning than a Local Training Course (LTC).

This summer you organised your first Summer University, how did it go?
At first we had to do a huge effort because we did not have all the contacts we needed in Valladolid. Eventually, and after a lot of lodging problems, we found very interesting contacts and they were nice enough to organize quite a good TSU, according to the evaluations.

Will you organize a Summer University (SU) next year as well?

We are not sure. It depends on how many active members we can count on during the Summer period in Valladolid. Nevertheless, we have such good memories from our last SU that we will try our best to organize it again.

You also organized a Y Vote 2014 event, why did you choose to do so?

At that moment our motivation was growing and several of our most active members were really interested in the topic of the next Parliament Elections, so we decided this was the best opportunity for our antenna to show that we could also organize an event focused on a serious topic for youth and really contribute to the important projects being developed within our association. With regard to the topic, AEGEE-Valladolid liked the focus and the objectives of Y Vote 2014 project, therefore we supported it very strongly. We consider that, in these hard times for Europe, it is important that the voice of youth is heard by the European leaders, especially the EU parliament members, so we can help improve the future of Europe.

How did the event go?
Undertaking this project was a true challenge for such a young antenna and we are really happy about the results. The organization was tough, due to the lack of active members in our antenna, but we were happy to see how all our members came together to help out during those days. The event was a success especially thanks to our highly-motivated participants and all agreed on the relevant lessons learnt through the interesting program developed by the Y Vote 2014 team and the logistics and cultural activities we provided. More importantly, thanks to this project AEGEE-Valladolid gained greater recognition within our City Hall, our university and quite a few local and regional institutions and we are convinced this will come in handy during future events.

What lies in the future plans of AEGEE-Valladolid? What will you be working on in 2014?
We are thinking about organizing a language tandem in the city to be in contact with Erasmus students, attract new members and activate the ones we already have.

Moreover, as AEGEE didn’t exist in Valladolid, the antenna is establishing contacts with all kind of bodies and entities (University, associations, City Hall…) so it’s very complicated in the beginning. That’s why our biggest milestone is getting the full recognition from the University of Valladolid and we will continue working very hard on it. This recognition will make it possible to reach a significant step for us in Valladolid, so we will be able to access a huge amount of students and an important support to organise events and to establish alliances.

It is great to see a new antenna working on so many projects, contributing to the Network in a great manner and at the same time managing to grow. 

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Dear Network, the Local of this Month is located in the sunny Greece, the one and only AEGEE-Ioannina. The AEGEEan has interviewed Dionisis Tzavaras, the President, to see what is up with this young local. 

So, AEGEE-Ioannina is the new Local of the Month. Congrats! Were you expecting that? How do you feel?

Hello, lovely AEGEEan! Thank you very much for such a honor! Merci, grazie, gracias, danke, köszönöm, dziękuję, хвала, teşekkürler, спасибо and so on!

Well, let’s say – yes, we were kind of expecting it, since we know that we are extremely awesome! Actually, the last days we had some feelings about some awards and then your e-mail came! In fact, it feels very good, we were a bit shocked at the beginning (we are quite sensitive!) but now we are ready to enjoy it!

The first time we had an interview you were some of the ‘newborn’ in AEGEE, how is it like one year after you were upgraded in Budapest?

Was it a whole year ago?!   Wow, time flies! But this happens only when you have a great time. It was a year full of unexpected energy, full of joy and nice moments. But to tell the truth, one year after, we still feel as immature as that moment. We are still babies, we need a lot of AEGEE experience so as to say that we have become children, or adults, but still we keep growing up.

As we all know this year you had your first Travel Summer University with AEGEE-Patra. Can you tell us what it was like and the challenges you faced by organizing for the first time?

As we are babies, and babies fall in love with everything, this is exactly what happened to us. We fell in love with everything that had to do with our TSU. It was our best experience so far from the first moment of the cooperation agreement with AEGEE-Patra, until the last moment when we were in our beds and we couldn’t feel our legs! I can confirm that we got really tired, but it was the sweetest tiredness of our lives due to the sweetest participants in Europe…! We have so many things to remember, among them a very special moment for us was when during the European Night we had our very first birthday that we were lucky to share with many happy faces! We were really sad when all this came to an end. Actually, we should start thinking of extending the SU period from two weeks to a whole month!