Follow Up Romania

Local Activity Report: Soul on Canvas (Romanian Team)

Event Details:

On November 10, 2024, we organized a follow-up activity for the Soul on Canvas project, aiming to disseminate the knowledge and experience gained by our participants during the Youth Exchange (YE) in Cyprus. This session engaged 60 attendees, including young people and youth workers, for an hour-long interactive event.

Objective of the Local Activity:

This local follow-up activity aimed to transfer the lessons learned during the Youth Exchange to our local community, emphasizing the importance of art therapy for mental health and well-being. The event highlighted methods and tools to enhance self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and creativity, which align with the project's goal of breaking mental health stigmas.

Agenda:

Duration: 1 hour
Key Sessions:

Overview of the Soul on Canvas project and its objectives.
Sharing personal stories and reflections from the Youth Exchange participants.
Demonstrations of art therapy techniques, including the creation of beach mandalas and poetry-writing exercises.

Learnings Highlighted:

The event emphasized the following takeaways:

1. Importance of Mental Health Awareness:
2. Introduction to Art Therapy Techniques:
3. Benefits of Creativity for Emotional Balance:

Participant Feedback:

Participants appreciated the interactive nature of the event and the opportunity to explore creative methods for self-expression. Many expressed interest in applying these techniques in their work with young people or their own self-care routines.

Impact:

This follow-up activity successfully achieved its goals by:

Encouraging open discussions on mental health within the local community.
Inspiring attendees to incorporate art therapy into their lives.
Promoting the Erasmus+ program and its opportunities for youth development.

This event served as a platform to bridge international learning with local impact, empowering attendees to prioritize mental health and explore creative ways to address emotional challenges.

Links for online dissemination

Evaluation Paragraphs from participants

Postole Elena-Corina - The subject of the "Soul on canvas" project is of big interest for me. Therefore, I am very grateful for the chance I received participating in this project. I met a lot of interesting people, I learnt about the culture of other countries, I danced and I made friends. The intercultural nights, very interesting as usual. The activities in programme were so interesting that helped me to rediscover the inner child. Thank you, HESSA and thank you ACPELIA for the great organization, the good food, the beautiful location and nature. As usual everything was at superlative.🙂

Postole Smaranda-Iustina: This project helped me to know myself better. I made a lot of friends and acquaintances. The games were very interesting and interactive. Thank you Hessa and Acpelia.

Ciobanu Ioana-Delia: My experience within "Soul On Canvas" gave me the opportunity to grow as a person and to face problems with a greater sense of understanding. During the project, I also became more emotionally intelligent, which I'm very grateful for. Overall, my time there was excellent, as I made friends, the location was very welcoming and the activities were well-thought-out. Thank you, ACPELIA and HESSA, for the amazing opportunity.

Vasilache Sara Eliza: The Soul on Canvas project was an amazing opportunity to meet a plethora of different people from other European countries, enhance and perfect my English-speaking and critical thinking skills, while also encouraging me to be more introspective and mindful, on both a personal and social level. I am so thankful to HESSA and ACPELIA for offering me a chance to learn about different cultures, work on myself and simultaneously meet so many amazing people through this youth exchange focusing on non-formal education.

Chilu Teofana-Ioana: This Erasmus+ project not only that it gave me the opportunity to meet new people and to make friends, but it also made me realise things about myself that I didn't know. It allowed me to express more and to also get out of my comfort zone, as it challenged me through all the tasks given.This experience offered me so many new perspectives about life and gave me more confidence inmy own power. I met amazing people and got to see again the beautiful Cyprus and its people. Thank you Hessa and Acpelia for offering me this amazing opportunity.

Aionesei Elena - Diana: My experience in "Soul On Canvas" was a very memorable one. As a person who's been to other Youth Exchanges before, which weren't as great as this one, I was impressed with the swift organization and diverse, though on-theme activities. I felt extremely safe and like I can express myself freely without any judgement, and that I was welcomed warmly by every participant country. I got along with people I would've never expected, I discovered new cultures and learned foreign words, I laughed with tears of joy and spent time with everyone. And so, I will forever be grateful to ACPELIA and HESSA for giving me this life changing opportunity!

-Niculiță Alexandra-Maria: For me this Erasmus+ experience was a unique one since it was my first time being in an Erasmus project and also the first time I left my country. This Erasmus project made me a better person because I stepped out of my comfort zone, exercise my english skills and learned about mental health and art. I'm so grateful for this opportunity, thanks ACPELIA and Hessa for this! I loved the experience, and my new friends and I can't wait to come back to Cyprus to pet all the cats I see and go to the beach to collect rocks.

The youth exchange "Soul on Canvas" has been a truly enlightening experience to me. I have always been interested in art, but I never knew the extent it could be used in our everyday lives, I thought about it only as a hobby. Now I have learned that doing art is beneficial for our mental health, reduces stress and adds to our self-worth, thus improving our life in general.

Pînzaru Alexandrina- The youth exchange "Soul on Canvas" has been a truly enlightening experience to me. I have always been interested in art, but I never knew the extent it could be used in our everyday lives, I thought about it only as a hobby. Now I have learned that doing art is beneficial for our mental health, reduces stress and adds to our self-worth, thus improving our life in general. The people I have met there are amazing , I made so many unexpected yet delightful connections. In general the feel of the project was greatly uplifting, a colorful escape from the grind of the gray weekdays.As my first Erasmus+ experience it will always have a special place in my heart and for that I'm grateful to Acpelia and Hessa associations !

Donea Mădălina-Elena: I really loved this Erasmus+ project. The theme of "Soul on canvas" was something that I was interested in and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to learn so many new and interesting things and to meet other people and exchange thoughts and different perspectives. During the project, I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried a lot of new things and in the end I'm happy that I had this amazing and unique experience!

Luchain Gențiana Teodora: I loved the idea of this project because it helped me to relax and focus more on different aspects of myself. I'm glad that I had the chance to experience more art. It was one of my biggest passions when I was younger, but I felt more connected with this topic because of the "therapy" part.