This was my first Erasmus Plus project in 2022. I was thinking for a long time about joining a project in Yerevan because I wanted to have a reunion with my dear friend from Syria – Varty Kouyoumjian whom I had met in Kyiv already 7 years ago! This is us in front of the Opera before the project has started:
The project was organised by the German NGO European Intercultural Forum e.V. We couldn’t forget that the pandemic hadn’t finished yet so everyone was tested at the beggining (and even two participants turned out positive and couldn’t join us). This TC wasn’t so packed with activities as usually training courses are. There were some specific topics like how to deal with radicalization, what is a training cycle etc and some elements obligatory for each E+ project like introduction to formal, non-formal and informal education and guide to E+ programme. Instead of typical (and usually looking the same because what can be new about our homelands) intercultural evenings we shared sweets from our countries – I brought kabanosy and krówki (fudges) – and one evening was organised as an Armenian traditional evening. Taking into consideration topic of this TC – peace building – I suggested visiting the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex:
What was unusual about this training was the fact that the facilitator Katsia got seriously the idea of training for trainers and one day and a half was devoted to practice sessions. Having experience with critical thinkig methods (and not willing to experiment with untested ones) I suggested the Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono:
During and after the project we had much time to enjoy the nightlife of Yerevan. I won’t write much about our everyday excursions to different bars and pubs (although I must mention the visit to SkyBar with Varty and her friends 😉 – after the project had finished we decided to visit the Khor Virap monastery in the Arrarat Plain. Both Mount Arrarat and the monastery with their historical and religious backfround made a huge impression on us:
