CST Euroarab-Impressions

I wanted to wait until the end of our event to speak my mind in this blog.

I believe time make you act more wisely. I’ve been thinking a lot about this event and I end up with the conclusion that I can describe this event in 3 words: Challenging, illuminating and tough.

Challenging: I remember when more than 1 year ago, the BE team was in Brussels with Julianne and Naba,, both SFI members at that time, dreaming about how this EuroArab pillar of our project BE should be. Everything sounds great. Then after so much work and so many applications submitted and rejected, finally in Summer this email of “YiA is supporting our CST in Europe” came, and we had to start working side by side with AEGEE-Köln, AEGEE-Aachen and AEGEE-Maastricht. Luckily Agnija had found this amazing Egyptian organization Better World, and all of us start preparing these 2 weeks in the heart of Europe: Many many emails, Skype meetings, an unbelievable long selection process of participants... and finally, November came, and the event took off.

I couldn’t make it to arrive on 1st so I arrive directly to Aachen on 5th and unfortunately I faced since the very first second I joined the CST, lost of issues to deal with, lot’s complaining and lot’s of… crap. So yeah it was a tough and very disappointing beginning. I guess you try to do your best in these events but you have to get used that is impossible that everybody likes everything, but even knowing that, I have my limits. Anyway, I keep trying with the people I thought that were more worth it and finally it all began to get better. So these are my reasons to say it was a tough event.

The 3rd one, To me this event was above all Illuminating: I meet these 11 participants from Palestine and Egypt, and they were all nice, so motivated, so grateful, such a great participants, and I am glad I had the chance to know from my own experience that we are not so different, if we avoid talking about relationships men-women, and that as young people we are all the same, each one with our special things but it was great to see that the cultural differences didn’t stop us to share our thoughts.

In the end I’ve been told that this event was something like a reflection point in their lives for some of the participants, and if it is like this, all the effort and energies we put in this event I think was really worth it.

I consider myself as a practical person, and I don’t want to focus on our mistakes, I want to focus on solutions and I am sure we will learn from them and hopefully the next events would be (even) better.

To finish I want to thank my team, Agnija: to be always there willing to listen, and to found this great ONG Better World in Egypt, to Ramon, because after all this years, markers paintings, comments, laughs… and knowing that you are that kind of person that either you hate or you like, and I don’t know why I don’t hate you so much, ;),

And Prisca, you know for me you are a 10 over 10, you did an amazing job here as coordinator and, I want to say thank you SO MUCH for your time and energies, and please don’t change, because I wish there would be more people like you in AEGEE.

Last but not least, I want to thank AEGEE-Köln, a pity I couldn’t be there but I heard amazing things about you guys, good job!, AEGEE-Aachen , AEGEE-Maastricht and the Commité Directeur, and over all to Lenny, Rebecca, Christian, André, Johannes, Daniel, Stefan, Anne, Manos and Thomas for take care of us these days and help us to make this event happens. Without you all this wouldn’t be possible. GRACIAS.

See you somewhere in Europe, hopefully in AGORA-Alicante,

Yours,

Isabel Pérez

Trainer CST EuroArab-Understanding each others challenges

Beyond Europe project documentation responsible