Some vidoes which was made in project "Use negative- make positive" , enjoy it !

DIARY of youth exchange project “Use negative – make positive” 2

THURSDAY (TRAVEL DAY)

Thursday was the day when Italians had to present us to their “homeworks” which was a game “Steps” conveying social separateness problem. Participants were secretly told what occupations they had. Then they had to think up their life histories and couldn’t tell about it for anyone. Later on, all actors aligned. The leaders gave them questions and if the answer was “yes” one had to step forward and, contrary, if the answer was “no” one remained at the same position. Here are few examples of the questions: “Do you feel lonely?”, “Can you afford going to the cinema every week?”, “Do you have lots of spare time?” and etc. When the game finished, the straight line was broken: some had stepped significantly forward and some moved forward only few steps. Then, players revealed their occupations: there were pop stars, lawyers, lonely mothers and members of national minorities. Interestingly, all mothers were standing at the same line; members of national minorities had moved only couple of steps while pop stars, although altering in their positions, had walked significantly far comparing to others. We tried to find out why such gaps among people exist, how they shape and whether we are able to affect them, in other words, how can we help to reduce the differences among social groups. The discussion was very revealing, unfortunately, we didn’t have much time for further research.

On that day a day trip to Klaipėda was arranged. There we first visited the quay of Klaipėdos harbor and the old-town. In the afternoon the participants had free time, which was spent for buying souvenirs, clothing and wandering around the town. In the late afternoon we left for Palanga to visit the Baltic Sea. We walked leisurely through Palanga‘s park and reached the seashore where we could observe the sunset. Unfortunately, our lovely atmosphere was disturbed by the rain. Due to it everybody in the bus was wet. But nobody felt upset because of this. Contrarily, when the midnight came, everyone joyfully congratulated Brigita by singing Happy Birthday as she had her sixteenth birthday on Friday. Thus, the first greetings to Brigita were told in 5 different languages.

FRIDAY (BEING TOGETHER)

From the early morning we “switched on” our creativity skills for drawing. The first task was the drawing of portraits. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Participants made two circles (inner and outer). Those, who were in the inner circle, drew people from the outer circle sitting in front of them; but “the outer people” changed their positions from time to time. When each participant had circled the other players, the game was finished. Finally, we had lots of strange but funny portraits.

Afterwards, we had to start preparing for the exhibition in front of the clock-house. Jobs and certain responsibilities were dedicated for each participant so that everything could be done individually. Some had to think how to represent their country, finish movie making and the others had to make photographs of their groups. As the day was warm and sunny, the participants had an opportunity to spend their free time outdoors playing games or swimming. In the evening a birthday party for Bigita was organized. Everybody could relax and rest from the intensive preparations and socialize with each other. Thus, the event united our group even more.


  

SATURDAY (EXPLORING TOWN AND CULTURE)

We started working in the unusually early morning as we had to leave Plateliai for Plunge at half eight. When we reached Plunge’s park, all participants were properly awaken, thus, able to wander around the park and look at the Oginskiai palace. But this peaceful moment didn’t last long as we had to do preparations at clock-house and be ready to participate in the photo-marathon “The yards of Plunge” at 9 a.m. Consequently, all the participants were trying to catch the most unique pictures of our town. Most of photographers were attracted by the craft fair and folklore ensemble which took place in the town centre. It was an excellent opportunity to become familiar with Lithuanian traditions.

The other part of the day was much busier. After the opening ceremony of Photobienal in front of Saint Florion monument. All foreign participants joyfully attended the parade of town as they were able to communicate with local people. Afterwards, everyone came back to the clock- house, where the exchange project was presented. The photos of participants of the project and photo-marathon were exhibited in front of clock-house so that everyone could see them. What is more, everyone could watch the movies from our workshop, see the representations of 4 different countries and take some greeting cards. When the official part ended, the discotheque was arranged; thus, we danced till the late night.

SUNDAY (LAST WORDS)

Due to the tiring Saturday work we allowed ourselves to sleep longer and relax. Before leaving for Plateliai we discussed the events of Saturday and Friday. Everyone had to think up one word or short phrase which best describes the work of two last days. Here are some of them:

Surprise, nu visai jau, people, together, rainbow, discovery, creativity, satisfaction, love, strange, good time, culture, cool, quality, clock, fast, respectful, different, colours, sweet, pride, lazy, weather, coulouful, crazy, driving.

The saddest part of the project – farewell - came in the evening. We had the last discussion about our project in the main hall. All participants made a circle and when somebody thought up a thesis about the exchange project, one had to stand in the middle of the circle and say it loud. If one agreed with the thesis, he or she had to stand as close as possible to the speaker. Due to good opinions on the project the participants gathered around the centre of the circle so that everyone had to hug each other in order to be closer. Here are some quotes:

“One could never know what to expect, thus, everything what happened was a real surprise”


“I liked photo - bienal a lot.”


“Everything is of high quality: from the participation cards to the greeting cards.”


“I feel great respect for the organizers because they worked a lot to help us.”


“I found lots of new things, experienced numerous different feelings – I was empowered by emotions. I’ll definitely miss it.”

Later on we could farewell with each participant individually and write a wishing on a paper stuck on one’s back. The last activity was “Whispering” – we stood in a circle and had to tell the story “How I’ll come back home” for a friend on our left. Therefore, at the same moment everyone was telling a story – someone outdoors could hear a real whispering. According to rules, when the leader of the game stopped speaking, everyone successively had to do the same – finally, the circle of people had to calm down. Though, nobody managed to do it even after the second chance – the game ended with singing.

The first goodbye we told for Estonian group which had to leave us at 10.30 p.m. Everyone wanted to hug each member so it took “a bit of time”, thus, Estonians were about to be late. Fortunately, they reached their bus on time.

MONDAY (FAREWALL WITH PROJECT)

Though it was a late night time, nobody went sleep: we wanted to spend the rest hours together with each other. French group was second to leave. When they left, the silence empowered the atmosphere (maybe, due to tiredness). At 3.30 a.m. we said goodbye for Portuguese. Italians had to leave only at 7 a.m., thus, we decided to get some sleep. Sadly, they didn’t want to awaken us and left without saying goodbye. Unfortunately, when they were heading for train station, the road leading there was closed and Italians had to run in order to reach the train on time…luckily, they reached the train in time.

In the morning we had the last breakfast, packed our stuff, gave back the keys and left for Plunge with two other Italian girls. By saying goodbye to them we also said goodbye for the project, which will definitely remain in our memories for a long time.

DIARY of youth exchange project “Use negative – make positive”

SATURDAY 

For someone youth exchange started one day earlier. Portuguese were first participants who reached Plungė. Together with Donata and Kristina they spent one night at a wonderful Dora’s house in Plateliai.

SUNDAY (THE GREAT DAY of ARRIVAL)

Of course the first who reached their destination were Portuguese. They were welcomed by Lithuanians who have been working there from early morning. While Portuguese were having free time, Paulius and Agne, our drivers, were working — they had to pick up the other participants. Second who came were four Estonians (actually, two of the six-group were passing their exams, so we met them only on Tuesday). Afterwards three Italians arrived. Though there should have been six of them, one couldn’t participate because of the sudden job offer. Few of our participants — French guys and other two Italians — arrived only at midnight.






When all participants gathered we could begin our meeting party. Angela had her birthday on Sunday and  João- on Monday, thus, the event began with greetings to them. Midnight was a perfect time to congratulate both of them. Non- formal atmosphere was a great opportunity to introduce to each other.

MONDAY (MEETING PEOPLE AND DISCOVERING PHOTOCAMERA) 

This day started a little bit later because everyone wanted to get a good rest after travelling such a long way to Lithuania. As every day, we started with energiser. This time it was “Ciku caku” and “It’s coming... it’s really really coming…” After these funny games we though up rules of behavior and talked about our hopes and fears. Here are few your thoughts:

Hopes: “To discover Lithuania’s culture”, “Face different ways of thinking”, “I hope my baggage will arrive as soon as possible”, “See the world through different and new eyes”, “Open my minds”, “Practice human rights”, “Shop in Acropolis”.

Fears: “I’m not afraid, I’m warrior (it’s not a true, I’m a bit afraid actually)”, “I’m afraid of food, Lithuanian food”, “Culture shock”, “Difficulty with language”, “Misunderstanding”, “Bugs”, “Cold water in the lake”.

After this we had a short Lithuanian language lesson during which one could learn few basic words for the survivalJ For example:

LABAS – hello; VISO GERO – goodbye; AČIŪ – thank you; DRAUGAS – friend.

At the same day we had a group building game - “Small clouds”. We had to create 20 ways how to carry one person from one place to another without touching the ground. We played only 30 minutes but as soon as the game started we couldn’t talk anymore. When the time ended, so far we had made up only 15 ways but everyone was happy as it was very hard challenge.



Later we had a lecture of two professional photographers who talked about the history of photography. We also had a great opportunity to explore various old cameras and see a genuine laboratory of making photos. Afterwards, the participants introduced their organizations at the fair of organizations. It was useful and interesting as we could find out what each team is doing.


After a long and tiring day we made a short massage and evaluated ourselves. Participants had to reconsider all day, decide how they felt during the particular activity and draw their “Day Cardiogram”. When everyone had finished their “Day Cardiograms”, we shortly talked over with each other. Evaluation was done but the day didn’t end because we were waiting until the sun would set down and it gets dark so we could develop pictures at the laboratory. Only few of the participants had worked in a such way, so it was something new for the majority. They said it was an outstanding experience.

TUESDAY (STEREOTYPES IN PICTURES)

Soon after breakfast we started working. Firstly, Portuguese showed an energy game, called “Zombie” which helped to wake up. Later we played one trust game in order to built reliance in our group. Next activity was discussion about stereotypes. Conversation was led by Portuguese. Everyone was asked to tell all stereotypes known about every country. Then participants had to deny or confirm those stereotypes. Eventually, all countries could add more information about themselves. Afterwards, Portuguese showed two shocking short-movies about discrimination.

 Later that day we were working in the separate groups. Our task was to take 10 different photos reflecting discrimination and inequality problems. During the workshop two more Estonians arrived. After they had settled down, they joined working groups. Apparently, the task wasn’t so easy so people were working longer than planned. After the dinner we made a small presentation to share our results of workshop. While working, nobody saw what others were doing. Therefore, it was extremely interesting to see how the people from distinguishing cultures revealed the problems we had discussed before.
 
Intercultural evening was the last activity that day. All groups brought some food and prepared short presentations of their countries. As we were dancing Lithuanian dances, Julia, the last participant from France, arrived. Though she was tired, she joined to us. As soon as all the countries were introduced and official speeches were made, we had a great opportunity to try each country’s traditional dishes and drinks. But it was only a lead-in as we had the whole night ahead…

WEDNESDAY (THE POWER OF CREATIVITY THUS MOVIE MAKING)

This morning started with a workout lead by Paulius. French continued the awakening with a game “Kissing Pig”. Seemingly innocent game actually wasn’t so innocent as one player, eventually, should have kissed someone’s bottom… Thus, we made an assumption that if one plays a game which name includes “Kissing”, “Pig” or even both of them, he or she should be very wise while speaking.

Amused and awaken, we started the serious part of our day’s program: French led the discussion about poverty. At first, we watched the movie “Slum-dog millionaire” which was a perfect starting point for our discussion. We compared the different means of fighting against this issue, shared our personal experiences and opinions; brainstormed possible solutions and suggestions for our governments.
 
In the afternoon we were having video workshop. We knew what techniques we are going to work with beforehand so it was much easier to start work. The first technique is called LIPDUB. Using this way of filming a cameraman goes to different rooms and captures what different people are doing in altering places. The second technique is named STOP MOTION. To make such movie one has to sequence a lot of pictures so that they recall a moving view. João was the director of Lipub and Igor was the director of stop motion. All participants were divided into two large groups and had about 3 hours to create their movies. Besides, each group had a member who was able to work with Movie Maker program.

A little bit later the group of stop motion separated into four smaller groups which revealed different topics with different techniques: equality with faces, poverty with drawing, stereotypes with human, discrimination with items.

Lipdub group created a script which required a good preparation of “actors” – they had even arranged two rehearsals before filming. But the result of their work was wet as all “actors” had to jump into the lake. However, it was worth doing this because the trick drew a great attention and everyone enjoyed the movie.

After having supper, everyone gathered to the hall to meet the organizers of the photobienal. They wanted to meet the participants and familiarize with the project.

As the day was ending, most of us were pretty tired, so we played a game „Ride, ride a pony“ ensuring a good lump of energy for all players. Afterwards, we presented the works of the day by showing lately created movies. It’s a pity that two groups couldn’t finish their works that day. Though, everyone was surprised by the results of movie making as nobody expected to make such incredibly interesting and funny videos.

We also had to evaluate our works done during two last days. All participants made a circle surrounding the pile of UNO cards. Then they had to pull out one card which, according to them, described each day best. The principle of evaluation is simple: there were numbers from 0 to 9 on each colorful (red, blue, yellow, green) card. Considering the average atmosphere and experiences one had to pick up a card with a number and color that best describes the day. All choices had to be explained. Here are some quotes:


“I like everything – each following day is better than the previous one”


“I liked the discussion about stereotypes because I believe that it’s very important to talk abut them. Though, it was pretty sad to figure out some wrong stereotypes”


“We all are working as one. It’s a brilliant feeling”


"Lost in the space"


“It was a very creative day. We achieved great results and created some wonderful movies. I find this experience very useful”

After the evaluation, we had “free” time, though, a small work was planned to do: each group had to select only 7 pictures from the group. Therefore, 35 photos were collected and only 20 photos left to print on the greeting cards. Many participants found this task extremely difficult as they had captured many great moments.

Impression about APV, Lithuania

 
On 13th of May began an adventure called "Use negative - Make positive" , first time in Lithuania , first time as leader in project. After few flights, some trip problems i arrived safe and happy but not in Plungė,i have slept the station and went to Klaipėda. I was taken by Donata and her father and had a chance to speak and discover Lithuanian people. At the end ofthe day I arrived to Plateliai, and oh my God what a beautiful,breath taking place i saw. We started preparations in the next days. We changed the project a little bit to be more dynamic and enthusiastic. The foood was a barrier for me.Different and strong tastes. But I survived! We made a beautiful trip to Palanga and i saw a green sea. O.o But the clock didn't stop and it was time to go back home. We said goodbye to each other. After 23hours of trip, delays, missing and canceled flights I arrived home wishing the time pass quick to see them again.

João Pinheiro

What is „Use Negative – Make Positive“ ?

„Use negative – make positive“ – it‘s a multilateral youth exchange project hosted by non- govemental organisation (NGO) „Krantas“ from 6^th to 14^th June in Plunge.

This project will ensure the follow – up of the previous “Krantas” youth initiatives and youth exchange projects and gather 31 young people from 5 different European Union countries: Estonia, Italy, Portugal, France and Lithuania. Some of the participants - disadvantaged youth in different ways.

During the project participants will be working with themes on art, culture and antidiscrimination.

Photography and video making will help to reflect upon the social problems coming up from economical inequality and discrimination as well as to analyze the challenges of youth unemployment all around Europe. On of the most important aims of the project is to investigate and analyze the specific social problems, their origins and find out possible solutions. One of the most important part of the project – organizing the Youth day of the international project “Fotobienale 2010” in Plunge. This event will help us to deliver the project results for the local society, let them know about other countries and other cultures and also touch upon the project’s themes. After the youth exchange the results will be disseminated in Plunge’s region and outwards.