Testimony from Alice about her Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project in Italy:

“The weather is becoming much colder here. I am seeing a different side of Italy now that it is winter. People tend to go out less in winter so the town seems to be a lot quieter.

Anffas has started to prepare for Christmas. Lots of beautiful decorations are being put up everywhere, and there is a big Christmas festival this Sunday. The families of the disabled people will come, along with some other people, and we will eat lunch together. I am looking forward to this because Christmas is my favourite time of the year. Also I think it will be nice to meet some of the families because I think it could help me to be more understanding in the future when I am working with the disabled people.

Recently I have felt like I have got to know some of the disabled people a lot more. This is partly due to the fact that I have been here a longer time, but also because now I can have a very basic conversation in Italian. It’s easier to get to know someone when you can understand what they are saying. Speaking and understanding more Italian has made me feel more confident both at work and also outside of work in my free time.

One weekend I went to a service in the local town, known as ‘Sacra Cuore’, with some people from anffas (workers and disabled people). Apparently the purpose of the service is to bless the tractors, to bring them good luck for the harvest, although I’m not one hundred percent sure about this. The day started with a religious service in a church. After, we all went outside and watched the blessing of the tractors. The congregation said a short prayer and holy water was thrown on the tractors as they drove past. I found this quite interesting to watch however it was also a bit strange. The disabled people seemed to be having a good time though, which is what matters. The rest of the day consisted of us all eating together with people from the local community. The dinner lasted for five hours! There were many different courses of all different kinds of food. It was nice to have the opportunity to sample the many foods of Italy, and also it was free!

Since my last report I have visited many beautiful places in Italy with my friends, including some very cute Italian villages and some big country parks. I went to one of the zoos nearby with a friend, which was a very interesting experience. I am enjoying having the opportunity to see different places in Italy and it is nice to get out and do things when I am not working.”

Alice Hinchliffe, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Empowered From Within

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission (Now replaced by Erasmus+ )

Everything Is Possible has just released the magazine of Comic Sans, our latest project. This is our way to celebrate this brilliant Grundtvig Workshop which gave teachers and other professionals supporting adults around Europe the opportunity to learn how to use comics as a tool for teaching literacy.

Comic Sans supported by ECORYS UK and the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Union took place between the 2nd and the 9th November in Leeds (UK). During one week, participants developed skills and knowledge in photo comics, hand drawn comics, animation and other methods.

The Magazine:

Come to our office in Leeds if you want a printed copy!

This Grundtvig workshop is funded via the Lifelong Learning programme, which has been replaced  by the new European programme Erasmus+ in 2014.

The 4th episode of our comic book ”Empowered From Within” is out!

Discover the adventure of Andy, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee in Aruba:

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project supported by ECORYS UK and the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Union.

I arrived in Pordenone, Italy, on the 20th August. I’ve been here for a month now and I’m really enjoying the experience so far.

At the moment I’m still in my induction period, working from 7am to 1.30pm. In the mornings I help the workers get the disabled people out of bed and tend to the personal hygiene of the disabled people. At around 9.30am I participate in one of the morning activities, such as taking the disabled people to the park, or working in one of the many craft rooms making things such as pottery or wicker baskets. At lunch time I help feed the disabled people along with the other workers, and after that I help the workers put the disabled people to bed for a nap, which is called a ‘riposo’ in Italian. Working with the disabled people is a great experience and I find it very enjoyable. They are all very loving and appear to be happy and content most of the time. I think ANFFAS is an amazing place because not only are the disabled people cared for, they are also kept very busy and are entertained throughout the day.

At ANFFAS, the workers are very friendly and will go out of their way to help me and make sure I am okay. At times, communication is difficult, but since arriving in Italy, I already feel like my understanding of the Italian language has improved. I’m also due to start attending Italian language lessons at the school at the end of the month which will hopefully help support my learning.

Alice met our ‘Green Message’ participant, Jara

I’m currently sharing the flat with two other volunteers, a French girl and a Danish girl. They are roughly the same age as me and both very friendly, which is great! Another volunteer, a French boy, is due to arrive next month. I am looking forward to meeting him because I love meeting new people! The flat itself is very nice and quite big, as well as being in a great location to get to work and into the centre of Pordenone.  Also, I’ve made lots of new Italian friends who are very sociable, which has helped me settle into my new home. I’m always busy here, either going for coffee with friends after work or to the beach at the weekend.

I have learnt so much already and I have only been here for one month out of my six month Leonardo da Vinci project! I am having an amazing time and I hope the next five months are just as good!

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Empowered From Within

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

”Today we had breakfast half 9 and after we was waiting for someone to pick us up so we can go the cat centenary to help out by cleaning up the mess, when we got there we was met by loads of cats and all the cats were friendly and came to you, we stating to take pictures of the cats before we started any work, the place quiet smelly but got use to it after a while. After we finished there we came back to the hotel and had some free time and had quick nap before tea, for starter I had carrot and lentil soup, for main I had fish with potato, carrots and peas and for desert I had tiramisu. Then went for a little walk and got a henna tattoo, then came back to the hotel room to chill and was listening to music that was happening outside.”

Testimony from Joe Harrison, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee in Malta.

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Empowered From Within

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

We are really good here, It is an amazing experience (Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility), we are enjoying a lot! Everybody from mission locale is taking care of us.
Here is our last two weeks diary.

WEDNESDAY 10th JULY

Multimedia workshop: young people from Mission Locale were recording a short film in some locations of the island. We had the opportunity to meet them, exchange our languages and know the way they work on.

THURSDAY 11st JULY

Multimedia workshop:   second and last day of filming in some new locations. We participate in the film as extras and helping in whatever we could. We enjoyed a drink with the team to celebrate the end of the filming.

FRIDAY 12nd JULY

Multimedia workshop: editing and mounting the film with the team of Mission Locale. Meeting with Raphael to talk about the association and about the CV workshop in English (first proposal).

MONDAY 15th JULY

Meeting: we met with the team of Mission Locale to talk about all the different workshops we are going to do during the week. English class workshop: we began to prepare our personal workshop (English class and CV workshop). Brainstorming…

TUESDAY 16th JULY

Theatre workshop: we were “acting” with the young people from Mission Locale. First, we were playing some different scenes, then… Cayoning: we went to do cayoning with other young people form Mission Locale in an incredible location of the Island.

WEDNESDAY 17th JULY

English class workshop: during all the day we were working on our workshop preparing different activities and stuff for the first session.

THURSDAY 18th JULY

Comité Jeune meeting: Mission Locale from Saint Pierre organized an event to get together both offices (St.Pierre and St.Joseph).It was the perfect time to showed the sort film and other young people´s videos.

FRIDAY 19th JULY

We went with Filo to another associations in St. Joseph  where people with social  problems  can go to , for example, have a breakfast, have a shower, wash up their clothes, get info about jobs and some activities.

More coming soon…

Ana and Marcos, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainees,

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Empowered From Within

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

My name is Aurelie Lemaire and I’m currently doing a GRUNDTVIG ASSISTANTSHIP with Everything Is Possible!

 
What is a Grundtvig assistantship? It is a programme funded by the European Commission that enables present or future staff involved in adult education to do an assistantship in another European country participating in the LLP (Lifelong Learning Programme).

 
During these 45 weeks of assistantship, it’s amazing how much I have learnt!  It was the first time for me to work in an office, and I’m glad I have done this experience because I know what it is now! My main role in the organisation is to work with the adults willing to do a project in Europe for a short-term or a long-term period. In one hand, I’m working with different organisations in the UK, and in the other hand, I’m working with our partners in Europe (Sweden, Norway, France, Italy, etc.).

 
Everything is Possible is working with people with fewer opportunities, which means that we work with people with different backgrounds. Thanks to my assistantship, I had the opportunity to visit different institutions here in the UK (primary and secondary schools, foyers, Salvation Army, etc.) and to understand how these institutions work and help adults in their professional life. Thanks to these visits, I learnt a lot about the formal and informal system of education for adults in the UK.

 
The other part of my work is to be in contact with our partners in Europe and to organise the project for the volunteers and trainees going to do a project with them. This part of my work enabled me to learn about the international dimension of the informal education for adults, and thanks to Everything Is Possible, I had the opportunity to visit some of the partners (Italy and Reunion Island) to learn more about the voluntary work or training over there.

 
In addition to my main role, I had the opportunity to participate in many other projects with Everything Is Possible, among others participating in a Leonardo partnership with two organisations in Spain (Gantalcala) and Germany (Brandenburgische Sportjugend), participating in a Grundtvig Learner workshop ( Suitcase Circus – http://suitcase-circus.blogspot.co.uk/), organising a big event with the team (Young Pride – http://51youngpride.blogspot.co.uk/), and organising a youth exchange with Malta.

Although I learnt a lot with Everything Is Possible, I also had the opportunity to teach the people I was working with, and to bring my own skills to the organisation.

Indeed, I had the opportunity to teach French and Italian to the participants going to France, Reunion Island or Italy for their project. Thanks to this experience, I realised that teaching adults was something I really enjoy and at the end of my assistantship, I have every intention of going back to school to learn how to teach adults and get a certificate that will enable me to be a teacher.

 
These 45 weeks have been full of adventures and excitements and I would like to thank Everything Is Possible,  the European Commission and AEF Europe to have enabled me to do my Grundtvig assistantship and, consequently, to learn all the skills I learnt since I started my assistantship.

Aurelie Lemaire, Grundtvig Assistant.

Grundtvig assistantship supported by AEF Europe and the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Union.

Testimonies from our Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainees in Norway about the Fourth day of their project:

“Today we started by having breakfast at 7.45am in Morgan House. After this we went down to the field and finished taking down the fence, when we had finished taking down the fence we went up to the forest workshop and chopped some wood. Then one of the volunteers who works on the farm came down with the tractor and trailer and we put most of the logs into the trailer, when we had finished work we had a nice friendly game of football with the villagers.”

Shelby Taylor, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

“Today was another amazing day, we started off as usual by having breakfast with the people of Morgan House. I really enjoy sitting down as part of a family.
The work started same as the day before, we finished taking down the fences and then we worked on the farm, chopping some wood in the forest. Once that was finished we helped with the animals, cleaning out the cows and feeding them, as well as the sheep and chickens. Once work was finished we had a nice friendly game of football although I don’t really care for the game it was a great chance to bond and have a good time with the villagers and care workers.”

Owen Reece, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

“Today we are doing eating breakfast with the people of Morgan House and we are going to work the same place we worked yesterday, we had a break at 10.30 for half an hour and then we have been chopping wood. We had lunch at 12.00pm and we went back at 2.00pm in the cows’ house. We were feeding the cows and gave them grass. After that we finished at 5.00pm and we had diner at 5.30pm with the people of Morgan House, at 7.00pm we played football with the people in the village.”

Samiy Fesahya, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

14th May, Solborg, Norway

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Gaining Through Training

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

Testimony from our Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainees about their third day in Norway:

“The 3 days that I have been staying on Camphill have been great. I have really enjoyed meeting the people who live and work here. Today we worked on the farm taking down an old rotten fence to get it redone for the cows to graze in.  I really enjoyed doing this because I like doing manual work as I am used to doing it because I’m working with animals at college. Today I also had lunch with one of the other families.”

Shelby Taylor, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

Samiy and Owen pulling down an old fence

“Our third day in Camphill has been great. I really enjoyed socializing with the people who live on the site. But I thought it was even better starting work and showing I am an asset to Camphill. Today we worked on the farm and started pulling down an old fence so it can be replaced, then the cows are able to graze the field. I was really happy to get stuck in and work hard. I already know I am going to learn and gain so much from this training experience. The least I can do in return is make sure I work well. I will take things from this to better my own life. So I would be happy to contribute and help people in their lives.“

Owen Reece, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

“I had a good day today, I did work in the farm where we worked hard. In the morning we worked for 3 hours and we had a half an hour break. After, we went back and worked the same place in the farm. I had lunch in the farm house, we met with the farm people, they are so nice.”

Samiy Fesahy, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee.

13th May, Solborg, Norway

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Gaining Through Training

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.

Testimony from Steven Birdsall about his Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project in Link (Altamura, Italy):

I have lived the whole of my life in a modern town, for this reason I wondered if the cultural aspect of Italy would appeal to me. By the end of my first night I wondered why I ever doubted the place !!

 
I arrived at around 8pm. Within the hour I was out with a large group of volunteers and mentors in Altamura centre. The first sights were unusual but spectacular nevertheless. Sitting pretty next to the main square was perhaps the biggest and most beautiful cathedral I have ever come across. Judging by the 100’s of people taking photos I guess it must be slightly famous ! On the night there were 100’s of people celebrating on the square, with a band playing in the middle and fireworks going off close by. I have a strong feeling they all knew I had just arrived a short time ago 🙂

 
In my spare time ( aside from TRYING to get a tan ) I have explored 2 cities – Bari and Matera. Bari was a brilliant experience, however I have to say Matera is on another planet !! When I first arrived in Matera I was thinking “ Seems like a nice place, nothing special “ Was fair to say I couldn’t be more wrong; It was beautiful. Some of the sights are truly breathtaking ! We had a walk around the city and the guys took me to this huge balcony. And beyond that was without doubt the best view my eyes have ever seen ! The villages down below with winding roads going in and out of the little streets that were barely 10 – 15 metres long. And beyond the streets you looked onto the hills and the sunset which made it look 10 times better than it actually was ! It’s fair to say I’m happy I’m doing most of my work in Matera.

 
I’m staying in a fairly spacious flat in Altamura, barely a 5 minute walk from all the major shops and also the office. I live with 3 other guys and a girl who sleeps in a separate room. I enjoy all their company, we eat and do things together and it makes the experience so much more enjoyable when you can get along on a positive note with the people you live with. We spend a lot of time talking about our lives and what it is like in our own countries as well as what we are planning on doing with ourselves once our stray in Italy is over.

 
I have to say though aside from the beautiful cities, the cheap food and drink, and the interesting culture there is nothing I have enjoyed more than the work. My work so far has been based on children. My first activity was working in Matera up in the hills. The children were on a adventure with the teacher and I was there to help the teacher with her activities. It doesn’t seem like much but when you are talking to the children it feels like you’re one of them, sharing the same jokes and taking the mickey out of each other’s football teams ( None of them knew who Middlesbrough were though haha ) At the end they all wanted a photo with me, and now just looking at that photo puts a huge smile on my face, knowing that I put the smiles on their faces that day.

 
Shortly afterwards I arrived at my first school in Altamura where I was to help out in a lesson teaching 4-5 year old children English. It was therefore a little surprising when I got to the class to discover there was only 3 children in the lesson !! Consequences of the Italian recession I guess. We were going through basic topics, such as colours, months of the years and numbers. It was fascinating watching them learning these things, going from not being able to pronounce a certain word to memorising the word and saying it to perfection.

 
The 2 days after that consisted of 2 schools in Matera in which I was a guest in 4 different classes. On the first day I was in 3 different classes, all of which the children were around 13-14 years old. They seemed really interested at having an English guy in the class ( They too were learning English ) And I must have had around 382949394 different questions fired at me that morning. Half of them were based around football though, which isn’t too bad at all ! This was perhaps my favourite day so far. The children were so kind, full of manners and respect, but also funny and interesting at the same time. At the end of the classes they all wanted photos with me and were asking if I was to come back to the school again ! And even some of the girls and boys were asking me to put my Facebook name on the blackboard. The several friend requests at the end of the day were no surprise !

 
The second class I was in were a little younger ( 11-12 ) However I was amazed by how intelligent they were, and how far they had come in their English speaking skills. They were asking me questions in a way that any fluent English speaking person would ask them. They were the loudest out of the groups, but in a good way ! When I asked one of the children which football team he supported he said Juventus and asked me if I supported them. My reply was “ Noooooooooooooo “ Instantly around 2 / 3’s of the class jumped up out of their seats and started clapping their hands and cheering. I guess football is quite popular amongst these children ?

 
On the day of writing this testimony I have been here for exactly 2 weeks to the hour. It is fair to say this is an experience that is changing my life. In the future part of my plans is to hopefully work with children, and help those who are in need of it. Being able to interact with these children, help them learn and to make them smile is something I am very proud of. I only have 12 days left here but hopefully these next 12 days – along with the 14 I have been here for – turn into one of the best months of my life !

I would also like to thank the guys at Everything Is Possible ( especially Aurelie and Godfrey ) for giving me this opportunity. It is not something every person has the chance to do, and I’m glad I was lucky enough to receive this chance. This is a brilliant experience for me and holds many stories for me to tell when I get back to England. I will be celebrating my 21st birthday on the 24th May ( 6 days before I leave ) and I can safely say this is the best present I have received in my life !!

Steven Birdsall, Leonardo Da Vinci trainee.

Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project

part of Gaining Through Training

and supported by ECORYS UK

and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.