On the 12th of August, we were present at Camp HarmonY, in Sat Sugatag, north-western Romania. Our journey begins on a beautiful country road, in a peaceful setting, away from the hum of the busy cities.
This is where 40 young people and camp leaders from three different countries found – harmony.
The concept of the camp has been developed as an initiative of the Secretary-General of YMCA Romania, Alina Pop, together with the support of leaders from YMCA Moldova and YMCA Karpaty Ukraine, being brought into fruition through our generous contribution as a movement.
The concept is to bring together young people, build bridges and acknowledge our need for intercultural dialogue, providing support for young people from Ukraine and consolidating ties with young leaders from Moldova.
Having the chance to experience the program first-hand, we could call ourselves privileged. Seeing how young people from three different countries, having different cultures and backgrounds created such an elaborate learning process and context has been nothing but impressive.
We were inspired by the openness of all the participants, and the responsiveness, it felt like the staff team bonded so well with the young campers from the very first day.
The YMCA has created a safe space for the young ones, open dialogues, processes such as the "Labyrinth Theater", Olympian-themed obstacle courses, and team-building challenges have prompted the young ones to be more inquisitive, testing their critical thinking, self-awareness abilities, and capacity to be resilient to change.
Young campers were also encouraged to jump on the stage, perform, dance, take part in arts and craft workshops, and discover their talents.
The testimonies of leaders and young campers reflected how YMCA is indeed a big family, and how welcoming everyone has been.
The organizations of YMCA Romania, YMCA Moldova, and YMCA Karpaty have ensured the activities are delivered at the highest camp quality standards.
And despite the difficult times that everyone has experienced over the last months, they created this experience as one united movement, where peace and humanity – co-create "HarmonY"!
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