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Helping Hand
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Sep 30, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

In Europe, over 2,500 teenagers participate annually in youth exchanges organised by YFU. Their experience abroad, integrating into a new family and school, making new friends and learning a new language, is a profound one, where they are challenged to experience cultural diversity. Dedicated volunteers and youth workers shape this first-hand intercultural experience and make it possible. They need training in order to be able to support exchange students and host families throughout the joys and difficulties of a year-long intercultural journey. Supporting YFU programmes as a volunteer, apart from being an active participation in the society and local communities, offers also an opportunity to acquire competencies and working experience highly valued at the job market. The training course ?Helping hand? got together 21 volunteers from 13 countries who are involved in YFU organizations as support persons. The aim of this training course was to increase conflict management, problem solving and communication as well as coaching skills of participants, so that they are able to support their home organisations in managing difficult interpersonal, intercultural situations which occur throughout the exchange year. The training course took place from the 21st till the 26th of April 2015 in Pozna?, Poland. The programme for this training course included practical workshops which increase listening and communication skills of participants, with particular emphasis on the intercultural aspect of communication and non-violent communication. The project aimed to boost participants' confidence in dealing with conflicts. Non-formal education methodology and participatory approach were applied to reach the training objectives. Among training methods, case studies and forum theatre were planned in order to analyse troublesome scenarios and practice dealing with them through experiential learning. The training "Helping hand" helped participants develop skills which are among most desired by employers, and if well-developed, can significantly increase young people's future employment prospects, at the same time serving their personal growth. As a result of this activity, the ?GPS - Guidelines for Personal Support? was created. Participants reported a huge increase of their confidence in dealing with difficult intercultural and interpersonal situations. The training proved to be successful in increasing listening and communication skills as well and enhanced conflict management skills, especially in intercultural setting. The participants were particularly fond of practicing difficult interpersonal situations with the method inspired by Forum Theatre and found Non-Violent Communication an interesting new tool for handling conflicts. The training course gave space to foster further European co-operation of YFU member organisations, draw from the richness of diverse intercultural backgrounds of participants and facilitate the exchange of best practices.

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