This EU funded Erasmus+ youth exchange took place from 07-14 of August 2024 in Coma-Ruga, Spain and was organized by Youth TGN. 

Wayoh was partner for the first time and send 5 participants to represent The Netherlands. Other participating coutries were: Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia and Spain.

During the project, we explored gender from different approaches, such as culture, sport and other daily life aspects.

The goals of the project were:
- to understand what gender equality is
- to achieve awareness of gender-based inequality and discrimination
- to promote gender equality

Facilitators Tam and Mimi, from Youth TGN, took care of us during this youth exchange, guide us during activities, help us to step out of our comfort zone and assist us in other aspects of this unique learning process.

During introduction day, we were informed about what a youthexchange is, the aim of the youth exchange and together we decided the house rules for this week. We made posters were everyones could contribute their fears, expectations and contributions. We ended the day with a fun mission impossible assignment in and arround the venue, where we had to create pictures, videos and a song.

During the week, each country facilitated a group activity to explore the topic ‘gender’. The dutch team facilitated two workshops.

The workshop ‘Gender Equality and Sports’ was done by groupleader and korfball trainer Marten, where he used the mixed gender team sport Korfball as a tool, to promote gender equality in sports. As a result of the workshop, the participants ended up giving presentations, performing theatre, creating posters and making promotional video material to promote equality in sports.

The workshop Dance and Gender, was facilitated by dutch participant and dance teacher Mandy, assisted by Ibrahim, where they broke the ice with a dance energizer and discussed gender-based stereotypes in dance. The participants ended up, creating and perfroming dances in groups and break gender-based stereotypes. 

The facilitators gave us an assignment during the week, to spend time in between activities, to work on a video to promote gender equality, devided over several related topics. For example, the video created about gender equality and sports, you can watch here!

Devided over three days, each country had to prepare a presentation, where you can introduce participants from other countries to your countries food and traditions, as traditional dances. Because of the extreme hot weather conditions, we decided to perform them outside, like you can see in the picture above.
During the dutch ‘cultural night’, the dutch participants prepared to old dutch traditional game of ‘koekhappen’ and brought several traditional dutch snacks and candy.

As part of exploring the region, we visited the city Tarragona, where we also got the workshop of building a human tower. This is a very spanish mixed-gender traditional activity, with their own clubs, competitions and tournaments.

WAYOH is looking back on a succesfull first partnership with Youth TGN and is looking forward to be partner again in the future!

This EU funded Erasmus+ project took place from 22-30 of May 2024, at the venue Dom Sokolik in Trzcinsko, Poland an was organized by Windmill Tree foundation. WAYOH is proud to be partner for the second time in our joined promotion of inclusion through the Erasmus+ program and send chairman of WAYOH Marten Jansen as a participant.

Stereotypes, misconceptions and lack of information about dissabilities are the basis of social stigmatization, numerous prejudices and also the reason why young people with dissabilities are mostly involved only in ’special’ projects. However, numerous studies show that classes in mixed groups are much more effective and have a positive effect on both youth with and without dissabilities. This project aims to dispel many sterotypes and demonstrates, with practice and examples, how working in joint groups can be succesfull.

During the project, we took al closer look at the definitions of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, at ethics of communication with people with dissabilities and to understand what Disability Etiquete is, what Universal Design means and what Reasonable Accommodation is about.

Participants shared good practices, succesfull stories, project experiences and lead workshops. They also had the oppertunity to expand their network, present their organisation or foundation, present project ideas and create new partnerships.

After getting to know eachother on the first day through games and activities, we went into the mountains on the 2nd day of the project. Among us were people with visual dissabilities and a wheelchair user, wich we carried up and down the mountain using the Joelette. This is a French invention and there is only one of them in Poland, owned by Windmill Tree foundation. The Joelette makes it possible to include wheelchair users to join mountain trips through rough terrain. You can watch the reel on Instagtram here!

On the 3rd day the participants of this trainingcourse volunteerd at the event Children Without Borders, organized for a school with intergration departments and schools in Wroclaw for students with Child Cerebal Palsy, where they could participate in workshops and activities, organized by us and other co-organizers of the event. You can watch the reel on Instagram here!

On the 4th day we visited Jelenia Gora and got several workshops from the Polish paralympic athlete Lucyna Kornobis. This took place in the first ever wing of a Polish sport facility named after a paralymic athlete, wich is Lucyna.
She gave workshops about Shot Put, Sitting Volleybal and Goalball and got a presentation about het trainingprocess and paralympic experiences.

The last days we presented our ngo’s and participants organized workshops. WAYOH presented a workshop about Equality and Equity, where a presentation about korfball, as a mixed gender teamsport, was used as a tool to introduce Equality and/or equity in existing sports, to create a more inclusive sport for people with dissabilities and/or introduce gender balance, to make it a mixed gender sport. With this workshop, WAYOH represented the sportive perspective on the topic Equality vs Equity.

We ended the project with a ‘cultural exchange karaoke’, where we chose songs in our national language for participants from another country to sing, to learn a new language through non formal education.

As a result of this project, we secured a spot as a partner in the next Art of Inclusion project of Windmill Tree Foundation, we closed a partnership with the Polish ngo ‘See Beyond’ for a project about football for the visually impared and we are working towards a partnership with El Pasero Asociacion from Spain. 

Special thanks go out to the Windmill Tree team and their cooks, volunteers and international interns, who took very good care of the participants!

Saturday the 22th of july 2023, Food And Music At The Beach or ‘FAM At The Beach’ was held at the lake of recreation area Zeumeren.

A group of volunteers from WAYOH have organized this family-friendly, multi-cultural, beach barbecue for the local community and anyone who feels invited to come and share food and culture, while enjoying music from different cultures, at the beach of a lake, with various play options for children.

Eventhough we had bad weather predictions, we decided to not cancel the barbeque and to try out this concept for the first time. It turned out in a nice day with almost no rain and we even managed to take a grouppicture with a part of the group!

The result was as expected. Food and cultures has been shared and even attracted some people passing by, who showed interest, stayed for a nice conversation and got offered food from the visitors of FAM At The Beach. Eventhough this happend in a smaller setting as expected, the results were motivating!

Is FAM At The Beach returning in 2024? Stay tuned an keep an eye on the website and our Instagrampage (link at the bottom of the page) to find out!

Erasmus+ trainingcourse Cultural And Social Entrepreneurship (C.A.S.E.), took place at Antalya, Turkey, from the 23th - 30th of May 2023. The TC gathered 32 participants, coming from Turkey, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Germany and North Macadonia.

Creativity and culture are the background for building and redefining European identity and integration. Taking advantage of this through the promotion of cultural heritage and youth entrepreneurship, this project contributed to a better understanding of the common past of European citizens to preserve European cultural heritage. With C.A.S.E. we aimed to provide a comprehensive and youth-centered response at the European level to intertwined issues related to youth unemployment and European common heritage.

WAYOH send 4 participants, with Marten as a groupleader, to insure a professional guidance during the project.

This project was carried out by Bogachan Alkan and Arda Pişirici from the foundation ‘Lidosk’. WAYOH became a partner of this organisation in this project, after Marten had established a professional relationship with their facilitator Halil Yavuz in previous projects and in a later stage with Arda and Bogachan.

We are happy to announce that more partnerships with Lidosk are expected to be realised in the near future.

Check out our Instagram page (link at the bottom of this page) for more pictures and videos!

Erasmus+ youth exchange “Embrace Inclusion” took place in Msida, Malta on 31st March– 8th of April, 2023. The mobility gathered 48 participants, coming from Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Turkiye, Netherlands & Bulgaria. The goal, the main aim was to tackle disablism & increase youngster’s ability to address the needs of the disadvantaged through the positive interactions of people with mixed-abilities.

World Active Youth Of Holland send 8 participants to Malta, including a youngster with a hearing impairment, with his mom as his guide. Marten Jansen was their groupleader that week, to insure a professional guidance during the project.

The main aim of the project is to tackle  disablism and increase younsters’ability to adress the needs of the disadvantaged through the positive interactions of people with mixed abilities.

The following objectives has been set:
- to reduce negative attitudes toward sensory impairments
- to dispel existing stigmas and myths about sensory impairments
- to foster positive social interactions among youth with mixed abilities
- to increase participants empathy
- to improve participants’ personal, social and learning skills, as well as civic competences
- to promote EU values as human rights and equality
- to promote Youth-pass as a tool

This project was carried out by Christian Briffa and Samanta Tumpitė from the non formal youthgroup ‘Creative Youth’. WAYOH became a partner of this organisation, after a positive experience as a participant by Marten in one of their previous projects ‘A Beautiful Mind’ in Kaunus, Lithuania in 2019.

We are happy to announce that more partnerships with Creative Youth are expected to be realized in the near future.

Erasmus+ Key Action 1 trainingcourse ‘Art Of Inclusion - Outdoor Sports And Activities’ took place from the 3rd - 10th of Februari 2023 at ‘The Giant Mountains’ at Trzcińsko, Poland.

Main activities of this project were:
- Exchange of experience
- Experiental learning
- winter activities
- partnership building activity

During this project, the participants shared their good practices and successful stories and projects. The participants took part in mixed-ability matches and got trained by a Polish Paralympic silver metal athlete.

She gave 2 presentations, was teaching us sitting volleyball and we learned from her how to play a type of handball for blind people. We also took advantage of beeing in the mountains in the winter, by hiking, joined by participants with a physical disability. 

Sasha, a barista in a wheelchair with his own coffeestores, gave a presentation about how he traveled Europe by bike, specially made for people in a wheelchair.

Later in the project, we were able to try out a modern electric version of Sasha’s bike, by the visit of a representive of https://www.sport-on.com who brought 2 different types of electric bikes, specially made to climb the mountains and bike on rough terrain and gave a presentation about the development and on how to use the bike.

We visited Nasza Fundacja, where we did several creative activities with their clients. We visited Karkonoski Sejmik Osob Niepelnosprawnych, a foundation mostly run by people with a dissability. We got a presentation about all the work they do and we went live on radio in their podcast, getting interviewed.

The participants had the possibility to work on new common projects, wich they eventually presented to eachother to potentially establish new projects and partnerships. Several connections and (potential) partnerships has been created by WAYOH because of this activity.

Together, we created this Manual For Youth Workers for Mixed-ability Outdoor Sports And Activities. If you are interested in receiving the manual, send us an email to contact@wayoh.eu!

The TC gathered 16 participants, from 11 different countries, sending 1 participant per sending organisation.

This project was carried out by Dredka, Kuba and Kasia from the foundation ‘Windmill Tree’ https://windmilltree.org/ at the venue Dom Sokolik https://www.domsokolik.com
Marten Jansen represented WAYOH as a partner in this 2nd ‘Art Of Inclusion’ project, after a positive experience as a participant in their first ‘Art Of Inclusion’ project in 2021.

We are happy to announce that more partnerships with Windmill Tree are expected to be realised in the near future. WAYOH is expected to be partner as well in Art Of Inclusion 3, expected to be organized in spring 2024.

Check out our Instagram page (link at the bottom of this page) for more pictures and videos about this project!