05/05/2024
Šumava expedition
From April 25 to 29, 2024, the 2nd activity within the Erasmus+ project for youth - "Empowering growth" took place in cooperation with the NGO Logos, namely an expedition to Šumava in the Czech Republic.
In these days, our friends from Ukraine, Belarus, India, Ethiopia, who now live in Poland (8 participants from Poland, 8 participants from the Czech Republic), experienced many adventures on a journey of discovery, on a bicycle trip and on foot in the beautiful nature of Šumava. The activities associated with our 2nd outdoor meeting were very informative. Not only were we able to get to know bits and pieces of the history of the Czech state, but we also had an in-depth discussion about our lives in Europe and beyond. It was very interesting to observe and experience the cultural differences between us, when across Europe and beyond the borders of Europe there was a strong line of relationship between the participants of this meeting. Astonishment and admiration prevailed many times, many times we experienced freedom in our activities, but also a great sense of belonging when we were in the harsh conditions of the Šumava nature, when we overcame an elevation of 380 m in the course of 4 km, not only in beautiful sunny weather, but also in snow. and not only on foot, but also by bike.
In these often difficult conditions, we became one team, one family regardless of our cultural differences. We helped each other, supported each other, talked and laughed.
More than once our conversation turned to ecology. Even during our stay in Šumava, we always behaved very ecologically and treated nature with great respect.
In the Šumava, we visited the source of the Vltava – the longest river in the Czech Republic, we climbed one of the highest peaks of the Šumava – Boubín, where there is a beautiful lookout tower, we saw in Lenora how bread and buns are baked in a 200-year-old stone oven just like the bakers more than 200 years ago. We passed through a restored peatland near the Soumarské bridge near the Vltava.
Despite the sometimes cold weather, the evening program always took place outside in connection with nature. It was very informative and beneficial for all of us to communicate in a relaxed atmosphere about our lives and the lives of our families in the countries of the European Union.
We are already very much looking forward to the next meeting, which will take place in May 2024 in Poznań, Poland.
The event was held as part of the "Empowering growth" project.
The project is implemented in cooperation with: Narodowa Agencja Programu Erasmus+ and Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji.