Healthy Minds, Happy Lives!

As this year was slowly coming to an end, participants from six countries: Romania, Hungary, Italy, Georgia, Cyprus and Czech Republic crossed their national borders to gather in the city of Paphos, Cyprus to explore topic of a mental health by participating in Erasmus+ youth exchange “Healthy minds, happy minds”

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is crucial for overall well-being, impacting how we think, feel, and act. Promoting mental health awareness through a training course in an exchange program can foster empathy, reduce stigma, and equip participants with essential skills to support themselves and others, creating a more compassionate, resilient global community.

Schedule:

On the first day, we began by getting to know each other and participated in activities that helped us understand how to perceive one another. This fostered closer connections and allowed us to share cultural experiences from our countries. We also drew portraits of each other and displayed them on the wall to deepen our understanding.

On the second day, we took part in a tower-building activity, which encouraged teamwork and collaboration. Later, a treasure hunt helped us step out of our comfort zones and engage with locals. We formed groups based on shared countries and discussed both the similarities and differences between them. In the evening, Hungarians hosted a cultural night, showcasing their traditions.

On the third day, we created large posters presenting mental health issues and engaged in deep discussions, exchanging valuable insights. This activity encouraged self-reflection and awareness of our mental states. We then went to the beach, where one participant led us in Pilates to promote physical activity. To wrap up the day, we drew representations of our heads as objects, reflecting on the past period of our lives and our sense of belonging. The evening ended with a cultural night hosted by Cyprus.

On the fourth day, we delved deeper into the topic with goal matrix exercises, where we reflected on our personal goals and assessed our readiness to achieve them. We identified which goals were most important for our development. We also shared our emotions about the activities we had participated in each day. In the evening, we enjoyed a Romanian cultural evening.

On the fifth day, we explored the concept of empathy, learning that mistakes are often made when we don’t understand others’ backgrounds or histories. This helped us realize the importance of not judging others. Participants shared personal experiences and skills. Later, we enjoyed an Italian cultural evening.

The following day, we took a tour of Cyprus, visiting places like Aphrodite’s Rocks and exploring the city of Limassol. We had plenty of time to walk and enjoy the sights together. In the evening, we celebrated a Georgian cultural night.

The next day began with activities that focused on the value of Erasmus programs. We discussed why mental health is important, the benefits of thinking positively, and how we can express ourselves more openly.

How do the participant countries feel about the project?

Georgia:

„We as participants were able to express our feelings through various interesting activities and sessions, which were making it easy for us to think about things that maybe we are afraid to say out loud. We had the opportunity to reflect on our desires and goals, as well as how mentally prepared we are to take significant steps in our lives. The sense of togetherness across countries was something truly special.”

Romania:

„We found out more about the importance of mental health during this project and developed each other. The sessions were very well prepared thanks to our facilitator, who made a safe place for us and for that we will be forever grateful. It was a truly eye-opening project for us by showing us the true colors of life. We could develop our communication skills, learned tol isten to people and to be more emphatic.”

Hungary:

„It was really hard to choose a favourite session, since everything was so beneficial and great for us. One of the most interesting activity was the goal matrix and the session when we drew a vehicle representing our current feelings. During the sessions we could really deepen our thoughts, we had exciting discussions, shared advices and gained interesting insights. We met amazing people from six different countries and had really fun cultural nights, where we made life-long memories.”

Czech Republic:

„Czech participants felt enriched from the experience, by their positive attidutes and open mindness, they feel like the goal they have set at the start was reached and fullfilled their expectations. Czech group was mixed with people who are passionate about projects and participated before and are about to continue their journey in non formal education, but we also had a new comers that was introduced to this concept of learning and have intention to participate in another projects in the future. they gained new tools and knowledge at mental health topic that will be useful for them in their lifes after the project ends.”

Italy:

„Mental health is such an significant topic in our daily lives. This project has been a great way to help us think more deeply about the meaning of mental health and the challenges we face everyday. It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you – you’ve been a wonderful source of ideas and inspiration to share thoughts and perspectives!”

After the cultural presentations, our nights were enriched with notes from the gossip box, where we read messages that sparked interesting conversations. We also played games that helped us learn more about each other, fostering deeper connections and creating meaningful interactions among all participants.

Romanian: Multumim pentru participare

Italian: Grazie per aver partecipato

Georgian: Madloba monatsileobistvis

Hungarian: Köszonjük a részvételt

Czech: Dêkujeme za úćast