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drawing by Matt Groening (a Captain Beefheart fan)
Yes! It is Bart! But which one??
Many months ago a group of four people sat in a sauna. Arturas and Dirk were trainers and Evija and Jaqueline were participants in the Long-Term Training Course of the European Youth Centre. They were talking about different ideas of training and, by magic, the idea formed for them to organise a training course in Lithuania. A course where youth workers could get a taste of experiential learning and then think about how to use it with the young people they work with.
To get from an idea in a sauna to a real project requires a lot of hard work: support from Outward Bound Belgium and the Lithuanian State Council of Youth Affairs had to be found; an application to Action D of the EU's "Youth for Europe" programme had to be made; participants had to be recruited; the Bebrusai camp had to be booked; Bart and Kristina were added to the team; a preparation meeting in Lithuania was arranged in July; someone called Mark was asked to be the "Third Eye" or reporter; and ropes, tarpaulins, helmets, spades, computers, pens, paper - all had to be transported to the camp.
they came like this: 
and like this: 
drawing by Matt Groening
Let us look at all these people in their homes a few days before their
departure for Bebrusai. There they are in Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium,
Greece and France. What questions are going through their heads?
Lets listen:
"How can I really spare those ten days? I've so much to do here!"
"Will I need more than two pairs of socks? I can wear one pair
and wait until they stick to the wall before I have to change"
"Will people be able to understand my English?"
"Have I enough equipment (or the right shoes) for the hike?"
"Will the participants like our programme?"
"What will I really be able to use from this course?"
"How long will it take me to write the report?"
The Story continues here...(and it is finished)
A joke from Michaela!
An English, a Lithuanian, a Latvian, a Belgian and a Greek meet in the sauna.
The English guy asks: how do you get yourself dry with a wet towel???
The Lithuanian says: you set your roof on fire and you wait for it to dry...
The Latvian says: you don't analyse it, you just do it...
The Belgian says: well, I don't have any answer but we could talk about it over a beer...
And the Greek says: you should have been more organised, why didn't you bring 2 towels???
what is that? (parental advisory)
The essentials!
Here we go now: let's see what the team members wrote:
Who are the team? What did they feel? And even Jaqueline has now written her part only 9 years later :o)))
What did the basic programme look like?:
Day-by-day in Bebrusai
You want to check out some of the problem-solving exercises used at the beginning of the course?
Then go to:
knots, minefields, spiders'webs
You need to read the original version of the sauna story? Then:
open a beer!
You want to find out what happened to the workshop that never was? Then you can see:
the missing link between conflicts and pillows
You are sure that it is possible not to communicate? Then:
try to keep your mouth shut!
A great combination of theory and practice:
* group dynamics + the experiential learning process
You want to see the amazing exercises created by the participants? Well take a deep breath and click away:
* hedgehogs crying for rabbits
* hulala!
* going over the little house
* the bridge in the middle of an earthquake (scarey, huh?)
* blindfolded boats
* climbing on the rope circle
* the spoons, the cups and the roped legs
* SAVE THE WORLD
Bebrusai
photo gallery!
Many thanks to Annick, Hilde, Evija and Sarunas - you can see the real people and places
So far, so good. But, perhaps, you're still wondering:
* WHY experiential learning?
And you can find out what people wrote in the
* final evaluation!
Palmira has given us a method to add to the site. It's called
* the Rescue Team
If you copy anything from this web site, please quote the source!says Mark..
and if you want to go somewhere else,
click here for some suggestions: HERE!
Last update: 11 September 02016
alea non jacta est!
Now there is something really exciting to go to:
via Experientia our new adventure which started back in 02010 and just keeps on getting more exciting!
intercultural teamwork is a wonderful thing, isn't it?!
