This summer youth exchange: overcoming barriers.
The youth exchange in the Summer of 2006 was organised in England by Look National in partnership with VIEWS: Thank you Vicky, Verity and all the others!!!.
The exchange took place in England from 22 July to 12 August, with 40 young Europeans participants. Some of them were sighted but most of them were visually impaired. They were hosted at RNIB New College Worcester (close to Birmingham), a location that is tailor made for young people with a visual impairment : a rehab kitchen for daily living activities, audio described TV, rooms with wireless connection for young people bringing laptops and also relaxation areas with pianos, a pool table and ... a swimming pool.
Here follows a participant's feed-back:
During 3 weeks, the organizers gave us the opportunity to better know one another.
The first step was a one-day visit of Birmingham that was followed by a week-end in Wales where we did rafting, kayak, and had an introduction in self-defense techniques and team games
Then we had a one-day visit of the home-town of W. Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon.
The peak of our "wandering" was the 2 day visit to London. We visited there the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind), where we attended to a "Technology Exhibition" and had the chance of discussing about the realities of young VI in each European country present there (UK, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, Romania). Still in London, we visited the Tower Bridge and the "Tate Modern" Art Gallery (an adapted exhibition). The last stop before leaving London was at the Hampstead Theatre, to watch the comedy "Blonde Bombshells" with audio-description. The trip to London was followed by a short visit of Worcester, during an activity called "City Quiz".
Indeed, it is always difficult for me to remember good times, because it makes me nostalgic. This is how I feel after this year's Youth Exchange. Although a bit isolated, the location chosen in a town called Worcester became our 3 week island of joy. All this time, we had the opportunity of meeting other young people from 8 European countries, "tasting" a little bit of each of the cultures presented there, visiting a lot of interesting places, having tons of fun, learning about ourselves and the fact that we can understand one another, no matter the differences.
"Overcoming barriers" ? Yes, I think that the objective of this year's Youth Exchange was achieved !
