A weekend full of experiences, laughter, heroism and overcoming challenges

As part of the Opportunity to Grow project, we invited teenagers to an adventurous Teen Accelerator weekend. This was the third time we have run the programme, and it was once again confirmed that it is a very good and useful one. It was attended by pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 from Spišská Belá and two pupils from Spišská Nová Ves. Led by three trainers and five volunteers, they could experience that they too can be everyday heroes. Thanks to the willingness, enthusiasm and skill of the trainers and the FACE CLUB volunteers, the weekend began for them with an invitation to an extraordinary adventure. After accepting the challenge they found themselves in a new world where they met friends and enemies, overcame traps and dangers to win the treasure and return to their own world, becoming heroes of everyday life.

A new place

For the first time we did not run the weekend in Tatranská Lomnica.  We discovered a place new to all of us, Penzión Medvedica 🐻, where we were accommodated and spent our whole programme. It is located beyond Tatranská Štrba in a beautiful cottage area, an ideal place for the birth of new heroes 🦸🏻‍♂ 🦸🏻‍♀. If you would like a good tip for accommodation where even the impossible becomes possible, go to “Medvedica”; the guesthouse staff and their willingness are not often seen. The facilities we had at our disposal were also very generous for the training, group sessions and activities.  Even though the weekend was properly rainy ☔, the sun smiled at us when we needed it 🌞.

Young people's engagement

But let's leave the weather and the animals ⛅ 🐻 and get back to why we actually came. Our goal was to motivate young people to start noticing their surroundings and look for a way they could be helpful in their community. We linked this goal with the concept of the hero's journey by Joseph Campbell. We found that young people do notice their surroundings and are aware of ways they could help. Finding a problem they would want to solve was not hard at all. The projects we began creating with them are well on their way to being carried out. We believe the young people will keep their motivation, persevere on the hero's journey 💪 and, with this small contribution, try to help their community.

From idea to implementation

At the weekend, 5 great ideas came up for where and how to improve their surroundings. The first implementation plans are already done and the teams now formed have the implementation ahead of them. We believe it won't be long before we can enjoy the completed projects together. They will be evaluated in November.

We thank the brave ones for joining our programme and for wanting to bring good to their community in this way too!

This event was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport in the area of youth work, administered by IUVENTA – Slovak Youth Institute.