From July 3-10, the Tartu Youth Work Center organized a youth exchange “Mental Health through Sport” (translated as “Mental Health through Sport”), which, in addition to five Estonian young people, also involved young people from Italy, Latvia, Portugal, and Belgium, and in total there were almost 60 of us!The activity days were divided by country. For example, the Estonians were responsible for the first day, dedicating it primarily to getting to know each other. Additionally, the young people introduced others to the background of anxiety, shared their experiences and tips on how to cope with it. Or, for instance, on Italy's day, participants got to try their hand at rugby, and on Portugal's day, they played tug-of-war. Breakfast duty teams were also divided by country, which made morning awakenings even more exciting, as you never knew if you would eat breakfast in peace and quiet or to the accompaniment of wonderful dance and song.
However, a lot happened in just a few days, and we sadly had to experience that among our own compatriots, there are those who are bothered by the presence of foreigners. For us, this also meant that in addition to sports and mental health concerns, discrimination and how to protect oneself and friends from it became a strong focus. “We started talking more about discrimination and racism, and in the process, we learned to notice racism around us. It also taught us how to remain calm in unexpected situations and how to find solutions so that everyone feels safe,” shared the Estonian youth. Despite many tears and just as many laughs, the week was exciting, educational, and certainly memorable. To summarize this week, the young people have taken the thoughts from our heads and the words from our mouths:
"Participating in the youth exchange gave us all a special experience. Within that one short week, we all grew very close, feeling like one big family that always supports you and with whom you can share your emotions and feelings. We felt very safe in that environment. During the week, we learned more about ourselves and discovered character traits that had previously been hidden or that we wouldn't have expected to possess. Throughout that week, we were able to be ourselves, analyze ourselves, and be alone to think our own thoughts if we wished."
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The youth exchange was supported by the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps Agency through the Erasmus+ program.
