Mental health youth x change project has been living a bit quiet here on the blog side because as you might guess the corona entered the game and reworked the plans. As you remember from last-posting, the topic was the Advanced Planning Visit (APV) job seemed to be under control and the group was excited about the project. Well, even though Cyprus was a long-time member of countries that were allowed to come to Finland without quarantine, it was fatal hit to the project that direct flights from Cyprus to Finland were not possible. Implementation of Plan b began.
Virtual exchange
So the exchange became virtual and we have arranged all the meetings through Zoom, as well as established our own Xchange international -Discord channel. While virtual exchange was hardly anyone’s primary wish, we have managed to get to know each other via video connection. The team spirit is good and the conversations around the mental health theme have been rewarding, and interesting. The tasks have been, for example: Myth or Truth (claims about mental health that everyone answers whether the claim is true or false), world cafe (5 mental health questions, each participant gives their own opinion) and various introduction and energizer tasks (small tasks/games, idea is to give energy boost to participants). In addition to the tasks, erasmus + and the opportunities it brings have been discussed.
At first, the virtual exchange was a bit confusing and scheduling challenging, but the meetings have still been arranged with varying number of participants. Such exchanges have not previously been arranged, so we’re on the verge of something new what is going on here, and you’re constantly able to use creativity to get things done remotely. There are still a couple of meetings left, and even though we are in the final stages, the Discord channel will still live on even after the actual exchange ends.
-Kati
