Kristina Nesheva, Bulgaria
Socializing. Get to know each other. Secret friend. Vocal empowerment. What does it mean to be disadvantaged? Gender problems…
You have no idea what I am talking about? Then you have to keep reading!
If you still haven’t had the chance to discover – the world is enormous and it presents to you plenty of possibilities. It’s not even supposed to be only Erasmus+, if you are young and eager to learn more, you can find opportunities everywhere. Doesn’t matter if you are a student, already graduated or never been to university – get yourself some information and just go. Travel!
Now, personally speaking. I found my adventure on Facebook. But it wasn’t an Erasmus+ Training course or Youth Exchange, as I was expected. I found a convention called SING FOR YOUR SOUL, hosted by YEU (Youth for Exchange and Understanding) in TWO venue places – Republic pf Srpska (Bosna and Herzegovina) and Crnomelj (Slovenia). It was a large, lasting 10 days, event which brought a network of non-profit organizations and people from more than 19 countries together.
What was the main point? To use our voice. To make music a powerful instrument we can use for social change. Sounds impossible task for only 10 days? Well, I can definitely say it was a hell of a start!
With the help of our vocal coaches, even the people who had no musical knowledge at all succeeded in writing lyrics, compose a bit and perform a lot. The highlight of the convention was definitely the local performances that all 35 participants took part in. The first two were held in the capital of Republic of Srpska - Banja Luka, and the third one we did on an actual musical festival called cRnFest in Crnomelj. And I can tell you – while performing, I got the chills.
Almost 40 people singing one song – a world song, in a place with not so many inhabitants – this was a powerful approach. The element of surprise caught people while going to meet a friend or coming back home from work. The structure of a flash mob found them unprepared. And they stopped. They listened. They even started filming with their phones. They were dancing along with the almost 40 strangers on the street. So they had fun! And we, all together, united in one. Maybe just for those 5 minutes of performance. Or maybe for a lot longer...
Vessimira Alexandrova, Bulgaria
My name is Vesimira and I live and study in Sofia. From 24th August to 3rd September I attended the 38th Convention of YEU (Youth for Exchange and Understanding) called “Sing for your soul”. The Convention took part in 2 different countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina (Banja Luka) and Slovenia (Črnomelj) and united people from 20 different countries. The aim of the project was to empower young people through non-formal education methodologies related to music.
During the 10 days of the project, we had many different activities – discussions about disadvantaged people, gender problems and socializing at all. Each day we also had sessions of Vocal Empowerment. Our vocal coaches showed us how to use not only our voices but also our bodies as a musical instrument.
The highlight of the Convention was the three local performances we had – two in Banja Luka and one in ČrnFest in Črnomelj. During the process of the preparation, we were divided into 3 groups and we had the task to create 3 short performances using our vocal abilities and our bodies. In the end, we decided to unite the three different performances into one. I think that this activity made us listen to each other and support each other and we became a really strong team. During the third performance, we all sang the song of Michal Jackson “We are the world”. For me, this was the most powerful moment of the whole Convention. Even though we were people from 20 different countries it felt like we are all united in one.
I am grateful that I had the chance to participate in this project. I learned so many new things about music and how to use my inner voice in the aim of a social change.
