Day four - Connecting the Visions

Today we went deeper into the issues of mental health and what services can be provided by NGOs to people with mental problems. Our day started with a visit at Estuar – the most important non-governmental structure that addresses the needs of people with mental health issues in Romania. We took a brief tour of the centre, found out about the activities that take place in Estuar, who are the beneficiaries, what are the good aspects and what are the short-comings… and also spoke to Silviu – the first beneficiary that Estuar had in Cluj-Napoca. It’s basically impossible not to like Silviu and not to laugh and cheer around him – he’s probably the best example we’ve met lately of how much potential and how many abilities and open-mindedness a person with mental issues can have!

The day continued with a chance to learn how the organizations where we each came from work with people with mental health disability. Lecsa and Bogdan organized a talk show and we were all invited to share our vision and our good practices with the other participants in the public. I think it was extremely useful for each of us to find out new ways of addressing mental health issues, different aspects of the same problems, how different organisations from different cultures deal with these needs, but also what already works in some countries or NGOs and could be implemented in others as well. 

In the night, most people chose to have some more old-fashion fun, and play games, dance and drink great Romanian whine, until late into the night. Of course there were some casualties: some of us were too tired from the excitement of the last three days to join the party anymore – so they went to sleep… and some of us that really partied with passion (“Youth in Passion” J - inside joke) were a little bit on the zombie side the next morning J All in all, it was another fun-filled and also revealing day for all.

(Articol scris de Manuela Nedelcu)

Day three - Connecting the Visions

Sooo, to sum it up in just a few words, today was a really active and enjoyable day – special thanks to Valerian – a friend of Minte Forte who’s here in Romania for a few months as a volunteer worker for Estuar (he’s originally from France – and has the special charm to prove it J).

Valerian introduced us to the benefits of theatre and physical exercise in creating group connections, expressing ourselves and discovering new ideas and possibilities. We took turns in leading the exercises for the whole group – something like a blend of thai-chi and dance… and just improvising. We also created infernal machines together (making different sounds and movements as a whole, in order to ‘create’ a metaphor). One very inventive and inspirational exercise was to enact (in groups) a special personal experience with mental health issues.

During the second part of the day we went hunting for treasures in the capital of Romania: Cluj-Napoca! (we all agree that a capital can be chosen with our heart, not just based on administrative credentials). The Romanian member in every team was merely a consultant – he could only answer 3 questions and couldn’t translate or lead the way. Needless to say all of our participants now know how many tits the statue of Lupa Capitolina on Eroilor street has (J), one Romanian saying and one phrase in Hungarian, how you can run through the fountain in Piata Unirii without getting your feet wet… and many more fun and interesting details about Cluj. We all had fun, it felt like a great adventure, and at the end we all got prizes!

Most of us decided to end the day at the Beer Factory, accompanied by good beer and great people J.

(Articol scris de Manuela Nedelcu)

Day two - Connecting the Visions

Today we melted the ice a little bit more: we created passports and tried to guess features and preferences about each-other; we also played some group games outside, there was even a little competition and then we discussed about strategies, rules, cheating, but especially contributing to the group effort and how we can apply this to all the other work we will be doing together later on. We also drew and discussed our ‘identity molecules’; we were guests of a couple from the Albatros culture (my favourite exercise for the day) … then ended a great day with an intercultural evening. I just want to say I haven’t had so much fun in a long time! The intercultural evening felt more like a 20-year high-school reunion: we all felt like we were among old friends, eager to share our experiences and introduce everybody to all the wonderful things our countries have to offer. There was a lot of great food and special beverages, but there were also a few traditional costumes, a whole lot of traditional warm welcoming and sincere smiles and laughter, some exciting traditional dancing… and I think the absolute most intense moment was when Raffaele sang to us two wonderful Italian songs (I think they were in a Neapolitan dialect) – everybody was singing along and cheering J.  The party carried on late into the night – some people danced, had fun and talked until later than 4 in the morning J

This has already become an amazing experience… can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring! 

(Articol scris de Manuela Nedelcu)

Day One - Connceting the Visions

It has begun…

Famous words – fit for the start of a fabulous project J

If you haven’t heard about it yet, Minte Forte is host to a group of wonderful people from 4 European countries this week. Our mission for this project: to build durable partnerships and envision new project ideas in the field of mental health, all at an international level!

‘Connecting the Visions’ is not only the name of the project, but also our goal for this special week. It’s Minte Forte’s first international project, but we hope there will soon be others to come.

Soooo… as this is a blog spot… maybe you’re wondering how the first day of ‘Connecting the Visions’ went…

Well, the participants arrived yesterday at Casa Boca in Cluj-Napoca, some of them quite exhausted from the trip. This is our recipe for successful partnerships: 6 Polish people, 5 Italians, 4 Slovenians, 2 people from Malta and 9 Romanians. Put them all together, and you get a cheerful bunch, eager to connect visions and create new projects. We started off yesterday by playing a few name games and ice-breakers, in order to accommodate ourselves to each other and try to remember everyone’s name. Needless to say it all turned into a lot of fun and laughter. There’s no greater energiser than being around these people! They are as diverse as they are open to get to know each other, learn from one another and build new projects together!

(Articol scris de Manuela Nedelcu)