04 Cologne/Cluj-Napoca/Gaziantep

Walking through Transsylvania

A few days ago our second ewoca³ camp started in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Adventure, wanderlust, sustainability, youths, cooperation, multiculturalism, and diversity are the main topics of our camp.

The first day we discovered Cluj, and looked down on the city from the highest point. It was a beautiful view! After a meeting of the whole group at the Gutenberg headquarters, we immediately departed for Hosman.

The first days of work quickly went by. We discovered many new locations, got to know each other better, and spent much effort in organising the local “Holzstock”-Festival.

But there was also enough leisure time. We hiked, explored the village, and enjoyed nature.

In order to have enough strength for today’s festival, we relax in our co-created Chill-Out Zone.

We are looking forward to the next days at the festivals and are excited to see the bands we are supporting.

The end of the first chapter!

Now our camp has concluded… We are all looking forward to our beds, but also to our next meeting in France in the Summer of 2016!!

Auf Wiedersehen, güle güle & au revoir dear Friends =)

Enjoying learning and living together

Fourteen days we have stayed at the youth centre Krebelshof together. In our free time and with games, we got to know one another better and had a lot of fun:

_IGP3668 — The youth leaders relax with a game of Tavla, and prepare for the next activities.

During their free time, participants play table football and dance in front of the Wii :)

During free time, you can also sunbathe and relax…

…or learn foreign languages to be able to communicate better!

Language animation: in groups the participants consider the right english words. *Concentration required!*

The group with the best result is relieved of their kitchen duty!

Work at the refugee centre in Cologne-Worringen

A part of our workcamp is dedicated to the refugees at the centre in Cologne-Worringen. At the end of the first week the group which has chosen this topic split into two: The first group played with the children, painted, and organised a scavenger hunt, while the second group renovated a play room for the small children at the centre.

Group 1: Fun & games with the refugee kids

Mustafa, Faruk, Nina & Pauline paint a world map for the children’s room

“Cup game” during the scavenger hunt at Krebelshof. Enthusiastic faces =)

Sack race during the scavenger hunt at Krebelshof

The well-earned reward: The treasure was both colorful and sweet!

Group 2: Renovating the room for the children

Sarah & Camille build tables and cut fabric for decoration

Preparation of paint in front of curious children

Half of the room is being painted turquoise by motivated participants. It seems the children approve!

Drawing on the floor at the refugee centre: Among the inhabitants there are real artists!

Under the view of the centre’s inhabitants, the room is transformed into a colorful playroom.

German team member Atfa supports the French participants in putting up colorful fabric, in order to make the room more inviting.

Comments by the participants

“It was fantastic, we already had a lot of fun. Everyone was received very well, and every time you make new friends. I am already looking for ward to next year!”

Norman, Germany

“I liked the fireworks on saturday best!! A wonderful evening, wich all of us spend together at the city centre…

Das Feuerwerk Koelner Lichter 2015

Group picture at the evening of “Kölner Lichter”. Everyone is excited :)

…And I also liked the workshops at the “Beats vom Hof”-Festival and the disco in the [former] cow shed. There I got to know new people.”

Kevin, Germany

Festival “Beats vom Hof”

Sound & Recording, Song “Do the culture beat”

Dovydas at the workshop Style & Fashion

Break dance

Paul at the Graffiti workshop

Band & Beatboxing

The percussion group

How are you feeling on the camp?

* Rüstem, Turkey: “First days were a bit boring but later we had the chance to know each other with the games. Right now we have a very funny und joyful camp!”

* Fatmagül, Turkey: “The camp is a new experience for me : it is very nice to know different people and a new country.”

*Yasemin, Turkey: “First days were a little boring for me but right it goes very well and I have fun here! We had the chance to make friends with new people.”

*Paul, France: “I find there are too many rules here on the youth center but I liked the tasks we had last week [inside & outside work]. I have to say it’s difficult to wake up at seven o’clock: I wanna sleep more!! On the other hand, I love the “currywurst” and the frikandel :)”

*Mustafa, Turkey: “First I didn’t know the people around me. Playing games and having fun we started to know each other. We built tents and make the cleaning together. We made a beautiful city tour, it was fantastic :) Let’s continue like that!”

*Fatma, Turkey: “Coming to this camp was a great chance for me. It was boring at the beginning but then through playing games, working, communicating and eating together and thanks to the activities we made, we had the opportunity to know each other better. Also we have the chance to improve our English. Thank you :)”

*Ömer Faruk, Turkey: “Firstly it was boring for me because I didn’t know anybody on the camp. I got to know the other participants and the teamers through games and warm-ups. We also built tents, painted some rooms and we do the housework together. Little by little I realised that people started to know each other and day by day we’re communicating more and I improve my English!”

Let the work begin!

From Tuesday, the 7th till Friday, the 10th we split in several groups and worked at different projects : doing manual work to set up our camp and renovate the former farm where we are staying for two weeks and meeting families, especially children from the recent refugee camp which is close to us.

We had a lot of fun during these activities and could also change the group to experience other tasks. We also had the opportunity and the pleasure to build our own LEGO-robots thanks to Prof. Martin!

Here a few pictures:

_IGP3646 — Pauline with the refugee kids from Cologne-Worringen

_IGP3645 — Kevin & CJ building the fire place on the Krebelshof-Field

_IGP3647 — Lena helped us by setting up our Chill-Out area, danke nochmal :)

_IGP3669 — Turkish and French participants building our tents

_IGP3700 — Painting on shirts with the refugee kids

_IGP3703 — Pauline & Nina preparing an atlas of the cultures for the refugee kids room

_IGP3707 — Fatma, Hustem, Mustafa & Faruk building their robots during the LEGO-Workshop with Martin

_IGP3726 — LEGO robots finale battle in the Kuhstall

Welcome at Krebelshof, Cologne, Germany!

Hello everybody !

First of all: please excuse us, we wanted to begin our blog sooner… Unfortunately, it was not possible (we worked too much ;-)
Let’s resume the past week:

We all arrived by train last Sunday in Cologne and spent our first night in a beautiful place – actually a former farm – named “Krebelshof”. On Monday we went to the city center and visit the impressive Kölner Dom – the cathedral. Most of us climbed up to the top of the building, from where we had a stunning view of the whole city. After that we ate our first -more or less- German lunch in the nearby area and went for a walk through the city and the Rheinpark. After this sunny day we enjoyed a delicious barbecue in our courtyard and slept in tents on the field behind it.