We will share your message, Turkey!

Let’s make a photo together? This question we got every minute, during our stay in Turkey. Amazing emotions came to us then more than 20 children were running to you, because you’re the first foreigner, they’ve ever seen in their life and they want just touch you and take a picture together.

Culture shock? Yes it was, all the time we felt it more than ever. People from towns and different countries came to the village – met a lot of Turkish people whose religion, traditions, mentality and finally language differs. But we were surprised everyday – we used to try different homemade Turkish food, tried to make it ourselves. We touched their life! We participated! We saw how Turkish people are respecting their old traditions – they are using handicrafts things in their daily life, they are still so religious in villages. Children all summer are going to school and all day studying just Quran. And they love it! Love this life! We realized that love to the country can be infinite and it stimulates to stay in the country and to work for it. Turkish flags are everywhere – from the shops to balconies of private flats. And pray from far away at 4 a.m. Imagine: mountains around, sunrise and pray. Believe me, you will feel this spirit just being there.

A lot of people think that youth projects are the attractive kind of spending time with foreigners together abroad, but they are starting to understand the real meaning and effect just after participation. What was the aim of the project “Where is a village far away” in Kayseri, Turkey? To show unseen Turkey, unseen Turkish villages, authentic culture, religious people, traditions and amazing untouched landscape. I’m sure that youth from Bulgaria and Lithuania got a lot of impressions and will make this project in their countries.

“Benim Grybas. Cok guzel” Who have heard this four words in Turkey? Our project family member presented himself like this, to all the people he met. Actually, participants discovered not just Turkey, but also themselves. They found perfect communication skills inside – they kept contact without language – just good emotions and smile. I think that week that we spent in Turkey will be in our memories for long years.

We will share your message, Turkey, your nice message, for Europe!

Thanks you Yilmaz Metin Unal and his team, especially Ogulcan Karahan, who invited us. You are amazing friends and I’m very lucky, that I got to know you.

Julia Mack

YCC “EUROPROJECT”