On August 25th, the follow-up activity for the Youth Exchange In or Out of the Spanish team took place, by:
● Laura Yan
● Carolina
● Eva
● Irene
● Kimetz
● Ania
The activity consisted of organizing a day of outdoor activities for the children and youth of the town of Santurtzi (Bizkaia) in collaboration with the local youth association Gaztebox and as part of the summer camp at the Santurtzi Mikel Trueba Sports Center. The camp lasts 17 days (August 15 – 31) during which young people aged 12 to 16 have the opportunity to experience a variety of sports, with the intention that they choose one they want to practice long-term.
Our intention with this day was to share with the youth of Santurtzi the games, activities, and
learnings acquired during the exchange held in Ommen in July 2024; specifically, the games
Beast, Tututu, Trust me, prison break and a selection of traditional Basque sports called Herri
Kirolak (specifically sokatira, eskupilota, and zaku lasterketa). Ultimately, we aim for the
young people to enjoy team sports, competitiveness, physical activity, collaboration, and
cooperation.
A total of 24 local children participated in the day, with an average age of 14. The roles of each of the Youth Exchange participants were as follows:
● Laura, Carolina, Eva, and Irene: Since they live far from Santurtzi, they were mainly responsible for organizing the activities to be carried out. Having the necessary information about the participants of the day and the facilities available at the camp, they were able to design the games, participant groups, timing, and distribution of activities throughout the day, and alternative plans in case something went wrong (in case of injury, lack or excess of time, etc.).
● Kimetz: He was responsible for talking to the Santurtzi city council to introduce the idea of organizing this day during the camp, explaining everything that happened during the exchange and what we planned to do in the camp thanks to the planning done by the girls. He finally managed to get us into the Santurtzi sports camp!
● Ania: Since she lives in the same town, she was responsible for facilitating the games during the day. Since she experienced it firsthand, she is (I am) also the one writing this report.
As a reflection after the In or Out day, the following conclusions can be drawn:
● The children were really able to work as a team, collaborate, and cooperate to win during the games.
● Although we were afraid of turning everything into a competition (as it can be catastrophic for interpersonal relationships, as the children have not yet learned to lose or win competitively), that adrenaline rush from wanting to win proved to be very useful for the children to actively participate in the activities.
● The children really enjoyed each activity, both those held outdoors and those held indoors. Their favorite game overall was Beast, and they enjoyed the Herri Kirolak less, probably because it was something they were already accustomed to doing and did not add any novelty.
● Throughout all the games, there was gender equality as, being not overly physical, no girl was discriminated against and everyone could actively participate in the activities.
● At the end of the day, all the children wanted to do the same thing the next day, so we concluded that the result was positive and that the practice of what was done and learned during the Youth Exchange has had a positive impact on our local community.
● As an area for improvement, perhaps we should have introduced some mindfulness activity to get the young people used to introspection and looking inward, especially after a tiring activity.
In conclusion, we consider that the outcome of the day was positive, and we are very grateful to have been able to experience this to share it with the world. This does not end here, as after this day we are very motivated to continue spreading all these new activities and will look for ways to continue doing so in a fun and educational manner.
Best regards and hope to see you again soon,
Spanish Team
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