The week was coming to an end. The last day of workshops started with a reflexion. We took a closer at all of the activities that were being carried out, evaluated them and made some suggestions on the improvements.

The evening workshop was based on Social rights and inclusion games – Dignity land. Dignity land is a game for learning about social rights with young people through human right education. It consists of the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, the right to education, the right to social security and assistance, the right to health care, the right to housing, the right to work and the right to organize. We therefore touched the topics and later had a discussion on our contribution in order to improve the current circumstances.

The workshops ended with an evaluation of the project. We also planned for improvements as well as made instructions for further work in the year to come.

To finish everything all together we gathered at the goodbye party to thank everyone for their involvement and the memories. Goodbye!

On Saturday, we took the train and metro to visit Amadora.

Firstly, we went to the places of Associação Cultural De Surdos Da Amadora. The hard of hearing and deaf community holds together 11 places all over Portugal. The first organization was established in Lisbon 59 years ago. After that the director of the Amadora branch fought hard in order to establish the centre. Many new organizations opened their doors afterwards but they were still very dependent on Lisbon and had to ask for all of the permissions since they were under their control.

Nowadays, the association in Lisbon is largely turned into a company since they carry out many projects and are dependent on different funding. The association in Amadora mostly offers services to their members. This includes an examination at the doctor, social actions, lawyers and interpretation.

Today Associação Cultural De Surdos Da Amadora has roughly 1200 members, from which around 400 are very active. They have many spaces in which the members can come and hang out. This year, on the October 1st they will celebrate their 40 anniversary since the establishment. Their vision for the future includes connections with other countries in order to learn new things and just look at different examples of adapting.

For the second part of the trip we took a look at the spaces of Bué Fixe-Associação de Jovens. Their volunteers presented to us examples of their work and their achievements. Later we carried out a sign language course there for anyone who wanted to learn how to sign.

Friday was mostly dedicated to the use of hate speech.

Since the hard of hearing or deaf and youngsters from different race are often the target of hate speech this represents a topic that affects both associations on a daily basis.

First part of the activity was based on the thought of defining and the actual meaning of the term itself. Neja, Patrik and Katja then presented the definition as well as developed a discussion on the topic.

After everyone got more familiar with the definition we were divided into two groups and given 12 real life examples of hate speech that were aimed towards homosexuals and were taken from different places – Twitter, e-mail, Facebook, article, cartoons … We were asked about our opinion on the statements and then sorted them from least to most harmful. It was interesting to see how one group decided to focus on the statement while on the other hand the second group focused on the impact that the statement could cause in regard to the circumstances. Nevertheless, at the end we could agree that there were many varies regarding the sentences and how it affected people.

The evening activities were very eventful. Firstly, we played a game where we were put in pairs. One of them was drawing and the other had to narrate the picture without using the exact word for the described item on the drawing.

The third part of the hate speech was to create a 5-10-minute sketch in which we had to focus on using hate speech in examples as well as making an explanation of different terms. It was a great activity and the sketches were just hilarious.

The final activity for the day was a soft skills training regarding self-leadership. At first, we had to think about associations when it comes to self-awareness, self-efficacy and self-confidence. When combined these competences make a great self-leader. After that we were introduced to SMARTER goals, accessed our desires for the future and made a SWOT analysis for ourselves. That way we really figured out our determinations and got to know ourselves better.

The third day was oriented towards getting to know Lisbon. We focused on getting to know the cultural monuments and history of the city.

The morning started with a train ride to Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument of the Discoveries). It was built in 1939 along the river where ships departed to explore and trade with India and Orient. The monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries.

The next attraction was Torre de Belém (Belém Tower) It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. The tower was commissioned by King John II to be part of a defence system at the mouth of the Tagus river and a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon.

On or way back to the train station we passed and took a look at the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery). We also took a stop and tried the traditional Pastéis de Belém.

The ride to Lisbon offered many beautiful views upon the mouth of the Tagus river with sand beaches and the sun shining.

In the city centre of Lisbon Neja showed us around as well as presented the main heritage. The tour of the city was really interesting. Many building with tiles represented an attraction which was beautifully designed. That way many times you could have seen the architecture as a masterpiece and the structure as a work of art. Many churches, castles, libraries and even barber shops give the city certainly an unique spirit.

The day was completed with a presentation of Slovenia to the Portuguese.

The second day of activities started with a round table. We touched the topic regarding comparison of hearing-impaired and deaf people status between countries. Through a discussion, we tried to put ourselves in a hearing-impaired person situation in the everyday world while performing simple tasks. It didn’t take long to realize their disadvantaged position. Sounds made in traffic, misunderstanding and not being able to communicate whenever we want to whoever we want are just some of many thing that are absent in their world.

Since there have been many obstacles and abyss between the hearing and absent of sound world, the deaf community have adapted and learned many new methods to adjust to everyday life. Their position is improving gradually but the barrier will always be there. What is the most important is we need to realize that their methods are very unique to us and most importantly, respect their way of handling everyday challenges.

Later the second part of the sign-language workshop was being carried out. The vocabulary was based on simple basic sentences that you would most probably use on a daily basis. It consisted of introduction, numbers, people, places, professions, food, drinks, objects, nature and verbs. Even though, we learned only the minimum basics the language was hard to remember since it is based solely on movement.

For the evening activities, we had a workshop based on interactive games on disabilities. There were 4 stages that were prepared for us. The themes consisted of interaction, defining disability, appropriate language and disability access symbols. We were faced with not being able to hear and tried to understand the other person, disability symbols which we had to match to their definitions, the definition of disability and the words that were appropriate to use and should be avoid when talking about the topic.
Since most of us weren’t faced with a disability we have gotten to know the thematic a little better and certainly understood better their position in everyday life.

For the second part of the workshop we had a mission to get into a group. Each one the possessed a different type of disability (not being able to see, hear, use hands, use feet or to talk). We got some sheets of paper, a wooden stick and a cord from which we had to work as a team in order to build a 1m high tower. This game really showed us how hard and important is it to always make sure everyone is included.

As an evening activity, we carried out a reflection evening. We discussed our activities, reflected on our skills, that we have gained to this day as well as made a plan for the future days to come.

Our partners for the 2017 exchange this year are the Portuguese.

Since yesterday was the day of travelling today we tried to make sure and organize many activities in which we could get to know each other better. That was centred towards Slovenian-Portuguese interactions as well as the Slovenian delegation. Even though some of the people knew each other from before there is always something new that you find out through this kind of opportunities.

Firstly, we have prepared some interactive get to know each other games in which we learned our names and told some associations in correlation between ourselves and our name. Furthermore, the activities were aimed at interesting facts regarding ourselves which surely made things even more fun.

Secondly, we got to know the Erasmus+ program and were introduced to the objectives of the exchange. Each of us had to think about as well as write down the goals that they wished to be achieved throughout this week and put them in an envelope. That way, at the end of our exchange we will have a clearer view of the achieved expectations.

The last activity was focused on the presentations of both of the organizations. We have prepared a slideshow based on the association members, its history and short summary of all of the projects that are being carried out this year. We also showed a short movie that was created by a student that was part of the one month IFMSA scope exchange about the landscape in Maribor as well as many other places Slovenia.

The partner association is called Bué Fixe. It is a youth organization which started out as a magazine for the young in São Tomé in 2003. The city represents a Portuguese-speaking island nation, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. Their prime mission was the well-being for young people and creating a social-oriented program. After their arrival in Portugal they were given an opportunity to turn their magazine into an association which is very successful to this day. Their main project remains youngsters from Portuguese speaking colonies in Africa who wish to make a social impact and make the most of the given opportunities in Portugal. Two major themes currently focus on hate speech but at the same time they give a large focus on the project regarding the topic of HIV.

After the busy morning, we went for a coffee with a view at the ocean. Later in the evening we had sport activities on our agenda. With a towel, we went for a short walk to the beach where we had prepared some sport activities. The sun was shining but only the bravest had the courage to take a swim into the cold ocean.

Following the brief introduction to sports we had a workshop which was based on the introduction to the basics of the American sign language. We learned how to sign the alphabet and our names as well as some phrases. A TEDx talk gave us some new perspective on the everyday barriers between the hearing and the deaf world.

The night ended with the national food and drink party. The food from both associations was amazing. Many cakes, potica, biscuits and some traditional drinks definitely represented a perfect end of the day.