A moment during the youth project, July 2023

”This project was different from every project I have done! There is a lot I take from it and I thank the
team and every participant that enriched my experience in some way. This project turned into a family,
since we were all united for the same purpose. I learned to pay attention to the little details that might
make a difference in someone’s life
, like trigger warnings, or even some gestures people make towards
other people.

I learned a little bit more about the LGBTQIA+ history and about its’ reality in different
countries. It became clearer that for me to feel good about myself, I have to participate in solving this
conflict so the next generations can be free in all aspects.
I realized that not everyone in the older
generations is against the community and that there is still hope.

I loved how this project is structured throughout the two weeks and the layout of the activities. I expanded my knowledge about non-binary and transgender people, since it is not spoken much about in my country and there is still a lot of stigma around it. One of my favorite activities was “Chronological Order” because I related to some of the testimonies and it made me feel less alone and somehow hopeful that if it went well for some people, it might eventually go well for me too.

Once again, thank you so much for this project, the most impactful one I have had so far and the one that gave me a new perspective on a lot of things in my personal life.

”Taking part in this project started out by being an out of my comfort zone experience but ended up
forever in my heart. I entered this project fully aware that I would meet people different from me in
every aspect but one: their hearts.
Over this two-week time span we built a tiny society: there were
people cooking, there were people cleaning, there were people creating art… The Britannica
Dictionary defines society as: “people in general thought of as living together in organized
communities with shared laws, traditions, and values”.

We were indeed a society because we, in fact, shared. Society has forgotten what its’ concept really means. It does not share, it divides. It divides people into labels and tells them if their label is or is not worthy of rights. As long as we continue to look for certain characteristics to assign rights, we will continue to fail the purpose of what it means to be a society. This might possibly be the most significant thing this project has to teach: differences complete, they don’t compete.”