During our two weeks stay in Portugal, we came up with a list of activities that will be implemented as a part of our local community plan, aimed to tackle the Roma narrative present in Novi Sad, Serbia.
After having done our first activity, doing the evaluation meeting and after going to Mollina (Spain) it became much clearer to me what hate speech, the narratives and counter narratives actually were. In Portugal the focus was on the theoretical aspects of these topics, so for me it was not so clear how it will look in reality. Now, I can say that after putting all I’ve acquired into practice, I can connect the theory learned in Portugal and the practical aspect of the field work. For me all this process was really a big challenge and chance to learn a lot and gain new skills and knowledge. Also I had the chance to meet many different people from all around the world and sharing experiences and learning about their cultures. (Jelena Karac)
For me personally, this whole process was quite challenging, since various times I was being put out of my comfort zone. Learning through experience, having ups and downs, being persistent, and not giving up, were for me the cornerstones of the process. Also seeing the change that happened amongst young people that participated in our local activities was the highlight for me, and I grew even stronger in my beliefs that we are doing the right thing, and continue to pursue our goals and dreams of making the world a better place. By doing small steps and changes we can all contribute to a change on a global scale. (Mladen Ilic)