In the Carpathians finished its work summer camp for LGBT activists organized by UPO "Gay Alliance Ukraine". All the participants received powerful charge of energy from communication, and also from the sun, mountains and water.
The camp was based at the Black Cheremosh River bank in a picturesque corner of the Carpathian Mountains. a picturesque corner of the Carpathian Mountains. Among participants were both "veterans" of our regional representative offices and young growth – new volunteers who just recently started to help in work of Queer Homes (for more information about them pease read here).
The main objectives of the camp – to discuss difficulties, exchange achievements, as well as to provide activists with resources for their future work within GAU projects – have been successfully completed. To reach them we planned various activities in the form of "work plus adventures".
Sessions on professional growth and development along with receiving skills on working with groups were interspersed with hiking in the mountains and outdoor games. On one of the camp days participants had an opportunity to become a real Hutsul [TN: Hutsuls is an ethno-cultural group in Ukraine who for centuries have inhabited the Carpathian mountains]: they learned how to milk a cow, chop wood, whisk butter, cut the grass, and afterwards even made cheese! The most reckless ones climbed the second highest mountain of Ukraine – Pop Ivan (2028 meters above sea level).
A distinctive feature of this camp was the fact that participants themselves took part in organizing and conducting of the work sessions and joint leisure time. Guys not only spoke about their achievements, but also shared them in practice. In the last day of the camp took place a workshop on felting wool from coordinator of Odesa Queer Home Nina Verbytska. Actually this experience became new and educational for all the participants.
In the nearest future we plan to conduct similar events in the other centers. We hope we managed to reach our key goal and all the participants of the summer camp returned to work relaxed and inspired.
Press service of UPO "Gay Alliance Ukraine"
Автор: Gay Alliance Ukraine
