On April 2016, I spent 3 weeks staying in a small town called Metlika. Located in the South East of Slovenia, this small town is a border with Croatia. I came from Bali, Indonesia to Metlika, Slovenia under Erasmus + Program called EUROASI Project, “From Europe to Asia: Capitalizing Experience in Youth Work”. My part was doing a job shadowing, hosted by Kud Plac. Job Shadowing was the last activity of the program after I completed 5 modules of training course about NGO Management which was held in Bali and hosted by Act Global.
Kud Plac is a non-profit voluntaryassociation and a non-governmental organization, whose aim is to become the most active and recognized youth organization in the region. One of their main program is the Youth Center Metlika, where the goal is to encourage young people to make a difference in the local community, to promote the idea of being active, to connect people of all generations.
Through job shadowing, I was expected to learn and to observe the best practice of youth work in youth center Metlika. My daily activities was going to the center and interact with local people especially the young people or even go around the town to experience the local life. When I got more time, I tried to attend some workshops at the center and also giving my time and energy to help Kud Plac cleaning their Café by Kolpa River.
Life in Metlika is very relaxing. You will never find crowd of people, however, this is the best part that I experienced while I was living there. People are very friendly. Every time you walked out from your house to go somewhere, you will pass people that will greet you “Dober Dan!” which means, Hello or good day! In some other time, people will invite you to their house for tea or coffee or even for meals. The other thing that surprised me was a lady offering me a ride home because she saw me and my other colleague walking while bringing a lot of stuff from the grocery shop. The local people will always noticed that they saw new faces and they are excited to get to know you and interact with you.
The Youth Center Metlika is also a work space for local and international volunteers hosted by Kud Plac. During my stay in Metlika, I got opportunity to meet other international volunteers from Greece, Bosnia, but also Philippines and Indonesia under the same program as me as EVS. Sometimes we came in the morning for some meetings with Kud Plac representative. The youth center opens every Monday – Friday, the most visited time is at lunch time. Students from middle school near the center will come and hangout in the center. They come for playing chess, using internet, singing and just talking and joking to each other. Some other days, the Head of the youth center organizes some activities such as paintings.
From my point of view, this center is actually a perfect place for them to develop and express themselves. They are free to interact with other kids, playing games, or learning to play music instrument also get to know the International volunteers and improve their social skills and English skills. Sometimes, I got to hang out with them, sang some songs together Indonesian as well as Slovenian songs.
In the evening, the youth center holds some workshops for adults or mix. One evening, I joined a collage painting workshop, not so many people joined, however it was a mix workshop where young people and adults got together to learn a collage arts. The teacher was one of the ladies from Kud Plac Board. The other evening, I came just to see that they hold a meditation and yoga workshop at the center for adults only.
I was curious to know how Kud Plac is able to manage and run the center so well. And one day I got opportunity to chat with Kud Plac former President, Alenka and former Volunteer Coordinator, Dasa. Some information that I got from them are very inspiring. Kud Plac was founded because few youngsters from Metlika who were studying in Ljubljana were bored during summer and weekends when they were going back to spend their holiday in Metlika. Therefore, the purpose is to bring life to their small town. Since then, Kud Plac is creating some cultural events, music, and also established the Youth Center.
The funding for the projects and the Youth Center are mainly come from Municipality of Metlika and Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (Government of Slovenia). Also from membership fee, donations, sponsorships and own funds that they earn from the Café by Kolpa river and the festivals. It was such a great experience and opportunity for me to learn the best practice of NGO Management with Kud Plac and to learn how to enjoy life in Metlika.
One day, somewhere in Indonesia, I could apply the new skills and knowledge that I got from this program. Thank you, TDM 2000 International, Kud Plac and Act Global for giving us this opportunity to improve our personal development. Hope, there will be more opportunities like this in the future for Indonesian young generations.
Another inspiring message from Alenka during the conversation about how to run a successful youth center is that with active participation of young people who has young spirit youth worker is not a job, it is a way of life!
Rachma Amaleni