TEMPO DI VIVERE Youth Exchange, Part 12

Alice from Italy tells us:

It was a little over a year since I first came to Tempo di Vivere and since I participated in my first Youth Exchange at Findhorn in March 2018.
At that time something really big happened, of which only now can I really give an account.
We are now all in a circle, the last of these 13 days, the biggest of all. We are participants of the exchange and then there are the members of the community with the volunteers who have been of great help in all these days. The talking stick comes into my hand, it’s my turn. I wouldn’t want it inside me, not yet, it’s too early to find the words to share what I feel. And in fact it takes me a while … I breathe deeply, close my eyes and stand a few seconds in silence and as soon as I open them the words begin to flow, and even the tears begin to come out without me being able to prevent it. They are tears of joy in the end, tears of thanks, tears of trust and appreciation for all that has been possible for a year and of which I see the results right here, right now, sitting in this circle made of wonderful people with which we have built a space of extreme personal growth, sharing and fun in such a short time.

It was the first time I participated in a Youth Exchange as a Youth Leader, an even more beautiful and deep opportunity because I was in a team with friendly people on the same path as me. Together with Nicoletta (project coordinator), Adriana, Gilly, Rouben and Chris (respectively the referents of the Spanish, Dutch, German and Greek groups) and the enormous creativity and support of all the participants, as well as the members of the community, we succeeded to create and care for a beautiful space for sharing, training and growth, moving from more formal and educational moments to others left to spontaneity and art, free to express themselves in every form!
The themes were those of sustainability, agriculture and natural medicine, Non-Violent Communication and decision-making methods such as sociocracy, parental school and permaculture.

Every Youth Exchange has something special, but this has followed the spirit of the Circle, the Union, the Shared and the Collective Building, as when all the pieces find their place by magic. Each of us brought something great and the Tempo di Vivere community welcomed us with so much generosity and availability that we could never have felt in a safer space.
As Manitonquat says, “together there is nothing we cannot do”.