At the end of April, two participants from Woodcraft Folk travelled to Santiago, Chile to take part in a toolkit development workshop which was the third international event for the Journey of Youth Leadership project. Woodcraft Folk have been participating in the project with other IFM-SEI organisations since 2021. The project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union.
Woodcraft Folk have been working with 10 other IFM-SEI member organisations in this project including: Manque Chile (Chile), Les Faucons Rouges (Belgium), MILAVF (Nicaragua), ESPLAC (Spain), Nuoret Kotkat (Finland), Action Enfance (Senegal), Pionniers du Mali (Mali), Rote Falken/ Kinderfreunde (Austria), Fénix (Slovakia) and Antar Bharati (India).
During their week in Chile, the group worked together to develop a practical youth leadership toolkit. They used ideas from the previous project activities outcomes and went on to develop non-formal education activities, guidelines, and tips for youth workers. The toolkit is the project’s final product and the most important outcome of this project, which will transfer knowledge, best practices, and concrete tools to youth organisations across the world.
Woodcraft Folk participant Eireny Akubeze, says:
“For me it was great being able to travel across the world and meet with project members once again to finally complete the toolkit as well as hearing all ideas from the different steps of the project come together and creating tangible results.”
The toolkit will now be put together and designed by IFM-SEI and it will be shared with Woodcraft Folk group leaders later in the year in hope that more young people can be equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to assume leadership roles within Woodcraft Folk and can support more experienced leaders to welcome them and share practice.
Over the week, the group got to know each other better and as well as developing the toolkit, took part in workshops around mental health which were led by Woodcraft Folk participants Eliza and Eireny. During the evenings, the participants had time to share cultures, explore the local surroundings and have some traditional Chilean experiences.
The Journey of Youth Leadership project will come to a close this summer at the IFM-SEI international camp in Finland where participants will evaluate and reflect on their experiences and be able to see the final toolkit to then share within their own organisations.
