Dear PTPI Membership:
From: Angel Dimitrievski, Skopje Macedonia, Youth Coordinator Europe
Let me tell you some beautiful news that you will want to hear. As many of you probably saw on social media, last week (March 7 – 12) we organised the PTPI Europe Youth Leadership Academy, in Skopje Macedonia. This was for sure one of the best projects I have implemented since I started serving as Youth Coordinator for the European Region.
This Academy equipped 17 high school and university students about how to become future community leaders, and how to spread the mission of PTPI. And this energy is something that must be felt, and spread across countries and nations. The Academy brought Emil from Plovdiv to be homestayed at Georgino’s home in Skopje. They became brothers in five days. And at the bus station getting ready to head home Emil told me, that he is so connected to this family that he did not want to leave Macedonia.
There was a girl from Varna called Illyana that could not find the words to explain this experience. She wrote me a letter the evening before departure and handed to me at the bus station. There is a boy called Vlad from Romania who enjoyed a combination of Macedonian traditional kafana and good rock music.
These amazing students attended the program that we had carefully prepared in the previous three months. The students were working on improving their team competences and shaping the ideal community leader. They participated in panel discussions about leadership topics, attended workshops on intercultural communication with Toni from Bulgaria, and project management with Emi from Plovdiv. And, most importantly they promised to deliver five wonderful projects, back in their home countries, making use of the skills they learned from the Academy. For me, this was confirmation that the event must run annually. It engages our youth in spreading the PTPI mission and confirms our commitment to the development of future leaders.
I want to send a big thank you to my Skopje team who supported me in implementing this idea. To Chalks, and PTPI Europe that supported us financially and with without whom this Academy, would not have happened and all. Also, the amazing students that participated, their adult support leaders and our workshop leaders.
Please take three minutes to watch this video. You can experience all that we covered in Skopje. (The video is only available to view on a computer).
Please always believe in the energy of our PTPI Youth membership, it is truly Magical.
Yours in Peace
Angel Dimitrievski
President, PTPI Skopje-Macedonia
Youth Coordinator, Europe region
Note from Chalks: It has always been clear to me that we have a duty to deliver experiences, that will enrich the lives of our future leaders. Our youth make a commitment to PTPI, rather than spend their time on other stuff that young people often prefer to do! This whole event involved 22 people and cost less than 2000 euro – meals, travel, accommodation, materials, faculty: not a bad effort for a group of passionate and dedicated volunteers. I urge us all to do more, contribute more and believe in great outcomes for our collective future.