Let me present myself, my name is Carolina Ledezma, and I am the Communications Director at the Learning for Well-being Foundation, and I am based in Bolivia. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to participate at 2getherLAND Germany last month. It meant not only a change of mindset but joy by seeing that working with intergenerational partnerships  is a promising path. 

I could feel the bubbly energy and expectation from the moment I came; I witnessed the delegations arriving and the smiles and excitement on the faces of the children and young people. I have experienced camps before, but not one involved the participation of people from different generations. I felt welcome and got excited seeing how everyone approached to meet me, from little children, adults in charge of the delegations, and, of course, the young people from the Young Expert Team. During the week, I met many people and could see how each of them enjoyed the camp in their own way; the diversity of available activities made it possible for each one to express themselves without feeling judged. One of the main aims of ACT2gether Germany is fighting social inequality, and I could see that reflected on the event they organised.

I also had the opportunity to facilitate a workshop. One of my passions is art and calligraphy, so I decided to use those techniques to organise the activities I wanted to do. I proposed to play with letters created with different materials, first to understand the power of communicating with words and how the words are constructed. Afterwards, the participants could create a piece expressing a word or short phrase they found essential for them that came from their hearts. Most of the participants that joined my workshop were young children, which pushed me to find the best way to connect with them and create a moment to enjoy, learn and express themselves. We ended with our hands full of paint and ink, a heart full of joy, and shared many laughs and exciting ideas.

A curious fact was that I was the only person from Latin America and the one who had travelled the longest to be there. But even though my journey to arrive meant flying many kilometres from home, the event was so full of people from different cultures and backgrounds that it enriched the entire experience greatly. Of course, some might not have flight as long as I, but still, the varied stories they had and shared were something to be treasured.

After this experience, I can not wait to participate in future 2getherLANDs, maybe from other sites, like the one in The Netherlands scheduled for 2023. I am sure many things would be different considering the uniqueness of the projects being developed in each country. Still, I am convinced that the feeling would be as warm and fulfilling as I experienced in Germany.

I am grateful to the German ACT2gether team and the Young Expert Team and also express my admiration to them; it was a beautiful event that, I am sure, nurtured the lives of many.