ENGLISH BELOW!
Juba mõni aeg tagasi, aprilli lõpus, sõitsid ENVTLi liikmed Hedvig, Helen ja Merle külla partneritele Hollandis (Stichting HerstelTalent), et koos nende ja Islandi partneritega (Hugarafl) teha vahekokkuvõtteid ja uusi plaane Erasmus+ projekti Peer Support+ osas. Seal möödusid kiired, põnevad ja töised päevad, millesse mahtus ka hulganisti soojust, hoolimist ja siirast kontakti mõttekaaslastega.
Praegu on projektis silmapiiril kolm suuremat tegevust:
- Partnerite ühise pingutuse tulemusel on kokku pandud peamine sisu veebikursuse jaoks. Kursus pakub huvilistele sissejuhatuse ja põhitõed kogemuspõhise toe pakkumise kohta vaimse tervise valdkonnas.
- Suve jooksul on siht valmis kirjutada ka e-raamat, mis koondab endasse lisaks põhitõdedele ka juba põhjalikumat materjali ning väikse meetodite tööriistakasti.
- Septembris saab toimuma seminar, kus kogemuspõhise toe pakkumisest huvitatud inimesed ja organisatsioonid saavad projekti jooksul looduga tutvuda.
Millised on meie projektimeeskonna muljed toimunud kohtumisest?
Helen annab meile sellise toreda ülevaate: “Erasmus+ projektid, treeningud, seminarid jm on olnud mulle südamelähedased alates esimesest korrast, kui sain 19-aastasena esimesel noortevahetusel osaleda. Peer Support+ on aga pikaajaline projekt, kus mul on au ja rõõm olla esimest korda tiimiliige. See tähendab, et lisaks treeningul osalemise, mis toimus eelmise aasta augustis, on mul võimalus ka näha selle telgitaguseid ning panustada projekti materjalide loomisesse. Selleks, et kõigil kolmel organisatsioonil oleks ühine arusaam ülesannete jaotusest, nende eesmärkidest ning sisust, tegimegi väikese töövisiidi Hollandi organisatsiooni kodulinna. Veetsime seal kokku küll ainult 3 päeva, kuid selle aja jooksul sai tehtud nii rasket mõttetööd kui ka nautida täielikku turisti rolli, olles armsate ja külalislahkete hollandlaste hoole all. Lisaks sain koos aega veeta oma kõige lemmikumate Islandi sõpradega, kellega tutvusin juba paar aastat tagasi ühes teises Erasmus+ projektis ning keda ma hoian oma südames nagu pereliikmeid. Armsad inimesed, südamelähedane töö ning hea toit – 10/10 nädalavahetus!”
Hedvig tõdeb aga järgmist: “Ausalt öeldes – ma seda reisi ei oodanud just hea meelega, muretsedes, et tööd tuleb palju ning vaevu saab ehk hinge tõmmata, kuid taas-avastasin, kui inspireeriv on tegutseda koos südamlike ja avatud inimestega, eriti veel piltilusates Hollandi linnakestes. Peer Support+ projektiga oleme tasapisi mässanud juba aastaid, koroona tõttu pidevalt näost-näkku kohtumisi edasi lükates, ning äärmiselt värskendav oli meie Hollandi ja Islandi projektipartnerite kui inimestega tutvuda. Samuti oli kuidagi lohutav ja võimestav tõdeda, et kuigi oleme pärit erinevatest riikidest, on meie võitlused ja eesmärgid kohati väga sarnased ning saame kangekaelselt aktivistidena edasi rühkides üksteiselt toetust ammutada. Kõige olulisem aga – Middelburgi ja Vlissingeni tänavatel leidsin mitu kassi, keda paitada! 
Oma muljeid reisist ja projektist jagab ka Merle: “Olgugi, et reis oli lühike, andis see mulle igatahes olulise turgutuse – saime nautida palju kevadisemat ilma, head toitu, luua uusi tutvusi ja kasvatada koostööd. Südamesse jäi seegi, kui väärtusliku ja südamliku kogemusena peegeldasid seda Hollandi organisatsiooni liikmed, kes nädalavahetuse jooksul meid kostitasid, sõidutasid ja arutlustes osalesid.
Projekt Peer Support+ on olnud ütlemata väljakutseterohke. Koroonapandeemia tõttu on pööraselt muutunud pika projekti ajakava ja neljast rahvusvahelisest käigust said toimuma vaid kaks. Korralikke kriise on kogenud pea kõik projektis osalenud organisatsioonid ja nende projektijuhid. See kõik on andnud korraliku põntsu motivatsioonile ja jaksule, aga omal raskel moel kasvatanud vastupidavust ning arusaama sellest, kui oluline ja vajalik on tegelikult kogemuspõhise toe arendamine ja laiem kättesaadavus vaimse tervise vallas.”
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ENGLISH:
Some time ago, at the end of April, three members of ENVTL – Hedvig, Helen and Merle – flew to the Netherlands to visit our dear partner Stichting HerstelTalent. Together with members from our Icelandic partner Hugarafl, we had an international meeting for our project Peer Support+. We made recaps of what’s already been done and what still is in the works with the exciting Erasmus+ project on peer support in mental health. The days in the province of Zeeland flew by with such speed, but in addition to work, they were also filled with warmth, caring and heart-to-heart connections.
Currently we are working on three bigger elements of the project:
- As a joint effort from all the partners, we have put together the main content for our online course. The e-learning course is created to give an introduction and the basics about providing peer support in the field of mental health.
- Through the summer we are writing an ebook to accompany the course – in addition to the basics of peer support, it contains more in-depth material about peer support and a toolkit of methods.
- A local seminar that takes place in September, where people and organisations interested in providing peer support can take part in interesting discussions and get acquainted with the outputs of this project.
How do our team members reflect on the international meeting?
Helen gives us the following overview of her experience:
“Ever since I was 19 years old and got to experience my first youth exchange, Erasmus+ projects, trainings, seminars etc have gained a very important place in my heart. However Peer Support+ is the first long term project that I have the honour and joy to be a team member of. This means that other than just taking part of the training, which we had in August last year, I also have the opportunity to see behind the curtains of this project and contribute to the creation of its final outcomes and materials. In order for all of our three organizations to have the same understanding about the division of tasks and the goals and the content of them, we got to do a little working visit to the hometown of the Dutch organization. Even though having spent only 3 days there, we did a lot of brainstorming about the assignments as well as got to be in the role of being a tourist, getting taken care of by the sweetest and most hospitable Dutch people. In addition to that I got to spend time with my favourite Icelandic friends, whom I met a few years ago in another Erasmus+ project and whom I keep in my heart like family members. Overall, sweet people, work that’s close to my heart and good food – 10/10 weekend!”
Hedvig shared with us her thoughts and impressions:
“To be completely honest – at first, I was not looking forward to this trip with too much excitement; as I was worried about the amount of work we needed to do and if I’d feel too overwhelmed. Luckily I got a chance to rediscover how inspiring it is to work together with kind and open minded people, especially in picturesque Dutch towns. We have strived towards the goals of this project for more than a year – as the pandemic forced us to postpone and cancel several face-to-face meetings, it was especially refreshing to get to meet our Dutch and Icelandic project partners as people. It was also somewhat comforting and empowering to acknowledge that even though we are from very different countries, our many struggles and goals have great similarities. And thus we can draw much-needed support from each other as we strive forward as willful activists. Most importantly – I found many cats to pet on the streets of Middelburg and Vlissingen! 🙂
Merle describes her experiences of the trip and the project as follows:
“Even though the trip was a short one, it gave my spirits a big boost – we got to enjoy a much warmer springtime weather, good food and to grow our partnerships. I’m especially moved by the heartfelt impressions of the meeting shared by the members of HerstelTalent, who hosted us so kindly during the weekend.
The project of Peer Support+ has faced several challenges. Due to the pandemic, the project timeline has changed significantly and the cherished options to have international meetings were cut in half. Crises haven’t spared these mighty project teams. All of this has taken its toll on motivation and energy, but in its rough ways it has provided an opportunity to grow resilience and to thoroughly understand how important and necessary it is to develop peer support in the mental health field and to make it widely attainable.”