Day 4

Today involved more work and less play but we still had time for a lovely trip to the beach. We produced a presentation and document on our findings from the treasure hunt game and it was really interesting to hear what information the other groups had gathered about famous social entrepreneurs. I looked into Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, I found out a lot more information than I thought I would.

We played a simulation game where some of us had to act as social entrepreneurs, some as employees and some as volunteers from the organisation we had created previously in the week. The social entrepreneurs had to get as many volunteers and employees as possible. The game was really interesting and I learnt a lot about the roles of social entrepreneurs and how it works, so it was very beneficial for me.

The Project

It's the moment we had all be dreading, the last day. We spent the morning in Safranbolu visiting the Historical Museum of Safronbolu and Clock Tower. 

After we went shopping to get last minute gifts for family & friends. The local people were really welcoming and friendly whilst we were going around, felt as though the locals wanted Josh and myself to leave with a good impression of the town.  Josh spent most of his time trying to bargain with the locals to land a good deal which he managed to do on one occasion but would usually leave paying the full price, LOL. He was so happy he blew bubbles with our room mate Edener LOL

We then headed to the to the Safranbolu Canyon where we relaxed, enjoyed the amazing view and ate lunch before going back to Zonguldak. 

When we got back to the Hotel in Zonguldak we went through final announcement before receiving our Youth Passes. 

After we all shared our views on how we thought the week and project had gone, I mentioned that it was an amazing experience that taught me a lot about Social Entrepreneurship and that connected with great people. As the night progressed we waited around to say goodbye to some of the groups leaving that night after some participants shared the things we learned in the week on Video. 

Samuel 

The Night Away

The night away

Today we left Kolzu to go to Safranbolu for a night away to see the different cultures around Turkey and the cities.

On the way we stopped at Amarsa which is a old roman city, it was beautiful and on the Black Sea. We walked around and to the top of mountain to looked at the wonderful view over Rabbit Island.

We had free time in Amarsa to go on their sandy beach and buy gifts for people back at home. We then headed again for Safranbolu.

The hotel for the night was beautiful and peaceful. On arrival we found our picture in the local paper which was surprising but wonderful to see the course being recognised. After dinner we headed down to a cafe where Georgina and myself with some of the group to try a water pipe which was a good experience.

The walk around the city at night had a stunning view with the lights brightening up the beautiful city around.

A Visit To The Regional Development Agency

Today we visited the Bati Karadeniz and learned about what they to develop and improve the state of Zongulak, Bartin and Karabuk. After the presentation we spoke with one with one of the project leaders who allowed us to ask questions about the organisation.

We learned that Bati Karadeniz represented the government in the distribution of funds to Small, medium sized enterprises (SME) to improve the development of the region with the support of the Ministry of Development who oversaw the work they done.

 

After the visit we briefly stopped in the in the city centre of Zonguldak before heading back to the hotel where we researched into five Social Entrepeneurs and the work they done in groups and presented to one another, carrying on from what we looked at yesterday. This was followed by the NGO Fair, which allowed us to looked into work each of us done and 10 countries represented. The day was intense and had me tired by the end of it. 

Waterfall trio

The UK trio together loving this amazing waterfall in the forests of Turkey

Sent from my iPad

Waterfall trip

Today we looked at different Organisations that work in the social enterprise sector like Toms and Charity:Water.

Tagi also showed the group and official presentation on social entrepreneurship which was very stimulating.

We then left the hotel and met the President of Kolzu at his office which was an amazing experience where he was very happy to meet such ally of inter cultural young people and said that we were all friends of Kozlu now.

From the President we left and headed for a dangerous but breathtaking 6k hike to a stunning water where we went swimming and had photos taken.

Photos for Day 1 blog post

Day 1

Day 1: Volunteering as a path to Social Entrepreneurship

After receiving our badges for the course and having a brief introduction to the project we played a lot of team building games which were really enjoyable. A lot of the activities really gave us a chance to get to know a lot of different people on the project even though we were limited for time which I was really impressed with.

 

 

We were split into groups and asked to build a bridge which would hold a bottle of water using limited resources (this is where they tricked us with a full 1L bottle of water!) After a really enjoyable morning we were properly introduced to the course and participated in a few activities to check our understanding about social enterprise.

Tonight is our first inter-cultural evening of the week so I can't wait to try the food and learn more about Armenia, Netherlands, Latvia, Georgia and Moldova. 

A 16 hours Journey

We started our journey from Heathrow at 8.30pm, our flight was at 10.30 Pm. It was slow to get on the plane but when we did we were blown away. The flight was with Turkish Airlines and we had comfortable seating and an amazing meal, which is not something you would expect for a 3 hour flight. 

We arrived in Istanbul at 4.00am Turkish Time, 2 hours ahead for you guys back in the UK. Our laid back approach soon came to an end when we were met by Boarder Control asking for Visas (Which of course we didn't have). 

We were surprised that the Tube was very similar to the ones back in London, we arrived at the coach for the dreaded five hour journey which turned out to be seven with a thirty minute break in between which Georgina slept through LOL. It was 2pm when we finally arrived in Zonguldak to be greeted by the lovely Kazim and his staff. 

Blog about Me

Hi everyone, my name is Georgina Rodgers and I am a Volunteer Development Assistant for Greater Manchester Police, Volunteer Police Cadets. The VPC promote a practical understanding of policing amongst all young people and inspire young people to participate positively in their communities. In September 2013 I was asked to attend a project on 'Civic Volunteering' which gave me the opportunity to speak at a conference of around 200 people about the Volunteer Police Cadets. Since then I have participated in a number of projects with Momentum World including a Cultures Crashing training course in Finland and a very powerful Youth for Freedom training course on Human Trafficking earlier this year in Aylesbury, London.

I am very interested to share my experiences with other participants on this project as well as learn about experiences of other participants. I am eager to learn about youth work in other countries and whether people have the same motivations to volunteer and how it benefits them in their countries.

Josh

My name is Joshua Whitehouse from Rotherham South Yorkshire and I have been involved with the Safe Havens scheme for over 4 years now. This is a scheme which is not only to deal with bullying but to give student during school a 'Safe Haven' to attend as we deal with exam stress, bullying, friendship issues, self esteem. The scheme is a peer lead scheme letting student run the scheme, training, structure and to put idea for to move forwards as well as implementing them. This allows young people to aspire for the future and to give them a chance to has responsibility which isn't always given in day to day school. My role has been unit leader at the Wingfield branch to now operations manager and an over sighting role of the Wingfield Safe Havens branch and to give training and advice to how to move forward and to expand ideas by letting the student volunteers team giving the ideas and helping them expand their ideas.

Good luck

Good luck from the Momentum World team to everyone involved in the project. We look forward to hearing about your experiences and the new knowledge, partnerships and friendships beginning this week.

Hello from Samuel

Hello my name is Samuel Alebioshu and I am the Co-Founder of HustleBucks, a youth led social enterprise under the umbrella of 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning. We offer garment printing and design services through a shop situated in Brixton Village. The enterprise started in 2009 and shortly after I was invited to participate in Momentum's first international Youth Leadership course in 2010. In which they brought together people for the UK, Macedonia and Holland. 

Since then I volunteered on a number of projects with Momentum including a training course on Human Trafficking earlier this year in Bulgaria, it was a great project that taught me what Human Trafficking is and the part we can play in stopping it. I am really looking forward to this project, Volunteering and Social Enterprise are two areas I'm familiar with however I am keen to learn how it works in other countries.