Taking part in an Erasmus + project is something that everyone should do. Meeting people from other EU countries with different mind-sets, beliefs, even food preferences is amazing. You exchange ideas, share music, learn about what is happening in other countries, what troubles other fellow European and the list goes on. Moreover you forge friendships with people that you wouldn’t ever meet on your own and find how many common things we share.
The Project:
On this Erasmus + project we used the Edu – LARP (Live Action Role Play) methodology in order to experience what people with a migration background feel when they are faced with aggression (both physical and mental).
The scenario we faced was that of a new tribe that tries to flee from a post-apocalyptic wasteland in order to find refuge in a safe environment far from violence and hunger. What the newcomers didn’t know was that the people already living on the said environment (who were refugees themselves log ago) felt threaten from the newcomer’s culture, religion even their own existence. Under simulated acts of aggression (such as bullying, starvation level wages, hunger, racist attacks etch) we experienced both the aggressor’s point of view and the victim’s.
Having lived through hostility, racism and cultural differences every single of us understood the difficulties of a newcomer; of a person without any connections, friends or even resources. Taking part in the construction of complex political procedures such as the formation of a constitution was an amazing experience since we took into account the needs of both the local tribes and the new tribe. Moving from a tribal society to a democratic society was a hard journey but nevertheless a rewarding one. We all challenged our Real Life beliefs and political allegiances by role playing someone else, someone that is afraid, someone that does not know when the next meal will come and is abused and harassed daily.
The Outcome:
It was a life changing experience for the whole of the group since we changed our beliefs, our safe spaces and our world views; live action role playing gave us a different perspective on an immigrant’s world view. Moreover, since we took part in the formation of a society we studied the process for an immigrant from being an ‘’intruder’’ to being an integral part with full voting rights and a contributor to a multi-cultural society.
Overall it was an amazing experience that was enhanced by the organizers attempt to really help us feel welcome and included by creating the best Erasmus + project we have ever been to.