APV report in Heemskerk, 6-10 March 2009, by Andrea Canil

Hi everybody, my name is Andrea Canil and I'm going to tell you what has happened during the APV of the CU in 10 years project, that took place this march in Heemskerk. First of all I want to tell you that this is the first time that I participate to this kind of projects, I did not know what it was going to happen, I was interested on the topics of the project so I decided to join, willing to work with other youngster like me, but it was for me a big surprise discovering that it was not only a boring workshop, but it gave me the chance to meet other youngsters like me from, lets say, all over Europe, it gave me also the chance to have an exchange of ideas with them and, with my big surprise I had a lot of fun.

The first funny thing happened at the Schipol airport, we were supposed to meet near a big white and red advertising structure, and me and my other Italian friend, Gianandrea were sitting there waiting for the others to come but we didn't realize that we were sitting just next to the Denmark participant Victoria and Mette this was very exhilarating half an hour later when we discovered that.

Anyway at the airport we met the other participants from Estonia, Bulgaria and Peter our Dutch crazy leader and we moved straight on to what we used to call our Castle. In fact we stayed in an hostel that once was a castle, and except for the first days we were the only living inhabitant of that, I underline living because the legend says that a ghost of a lady use to live there, scaring the host because she think that the castle is hers. In the hostel we met also with Remco, the other Netherlands leader and my enemy for what regards the food, in fact we both like eating and it was like if we challenge each other to who was going to eat more, and he beat me, eating all the spring rolls one night (I can't forgive him because I hadn't eat them) and with the other Dutch group members.

Saturday and Monday was working days our goal was to settle a final common framework of the project, defining the items we are going to investigated, the priorities and the following working methods that we are going to adopt. We had a brain storming for decide the themes, each group was suppose to name some topics that believed worth to analyse, and the interesting fact was that more or less each one of us had the same ideas. With the help of coffee, tea, sweeties and some times some laugh we came to define 11 items and ordered them by importance. During the second working day we had define better the topics, and for each one of them list a series of aspect that need to be investigate. This was the result of a division of small inter-European group in which each one of them was suppose to write some questions to ask the policy makers. This part of the work was actually very funny because each group was in a different room with Remco and Peter running from one room to another delivering the big piece of paper where the question had to be written, it was like being at a human assembly-line. At the end of the day the framework was finished, details discussed and CU in 10 years ready to became reality.

As I said this APV was not only working, but we had also some leisure time, for example in the evenings, after work we were used to chill out at the bar with some beers or wine. We also played a role-play game Mafia, in which each participant interprets a charter that could be the Mafia's gangster, the Policeman, or the Healer and the scope of it is to find out who is the gangster before he kills everyone else. Funny things Italians were pretty good at it but also Netherlands was not bad and Estonians have a vocation as Healer.

We also had the chance to have a short sight of the Netherlands; in particular we visit THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OF THE WORLD, namely, DEN HELDER. There we saw the headquarters of the Richter association and we met the European Volunteers who where so kind to offer us a guide tour of the city. The interesting thing about this visit is that I had a glance of what it means to do an EVS, and it suggested me the idea that maybe one day I can also do it. Later the same day, it was Sunday; we went to Harenkarspel, where we met the members of the youth council of Nieuwe Niedorp and Harenkarspel. They presented themselves and gave us a short summary of their activities and the way they are organized. The surprising thing, for me, is that they have their own budget and they can dispose of it as they want, and also that they are accepted to participate at the town commissions, in other words they are several steps forward respect the Italian reality. Here we had also the possibility to discuss briefly the project together and also to have an exchange of ideas and opinions over other topics not strictly related to the project itself.

I want to conclude this tale by telling you what happened the last day of our staying in the Hostel. After played the Mafia game and had some drinks, everybody decided to go sleep, quite early because the following day we all were going to face the long journey to go back home, but there was a last thing to do, an unanswered question to solve: is there really a ghost in the castle? The bravest of the group decided to wear the imaginary Ghostbusters suits and go to hunt it. As I said everybody was sleeping, all the lights of the castle were turned-off, even the receptionist was gone home an you could hear the noise of the wood assessment, the group was composed by me, Claudia, Kristi and Victoria, we knew where the ghost could be, in fact on the third floor of the hostel there is a dungeon where the legend says the lady died, a very small room where you cannot enter but with a whole on the door so that you can look in it. So we decided to go there, but unfortunately the magnetic key for the third floor didn't work so we couldn't reach the dungeon. Disappointed, we came back to the bar, where with the only light of the moon we started to tell each other some scary episodes that actually happened to us, that was really creepy, and the girls get really scared when I faked to see the Phantom.

So this is it the following day everyone came back to their home, ready to work for the good ending of CU in 10 years, for what regard me, I am very happy for this experience, as I said it was good to have the possibility to know, and have an exchange with other people, to see how we are different and how we are similar, I believe that the framework that we have created worth, and that we are going to reach our goals, and spread the CU in 10 years spirit to other youngsters, helping them to being more active and aware that their voice count.