Perhaps I could write a book about the whole experience. As for me, am still struggling to pinpoint the most captivating moments of the trip. However, I can perhaps highlight a few that stood out.
The Hospitality - This was top class for me right from day one up-until we left Turkey. Our hosts went the extra mile and that made our meetings and tight schedule very interesting and was always looking forward to the next day's activities. I must admit, being the Projects & Network Co-ordinator for Embrace, I was challenged in seeing the level of organisation and effort that had been put into making the whole trip successful and worthwhile for all parties concerned.
The Meetings - Right from the start, the meetings were very inspiring and informative, challenging with lots of opportunities for future partnership projects. It was fantastic to discover that Turkey is on the transitional and transformational course with the rest of the developed world. It was also interesting to know that the Turkish Education System is in the process of reformation and that the educators and decision/policy makers were willing and open to new ideas of service delivery.
Perhaps, one thing that stood out for me out of all the meetings was the desperate need and desire for the Turkish Government to address the BIG Issue concerning the negative attitudes towards Disability in the work place and also the need to educate people in the work force about changing their perceptions towards people living with disabilities. Definitely, a great opportunity for our LEAP4WARD workshops.
Site seeing / Historical Visits - This was one of the most memorable experience and demonstrated how much the Turkish people delite in the richness of their history. I was also intrigued to find out how ancient cities like Pargamon were preserved for generations like ours to reconnect with our ancestors, regardless of colour or ethnicity.
Workshops - The workshops were excellent, engaging and very eye opening especially seeing both the professionals'/educators' and university students' [from Balikesir] participation. I have a feeling that all participants in our workshops were touched at the level of the facilitators' openness and interactive/engaging nature of the processes they went through during the workshops, and the fun that was involved. It was also interesting to hear Dr Fahri's comments on how the University students were so engaging and how he would love to introduce a new way of delivering lectures at the University by making the lessons more interactive/engaging and fun than lecturing.
On a personal note, I also got know my team mates better and although we were faced with some challenges, we manged to over come them amicably and this enabled us to grow together and stronger as a team.
I believe there is great room for improvement as a team and as part of our various organisations in partnership with the LEAP4WARD Project.
I believe that as an individual, in my capacity as a representative for Embrace [both nationally and internationally] was challenged but also inspired after the whole experience.
I believe I had the opportunity to know more about myself and my role in the team, as well as the impact we all had on each other as a team.
I believe that great doors are yet to open up for us in Turkey and many new projects will soon spring up in the year ahead [2012].
And I also believe that the success of what Embrace does both on the national and international stage sorely depends on how well we work with each other as well as effectively playing our roles in the VISION for Embrace.
Having said all the above, I am grateful to be part of such wonderful people who are destined for greatness and bringing about inspiration in the lives of others.
Thanks.
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