Outdoor For Healthy Life (Erasmus + project)

The „Outdoor For Healthy Life” project was held within the framework of Erasmus + program. The project aimed to promote a healthy lifestyle, primarily among young people. Health is the most important factor determining the human life and the invaluable wealth. According to the World Health Organization, the health is a physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease and physical defects. The improvement of public health is the basic condition for the development of society. This is the main reason, why the project was targeted to healthy life-style, and the sport activities were used as a tool. Apart from two days in Tbilisi, we spent a whole week in a place called P’ona, the campsite, surrounded with the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. There were people from 8 countries, participating in the project: Italy, Georgia, Armenia, Poland, The Czech Republic, Spain, Lebanon and Ukraine. We and our friends were actively participating in various workshops and events aiming to improve our physical and mental health. There was an exercise called “The Living Library “. This is an innovative way of sharing experiences with others. The Living Library is a tool that seeks to challenge prejudice and discrimination. It works just like a normal library: visitors can browse the catalogue for the available titles, choose the Book they want to read, and borrow it for a limited period of time. After reading, they return the Book to the library and, if they want, they can borrow another. The only difference is that in the Living Library, Books are people, and reading consists of a conversation. This activity is designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes through dialogue. A place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered. When we returned to Poland, we decided to popularize this activity among our friends. We organized a Living Library evening, when our Book was presented. Max was the Book, he talked about our experiences related to the Georgia trip. The most enjoyable Chapter in our Book (not only for the readers, but also for us) was the one about our the Survival Evening Task. In groups of four, we had to face a number of challenges: – lighting the bonfire, – cooking a dinner in nature, – milking a cow, – harvesting grapes, – conducting an interview with locals, – building a shelter from materials cellected in a wood. Our friends enjoyed the Living Library activity so much, that…from the Readers, they have already became the Books  (There is a key conclusion: DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER) We would like to thank Zdrowy Rower Association for making our participation in this amazing project possible! Greetings, The Zdrowy Rower team: Ania Witczak, Natalia Rogowska, Maksym Piekart, Krzysztof Kopeć