Seven representatives from North Macedonia participated in the youth exchange “Media Literacy for Youth“, which took place from 19th to 26th August in Lovech, Bulgaria. 
‘”Life is not about the journey, nor the destination. It is instead, about the people.” – an Erasmus+ saying passed down from a friend of a friend to me…
We, the participants of the youth exchange in Lovech came to understand the meaning of these words very deeply. It was a relatively cold summer night on the 19th of August when we arrived, along with 35 strangers, in a cozy little hotel in the mountains of Bulgaria. By the departure date on the 27th, we left with tears in our eyes, saying goodbye to the people who’d become our family and to a place where lifelong memories had been forged.
Throughout the course of just 7 days, by participating in many fun, creative and somewhat silly games, we managed to explore concepts like media manipulation, fact-checking, fake news, machine learning algorithms tempering with people’s newsfeeds… the whole set of tools used to distort the truth in favor of getting more clicks and spreading narratives across the population. During the nights, however, we received an education of a different kind. Every night began with a presentation of one country’s traditional dances, music, foods and drinks. Later on as people’s spirits got livelier and conversations deepened, the experience would take a more personal direction. Mind-expanding viewpoints on life, relationships and maturity being shared were precursors to heart-opening, pure moments between souls…
We leave Lovech with infinite love, thousands of memories, hundreds of funny moments caught on video, dozens of international friends, a few regrets, and a single overwhelming wish – that being to see our people (whom we miss very much) again someday!
Thank you Lovech!”
