The representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro, Natalija Vukčević, participated in the circus pedagogy training as part of the Erasmus + project “Circus pedagogy for inclusion in the Balkans”, which took place in Brežice, Slovenia, in the period from January 15 to 23, 2022.
“At the beginning, I would like to emphasize that this was my first trip outside the borders of Montenegro and to thank the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro for choosing me as the best Montenegrin candidate for participation in the international project “Circus Pedagogy for Inclusion in the Balkans”. The experience and knowledge I gained as part of this project will certainly improve my future life and work with children in my community. The lecturers Denis, Anja and Sonja were really dedicated and professional in imparting knowledge and skills to about thirty participants. The energy at the workshops was incredible and because of that we easily overcame certain barriers to learning. This is especially true for me since I had a phobia of balloons due to an eye accident (ten years ago when I was blowing up a balloon it burst and the tire hit my eye and seriously injured me, that’s when my balloon phobia started). However, I overcame that fear thanks to the creative workshops on balloon modeling. I thought it was impossible, but miracles do happen in the circus. We learned various games and acquired skills – from acrobatic exercises, human pyramids, to juggling, poy game techniques, diavolo game. I met a large number of wonderful young people from 12 countries who were all different but in some strange way similar…
For me, this project is of great importance when it comes to the further development of my pedagogic and animator career, and I am therefore extremely grateful that I was given this opportunity.
All praise for the entire project, lecturers and participants.”