Before we got to know our guest speaker Christian from the SOS – Kinderdorf Imst, we did some energizers to start the day off. One of these was the Worm Game, which is the favourite game of one of our facilitators. We have already tried it several times, but today we got the best result so far.

With some positive energy from this game we started the workshop about the SOS – Kinderdorf. Christian explained to us how the Kinderdorf works, followed by a brief insight into his life. After that, we started a simulation where everybody got a role related to international protection of children, i.e. SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia, or The Ministerium of Education Uganda. The main story was about a family that didn’t know what the best way to donate their money is, and they had to decide between the government and an NGO. Unfortunately, we didn’t have too much time, so not everyone got to explain their points. 

Then we moved on to ask Christian questions about the SOS – Kinderdorf and his life, which  continued all the way into lunch. We got information about how the Kinderdorf started and how it works. We got inspired to never give up, because this organisation started in a tiny house in Imst in 1949 and nowadays it is one of the biggest NGOs in the world.

In the afternoon,  session called “Project, Baby, Project” commenced, where we got into groups of about five people, and we had  to think of a project which relates to the Short Course and the topics we discussed. Today, we brainstormed and started implementing our plans. Tomorrow we will continue this project and present it to the other participants and groups.

The best part of the day was the Open Mic where everyone could present their talents or just their “silly” ideas. It was one of the highlights of these two weeks.