Daria Jaranowska about 2014 in Youth4Media
That was an amazing year for me and for Youth4Media. First of all I’ve got employed ;) and second of all we’ve made variety of projects.
One after another. Meetings, events, projects, awards. All took place basically once per month. I don’t want to choose which one was the best because all of them were really important for the development of the network but also for all of the people who took part in it. However, I will let myself to tell about some which will stay in my mind for a long time.
I guess that the most innovative project of the year 2014 was a project between Münster and Rishon LeZion. After a long break, we finally made a project which combines making video with music. It was extremely interesting to observe young people from Israel and Germany who were creating their own music to the existing song. After recording a music video they had a product which many organisations can be jealous about. I hope for more projects connected with music!
Successful moment for me as a managing director of Youth4Media was after getting an answer from EAEA that my project Team Up had been chosen as a best practice project example of Grundtwig Award 2014. It was a pleasure to present the products and to share information about the work of Y4M during the conference in Sarajevo.
A bit of fear before and satisfaction afterwards. That was what I feel while recalling the project in Ukraine. I was thinking all the time that everything can happen because in that time (August 2014) Ukraine was in the middle of the conflict with Russia. Maybe somebody will attack us (the group of young video makers), maybe something will go wrong. But I realized that anything can happen always and everywhere. The fact that you can report what is happening there and to somehow influence the situation of community media there, to listen to the stories of people who escaped from Donetsk was a small success for Youth4Media and of course for me as a person.
In the end (but as the most important for me) I would like to tell about our European Volunteers. They have made much work for Bennohaus but also they are really important for me. It was a pleasure to be their mentor. They have never had big problems, they always did what it supposed to be done and what is the most important – they became my friends. Maybe it is a matter of fact that like me they are a foreigners, maybe because I was working right next to them and spending 8 hours per week with them, maybe… Maybe all of those facts together made from us friends but for sure the fact that they are wonderful people influenced it the most. Isabel and Grzesiek – thank you very much for being for me and with me. I hope to continue, no matter where you will be.
And for all the others, I wish Marry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I wish that everything will be great during Christmas and that you will spend that time with all the people who you love and in the places which are your favourite ones. I am going to Poland, to my family and that already makes it perfect. Wesolych Swiat oraz szczesliwego Nowego Roku!
Daria Jaranowska
