In 2014, we met Erasmus + projects by chance. From the very beginning we felt that this meeting would change many things in our lives. When we finished our first project and returned home, there were gifts we bought for our family and friends, friendships that would last a lifetime, a great life experience and most importantly a mind opened to the outside world. This excellent activity impressed us in every sense. It was unbelievable that such close friendships could be established in such a short time as 8-9 days, that so many things could be learned and great life experiences would be achieved.

In fact, one of the Turkish participants said in her closing speech, “This project has improved my English more than I have had in a year in school”. This accuracy was unquestionable because in these kind of projects an education method was used contrary to what is known.

Someone with knowledge and diplomas did not just pass the information directly to the bored ‘receivers’ who appeared as ‘sender’. Instead, a facilitator made the necessary directions on the main topic of the event, and the participants expressed their own knowledge. In this way, a collective flow of information was provided. There were open-ended discussions, different approaches in other countries, and everyone was humbly sharing their experiences on the subject of interest. And all these were done in English. This method, which they call ‘non-formal education’, has attracted us from the very first minute. The best thing about all of this was that Erasmus + projects were completely free.

We thought that this method of education should become widespread in our country and every young person studying in our country should participate in at least one such project. We decided to open as many doors as we could in people’s minds by reaching as many people as we could. We said that “We can do this job even more organized and in a quality way” and we set off. In the first place, we participated in as many projects as we could to increase our own experiences in this field. Every time we learned something new. As a result of these projects, which we still continue to learn, we officially entered the Erasmus + world in 2016.

Our aim was to touch life as much as we could and to ensure that young people in our country benefit from these opportunities at maximum level in accordance with the purpose of Erasmus +. We have been continuing our work in this direction for years on a voluntary basis. We have not limited this movement to EU projects and we have played important roles in many social responsibility projects. Now, we are proud to be one of the cornerstones of many people who have already started their business life and have taken their steps to higher education. We would like to thank all our friends and volunteers who have walked with us on this road.