Roots & Waves: first Erasmus+, first time surfing and a lot of new stories

For four young people and one team leader from Bildung Nijmegen, the summer started with a special adventure: the Erasmus+ youth exchange Roots & Waves in Soulac-sur-Mer, France.

For several participants, this was their very first Erasmus+ project. That means packing your bag, travelling with a group, meeting young people from other countries, speaking English, figuring things out together and slowly realising that you are capable of more than you thought.

And as if that was not exciting enough, some of them also surfed for the first time. Or, to be honest, first they mostly fell, laughed, got back up and tried again. But that was exactly the beauty of it. You do not always learn by sitting still. Sometimes you learn by stepping into the waves, cheering each other on and giving it another try.

Roots & Waves was all about young people, nature, coastal communities, sustainability and finding your own voice. Not in a boring classroom way, but outside, by the ocean, together with young people from different countries. The project focused on outdoor well-being, green action, active citizenship and digital storytelling.

One of the highlights was the Dutch evening. Of course, we brought a small piece of the Netherlands with us to France. We played traditional Dutch games like koekhappen and challenged the international group to pronounce some “impossible” Dutch names, cities and words. Nijmegen, Scheveningen, gezellig… not easy, but definitely funny.

For us, this week showed once again why Erasmus+ matters. Young people step out of their familiar surroundings, meet people they would normally never meet, try things they have never done before and come back with stories you cannot learn from a book.

Sometimes growth starts with a wave, a group of strangers who become friends, and a cookie on a string.