Children aged 13 to 14 from around of our country participated in an Intercultural Exchange Program from June 11 to June 30, 2023, within the project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training”. The “Children’s Village” in Trogen, Switzerland, served as the program’s host. For more than 70 years, it has provided children with new learning opportunities, such as communication with peers and interaction with other cultures.
The 40 teenagers participated in non-formal educational approaches, which varied in terms of organization and approach to topics, under the supervision of a group of local facilitators, thus giving them the chance to develop their own identities, become aware of their own limits, assimilate strategies for overcoming prejudices and stereotypes of all kinds, to eradicate discrimination, etc.
The values that went through all the activities carried out like a “red thread”, including with a group of teenagers from Switzerland, were: freedom of thought and action; tolerance; mutual respect; empathy; accepting diversity in the name of democracy; peaceful coexistence between peoples; and a better life for all.
The program provided each adolescent with a special opportunity/ a unique experience to gain knowledge and self-awareness, closeness and openness to others, knowledge assimilation and intercultural competence, teamwork, and ties to friends. This experience, which undoubtedly had a profound and long-lasting impact, was also enhanced by travel to significant tourist destinations in Romania, Hungary, Germany, Austria, and, of course, Switzerland. The project “Promoting and developing intercultural education for pre-service teacher training” is implemented by E.C. PRO DIDACTICA with the support of the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation in Switzerland and aims to increase the tolerance level among young people in the Republic of Moldova by developing and strengthening intercultural competences.