Everyone arrived on Saturday, 19th July. Around 30 young people from all over Europe had travelled to Nijmegen, most of them in their 20s. In all, there were around 40 participants (including speakers and workshop leaders) taking part, representing the 13 countries: Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.
The theme of this Youth Meeting was Stuttering and Alternative Communication; there were three different workshops organised for the week, dealing with "Alternative Communication" -- Communication and sign language, Conununication and art, and Communication and mime and theatre. The basic idea was that Alternative Communication provides a way to communicate without direct emphasis on speaking, but features ways of expressing feelings and emotional frames of mind through creative, non-verbal communication. The meeting gave the participants the opportunity to gather in an informal and warm-hearted atmosphere, to exchange views and experiences concerning stuttering, and to make close friendships.
During the following days the participants were divided into two groups, and the workshops were organised in a way that everyone could take part in each workshop. Each workshop was very interesting and great fun: Kati Lakner, who works with deaf people in Finland, gave us a comprehensive introduction to sign language; participants found themselves immersed in the world of body language: hand-waving, finger-tapping, and facial expressions. We were taught the International Manual Alphabet as a means to express one's thoughts and feelings and Kati also introduced us to some of the basic principles and aspects of the "Deaf culture of the deaf community," as opposed to the "Deaf identity" of an individual.
Beate Schäfers of Germany held a picturesque workshop on Communicart - Painting and Art Therapy Excercises. The workshop made the participants ask themselves if art could help make one's ways of expressing oneself less laboured, and whether art could make them open to the world in a way that they had never thought of before. One exercise consisted of painting one's name on a picture which sought to convey to the viewer what is particular about the name. Another exercise included a dual-picture relationship between an individual's problems/visual appearance and possible solution to this. Beate summoned us to express parts of our personality, as well as positive and negative influences on our lives in paintings. It was interesting to observe how everyone realised/transferred her tasks. The painting presented a true challenge to everyone.
There was a day's outing to the town of Eibergen on Wednesday, where the orienteering competition was very much enjoyed; unfortunately, our capability for orienteering was often put to the test by one of the organisers, who probably lost her bearings more often than our group and succeeded in really confusing us ! There was archery, cycling, and rafting at Eibergen, too.
On Thursday and Friday, the last two days of the meeting, we learned a lot about mimic art and the expressiveness of body language in Markku Laitinen's workshop Theatre and Mie Teaching. Markku's challenge to everybody aimed at finding powers hidden inside people, powers some (or most) of us had never dreamed we possessed. It was especially fascinating when Markku illustrated how well one can communicate just with the eyes. Markku's "everything is right" theatre technique of performing images to a suddenly-shouted word was odd to some participants, but the overall effect was rather intriguing and thought-provoking.
Although the workshops didn't deal with stuttering directly, they made it clear to every participant - in three different ways - how to express ourselves and our feelings without speech, and just how much one can express without speaking at all !
In the evenings, speeches - most of them relating to stuttering with an international angle - were held. For example, representatives of the 'Dutch Association for People who Stutter" were invited, such as Arnoud Alderlieste who informed us about the work of this Organisation. Moreover, members of the self-help group of Nijmegen introduced themselves to the group and often joined us in the evenings. As Co-chairs / Board members of ELSA, Edwin Farr (UK) and Konrad Schäfers (Germany) gave presentations on the work of ELSA and how ELSA relates to other stuttering associations around the world, in which they also told us about the foundation and goals of ELSA.
During the meeting, I especially enjoyed the spontaneous activities within the group. For example, the first evening had already ended with a"spontaneous party" which was continued on the following evenings(!)
There were also excellent opportunities to play volleyball and basketball in the time between the workshops. Furthermore, a table-tennis competition and a soccer one were arranged. On Thursday evening a 'Karaoke' equipment was set-up and we all had a lot of fun singing - or, at least, trying to sing - famous songs.
On the final evening, there were sketches performed by representatives of different countries, before Markku thrilled us with his theatre presentation The Cry from Inside, which received prolonged applause from the audience. Besides some personal presentations from the participants there was, of course, the big Farewell Party. At the feedback session, the participants shared their feelings, criticisms and views about the workshops. Special thanks were given to the organisers (and co-Chairs of ELSA): Anita Bloni, Alien Timans, Edwin Farr and Konrad Schäfers.
On behalf of all the delegates (writes Vasil) I express sincere gratitude to Susan O'Flaherty of Mobility International for her principal role in organising the Eibergen outing, and for introducing us to Mobility Intemational's work in Europe and worldwide.
Once more (concludes Verena) I had a great time at a seminar, which Wm live in my mind for a long, long time. And I'm glad to have met a lot of wonderful people again. Tlis Youth Meeting was a real success ! Yet I wonder that nobody from nearby countries like France or Belgium attended. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the Organisation of the seminar, but special thanks to the ELSA board officials who did so much to make this second 'ELSA Youth Meeting' possible.
Well then, see you all at the next ELSA meeting!
Key objectives 
Youth meetings 
