The Soroptimist
Leadership Academy at Lake Ohrid in the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia took place in July this year. A joint project of SI Struga (FYROM) and
the SI Turkish Union, this was a 10 day experience to help participants
discover their
leadership potential.

Here, student Ernesta Dambrauskaite shares her experience with us.

"I am very
grateful to the Soroptimists of Lithuania, Denmark, Turkey
and Macedonia
for the opportunity I was given. The Turkish
and Macedonians organized the training camps, travel
expenses were funded by the Danish Soroptimists, and Raseiniai gave financial and
moral support.  Macedonia became home to women and girls
from Turkey, Germany, Denmark, Croatia,
Portugal, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

The
camp began on 16 July in Ohrid,
near the lake of
the same name, perched in the
mountainous border between Albania and Macedonia. This is the deepest and
oldest lake in the
Balkans and it is included in the
UNESCO world cultural and natural
heritage.

On
the first day we were introduced to the town of Ohrid
and its surroundings. The Soroptimists Club of
Struga told us about the history of the
country  which is closely related
to the Byzantine and Ottoman heritage. It is impossible to overlook the country’s rich religious
heritage – monasteries,
frescoes, mosaics and various types of shops,
selling religious-themed paintings, handicrafts and souvenirs.

My eyes were delighted to see the mountains and the blue lake landscape. It seemed we had fallen into
the world of greeting cards – it was so pictorial and
transparent. Almost every house had a balcony and whilst walking through the cobblestone streets we could see people on balconies sipping coffee and
curious passers-by watching the scenes.

 

The evenings bought
hustle and bustle and after the heat of the day, people streamed out onto
the streets; some sitting in outdoor cafes enjoying coffee. We could hear live
music and singing,  see smiling
locals and musicians, others enjoying roadside grilled corn
on the cob, stopping to
chat with local sellers of the
gift shops.

However, together with experiencing day to day life in this beautiful place, it was of course necessary to get used to another temporary
routine – lectures
at the Leadership
Academy. The schedule was pretty
tight – we
started at nine o’clock in the
morning and finished at eight
in the evening. The teachers who worked with us
were from different countries. In the
morning, Sabine Blum, the teacher
from Germany,
led Pilates classes.
Later, Dilsen Oktay from Turkey, taught us yoga exercises. We
spent a lot of time with the
music lecturer Pia Dahl from Denmark who
shared her experiences of how to
correctly articulate, breathe and speak
expressively. We learned how to feel the text
and convincingly convey emotions and learned a
lot about our body language. We had a variety of workshops, which helped to consolidate the knowledge we gained.

 

The SI President Elect Yvonne Simpson from New Zealand, helped us improve our listening skills
with exercises and games, demonstrating the best qualities of a
person; warmth, intelligence and not judging others harshly. Yvonne was
happy to join the group both in tasks and around
the dinner table, extending the discussions. Language and communication professor Rhonda L.
Bowen was able to draw each and every student into discussions and it gave our community the feeling of a large family. Tasks were
selected so aptly that each
student understood that it doesn’t matter what nationality or language we are, the main thing is
willingness to listen to other people and try to understand them. In addition, we had an opportunity to see
documentary ‘Vulva 3.0’ directed in Germany. The topic of the film is female
genital anatomy and vulva mythologization, a topic still not widely discussed in public.

 

In
my view,
the activities of the Academy
were consistently well thought out. The lectures were carefully prepared, (they had
a lot of extra handouts) and all were attentive to each student’s
questions and comments. During
almost every lecture we had to
work in pairs or we were divided
into groups and communicated in English giving the girls the opportunity to get to know one another and to
establish warmer relations
with each other. Not to mention the fact that we were able to improve the art of negotiation,
listening skills and problem solving.

Almost every evening we were able to know our teachers
better and to hear their life stories, showing faith, inspiration, and the idea that people can be most successful when faced
with adversity. This knowledge
brings strength at difficult moments, showing us that if other people can overcome difficult obstacles, we also can do this.

Much
attention was devoted to the theory of
leadership itself. We learned
that there are many different types of leaders, but
perhaps the most unifying feature of all of them is
the ability to motivate people
around you and to help guide their
direction.

 

The time passed by quickly in a friendly squad of girls and women. When
it was time to go home, it was sad
because it was the life of most beautiful experiences that showed us that women are not only competitors.

Once
again I
would like to thank all Soroptimists that have contributed
to my journey and the opportunity to participate in the Leadership Academy. I would especially like to thank Elona Mikalauskiene, the SI President of Raseiniai for believing in me and encouraging me to take part. It is just one
more example that generous and good-meaning people are there when you expect
them least.

Ernesta Dambrauskaite,

Student
of Vytautas Magnus
University, Kaunas