23 representatives from 11 different countries met in Budapest from 08.-10. March 2019 for the annual Membership Meeting of Kolping Youth Europe. The delegates represented the national Kolping Societies from Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Thanks to the local Kolping Youth from Budapest, the meeting began with a delicious self-made Hungarian dinner and an intercultural evening close to the Hungarian Parliament. In a nice atmosphere, the delegates were meeting old friends and new youngsters from different parts of Europe.
The current situation and recent activities of Kolping Youth Europe and all national Kolping Associations were presented on the next day. For example, the Kolping Youth of Serbia informed about their event series “You in the eyes of an employer”, while the Kolping Youth of Romania directed the interest of the delegates towards a social project in which Kolping Families collect shoes for children in need. The German Kolping Youth advertised the 72-hours-campaign that consists of plenty of social projects being organised end of May 2019.
Afterwards, Marko Bojin (Serbia) and Sven Messing (Germany) were elected as new members of the board of Kolping Youth Europa; supporting the current board members Gellért Szabo (Hungary), Viktorija Erjavec (Croatia), Henrietta Blejan (Romania) and Dominik Presul (Slovakia) as well as the Youth Advisor Patrycja Kwapik (Poland). In the next months, the board will continue to work on the results of the workshops in which the delegates exchanged their experiences and wishes regarding communication, advertising, fundraising and local youth work.
Information about future events will be published on the Facebook page “Kolpingjugend Europa” as soon as the funding is ensured.
Sven Messing
