Breaking Free from Modern Addiction – Participant’s testimonies
Breaking Free from Modern Addictions” (BFMA) was a youth exchange that has been implemented in Ommen, the Netherlands, between 11 and 18 of September 2024. The BFMA project gathered 40 young people from 5 different European countries (Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain) to raise awareness on the topic of modern-day addictions, the causes behind and what can we do to prevent them.
During the youth exchange, participants engaged in various activities and created numerous materials to reflect their work and perspectives on the topic. To keep as a reminder of the positive outcomes of the project, we asked on the last day, three participants from each country to answer some questions about the program, their experience, and what they learned. In the video, you can see participants from each country speaking in front of the camera about their feelings, emotions, and learnings, as well as about the whole experience in general and how it had impacted their lives!
You can watch it at the following link.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the young participants (Ana, Jesus, Claudia, Nikos, Ioanna, Dimitris, Jura, Gediminas, Zydre, Luca, Rosa, Giorgio, Kai, Emili, and Ahmet) who accepted the invitation to be interviewed for the purposes of the youth exchange project BFMA!
For those who wish to revisit the highlights of the program, a recap video is also available:
This youth exchange was more than just a project. It was a journey of learning, growth, and connection. Through the testimonies and the shared moments captured in these videos, the project lives on, inspiring others to reflect on and address the challenges of modern-day addictions.
Participants testimonies:
Emily, a Dutch participant, shared: “This experience truly opened my eyes to how much time I spend online. I feel more aware and ready to make positive changes in my digital habits.”
Luka, also from the Dutch team, added: “I learned a lot about myself and met some amazing people. This exchange helped me better understand the importance of balance in using technology.”
Konstantina, a Greek participant shared: “BFMA was a project to remember. We became a family with all participants and we connected deeper by working together and share our experience”.
Ioanna, one of the Greek participants said: “Coming here I thought we were just a group of young people talking about addictions, but in the end of the day we realized that maybe we have our own addictions”
Nikos, another Greek participant noticed that “What I will keep from this project is what I learned for social media addiction because I catch myself being attached to my phone. So, every time I open an App I will keep in mind what we discussed during this project”