Hi everyone! My name is Angelina Melachroinou, I live in the Netherlands and I  want to share with you my experience as a participant in the youth exchange program  ‘Tech Youth’. Tech Youth took place in Veroli (area of Frosinone), Italy from the 20th until the 29th of September 2025. The participating countries were Italy, the  Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Lithuania. The participants were approximately  thirty people.  

In this project, we learned a lot about how technology affects our everyday lives and  how to use it effectively, avoiding the danger of getting addicted. We used our phones  in order to create social media context, videos and photos to promote the program, but in the end, we realized that we were actually creating beautiful memories that would  stay with us forever. The most important part was that we also learned how to live  without technology and to connect deeply with other people in real life.  

We discussed a lot about technology and human relationships, the use of dating apps  and the use of artificial intelligence nowadays. There was a lot of debate whether  technology and artificial intelligence actually helps or not people to connect and to be  creative. Through this project, we also had the chance to create a podcast about a topic  of our own interest, which was a very creative and interesting activity.  

Besides the activities related to technology, we also had the chance to talk about the  organizations that our facilitators were representing. The main organization’s focus was  on children’s rights, so we discussed about it. Furthermore, we did a lot of activities  which raised awareness about bullying and racism, but also creative activities that  contained theater and storytelling.  

Last but not least, we had the chance to visit Rome during our free day, which is a  city with a lot of history and heritage, and Abazzia di Casamari, a very old monastery  which was the host of our program. In general, the region that we were staying was full  of nature and into the mountains, an amazing opportunity to relax and come closer to  yourself and others.  

Overall, the project was an amazing experience. I met new friends from all over the  world, I learned a lot and I appreciated every single moment. I am grateful and happy that I had the chance to participate in this program and I would definitely do it again if  I had the chance!