A national training of trainers having 170 participants took place in Razlog, Bulgaria between the 2nd and 8th of December. It had the support of the Ministry of Health and Component 7, program “Prevention and control of HIV/AIDS”, Y-PEER Bulgaria, PETRI – Sofia, National Centre for Public Health and Analysis and 18 Non-governmental organizations.

The team of trainers consisted of 11 psychologists and professionals and 3 Y-PEER Focal Points. There was also a team of 18 peer educators having described their experience in papers https://papermasters.org/ from the 18 clubs of Y-PEER in Bulgaria.

On the first day, the main task was for the peer educators. They had to figure out an interesting way of welcoming the participants through dancing and singing to catch their attention. When everybody arrived, the facilitated discussion aimed to agree on some rules and to explore everybody’s expectations.

The first training day started with a lot of energy. All the participants were divided into small groups with different trainers to get to know themselves. The topics were self-knowledge, values, HIV/AIDS prevention, sexual reproductive health and rights. In the afternoon the groups were divided into smaller groups, according to their local clubs.

Another special part from the training was the Parade of the cities, dedicated to the International day of the volunteer on 5th of December. Each and every one of the 18 clubs has prepared a play, a song or a dance for performing. It was very emotional and we all had great fun.

According to our working process there was a special session with experts on the topic of Outreach and during the whole training there was a project management and development group. They had a task to work in regions and develop a project proposal connected to the health education in Bulgaria and the young people.

The last night of the training was filled with lots of emotions. Our special drama club, organized plays connected with the topics of the training, the music club performed some of the most beloved songs. And there was our club – the journalist club “Rush Hour”.

There were many emotions and although many participants had never met each other, for a few days, we all felt like family. We learned new things, we laughed together and cried when we had to go back home because everything was really amazing.