Jutta is a 60 years old German woman. She attended the workshop held in Hannover on 25 April 2009 and learnt how to use a DAISY player (Daisy is an accessible multimedia format).

"It is very important to me that generations keep in touch with one another and share their knowledge and skills. I have a Daisy player myself, but I was never able to handle it. For instance how to insert a bookmark, or how to navigate from one chapter to a sub chapter. And this is what I learnt today ! I enjoyed the way this young man taught me the basics. Young people and old people did have something to share. I think this is really worth it and it gave me an impulse to continue to talk and interact with young people in a relaxed manner. I am also really happy to be part of a European project. I never expected this would happen to me, I was invited to attend and contribute and I really feel that I am a part of it all now".

Francesco is a 28 years old blind man from Italy. He participated in the workshop held in Rome on 5-6 June 2009.

I came here because I wanted to know new things and learn from other people’s experiences. I also wanted to show people what I achieved as a radar system analyst to let them know that visually impaired people can also have a successful career in “unconventional” fields such as engineering. I taught advanced mobile phone functions to two participants who already knew about basic functions. They are defined as “elderly” but in reality they are just “less young” persons ! I taught them about blue-tooth, file and folder management and such things. And I learned something curious : how to make paper boats. I learned this from a person who is already a grandparent. I will maybe take advantage of this knowledge with my grandchildren, or my children to begin with, of course. I liked that people were here to tell their experiences and were interested in learning from the experiences of others. It is not always easy to communicate at such level.   
 

Şule is a Turkish education professional and a member of the Turkish Blind Union. She coordinated the workshops in Ankara.

I chose the topics after researching the needs of workshop participants, then I chose the facilitators. What was important to me was to concentrate on experiences and sharing. Today we had a workshop about housekeeping and raising a child. I was very happy that young men participated to this workshop because housekeeping and child care are often understood as women’s work in our society. It was great to hear their views and questions. Young people and older people have different experiences to share and it is easier to learn when it is interactive. The European dimension of the project appealed to me because I am interested in the experiences of blind people in other countries. Some experiences and problems change from country to country, but we also have universal problems as blind people.

Francesco is a 74 years old Italian man with low vision. He participated in the workshop held in Naples on 12-13 June 2009.

I have been severely partially sighted for 4 or 5 years now, but my sight is now rapidly deteriorating. At the workshop I had the opportunity to look at a number of aids for the blind which will be helpful, but establishing human relations was the most important thing to me.  The fact that we met and spent time together was an encouragement to everyone. I would not say that I taught something, I am not so ambitious ! But I could say that I transferred some of my experiences and I think that we all learnt something from each other today. I am proud to be a part of a European project, I am not sure I deserve such honour. The workshop was a very good initiative and I hope it is only the beginning. I hope that there will be more events like this in future !

Ayln is a 46 years old Turkish woman. She attended a workshop held in Ankara on 16 May 2009 and learnt about easy cooking routines.

The best thing for me was the practical aspect. I learned many tips for cooking which will really help me. And I shared my experience of raising a child with others. Over the years I learned that sometimes what the doctor say does not work for us. Also doctor’s instructions can change over time. So it is important to believe in ourselves and in what we do. I enjoy having interactions with people of different ages. I also enjoy interactions with blind people : now that I have low vision, I think I have a lot to learn from them.

Filadelfio is a 54 years old partially sighted Italian man. He participated in the workshop held in Catania on 19-20 June 2009.

I learned about the great opportunities offered by technology that we can take advantage of to overcome many obstacles that seemed insurmountable in the past and I received support from others. I would not say that the workshop changed my conception of intergenerational dialogue, but it contributed to expand it. I work in the educational field where  intergenerational dialogue is ongoing between teachers and students. People in my age group can benefit from listening to the new generations, and this is returned to the younger generations by sharing the knowledge of our past experiences with them. Being involved in the process of creating a model of intergenerational learning is an extremely positive experience. It shows the younger generations that even though we are 30 or 40 years older than them, we also need to learn. The positive message is that you will never stop learning in your life.