Good deal of laugh, Spanish and Moldovan dances, Yoga, strange breakfasts (noodles with some meat?), some sun-burn and tan, some abrasions for brave swimmers who enjoyed the waves too much, lots of nice pictures, ideas, impressions, views of ancient Khersones – to be compared with the picture on Ukrainian hryvna. This we have as balance for Advanced Project Management training.

Despite sun and sea, we had constructive working atmosphere, kept most participants captivated by the training, and put many spoonfuls of info on project cycle management, developing projects, managing time, finances and people, fundraising and crisis management, features of successful manager. Sometimes it was very theoretic and serious, sometimes playful and exaggerated, but always interactive and result-oriented. We – participants from Moldova, Russia, Belarus, Sweden and USA, and prep-team from Ukraine, Poland, Sweden and Croatia.

The training gathered a group of 25 participants and prep-teamers in the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, from 7th till 13th of July, 2008. The program provided space to share experiences and knowledge, get answers on specific questions, elaborate ideas for projects to be realized in participating organizations. The word “Advanced” in the title of the training suggested, that participants already have some experience in organizing and managing volunteer projects, so the program provided space to build up on the existing foundation. It was a challenge to find good balance between basic and advanced, challenge for the prep-team to prepare the program shortly before the begin of the event due to cast-away visa invitation, exams and changes in the prep-team; as always challenge to get enough sleep. So there's way to get to the perfect, and hopefully it will be visible not only in the next international trainings, but also in the impact of the training on the participants and organizations, and lots of new projects to come!