Sad to say, but today is my last day in IHAEC and last day in Antwerp.

So, it is time to evaluate my stay here from September 2011 to June 2012, with a break in winter.

Great thanks to Ninette and Peke, who were my teachers, colleagues and friends, for this amazing experience , that I could not get anywhere else than in DAA. During the workshops I learned a lot of things, what you can never learn in university. Now I know how to make campaigns funky and creative, how to do the communications and lead people involved in a project. I started to make pictures and videos in a much better way, plus now I know how to work in an international team.

I really hope to apply these experiences in making my own AIDS awareness projects back home in Ukraine.

It was not only the studies: six months here changed my view of the world and priorities for my future life.

I am trying to remember how I was in the beginning, when I just arrived, my first impressions from Belgium and Antwerp. I considered Europe as another planet, now I know that people are the same everywhere. That’s why I'm coming back to my country without illusions.

There are plenty of things that I can say, but they are too personal to publish on a website.  I found real friendship here and I even have a special “spot” in Antwerp, the best place to look at the water and think about life.

I am sure that I will come back to visit my friends here one day. See you, Antwerp!