INTERVET Albania, February 2022

In the framework of the Intervet Western Balkans project, Institute for New Age Education (ZNI) hosted a group from Albania that stayed here from January 27th until February 25th in 2022. Sending organisation of the group was Albanian Skills - National Association for Skills Competitions and the project was coordinated by our long term partner, Uniser Società Cooperativa Sociale Onlus from Forlì, Italy.

Students Musa, Erald, Rei, Fabian, Klevi, Briland, Laerti, Melisa, Etis, Kristian and Juled arrived to Maribor from Vienna Airport on 27th of January. They were accompanied by their tutor Seldan. The group had a few days of preparation which included many activities: presentation of Mobility program and getting to know each other at the ZNI office, Safety at work course at IVD centre, Interview simulation and CV workshop, presentation of Slovenia and visiting National Liberation Museum with a Guided city tour: What can Maribor offer me?.

The group's mentor, Patricia Hrnčić, was guiding and mentoring the group through their mobility in Maribor. As part of mobility programme activities, the group went on a trip to Pohorje hill, must see hiking spot in Maribor, where they had an opportunity to get to know each other better and spend quality time in nature. 

Practical trainings for the students were organised by ZNI mobility coordinator Rebeka Čeh in different companies in Maribor. Students were placed in the following companies: construction company Kodel d.o.o., security company REAL security d.o.o., marketing agency Kainoto d.o.o., online accounting development company E-Računi d.o.o., company with gaming equipment Colby d.o.o., a restaurant Nana gostinstvo d.o.o., electronic PCB boards production company Smartronik d.o.o., daily center for children and youth PIKA dnevni center za otroke in mladostnike Maribor, private investigation company Intellegos d.o.o. and a hotel on Pohorje hill 5START d.o.o. In the companies the students had been given the opportunity to develop, both personally and professionally, and had improved their knowledge in different fields. 

The main goal of this mobility was to encourage students to learn, as well as socialise and meet new people. Students spent their free time going around Maribor, walking by the Drava river and going to the city park. They loved spending time outside and exploring the city as much as they could. Students expressed that living in Maribor was a great and very valuable experience for them. All of the students improved their English and communication skills and also became more independent.

Juled and Briland (Nana gostinstvo d.o.o.)

»My name is Juled, I had an internship in Maribor and my experience here was wonderful. I really enjoyed working at Nana and will definitiely return to Maribor in summer.«

»I'm Briland. It has really been a great experience in Maribor. I enjoyed every minute of being here. I have learned so many new things in the kitchen but also about the city. It has really been great. From 1 to 10, I would rate the experience with 100. I have met a lot of new people here and got so many new friends. Thank you for the opportunity.«

Klevi (Colby d.o.o.)

»I really like the hosting company ZNI, Albanian Skills and the company I was doing my internship in – Colby d.o.o. Everyone was great, professional, didn't hold anything back and told me everything as it is. I really liked that, I learned a lot from it. I think this experience helped me to grow as a person and to develop a better version of me for the future and I am really excited for my future opportunities.«

​Rei (Kainoto d.o.o.)

»My name is Rei and I come from Albania as a part of Intervet project Western Balkans. I worked at Kainoto d.o.o. company here in Maribor which is a marketing company. I did web programming and it was a very good experience for me to develop my skills. I had a great time here.«

Laerti (Smartronik d.o.o.)

»I'm Laerti, I'm 17 years old and I'm a part of Intervet Western Balkans program here in Maribor. I come from Albania and I have been here since the end of January. I have worked in Smartronik d.o.o. for a month and I'm really excited about it. I have learned a lot of things about electronics and it's been a great experience for me and my career.«