President of Slovenia receives participants of 'Mirno morje 2012' project

Ljubljana, 15.9.2012  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Danilo Türk, hosted a reception for the Slovenian participants of the European social educational project, 'Mirno morje 2012', intended for children and adolescents living in deprived areas and in children's and juvenile homes, and for children with disorders in their mental and physical development. In the project, children and adolescents experience life on a sailboat, which provides intensive social learning, giving them new experiences and knowledge that will help them in their future lives.

In his address, President Türk said that he read with great interest the log books drawn up by last year's participants of the 'Mirno morje' project. They contained the descriptions of their experiences related to activities on the boats, uncertain weather conditions and the participants' excitement at sea, as well as descriptions of mutual cooperation, problem-solving and conflict resolution, and the coordination of their work in the project.

President Türk pointed out that all these values will have an important impact on their lives and that the experience gained from the 'Mirno morje' project will often be very useful for them in the future. He added that this experience is also very important for Slovenia in general. As he explained, we all must endeavour to understand the importance of cooperation, mutual understanding and joint problem-solving and highlighted the 'Mirno morje' project as one helping us to learn these skills.

'I wish you all safe sailing, calm seas and fair winds ', said President Türk. He noted that this year's campaign includes 112 sailing boats from different countries – a good number of boats proving the increasing significance of this important and noble campaign. The president also commended the size of the Slovenian team being represented by 16 sailing boats. He promised that he will further support this project and that he will be glad to read more logbooks drawn up by the participants of the project.