CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012]
Results and Conclusions: June - August 2012 Within this report contains the results and conclusions of Kumanovo’s First Street Based Youth work Team established through the Center for Intercultural Dialogue (CIDSBT). The results are for June August 2012 where the team spent three sessions each month that happened on Thursday evenings from 19:00 or 20:00 for approximately two hours each time. Within these sessions they engaged in dialogue with young people from Kumanovo within the city’s main squares to gain a greater understanding of the youth in Kumanovo’s situations. The sessions started in the second week of June after CID’s partner organisation Streets Festival ran a Youth in Action training ‘Street Based Youth Work for Roma Inclusion’. The training contained a day where the participants underto ok a session of street based youth work in teams across the city, the results can be found here: http://issuu.com/danieljohncarter/docs/street_based_youth_work_4_roma_inc_04062012
This report will be sent around the organisation as well as to interested Non-Government Organisations and the Municipality of Kumanovo itself.
During the sessions the teams engaged in dialogue with 170 young people within the main squares of Kumanovo. This report shows and discuses several factors about these young people, these factors include the: - Age distribution of the young people. - Average group size/s of the young people. - Gender distribution. - Ethnic distribution. - The stage of relationship (how well the young people are known) of the young people with the CIDSBT. - The issues and subjects discussed by the young people. - The curriculum (structure and method) of the conversation. Review: A review of particular aspects or quotes is also included in the report at the end. These quotes or notions have been highlighted by the street based team as they are of significant importance. The results and conclusions for these factors are as follows:
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] Age Distribution: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with young people aged between 10 and 25 years old, although this is not essentially exclusive. The ages of the young people encountered varied from 10 years of age to 25 years old. This was distributed as:
Age Distribution 10 yrs 13 yrs 14 yrs 15 yrs 16 yrs 17 yrs 18 yrs 19 yrs 20 yrs 21 yrs
22 yrs 23 yrs 25 yrs
As can be seen the largest age groups encountered were 18 years, 17 years and 15 years respectively. The main hypothesis that can be taken away from these results is that the majority of young people within the main squares on Thursdays around 19:00 to 21:00 are aged between 15 18 years old. However, it must be noted that this research was conducted within the summer months. Group Size: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with groups of young people of any group size. The group sizes of the young people encountered during the project varied from 1 individual person to a group of 7. This was distributed as: Group Size: 1 Person 2 People 3 People 4 People 5 People 6 People 7 People 2
Group Size
No. 7 16 18 5 3 4 2
1 Person 2 People 3 People 4 People 5 People
6 People 7 People
Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] As can be seen the majority of the groups composed of 2 or 3 persons suggesting that this is the preferable group size for young people. However, it must be taken into account that this study only happened over a period of 3 months and it takes further research to really conceive the av erage group size that young people ‘hang out’ around the central area of Kumanovo. Gender Distribution: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with an equal number of male and female young people aged, but due to the unpredictable nature of street based work as well as cultural, geographical and religious factors of the area. The gender distribution was as follows: Male:
Female: 99 71
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
Male:
Female:
The CID team encountered more male young people than female during June - August 2012. Over the next few months the team will analyse the results to see if this trend continues. If such a trend does continue, discussion and dialogue with young people will be used to establish why this happens. Ethnic Distribution: The CIDSBT aims to establish a realistic idea of the ethnic distribution of those hanging out within the central area of Kumanovo within the times designated for the street based sessions. It also aims to establish the gender distribution within those ethnicities we encounter to establish an understanding of the cultural, religious and general differences between them. The ethnic distribution of those young people encountered within the main squares was as follows: Ethnicity: Male: Female: Total No. Albanian 47 33 Macedonian 29 28 Roma 19 9 Turkish 4 0 Unknown 1 Total 99 71
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80 57 28 4 1 170
Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012]
Total Ethnic Distribution
Albanian Macedonian Roma Turkish Unknown
90
80
70
60 Male:
50
Female: 40 Total No.
30
20
10
0
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
Albanian
Macedonian
Roma
Turkish
Unknown
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] As can be seen the largest ethnic group encountered were Albanians making up making up 47% of the young people we spoke with. The Macedonians were the second largest group making up 34%, followed by the ethnic Roma young people making up almost 17% and the Turkish young people making up just over 2% of those we spoke with including one person of unknown ethnicity. What can also be noticed from the results is that we spoke to a larger number of male Albanians and Roma than female, whereas in the Macedonians were fairly evenly distributed in gender. However, with the Turkish young people we spoke exclusively with male young people as well as one female of unknown ethnicity.
The Statistical Year Book of the Republic of Macedonia states that according to census of 2002 Kumanovo had a population of 105 484 people. That population made up of 63 746 Macedonians, 27 290 Albanians, 4256 Roma, 292 Turks, 9062 Serbians, 147 Vlachs, 60 Bosniaks and 671 others. It must be noted that the population has most likely changed in 10 years, however it can be assumed it is not massively dissimilar. Questions that arise from these results are ones such as: -
Why did we speak to more Albanians when Macedonians are a larger percentage of population? Why did we exclusively speak to Male Turkish Young People? With a population of 9062, why did we not engage with any young people from the Serbian population?
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Answers to these questions will only come with further street based work over a much larger period of time, but the results are still worth noting. The difference between the number of male and female Albanian and Roma young people we spoke too was small enough to assume it was by chance. Stage of Relationship: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with young people and establish new relationships. At the beginning of the project it is most likely that we will only have beginning stages of relationships with only low key and interactive levels of conversation. The stage of the relationship with the young people is represented by a code, e.g. A2. This code is formed by two measurements. First we measure how well we know the young people with three letters: A = Introduction, B = Familiarising, C = Maintaining. Secondly we usual a number to describe the level / degree of conversation: 1 = Low Key (Hello, how are you, goodbye, etc.), 2 = Interactive (An actual conversation), 3 = Productive (A conversation or dialogue which results in young people acting on opportunities, advice, etc.). So for example, if we had a conversation with a group of young people we had spoken with once or twice, the code would be ‘B2’, B for familiarising and 2 for the conversation.
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] The results for our stages of relationships are as follows: SOR: A1 A2 B1 C1 C2
No. 11 25 2 8 11
Stage of Relationship
A1 A2 B1 C1 C2
As can be seen the majority of interaction as ‘A2’ which is introduction and interaction (usually discussion). This is to be expected as it the first months of the project and it takes a lot of time to establish relationships with young people. We only had one ‘A1’, introduction and low key, which suggests that this group were not interested in talking to us. We had one ‘B2’ which is probably from the second or third shift and meant that we met one group twice, therefore familiarising ourselves with them through interaction. The results showed a number of C1’s, but this was usually when staff knew some young people in the area well already and made light conversation. Following this we also received one ‘C2’ and this is where the team knew the young people w ell and also engaged in active conversation about Street Based Work and other programmes. Issues: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with young people and from this dialogue establish the things, issues and areas that they like to talk about and matter to them. The items raised in conversation and dialogue are record and are represented by a code, e .g. ED (Education), if the code had a circle around it, it means physical information like leaflets were handed out on that matter. If the code has a square around it, it means the young people actively participated on the information given. The full code list and their meanings are attached in Appendix 1. Although the team engages in dialogue about many subjects we document no more than the five most talked about subjects in each conversation.
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CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] The results are as follows: Issue: (YC) (YW) AC AK CR DI DYW E ED EI F GH I ICT P PG PT R RC SA SM SP SS UN W YCA
No. 36 39 5 22 7 3 17 1 12 5 2 1 16 1 1 7 4 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 2 1
Issue (YC) (YW) AC AK CR DI DYW E ED EI F GH I ICT
P PG PT R RC SA SM SP SS UN W YCA
The information shows that most of the subject matter was about youth work (YW) ; youth clubs (YC) and with information presented. This is because to start the street based service we have to introduce who we are what organisation we represent, as well as other organisations. Also Detached Youth Work (DYW) was also mentioned a lot to explain the service and why we have started it. The other common subjects were acknowledgement (AK), Education (ED), Introduction (I), Peer Group (PG) and Community Relations (CR). (YW) and (YC) are in brackets in the chart because flyers and information were handed out to the young people. 7
Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] Curriculum: The CIDSBT aims to engage in dialogue with young people and from this dialogue establish the methods that young people use and accept to engage in dialogue. Such as voicing an opinion, making a decision or just listening. These are again represented by codes which can be found in Appendix 2. How the young people engage in dialogue helps us to understand a method of approach to young people within the city and for all youth organisations to develop their youth dialogue. The results are as follows: Curriculum: No. AOI CUL DIS DR DU INFO ISS MA NEW ORG VO YC
3 2 38 1 19 43 1 7 1 2 29 2
Curriculum AOI CUL DIS
DR DU INFO ISS MA NEW ORG VO YC
As can be seen from the chart the main areas discussed between us and the young people were discussed using general discussion (DIS), providing information (INFO) and allowing the young people to voice their opinion (VO) while developing their understanding (DU). There was also a significant amount of making appointments (MA) and developing an awareness of issues (AOI). The large levels of general discussion and providing information are to be expected as this is the first month of the project as this is needed to introduce ourselves and develop relationships. One really great result is the large amount of young people voicing their opinion. This means that young people are willing to speak with us, do feel a need to be vocal in the town and have ability to express their views freely and openly. Allowing young people to express their own personal views freely and without corruption is a major and important aspect of youth work and this should be promoted further as future projects develop.
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012]
Review: -
Young people were regularly providing us with information about where other young people were, what they were doing and if certain events were happening. It’s good that these young people felt relaxed enough to be able to casually provide us with information about the young people of Kumanovo’s lives.
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The foreign volunteer’s attempts at Macedonian conversation seemed to relax young people and create successful dialogue with humorous results.
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The British volunteer’s accent seemed to promote dialogue and keep young people interested in conversation.
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When exchanging in dialogue with those of different ethnicities, particularly Albanians the team usually experience humour when engaged in successful dialogue with an exchange / teaching of languages. Very rarely was the team ever met with hostility or disinterest.
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Many adults within the Roma population expressed a requirement and want for English lessons.
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Many of the male Roma population also expressed a want for more friends from different ethnicities.
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Although generally successful the street based team did encounter a few groups who were ether a little hostile, ignored us completely or just didn’t weren’t interested in speaking to us or in Multi Kulti activities.
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A number of young people said they want to participate in Street Based Youth Work.
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Several young people lied about their age to us.
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Most young people we encountered, even those with very good English expressed a want to develop their English.
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Road safety of young people is a notable problem in Kumanovo.
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A large number of expressed an interest in workshops like English in Action.
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A number of young people proposed to have more inter-ethnical events where people hang out and have fun.
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A significant number of the Roma population expressed feelings of extreme prejudice and discrimination against them by other ethnicities in Kumanovo especially within the employment sector.
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A number of young people have very strong opinions for life in Kumanovo both positive and negative.
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The team encountered a number of Albanians that didn’t understand Macedonian or English very well which states that we need to get some Albanian volunteers on the team to we do
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CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012] not segregate anyone with our work. -
Young males in particular expressed a want for cleaner and more developed sports facilities.
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Some young people expressed happiness about street based work in Kumanovo.
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Large interest has been expressed for various types of volunteering within CID.
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Huge interest expressed in international youth exchanges, here and abroad.
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Many Albanians expressed a need for more leaflets and information in Albanian.
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A significant number of groups did appear anxious and nervous round the CIDSBT.
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The CIDSBT does appear to have helped facilitate attendance to Multi Kulti open days and other activities.
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The young people in general seem to like to dress up smart for the square in summer.
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The photo shows in the cultural centre appear to attract significant numbers of young people.
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Young people have shown a need for support in education and sport.
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Many young people also expressed a desire for someone to share their problems and issues with privately within the city.
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Many young people stated that they wanted more friends from other ethnicities followed by stating that they also wanted more respect or their culture.
*It must be noted that more young people were spoke to too, but were not recorded due to technical or storage issues and that this research was only conducted for three months. It is on high recommendation that someone restarts this research and continues it for an extremely large period of time as it is one of the most effective, truthful and holistic methods of establish youth needs within and area.* -
Complied by Daniel John Carter & the CIDSBT for the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, Kumanovo, Republic of Macedonia.
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With thanks to all the volunteers who helped when they could such as Nikola, Danijel, Aleksander, Filip, Kosta & Dejan
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Huge thanks to Monika Mladenovich to whom without this would not have been possible.
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012]
Appendix A:
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme
CIDSBT [CONCLUSIONS AND RESULTS: 2012]
Appendix B:
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Center or Intercultural Dialogue| Supported by the Youth in Action Programme