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Contents 03 The Mosaic Our News
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04 IofC without Borders
From Richmond to Ukraine
05 Heart-to-Heart Conversation From Victory Day to a Peace Day
06 A New Experience Integration of ‘calling’ and
‘business approach’
08 ‘HOUSE in Baranivka’ Four Secret Components of Success
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10 Our Courses Foundations for Freedom New
Project on Ethical Leadership
12 Caux One week in Caux 14 Healing the Past ‘Live History of Generations’ –
a new project of ‘Ukrainian Action: Healing the Past’
16 Week of International Community 2013 in Caux View from Eastern Europe
Foundations for Freedom Team of Editors: Angela Starovoytova Ievgeniia Korolova Liubou Pranevich Proofreading: David Locke Elizabeth Locke
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Contacts: Foundations for Freedom International Non-Governmental Organization The main office situated in Simpheropol, Crimea, Ukraine, e-mail: info@f-4-f.org Phone: +380 652616465, Mobile: +380 508081159, www.f-4-f.org Facebook: foundationsforfreedom
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Foundations for Freedom Regional Meeting 2013 and General Assembly Time for reviewing, exchanging, renewing Twenty years ago in 1993 the first Foundations for Freedom course took place in Slovakia. From that beginning the idea spiraled to a program towards a network and now an international non-governmental organization inspiring other ideas, giving birth to further initiatives turning into programs. How did we get here? Where are we now? Who are we? What are we going to do next?
75 people from Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Belarus – those who have taken part in the Foundations for Freedom projects and activities – will participate in the meeting. The Foundations for FreedomRegional Meeting and General Assembly will take place 6-8 December 2013 in Kyiv, Ukraine. More information read on www.f-4-f.org>>
“Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries. A Toolkit for Change-makers” Youth Seminar in Gantikow/Germany The seminar “Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries. A Toolkit for Change-makers” took place in Gantikow, Eastern Germany, from 18-25 August and welcomed about 35 participants from different countries. The program was a follow-up of a series of seminars run in 2011-2012. This year’s course focused especially on the role of trustbuilding as a tool for change.
The six-days seminar gave an opportunity for young people to reflect on questions of active and European citizenship, to look at and experience models of participation and develop strategies to actively influence social change in their environment. The Project was organized by Foundations for Freedom (Ukraine) Initiative Mittel- und Osteuropa (Germany), New Faces (Belarus), GFPS-Polska (Poland) and Club of Young Leaders Baia Mare (Romania) and cooperates with network members of Initiative of Change Germany. The project has been funded with the support from the European Commission. Read the report by Anne Esswein>> http://www.iofc.org/Youth-seminar-in-Germany-August-2013
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From Victory Day to a Peace Day
More about Hope in The Cities program read on www.us.initiativesofchange.org
From Richmond to Ukraine This fall we welcome Diana Damsa from Romania as part of our team in Richmond for three months. Diana is currently a dialogue moderator and member of the coordination group for Action in Ukraine - Healing the Past. This is a project of Foundations for Freedom, a program of Initiatives of Change, which for the past two decades has fostered the development of truly free, democratic and just societies, where people live a commitment to honesty and personal responsibility. Diana says, “I am interested to learn more about Hope in the Cities and all the work done by Initiatives of Change in the U.S. regarding diversity, reconciliation, healing the past and building bridges of trust and cooperation. Your experience in this field is very relevant to the work we have started to do in Eastern Europe, through the program Ukrainian Action: Healing the Past, which is addressing the need for healing the wounds created by historical divisions. With the experience gained I will be better equipped to help in the development of the
Healing the Past program. My experience as a dialogue moderator will be enriched with new methods of organizing and leading such dialogues. I am convinced that by learning more about your work of healing history in the U.S. I will gain a new vision and a deeper understanding of our issues, with our specific history.” Diana has had extensive experience with Initiatives of Change in Europe and Asia. While at home in Baia Mare, Romania, she started a Club for Young Leaders that is working towards developing
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‘Unhealed history has a tendency to repeat itself’ – was the motto ofthe fourth Healing the Past seminardialogue in Zakarpattia, Ukraine, which took place from 21 February to 24 February. Diana Damsa was one of the facilitators. The new curriculum was accepted positively, and the participants liked the exercise Timeline in History. However many found the dialogue not something they were familiar with as a tool for communication, and not everyone was comfortable in this new situation. The participation in a dialogue requires attentive listening to the other person and at the same time presupposes that there is a wish to sincerely share your own opinion. One of the key parts of the dialogue was the creation of a historical timeline: a white roll of paper embodied the historical past, present and future of the Ukrainian land, starting with the 1920’s
One year after the visit to the Lorraine region in France, DashaKolesnik from Ukraine shares her experience in a letter to Lorraine 2012 participants. On 6-13 May 2012 Initiatives of Change-Lorraine hosted a group of young East Europeans, who learnt the history of peace building after the Second World War. ‘Hello, everyone! It has been a year since we went to Lorraine and I thought that I would like to share some thoughts and insights with you. On the 9th of May I was in Berlin next to the memorial to Soviet Soldiers who “sacrificed their lives for the victory over facism”. Of course, there were a lot of people from post-soviet countries around there, who were celebrating this victory, taking pictures in front of the memorial in military hats and singing “Katjusha” (a well-known song from that period). How surprised I was to realize that this kind of attitude to war for me seems very strange now, even though I have been witnessing such celebrations for my entire life. I felt there is nothing to celebrate, because a war is a lose-lose situation and celebrating the victory that took millions of innocent lives means in a way justifying war as a tool (sounds to me like “war is a solution sometimes”). Maybe, there is something I am missing out and I agree
However, here is the point: It has been a year since our visit (to Lorraine), but I still continue to make new discoveries and find new effects from it: I’ve learned a lot not only about the history of Europe, East and West differences and similarities, but also about foundations for peace. I am still impressed by what I saw and heard in Lorraine and this makes me re-evaluate and challenge my own attitudes, thoughts and values again and again. that my perception can be challenged (which my friends did, defending the importance of celebration). THANK YOU VERY MUCH, our wonderful Hosts and Teachers from Lorraine! Thank you everyone, who was there and con-
tributed to this wonderful experience! The wisdom you’ve shared is precious! I really wish more people could experience this and I wish I knew a better way than words to share what I’ve learned there!
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a better understanding and promoting values-based leadership. Earlier this year sixteen of them had the opportunity to take part in an Ethical Leadership Workshop which gave them the chance to discuss and deepen their understanding of topics such as ethical leadership, motivation, moral values, integrity, communication, trust, competition and cooperation.
Heart -Heart to Conversation
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Lots of love, Dasha.’ In reply to Dasha’s email Charles Danguy, one of the organizers of the Lorraine 2012 visit, and the host wrote, ‘As the days went by, you helped to develop a new comprehension of your part of Europe and of your expectations, your own personal and national history’. He also shared the news that a new program for 18-19 year olds called “Visions of Europe from Charlemagne to Schuman” was presented in Yutz this May. Later he added: ‘This morning I thought of a remark of a former Laotian Ambassador: If the peace settlement humiliates one of the partners, you have got the essence of the next conflict.’ In parallel, Professor Henri Rieben commenting on the Coal and Steel Treaty said : “There were no more winners or losers, they became partners.” The coal and Steel Treaty played the role of a peace treaty. It also put an end, to my view, to the division of Charlemagne’s empire in three kingdoms at the Koblenz Council in 748 … A division which poisoned the relations in Europe for centuries’, explains Charles. One of the participants of the Lorraine visit, Diana Damsa from Romania facilitated the Healing the Past Dialogue, that took place in Lviv Region, Ukraine, and was dedicated to 9th of May. She writes to Dasha: ‘I think you would have enjoyed to be with us, listening to different perspectives and experiences regarding this topic. Maybe with the next opportunity! If you have the time and are curious to see us in action, please see the photos we posted on Healing the Past Facebookpage’. Those, who were present in Lorraine, should remember the idea expressed by Dominicus H. Rohde the Founder of the World Peace Forum in Schengen. He suggested transforming Ministries for Defense into Ministries for Peace. This is a challenge. Though, Western Europe celebrates Peace Day in May, in Eastern Europe the war is still unfinished in people’s hearts. The transformation, which starts with recognizing, continues with forgiveness and healing of the past, to bring a peaceful present and cooperation in the future. Liubou Pranevich
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Ex A New perience
On the way to ‘professionalism’: integration of ‘calling’ and ‘business approach’ ‘Three modules of education in the Ukrainian Catholic University on the programme ‘Management of NGOs’ has given me a whole range of knowledge, impressions and outcomes’, says Angela Starovoytova, Executive Director of theInternational Non-Governmental Organization ‘Foundations for Freedom’ (F4F). The time of reform and change seems to be a neverending story for F4F which emerged from the program of Initiatives of Change International. However, we seem to walk in circles. That was the reason why four of us from the same organization and network, me, Oleksa Stasevich, Anton Yemelianov and Dima Pritulenko, took time to devote last year to learn how to actually move forward and in what direction. Three modules of education in the Ukrainian Catholic University on the programme, ‘Management of NGOs’, has given me a whole range of knowledge, impressions and outcomes. Knowledge: Here I’ll just mention a few points that influence my decision-making:
Values of and in the organization play the key role in relationships between people and the effectiveness of their common work. So, know the values and be open about them in the organization. Select personnel according to that value system. Clear division of responsibilities and of structures. There are specific channels for each type of audience, so choose accordingly. Be clear on what we do - what our ‘products’ are it helps others to understand the message better. A whole range of materials is available to hand to deal with bureaucracy. All resources are resources and they can be found around our projects,
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so, look first at what is reachable and involve it! If we are clear on what we offer and know how much it costs, people will be able to pay for it. It is possible to calculate how much our services cost and it is OK to let people know about it and ask them to contribute. This one is more point at the level of awareness: there are so many of us running NGOs, super people. And we are half blinded what is this?? led by the idea of ‘calling’, ‘serving’ and ‘saving the world’, and usually can explain it only on the emotional and feeling level, rather than on the level of knowledge and structural approach. It felt to me that through struggles we were learning how to give a clear quantitative and qualitative result and monetary value to our activities.We need enough practice though to try and explain it to our professors/teachers, who managed to survive listening to us only due to God’s patience and grace. Impressions: I found it hard during the first 2 modules to
understand and accept why we are taught more on how to earn/make money rather than how ‘to save the world’. Realization about importance of this point as a sustainability of the organization and a professional approach to doing NGO work came later. The need for the balance of both remains . Amazed at openness and passion of our lecturers/ teachers to help us learn how to promote our ideas and missions. Total lack of confidence and faith in myself to be able to monetarize what we do in the NGO, and how it can bring us resources to develop our activities. And total surprise at the end to see how well, apparently, we were taught with Oleksa Stasevych to be able to write a business plan for one of our projects — development of training center in Baranivka. There are NGOs in Ukraine that are not ‘grant-eaters’, but that are led by their hearts and conviction to make our country a better place. It was very special to become part of this group of like-minded NGO people with amazing hearts and to make very dear and deep connection with some of them. It was also amazing to be tenderly but persistently mothered by our coordinator Natalka Misylo, and quietly cared for by other team-members of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). Outcomes: There are high level trainers in Ukraine with a deep understanding of their topic and integrity which
makes them true humans and professionals as well. Thus, my self-esteem as a trainer was humbled but inspired to grow. Even a volunteer humanitarian mind can write a business plan and get excited about prospects of its implementation. There is still a long way ahead to start fully and effectively using the knowledge and experience in work and life.
reform into a new approach to how I do my ‘saving the world’ business. I thought that from the beginning they were trying to take away the dearest, the core of why I do my NGO work, when teachers kept on telling me to add money value to it, to use a business approach. But in the process of education I have learnt to separate the two. The main remains the main for me, and it is my calling to work for the benefit of my society making this
In this process it was very helpful to see and define how we operate as a team, what our own understanding, skills, strengths and weaknesses are inside the team. Our interaction in a group representing one organization was a good playground to actually ‘walk what we talk’ as one organization, how to operate with each other, how to find consensus and choose priorities. Teamwork with Oleksa Stasevych has produced a visible product of cooperation
As a head of the organization I was challenged to see how to improve the overall management of the organization and monitor the results. A very special factor was to build that understanding and teamwork with my colleagues. We took time to discuss materials and what we learnt. I can boldly say now that my way of thinking in running an organization/people has changed because I was challenged, taught and cared for. The most humble of our teachers were the ones who have actually reached the depth of my mind and heart so that it could melt and
world a better place. Now the knowledge and experience I have received are the assets and tools by which I can fulfill my mission better. To finish off with the main point: I bow down with humility and respect for the care and friendships shared by our programme coordinators, lecturers and each class-mate that has made the process of emotions, ups and downs, hot discussions, long sessions, disagreements and conversations a smooth and enjoyable way towards personal and organizational growth and wide horizons. Angela Starovoytova
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E US
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O ‘H aranivka B
Four Secret Components of Success
Three Years Anniversary celebration for ‘HOUSE in Baranivka’ Project. In that period more than 380 guests from 28 countries have visited the HOUSE. Idea, Place, Time and People –became the components of the success of the project. Amazing nature - soft curves of the hills covered with forests, and a tranquil river nearby – the perfect place for meditation and meeting sunset, and spending time in solitude and silence. Harmony with nature, collaborative work, spiritual practice and communication with like-minded people – that is what is searched for and found here guests, volunteers, participants of various events and permanent residents
of the house. It is distant from the crowded cities, but not isolated: the village Baranivkais close to the main roads from Kiev, Kharkov and Poltava which makes the house accessible to visit at any time of the year. The initiators of the project, community members of the International Non-Governmental Organization Foundations for Freedom Valentin Bondarenko and Sergey Tretetskiy,
С января по апрель был реализован международный партнерский проект “Говорить о правах человека. Использовать новые СМИ», организованный сетью InMOE (Германия), инициативой «Клуб молодых лидеров» - КМЛ (Украина) и общественной организацией «Next Stop New Life» (Беларусь). Каждая из трех стран отобрала по десять человек для участия в проекте. В рамках проекта было проведено два международных семинара в Берлине и Крыму, а также специальная программа для крымской группы.
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chose the area where several generations of artistshad grown up and where the famous writer Nikolay Gogol was born and inspired. The idea was picked up by friends and the like-minded network of ‘Foundations for Freedom’ and the global community ‘Initiatives of Change’. In 2009 the building of the HOUSE was started – a center for personal development. Obviously, the idea of the creation of “an open and free meeting place that is aimed at the harmonious development of individuals, the creation of a community of like-minded people and of the whole of society” is in demand and interesting for many people. Baranivka, while not having a large building, and some of the aspects considered to make a comfortable environ-
В чем смысл? Основная цель проекта - дать участникам знания в сфере прав человека, а также навыки для проведения информационных кампаний по защите прав человека. Конечно же, также мы стремились наладить межкультурное общение, основанное на доверии и взаимоподдержке.
Семинар в Берлине Во время этого семинара (22-26 января), участники получили общую информацию о правах человека и наметили идеи проектов, которые они начали воплощать после возвращения домой. Также интересной частью семинара стала встреча с депутатом парламента Германии, проходившая в одном из залов Бундестага. Основной темой встречи было отношение общества к людям с особыми потребностями.
ment, is however already serving as a platform for spreading of the ideas of the ‘Initiatives of Change’, strengthening community, and conducting various events. For several years “Summer Volunteers Program in Baranivka” has been organized. For its participants in September 2012 a 7-day ‘Foundations for Freedom’ Course was held. The results of the program are brought to the annual Volunteers Conference in the early autumn. This spring, a training on communication, was held for the participants of the project and the baranovchane – Baranivka permanent community – by Diana Damsa (Romania). The training on meditation with a visiting teacher Roger Kvintens from Belgium was successful among the participants. Every year there is a meeting of representatives of the ‘Foundations for Freedom’ community in Ukraine. An important part of the project is the dissemination of ideas of practicing an environmentally friendly approach in everyday life. Many visitors to the HOUSE learn small and big skills: from the techniques of straw bale construction and installation of drain water filtration system to simple things like sorting trash or use natural cleaning
The idea of the project has been formed, modified and crystallized over time.Now the project HOUSE in Baranivka is developing in such key areas as: • organization of activities for personal development and acquisition of specific knowledge and skills; • building a like-minded community network; • development of the area of the center and construction of the building for holding events; • spreading of ideas of a practicing eco-friendly approach in everyday life. products. Also, there are training sessions and lectures with specialists organized: this summer the French expert Christian Hamani gave a workshop on straw bale construction over the period of one month. This year, in early spring environmentalists Olga Lakisa and Natalia Trofimova from Kharkiv held a workshop on how to produce natural detergents at home. Over the past three years the core team that creates and manages the ‘HOUSE in Baranivka’ Project has been changing. Now among the “oldest old” inBaranivka are Coordinator of the Project Lena Kashkarova, Alex Nelup, who is responsible for the development of the area and the construction of the building of the center, and Alex Popkov who is supporting the project leaders in their initiatives. Since December 2012 in the Baranivka Community
lives Sasha, who also assists in various areas of the project. Many friends and supporters visit Baranivka community and take part in the project, everyone according to their abilities. HOUSE in Baranivka invites people who are interested in the project. Those who want to learn more about the project, as well as to participate in any events in Baranivka may contact the coordinators at info@baranivka.org. Baranivka web site www.baranivka.org lists the areas where help is needed most of all. There is also an opportunity to support the project financially. Follow the events and the life of the project, get updates on the latest news and photo reports online at Facebook page: https://www.facebook. com/baranivka?ref=hl. Liubou Pranevich
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Our Courses
Foundations for Freedom have started a New Project on Ethical Leadership The project is aimed at providing advance training for those young people who have already got some understanding and practical experience of working with groups on the questions of ethical leadership in Ukraine. The duration of the project is from February to June 2013. Anastasia Sachko from Club of Young Leaders (Simferopol, Ukraine) is the project coordinator. The International Non-governmental Organisation their understanding of different aspects of ethical ‘Foundations for Freedom’ has received a grant from leadership and to learn how to run exercises and the Bohdan Havrilyshyn Foundation (Ukraine) to sessions. Apart from the practice and unwrapping prepare trainers and an educational manual in order of key exercises aimed at developing an atmosphere to run seminars on ethical leadership in of trust and openness among the future. participants used during the seminars As a result of two The first module of Training for Trainers of ‘Initiatives of Change’, future for Ethical Leadership Courses took place levels of training run in facilitators were offered some basic in Crimea, Ukraine, on April 25th-28th. two modules, the team theories and general structure of the 10 participants from Cherkasy, Lviv, was formed. course, which included the topics of Nikolayev and Simpheropol attended This team will start ‘Values’, ‘Motivation’, ‘Cooperation’, etc. the course. The facilitators of the running seminars on Both leaders touched upon training were Angela Starovoytova and ethical leadership from such aspects as values, personal Anna Bondarenko from Simpheropol. responsibility, relationships with autumn 2013. In parallel The second final module of the Training with that, a manual on subordinates and colleagues, for Ethical Leadership Workshop running courses is being the importance of valuing and Facilitators took place from 14th-16th created as a toolkit with productively using one’s time. June.A group of 10 got together again in exercises and practices They also both remembered their Simferopol (Crimea) in order to deepen experience during Caux conferences
in the center for Initiatives of Change in Switzerland. That experience has given them inspiration and encouraged their efforts towards ethics in leadership. A warm and friendly atmosphere was created in the group, supported by a joyful mood and mutual care. It was that atmosphere which allowed participants to speak openly about how they felt, what they were happy about and what didn’t make them feel comfortable. The group of facilitators, who took part in the training, are also potential facilitators who would be involved in running basic Foundations for Freedom courses. Angela Starovoytova
The key point of the training was meetings with ethical leaders on the issue of the ethical component in leadership and its relevance in real circumstances. Through videoconference the participants met Yaroslav Grybal’skiy (Lviv, Ukraine), a political and NGO activist, who promotes the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine. A personal meeting took place with Liubov Zysko (Simferopol), who was active in social and cultural life in the Crimea and has established a number of humanitarian organizations and social centers.
on the topic of ethical
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Вестник «Основ Свободы» • 2013 • 11 Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2013 • 11
x au C
– Knock, knock, who lives in the Little House?* – Love and Kindness. (*From “The Little House”, a Russian folk tale)
One Week in Caux From the beginning of our stay in Caux and until the very end we deeply appreciated the cosy, homelike atmosphere of this place. By the way, why do many people call Cauxa home, not just a hotel, conference center or a castle? For me this fact became clear after a week’s stay, along with another one: why my brother and his wife are so eager to travel to Caux every summer. Day1. Warm Welcome It all began with a warm welcome. We knew someone called Ulrike should meet us at Montreux station, but it turned out nobody knew exactly who Ulrike was and how she looked. Having run around the platform with an inquiry sent to every passing woman: “Are you Ulrike?”,Arsen and I decided to take a sheet of paper and write: “Ulrike. Caux” across. It seems about 20 minutes had passed until we made our way down to the Station main entrance and saw the woman we were looking for. I had a fear the person might just go away when she won’t see us at once, considering how punctual the Germans and Swiss trains are. Later when I saw Ulrike Keller, a board member of the Initiatives of Change, in her office sending invitations, I realized how busy she is. However, despite her many duties, she found the time to pick us up from the station and patience to wait until we showed up. Day 2. Getting Together In the House of Caux we met people from all around the globe, of different religions and cultures. I guess, during our first working day the most important thing was to overcome a possible barrier. During the ice-breaker activity suggested by the organizers, we came up to someone unknown and asked about such common things as family, hobby, pets, and we all somehow magically communicated. This moment was crucial for
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organizing our further work in the house, because it showed that sometimes people can understand each other well even without words. We all have things in common. The main barrier – psychological rather than language, was overcome. We started feeling a part of a big multinational family. Day 3.Caux-Operation In our team the atmosphere of cooperation and help reigned. We thought we were the only team of such organized and cheerful workers, but participants from the other teams said the same thing. For the first time in It was for the first a long while I felt time, when daughter no competition, a and Mom – Tatyana and helping hand, not AntoninaKruglovs – para pushing hand. A ticipated in the Week of good attitude in the International Community in modern world is so Caux. There were days that rare and sometimes traditionally became a time even looked at with apprehension. for preparation to internaMaybe it is stupid, tional summer conferences but when Nadine, in a center of Initiatives of my new friend from Change in Switzerland. This Egypt, started to year a week of International mix my paint first, Community took place it was a turning 19-27 June and became point for me both intercultural and intermaking me want to generational. What was it serve others more. like – one Tatyana’s week in I think, in Caux Caux? people are happy to serve each other and everyone is honestly grateful. How I wish to spread this attitude to all other places. Day 4. A day –off Our leisure time was well-planned thanks to Angela, who organized everyone and Eliane, Andrew and Hanny drove us to a music festival in Genève. It was a hot day. From every corner we heard wonderful
sounds of music, so crazy and different, which made me want to have a CD with all those songs. In the evening Eliane and Andrew sung with the choir at Saint Peter’s Cathedral, which itself brings awe, and their heartfelt singing filled every corner of our souls. Day 5. Generation fusion Any home comprises several generations. I was really happy that my mom went with me to Caux. First we didn’t understand what the activity “timeline” meant. When we started sharing some historic events of our countries, it was quite a revelation for me that we, people of various nations, are so different in some way, but so alike in another, and how events in one country influence another country and how they spread from one country to another. For me this activity was like a symbol of world unity. Day 6. Mission complete! The working week was passing at great speed. When first asked about the expectations from this week, all the mothers desperately wanted me to translate that they wanted to work hard to help prepare the house so that it will be easier for their children to work afterwards. By contrast, my idea was merely that they should communicate with other participants and work on something enjoyable. Mothers would take the most difficult jobs – from rose weeding in the sun to strong smelling silver polishing. That attitude was astonishing for me (why on earth do they want to work so hard?), but maybe I will only understand it when I become a parent myself. Sometimes moms would work to their maximum. Of course, at the end they felt tired. The team working in the garden finished the work and screamed with elation: “We did it!” Everyone was happy they had finished their job and now the home looked a bit fancier than before. Day 7. A Dinner in the family circle A home always means pleasant sitdowns around a delicious meal or hot tea, but honestly fondue by Andrew Stallybrass exceeded all our expectations! In Russian if you say: “Does that fondue contain wine?”
it sounds kind of the same as: “Is this fondue guilty?” (‘wine’ and ‘guilt’ sound similar in Russian). Actually, fondue was to blame for making me feel a bit dizzy. It was so hot inside maybe because of wine and maybe because of the overwhelming feelings. About to cry, during the singing the only thing I asked for was: “Dear God, Let us all meet together again.” Tatyana Kruglova
CauxMemories Comments of the Participants of Week of International Community-2013 Olimpia Pop (Romania) ..I’m glad I could help and I realized that I’m not a shadow on the earth, I felt useful, especially as I wanted to help those who had a positive role in changing my thoughts and that helped a lot. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help and that you received me in the House of the World… Nadine Bassem, Egypt ..I have many memories, but the thing I liked the most is the spirit, how people are really friendly and loving towards each other. Also the thing that inspired me – how people from different countries and different regionshave the same cultures!! and to discover that there are some countries which have the same culture as Egypt – this was really amazing…
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Past e Healing th
‘Live History of Generations’ a new project of ‘Ukrainian Action: Healing the Past’ in Crimea
Since April 2013 Foundations for Freedom in partnership with the Center for Regional Development Top-Kaya, Club for Young Leaders and the Ethnography Museum of Crimea has created a new project Ukrainian Action: Live History of Generations in Crimea. What is the difference between this project and the previous one (Healing the Past), who is it aimed at, and what are the final results? We talk in the interview with the organizers. Think globally – act locally First of all it is worth mentioning that Live History of Generations is part of a wider program Ukrainian Action: Healing the Past. Under this program in 2010-2011 a similar project was carried out to collect the memories of Ukrainians on historical events. This resulted in the publication of the book of life stories, ‘Letting Go’. During the previous project the volunteers were travelling around the whole country talking with people. This time the organizers decided to create a local project focused on one region. A pilot region for such a project was chosen; it became the Crimea. An important aspect of Live History of Generations project is the partnership with the Crimean
Ethnographic Museum. The specialists from the museum helped the project participants to compose a list of the interviewees, whose stories would be interesting for all the Crimeans. Eugeniya Baranova,Head of the Department of Methodological and Cultural Work of the Crimean Ethnographic Museum: –Since ancient times the peninsula has been multi-ethnic. The exhibition of the museum features more than twenty people, and we hope to expand our base with the help of
the project. According to Eugeniya Baranova, the material collected by volunteers will help to revive the exposition. On the basis of the collected material a multimedia exhibition giving the stories of the residents of the autonomous region, will be created and installed at the end of the summer for visitors to the Crimean Ethnographic Museum. Whereas the previous project resulted in a printed book, this time the memories will be stored electronically. Ways to reconciliation Regarding the aims of the project, the organizers underline that the life stories of the witnesses to the historic events reveal the inner relationships in the community, show how they value them and their attitude regarding the past, and portray in a visual way the participants of particular historical events. Oleksa Stasevich, Coordinator of the
However, for the elderly people it is probably the only possibility they have had – to share, to tell somebody about the events of the past. Program Ukrainian Action: Healing the past: - With the help of this project we aim to strengthen the respect towards historical memory, values systems, traditions and the faiths of ethnic cultures of Crimea. This will be done by building partnership among local communities and museum complexes in order to research and study the non-material objects of the heritage, in searching for ways of reconciliation and healing the past. During the summer field research is taking place in the autonomous
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region of Crimea, where the participants are collecting the oral memory of the local residents. The volunteers are getting to understand the life of the various national and ethnic Crimean groups. At present 10 stories have already been recorded and all in all the Crimean volunteers will collect about 40 oral statements in 10 places of the peninsular. According to Irina Tkachenko, the Coordinator of the Project Live History of Generations in the Crimea, each story is a unique one: - One of the main eye-openers of the project for me was that people share their personal and private experiences in such an easy way, though sometimes they talk with tears in their eyes. According to Irina, one of the most remarkable stories for her was a story of an Estonian woman, Mary Nikolsky, who was a Lutheran by birth and became an Orthodox Christian. A special event, says Irina, was a trip to the Belgorod Region, where the volunteers visited the estate of Thracian Greeks andmetwith the chairmanof the Greek society of Chernopolje, Irina Zekova, who spoke about the tragic fate ofthe Crimean Greeks who underwent deportation.. The Dialogue for the Participants There are in total seven volunteers involved in the project. According to the organizers, the main criterion in the selection of candidates was their desire to get deeply into the subject, and the ability to communicate with people and ask questions. Oleksa Stasevych: - It should be understood that our volunteers should interact with the elderly people who have gone through a lot of things, thus they and their stories need to be treated carefully, not hurting the feelings of the narrators. They should be able to listen, record and try to live out what was heard. You cannot tell a person about your problems, you will have to help him or her to open up. When the meetings with the interviewees are finished, the participants of the project will have a possibility to share their
Feedback Svetlana Fedoronchuk, a project volunteer – I presented at two meetngs with an artist Ali Bekov and the head of the Museum of the Crimeans, Nina Bakshi, who has worked at the museum more than 66 years! Both of the meetings were easygoing. Ali Bekov asked not to ask him questions and talked with hardly any breaks. Nina Yurjevna asked us to help her by asking leading questions. I concluded that one should go to an interview in a good mood and desire to get to know something new, but be very carefullyprepared. Then you will do it.
impressions and tell each other how these stories influenced them personally. Based on the audio andvideorecordings collected by the volunteers, a filmwill be created, which will be locatedat the local media resource centerand on the project site. In theearly autumn, for the participantsof the project,we want to hold a dialogue on seeking reconciliationwhereeveryone will be ableto share lessons learned. More information about the project is on the project’s page on Facebook: Crimea.Live History. The project Ukrainian Action: Live History of Generations is created by the International Non-Governmental Organization Foundations for Freedom, in partnership with the Crimean Ethnographic Museum in the framework of the Ukrainian Action: Healing the Past Program, project “New Breath of Culture: Heritage, Filled with Life” with the financial support of the EU. Ievgeniia Korolova
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Week of International Community 2013 in Caux: View from Eastern Europe – So, when and where are you travelling next? Caux in Switzerland? Is it for your ‘changes of initiatives’ or ‘freedom of foundation’? – Yes, Mom, for my ‘Foundations for Freedom’ / ‘Initiatives of Change’. – For a month to do something for free? And again, what exactly are you doing with them?... I still do not understand why you are doing it... It was one of the reasons for the Week of International Community (WIC) to be organized as an opportunity for parents of young Eastern European members of Foundations for Freedom to visit a place where their children stay and try to explain and to show what Initiatives of Change (IofC) is about. At the same time, people who usually come to WIC from the West of Europe tend to be of an older generation. So, we thought that it would be valuable for them to meet with Eastern Europeans closer to their age and share their background and experience. With the focus of inviting families we ended up with 30 participants from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt and the UK. There were 11 families among these participants, meaning parents with children or other relatives present. Four of those families were composed of three people. And all of us irrespectively of age or background were doing different work
in the house. There were teams working in housekeeping, dining-room, kitchen, moving furniture, painting fences, polishing silver and in the garden. We were spending our time closely together with other teams in the house, like the technical crew, kitchen team, etc. Mornings started with 45-minute sessions on selected topics like Values, Quiet Time and Trust. Every evening we also had slightly longer sessions with more interaction learning through exercises and sharing what IofC is, where do we come from — lifestory sharing, and building a time-line together, trying to find common points and differences in the past times of our countries on different sides of the ‘Iron curtain’. The weekend was spent enjoying the sights around Caux, Montreux, and with the help of Andrew and ElianeStallybrass and Hanny we were able to spend half a day at the Geneva Musical Festival, finishing off the day with a beautiful choir singing in the St. Peter’s Cathedral. It was a very blessed time surrounded by pleasant surprises, coincidences and people’s care and kindness towards our group. That was also the time when Taize singing started in Caux for the summer. So, a few of us were able to join in that. And it is very important to mention our farewell evening with cheese-fondue and the first Variety Show in Caux this summer where most participants joined in with both some national and inter-
national pieces. There was impressive singing from different parts of the world both from individuals and from groups. About 15 Swiss made up quite and choir on the stage with their Swiss yodelling and variety of voices. Impressed and grateful moms, for some of whom it was the first time abroad, inspired young people, encouraged children to see their parents sharing and experiencing the spirit of Caux and the kindness of people. An opportunity not to be missed. Let’s see how and what we do next summer! Get ready, children and parents! Angela Starovoytova
Your Support – Welcome! There are so many ways You can support Foundations for Freedom and Initiatives of Change! –by contributing regularly to the movement both globally and nationally. You can do this with a monthly sum that you can afford or, if you wish, you can make a single gift by visiting our web site https://donations.iofc.org/civicrm/contribute/ transact?reset=1&id=1
–by sharing you stories about the bridges built across seemingly impossible divides. Others will be inspired by your stories. Write to us at comms@f-4-f.orgto share your stories of inspiration; –by volunteering with us in one of our current projects. Thank You!