CONTENTS: 3 The mosaic:
Our news
4 IofC without borders:
Link of generations
6 ‘Heart-to-Heart’ conversation:
Is there life after AFL?
8 A new experience: 5 months in Asia Plateau 9 Youth in Action:
Crimean activists make movies about multicultural relationships
10 Baranivka:
What it takes to build a house? Nothing is hard for us!
12 Our courses: “I might have learned here in a few days more than in 15 years in school!” 14 A Personality:
The meeting with a dissident
16 Healing the Past:
Towards Understanding
17 Baia-Mare:
Issue №49, November 2012 Team of editors: Ievgeniia Korolova, Oleksa Stasevych
Contacts: Vul. Vyshniakivska 7-B, app. 394 Kyiv 02140 UKRAINE
Translation: Yulia Krivosheina, Anna Bokk, Irina Mushkina
+380 44 5746499 info@f-4-f.org www.f-4-f.org
Design: Dmitriy Kruglov
FB: foundationsforfreedom Twitter: _F_4_F
2 • Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012
A responsible citizenship and a developing democracy
T O HE SA IC
M
Heidelberg-Center in Simferopol had a Day of Open Doors Creative projects for youth, bright social activities, unusual art-events, language courses, volunteer work – Crimean Club of Young Leaders (CYL) has something to boast about. But, of course, there was another aim for organizing the Open Day in Heidelberg Center (HC) where CYL has been based now for many years. We wanted to show people that in our town there is a place where each person can find something interesting for themselves, where anybody can feel comfortable. Unfortunately, on April 29, when the Heidelberg Center hospitably opened its doors not so many guests came. However, quality has always been more important for us then quantity. Without any hassle the guests could
find out what is done in HC and what opportunities are offered by CYL to the citizens of Simferopol. In the framework of the Open Day there was also some mini-training on the following topics: “The auction of values” run by Dmitriy Pritulenko, where people could understand what values they had as their priorities; “Stereotypes” by Zhanna Sviridova, where they talked about prejudices against certain social, national and religious groups. An auction was also offered to guests. All proceeds were given to the needs of HC. Ievgeniia Korolova, Ukraine
We need to continue good traditions was what the Youth initiative group “Multinational activists of the Crimea” decided upon. It is now the third year in a row that the group has organized a big celebration for the children’s boarding school of the village Lozovoe, Crimea, Ukraine. This year an entertaining program was also organized. It included fascinating games, in which children were able to work in teams and just to have fun. During the workshop on popular dances children were taught dance-moves of “Macarena” and “Rock ‘n’ roll” Nice and practical things were also crafted during a hand-made lesson for younger ones to be used for everyday life and studies. The event finished with handing out sweets. But, more importantly, was the fact that they created funny and relaxed atmosphere. Most of the children from that boarding school are either orphans or from broken families. So, they were not spoiled with parental care. That’s why very often simple human attention and warmth is more important for them. Andrey Mastykin, Ukraine
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 3
THE LINK OF GENERATIONS Dasha Bogutsckaya
From 6 till 13 May the international meeting ‘Intergenerational approach to Europe: past present and future’ took place in the French town Lorraine. The event was organized by the local team of Initiatives of Change. The meeting brought together IofC-activists from France, Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Netherlands.
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W IO BO ITH FC RD OU ER T S
At New Year’s Eve French and German soldiers decided to celebrate together. They ate, drank, laughed, talked about their families and lives. And in several days they met again, but already on the battlefield...’
It was a wonderful week. A packed program, well selected participants, a high level of involvement and motivation. I was especially impressed by the hosts – French IofC team – they all were so attentive and kind to us that they very quickly managed to create a friendly welcoming atmosphere. Fabrice Hentzen, the secretary of IofC Lorraine also has impressed me a lot. He
is very deep, wise and all-rounder. He possesses the skill of self-development, selfeducation and self-absorption, which is not as easy as it may seem. Fabrice was the person responsible for organization of our visit: accommodation, logistics, program. He was solving all the issues arising. He’s done it so easily and skilfully that participants hadn’t have any concerns and clues that our visit cost somebody long weeks of preparation.
I enjoyed our morning quiet-times, and when people were playing guitar and singing Romanian songs, when Charles Danguy told us his life story, when everyone of us was sharing their thoughts with other people, who we didn’t know just a few days ago and discovered only this week, but discovered deeply. I liked it that even when people couldn’t speak the same language, they easily started to communicate in the language of smiles, gestures and mime. And now I know for sure, that this combination can easily substitute knowledge of foreign language and help to communicate freely with the person you like. One day was just breathtaking for me. We went to the Museum of Second World War, where French and German soldiers were buried next to each other. The guide talked not about winners and losers, but about tremendous losses of people from both sides. She told us that from both sides people experienced fear of death, fear of being damaged, fear of not returning back home and not seeing family anymore. And at the end I’d like to tell a story, which I learnt in Lorraine and which I would always remember. One time at the New Year Eve French and German soldiers decided to celebrate it together, at the same table. They were just ordinary people at that moment, they ate, drank, laughed, talked about their families, lives. And in several days they met again, but already on the battlefield. And then they again became just soldiers. And they were killing each other …
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 5
T- T’ AR AR ION E ‘H -HE SAT R TO VE N CO
IS THERE LIFE AFTER AFL?
From November 2010 to March 2011 Dima Pritylenko a member of the Crimean Club for Young Leaders participated in the program ‘Action for Life 5’ which was designed ‘to awaken’ youth, to enable them to see reality from a different angle, to inspire them to bring change… In the framework of the programme Dima has been to India, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan. After one year he forgot a lot, bright colors blurred, faces clouded… So, now it is especially interesting to see what still seems important to him, which decisions taken there, he was able to realize. - Why did you go to that program? - When I saw information about it I immediately decided to go. I had some inner confidence: this is what I need, something that will help to balance my life. I wanted to know more about IofC, because before I didn’t understand clearly how this organization works and – what more importantly – why is it needed? I was hoping that AFL will help me to find my calling. Before I met Club (CYL) I had been working in a bank but then all my life has changed and I didn’t know what I needed to do next. I wanted to learn how to live among people from different nationalities. I couldn’t find tolerance in my soul towards representatives of other nations, and participation in the AFL helped me to make those questions clear for me. Cultural diversity in the program was a good school. One more motivation to go was my mood. My inner sustainability was very unstable; I was falling into depression very often. In India I asked for advice from Rajmohan Gandhi how to handle it. But I had some results just almost at the end of the program, in Africa. I understood myself better, understood why this was happening. When the reasons became clear, it
became easier to deal with it. - What changed in your life after your return? - It was a perfect world there. Paradise. No worries and troubles. And there were many ideas what I would do when I got back. Relaxed and peaceful I was drifting in the stream. Returning home, I plunged into the old life-style, where there was no place far calmness. It was hard for my relatives to communicate with me. They lived in another rhythm. I was even trying to speak slowly! Gradually I started to get involved in everyday life, where I couldn’t just go with the flow, here it was necessary to overcome obstacles. Confusion came after I realized that all projects I was planning to do in my mind during the program were impossible to implement all at the same time. And again I didn’t know what I needed to do, which idea should become my priority. Among the positive points I can mention my attitude towards other people and to the world. Now I’m trying to see the positive side of everything, to make a rewarding experience from anything, even the unpleasant situation. And other people also began to treat me kindly! I have improved relationships with
6 • Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012
my father. During the program I wrote a lot of letters to him. He still doesn’t understand what I do and he worries about my financial independence but a wall of mistrust had fallen. I became more open. No, I can express my feelings, do not hesitate to say that I love him. Of course, the problems still exist but it is the beginning, the first steps. - Which situations or events during the program have become iconic to you? - I had a conflict with one person. I behaved improperly, but found the strength to apologize, and then we had a long conversation. We told each other about ourselves, about our past, and that situation made us very close to each other. I can say about South Sudan that I was shocked listening to stories by my contemporaries who survived a civil war. One boy told me that he survived under the bodies of two killed friends. I want to return to this country. Mahatma Gandhi said some words that became significant to me: “I do not want to see my whole way; it is enough to see the place for the next step”. And now I’m trying to live according to this wise statement.
EX
N
PE
EW EN CE
RI
FROM AN INTERN’S LIFE
5 MONTHS IN ASIA PLATEAU
I lived in the International conference-centre Asia Plateau – AP (India) for 5 months but I cannot answer the question ‘What is the intern program about?‘. I can only tell you what the intern program is FOR ME. The intern program for me there was a discrepancy from my original expectations. The life in AP was neither worse nor better than expected. It was different. Every year, I clearly understand that the expectations are rarely beneficial to my life, so my advice: throw out your expectations and just enjoy! The intern program for me - it is learning English. In Ukraine I studied English in school, an institute; a few times I started, but did not finish special courses. I kept asking myself: what prevents me knowing English? The inability to learn languages? Laziness? Lack of motivation? In AP I did not ask myself about it, it was the time to act. The intern program for me - it is responsibility. Responsibility for how helpful and pleasant to my finding here. The responsibility is mine for how happy the time will be for people who are near me. No one can tell me how much I should and what kind of books I should read. No one except me will help me to hear my inner voice. No one but me can tell me which of life’s moment I should analyze. No one but me will help me to ask for forgiveness from those people when I have been to blame. No one but me will help me to understand who I am, why I came into this world and what I want to leave after me. The intern program for me - it is searching. The search for internal potential energy. This search is to find people and the different lives that inspire me and help me change. This search for answers to the questions: What is the absolute honesty, and what is absolute honesty is different from the rigidity and cruelty? What is absolute purity? How important is trust in my life? Is forgiveness a miraculous power of healing and the building of a qualitatively new relationship? How selfish have I been? Do I know how to take care of loved ones? Do I have the right to judge people?
The intern program - is communication. First of all, communication with myself, with the opposing sides of my brain, with colored corners of my soul. The communication with nature: the sun, trees and flowers, with the monkeys and the chipmunks. The interaction with people from different countries, who have different ages and experiences (sometimes it’s an overwhelming and frightening experience), who call God by different names, but believe that everything will be fine. The communication with the guests of the center and with people who every day give energy, time, skills, health for AP, because they care about good food, a clean shirtbed, flowering plants, the technical health of all the mechanisms. The intern program - it is an exchange. Exchanging smiles and glances. Sharing thoughts and feelings. Exchange of worldviews. Exchange of victories and defeats. Exchange of silence, stillness. The intern program for me - it is an attempt to understand how the whole spiritual baggage that God has given me, my parents gave me, my friends gave me, my culture gave me, F4F and IofC gave me, I can carry into my city, in my country and the world? How not to lose these values on the way? How do I transfer part of the baggage to my children? The intern program for me – it is a service. I devoted my time and my intellectual and physical help for the center, where people can find themselves, to open, change, and find strength for action. I served myself in order to feel happy, to look to the future with a smile, because I cannot make someone happy, until I find my own happiness and harmony. Anastasiia Sachko, Ukraine
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 7
KA IV N A R BA
WHAT IT TAKES TO BUILD A HOUSE? NOTHING IS HARD FOR US! Our house in Baranivka village is two years old already! We cannot say that it was easy like rolling off a log. We stumbled and fell, raised bumps and learnt from our mistakes, quarreled and made peace, raised funds, looked for people, sought for inspiration to continue our work. . . These two years did not pass without problems, but would we exchange this experience for anything else? The idea of this project is simple: to create an open platform for harmonious development of individuals, communities, and society. There were several people from Ukraine who turned on the heat, plucked up courage and started to put this idea into practice. First of all, it was Valentin Bondarenko, who inspired others to support the initiative; these people later on joined the team. “We want this house to become a special place for development of people who share the same philosophy and values, whose motto is “Be the change you what to see in the world” and who are ready to make it happen” – said Elena Kashkareva, Project coordinator. Project activists hope that the House in Baranovka very soon will be able to host a variety of programs, workshops, seminars; to become an experimental platform for cultural, environmental, educational, social initiatives of public utility. “This is a place for spiritual, psychological and physical recovery through simple work, healthy food, fresh air and contact with nature” – added Elena.
WHAT IS DONE ALREADY? At the first stage of the project one old adobe house in Baranivka village was bought and two plots of land bordering to that house were privatized. Then we
8 • Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012
Евгения Королёва (Украина), Любовь Праневич (Беларусь)
THE HOUSE IN BARANIVKA UNITES FRIENDS bought an abandoned neighboring house. Now the House «ownership» is about one hectare of land. At the second stage 3-phase electrician equipment was installed and a well was dug to provide the House with drinking water. Now a nature friendly sewer system is to be installed.. Then we laid the foundation for the outbuilding (annex) and braced the foundation of the existing house. We also built a wooden carcass for the outbuilding and roofed it. Now the team is getting prepared to raise walls of straw blocks and to cover walls with layers of clay and sand afterwards. In two years 220 people from 19 countries visited the House. The House hosted different IofC programs/ projects/ teams like “Healing the past”, “Action for Life-5 “, “Farmers’ dialog”, F4F regional meetings. Visit www.baranivka.org and learn more about this project, follow us on Facebook - www. facebook.com/baranivka.
On 25th-27th of May F4F Ukrainian National Community Building meeting took place in Baranivka. For those, who don’t know it yet, Baranivka is a village in Central Ukraine (Poltava region), where F4F Community house/training centre is being created. 17 participants from different regions of Ukraine as well as our friends from Romania, Brazil and Germany took part in the meeting, which was in a ‘working atmosphere’ in every sense of the word. We worked together, helping to tidy up the land around the house, spent time in quiet, shared news from the regions and personal experiences of community-building. Zoriana Borbulevych has used this time to receive feed-back on the IofC Strategic framework document and promised to pass it on so that the opinion of the ‘Ukrainian focus group’ would be taken into consideration along with other feed-back from all over the world. Also this meeting helped baranivkans to launch their Summer Volunteer Programme. Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 9
UR ES O RS U CO
“I MIGHT HAVE LEARNED HERE IN A FEW DAYS MORE THAN IN 15 YEARS IN SCHOOL!” Between March 30th - April 5th an Ethical Leadership Workshop took place in Surdesti, a village near Baia Mare, Romania. The event was organized by the Romanian initiative team called Club for Young Leaders. 16 participants had a chance to discuss and deepen their understanding of topics such as: Ethical Leadership, Motivation, Moral Values, Integrity, Communication, Trust, Competition and Cooperation. All this was held together by the regular practice of quite reflection as an essential tool for an ethical leader. The course was run by Foundations for Freedom trainers; David Curtis from UK, Dasha Kolesnik and Angela Starovoytova from Ukraine, Willemijn Lambert from The Netherlands and Diana Damsa from Romania.
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ABOUT THE PROGRAMME:
“It was the most powerful experience of learning of my life! I discovered that I am not alone, that there are many people who believe in the values I believe,” - a high-school teacher. “I’ve never been to such a powerful course. It is amazing how many skills and spiritual thoughts you can develop in just five days. The course achieved it’s goal!” - a recruitment consultant. “The perfect analogy is the one about firework shows. Each session/game/exercise etc. makes you say “wow”. And when you think you’ve seen it all, BANG goes another firework, even more beautiful and bigger than the previous ones,” - an engineer.
ABOUT THE INNER CHANGES:
“I started thinking about all the changes I want to make in my life and that I’m the only one who
can do that: CHANGE. I think that I am more aware now of the responsibility I have for my own life and for the life of the others around me,” - an NGO activist.
ABOUT QUIET TIME:
“Finally I’ve found a way to open up and to realize some things in my life,” - a high-school student.
“The course reminded me that as a child I was more heart and soul and mind. I should go back and bring back these values & qualities into my life,”- a recruitment consultant.
“In the first day of the course I thought that the quiet sessions make no sense at all, but gradually I started to like them so much that now they are and will forever be my favorite session/time ever,“ - a highschool student.
ABOUT VALUES:
ABOUT THE SKILLS:
“The session about values was one of the ones I loved most. I was actually thinking of re-doing the list of values a while ago, but I never got to it. So I’m very grateful for this opportunity,”- an NGO activist. “I never thought about it before. During values-session I realized what the most important values are for me and this made me think,”- a high-school student
„I think now it’s more clear how to build a team, how to involve people and keep them together“; “I learned how to know myself better, how to love and be loved”; “I have learned to listen more, and to pay more attention to what others have to say”.
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 11
A
Y IT AL N O RS PE
THE MEETING WITH A DISSIDENT As a part of the Healing the Past project Olha Hudz-Sakuma, Lena Kashkarova and Diana Damsa visited a representative of the Soviet dissidents’ movement Vladimir Bukovsky in his house in Cambridge. Vladimir Bukovsky to some people embodies history. He played a part in making history and he experienced Soviet Union realities with all their atrocities. Patrick Colquhoun - a full-time IofC-worker and friend of Vladimir Bukovsky - made it possible for us to meet. The conversation started on a surprising note. To the question of what is the most urgent and needed work that needs to be done in Russia, he answered that nothing can be done. He explained: ‘Russia has missed its chances. I do not see what and how things can be improved. In my opinion, partition is the only option ahead’. But, nevertheless, he thought that the ‘Sorry Book’ idea that has been started by our Russian friends could be useful, as well as work on raising awareness, showing movies and giving
Vladimir Bukovsky is a leading member of the Russian dissident movement, a writer, neurophysiologist, and political activist. He spent a total of 12 years in Soviet prisons and labor camps. In 1976 Bukovsky was exchanged by the Soviet government for the imprisoned Chilean Communist leader Luis Corvalán. He took up refuge in Great Britain. 12 • Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012
trustworthy information about the Soviet past. Also he agreed that people who lived through awful atrocities should have a chance to speak about pain and be heard. Moreover, he believes: every person has the desire for forgiveness and reconciliation. So even enemies want and need to hear each other. To the question of what is the difference between the situation in USSR, when he fought against the Communist regime and the situation in Russia nowadays, Bukovsky answered: ‘collapse of the Soviet Union was inevitable. It was a system fully built on lies. It was too silly of the ruling elite to claim its right of «absolute truth». Any word of real truth went straight to the point destroying the regime. Nowadays very little is prohibited. But the truth gets lost in the flow of information, quite often in the flow of lies and nonsense’. ‘During USSR times the matter was not so much whether we would get imprisoned or not. That was definite: they were so scared of truth that we would get imprisoned anyway. But we used the final statement at the court to speak out to the whole country. By some miracle our friends were always at these «open» hearings to write down the speech and pass it on to millions of our countrymen’. Bukovsky didn’t comment on the current situation in Ukraine. The former dissident answered sincerely that he didn’t know our
realities well. Instead he told about his visit to Ukraine: ‘I got invited to speak in front of Ukrainian Parliament on whether Ukraine should get independence. I came and saw that half of Rada’s MPs were well known to me through prisons and labour camps. After me it was George Bush who came to talk them out of the idea of independence. But it was me who
– privately and publicly. I even felt uncomfortable. I thought that this was a courageous step’. Vladimir Bukovsky wrote in his book To Build a Castle: ‘There were no leaders and no led, there was no allocation of roles, and no one was actively pushed or persuaded. But despite the complete absence of organizational forms, the activities of the protesting community were astonishingly well coordinated. From There was just one case in my life when a journalist outside, it was difficult to see how this came who wrote lots of dirt about me about. The KGB, as during Soviet times apologised. And he did this twice – privately and of old, spent its time looking for leaders and publicly. I even felt uncomfortable. plots, secret hiding I thought that this was a places and addresses, courageous step but every time they arrested a supposed got listened to!’ ‘leader’, they were astonished to He shared his thoughts about ‘slips’ discover that not only had this of the Ukrainian government: not weakened the movement but ‘It was a mistake by leaders to in many instances it had even impose the Ukrainian language strengthened it. …each of us, like on the population. One needs to a nerve cell, participated in this attract, show the richness and amazing conductorless orchestra, beauty of the language and culture spurred on only by a consciousness rather than force its use. Imposing of our own dignity and a sense of methods disaffected many people personal responsibility for what and didn’t allow Ukrainians to gain was happening around us’. unity’. The dissident movement was Vladimir Bukovsky is often blamed a real community. And this as being irreconcilable and community, which consisted of a resentful. He explains: ‘How can handful of people, managed to I forgive, when nobody shows the sustain and win the battle with slightest signs of regret? There the huge machine of the Soviet was just one case in my life when regime. Bukovsky showed in his a journalist who wrote lots of book amazing interconnection dirt about me during Soviet times between personal responsibility apologised. And he did this twice and exceptional independence in standing up for a person’s dignity and extraordinary cohesion of their actions and mutual support. Only being ‘separate’ they could work together. Only being ‘together’ they could sustain separately... We try to create the same through the work of ‘Foundations for Freedom’. To help people to bring up a sense of personal responsibility and create a community of those who are ready to follow what this ‘responsibility’ tells them. That’s a big task. But what an effect it can make! Olena Kashkarova, Ukraine
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 13
G N LI ST A A HE E P TH
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING The Dialogue was grounded on such core principles as respect towards the right of everyone for their own outlook; seeking for what is right rather than who is right; getting to know the past through life stories; understanding that shaping the future involves taking responsibility for the past; realizing that we should start changes from ourselves. The Dialogue was moderated by Diana Damsa (Romania) and Lena Kashkarova (Ukraine). The seminar brought together 18 activists from different cities and regions of Ukraine, as well as several representatives from Baia Mare (Romania) and one participant from Tiraspol (Transnistrian Moldovan republic). Four days turned out to be enough to create a truly friendly atmosphere among the participants and establish a qualitative and effective communication on core subjects and issues participants wanted to discuss. The first day of the seminar started with the presentation of the project, the goals
of the dialogue, and self-introduction of participants. This day was devoted to preparation for the dialogue, interpretation of the very notion ‘dialogue’, trust-building, listening skills, and teambuilding activities. On the second day, participants had the opportunity to hear the report of the historian and journalist from Kharkiv Oleksandr Zinchenko about the mechanism and functioning of the collective memory. The participants did identity activities, drew their family trees and presented them. The day ended by viewing and discussion of “Merry Christmas” (2005), a French drama film based on real events. The third day of the Dialogue seemed to be one of the busiest: the participants had a task to do, a mini-research on the subject they were interested in. They formulated topics by themselves and interviewed other participants. Among topics raised were: historical stereotypes, Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian Insurgent Army,
Responsible editor of the ‘Letting Go’ book of life stories interethnic marriages, modern borders of Ukraine, the Moldovan-Transnistrian relations, Soviet holidays, national identity. Each participant was able to look at their subject with the eyes of each respondent and thus expand their own vision of the problem as well as to train the ability to listen and hear. Each Dialogue participant suggested a number of ways of addressing the problems. Despite the tight schedule of the Seminar, after the mini-surveys we found time for an evening walk downtown, where we continued our conversations in Lviv coffee houses and parks. On the last day of the Dialogue, apart from the summary of all previous days, there also took place an informal presentation of the ‘Letting Go’ book (Vidpushchennia) of life stories collected during the first phase of the project in 2010. Each participant received a book as a gift, along with a notebook and a T-shirt. Finally, everyone had a chance to share a symbolic burning candle and words of gratitude with everyone who made a difference in their heart during the meeting. Tears in the eyes of the participants indicated that we managed to experience ease and depth in communication, necessary to manifest sincerity and trust – important prerequisites for a dialogue. No wonder one of the participants shared her concern at the beginning of the seminar: “I am afraid I’ll want to come again” :)
For more project news, visit the project web-page: www.ukrainian-action.org.ua
Halyna Bunio, Ukraine Responsible editor of the ‘Letting Go’ book of life stories
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RE M GIO EE N TI AL N G
RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRACY DEVELOPMENT
The annual Regional Meeting of Foundations for Freedom (F4F) took place 23-25 March 2012 hosted by the Club for Young Leaders (CYL) in Baia Mare, Romania. In all, 34 people ranging in age from 21 to 87 took part. They represented the F4F and IofC Network from Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Germany, Poland, France, UK and Romania. There were also a few guests from partner organizations like InMOE (Initiative for Central and Eastern Europe, based in Germany), GFPS–Polska (Scientific and Cultural Society, based in Poland) and Rotaract-Club (Romania). The presence of a few ‘elders’, Claude Bourdin from France, David Curtis and Miles Paine from UK, enriched the gathering through their wealth of experience and stories from the past. With such a wide range of NGOs, initiatives and countries represented, the organizers provided the opportunity for the participants to meet with up to 50 local activists and NGOs in Baia Mare. A lively public meeting and discussion in the conference hall of the Public Library was preceded by an ‘NGO market place’ where the various organizations set out their stalls. ‘Freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility,’ said Olga Dyatel from
There were group discussions on how teambuilding activities and developing to engage people to become socially an intern-programme within F4F. responsible. Participants suggested having However, the most remarkable point of a positive attitude, showing the benefits the meeting, according to the participant of being responsible, and recognizing people’s FARMERS TOGETHER contributions. The next few days were Claude Bourdin and David Curtis visited a local spent analyzing the current situation in the Farmers co-operative to engage them in a cooperaF4F network, its strengths tion with IofC’s Farmers Dialogue. The collaboraand weaknesses. The tion between the Farmers Dialogue team and the group also looked to F4F team grows ever stronger as new synergy has improve cooperation been discovered. Plans are being made for collabothrough undertaking ration on an event in East Africa in November. some joint actions during 2012. Various ideas were put forward, including some concrete evaluations was the atmosphere of proposals on the use of internet ‘oneness’, embracing friendships, and guitar resources for interregional flows of singing. It was one of those rare occasions communication, developing usage of when participants felt they had enough social networks and public relations time to discuss big and small things, and activities. CYL Crimea and CYL Romania were ready to leave knowing what they are have started planning exchange visits. going to do in 2012 in relation to F4F. InMOE and F4F are planning another by Angela Starovoytova, Ukraine intercultural course for five countries in September 2012. The
One of the participants of the Public event posted a ‘thank you’ statement on the Facebook page: ‘Today I was reminded why I started to work with people (especially youth and kids). I remembered that if I want something to change, I have to change myself first. Thank you for this opportunity.’
the Club for Young Leaders in Crimea, Ukraine. Her statement, made during a presentation on CYL, inspired quite a few people in the audience with its fresh perspectives on democracy and the role youth are playing in establishing it. Representatives of InMOE, spoke about their work helping NGOs develop professional operational skills through educational projects and offering international partnerships for young NGOs.
F4F Management group will create an information sheet for F4F-partners, explaining its structure and main values/ principles of operation. Mentoring opportunities and systems will be worked out for F4F members and volunteers. Other plans include Summer and Winter camps, creative camps,
Newsletter of Foundations for Freedom • 2012 • 15
STOP!
CUT!
CRIMEAN ACTIVISTS MAKE MOVIES ABOUT MULTICULTURAL RELATIONSHIPS
In May, in Crimea an art project “25 frames� was running, organized by Club of Young Leaders with support from The Irene Prestwich Trust. The project involved 20 young people who in one month were able to go all the way from realizing the need for peace in the Crimea, to the specific video ideas and their inplementation. The project was intended to create a productive environment for young people of different nationalities for their personal development and deep understanding of the need for peaceful co-existence and fruitful collaboration, among different nationalities in Crimea, using contemporary media and art tools. The project included two workshops in the Crimea. The first (4 to 6 May) was devoted to thematic lectures and trainings on multicultural issues, building trust and firm intercultural connections, realizing a common basis between people and the notion of responsibility for their actions.
In the second phase of the project (15 to 20 May) the guys with the help of professional experts mastered the skills of video and photography. They learned how to solve social problems through creative means, learned how to come up with the idea of specific videos, to write a script to film and to assemble their own videos using available tools. From 20 - 29 May, the project participants were creating their own videos, aimed at maintaining peace and understanding in the Crimea. This project was a creative platform, where young people were looking for new ways and approach-
es to existing problems, have communicated with the experts and learned how to inspire their peers. Many of them now say, that they will continue making videos to create change around them in such an interesting and effective way.
Anastasiia Maksimova, Ukraine