Voluntary Workcamps Association of Nigeria
Tel: +234.7066000085 +234.8026550522 vwoan@yahoo.com http://www.vwoan.org
78 Shyllon Street, Palmgrove, 100252 Lagos, Nigeria. G. P. O. Box 2189, Marina, Lagos
VOLUNTARY WORKCAMPS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA with financial assistance of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the European Union
SEMINAR: You(th) build peace: Youths as voluntary actors in local communities. Educate globally, act locally. 30TH June to 6th July 2014 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE Iperu-remo, Ogun state, Nigeria
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgment
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Background of the project
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Participants profile
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Final programme
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Outcomes
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Follow up
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List of participants
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Participants’ impressions
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ACKNOWLEGEMENT
We are grateful for the support received from the North South Centre of the Council of Europe to actualise the project. We specially thank our volunteers and the facilitators, Steffi Koch and Femi Aganran, for their relentless efforts in preparing, implementing and reporting the project. Our cordial regard extends to all the partners of this project in Africa and Europe and the volunteers who took part in the project.
Disclaimer: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe or the European Union.
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BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
Voluntary Workcamps Association of Nigeria (VWAN) is a registered non-profit organisation founded in 1963 and recognized as a grassroots organisation. Our activities are carried out through service of volunteered youths towards community building and promoting a culture of peace. The Association is group of Service Civil International and affiliate to CCIVS (Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service), we also have corresponding relationship with the partners and stakeholders on the local, national and regional level. VWAN is honoured to introduce you to the volunteer seminar: “You(th) build peace: Youths as voluntary actors in local communities. Educate globally, act locally”. We have had to contend with a decline of volunteering and civic engagement of youth in West-Africa, as well as in Nigeria itself. We identified several causes such as lack of resources, skills, knowledge, access to facilities and entrepreneurial skill. Especially we face a lack of young women’s voice to be integrated in volunteering and community building. We see a huge potential in this seminar to function as a mutual platform for good practice sharing and knowledge creation. Therefore we are very happy that the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe approved our project application for the SEED funding and that we can now invite you to join us to review, in this report article, the week-long process of discussion, learning and working on how “You(th) build peace” across the EU-Africa sphere. This seminar was aimed at building the capacity of youth workers from European and African voluntary organisations, with a special focus on the West African regional partners (WAVAN- West Africa Volunteer Associations). The project addressed the capacity needs of voluntary organisations working to respond to the challenges and needs of local communities. The seminar provided the space for peer-to-peer learning and exchanging experiences for young people to play an important role in shaping their future communities and creating the changes they need to see happening in the world. And learn to respect that all this can merely happen in peace, respect and mutual cooperation. Throughout the seminar we applied a non-formal way of learning, to encourage selfresponsibility and support experiential learning process.
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The objectives of the seminar can be summarized as to;
foster understanding and appreciation about the role youth and young women can have as active members of the local and international communities and through which they can contribute positively to community development and peace promote peace education, the skills of non-violence and the tool of non-violent communication create an entirely open and all inclusive approach to participation in community and volunteering work discover how to achieve personal commitment as activists and learn how to engage others in this process
PARTICIPANTS PROFILE
Participants at the seminar were selected based on the following profiles;
be between 18-30yrs old and being volunteer/ activists or with a strong interest to get engaged in the issue, preferably some prior involvement(s) in local community building a volunteer \ young activist of any of the eligible partner organization show a willingness to work and to learn more about the program topic(s) participate in the seminar from its very first till the very last day participate in daily group tasks (cooking, cleaning, setting the table, etc.) to strengthen the practical communal experience within the seminar help to share responsibility by making suggestions for group activities, discussions, games etc. commit to a group experience and help making decisions and solving problems respect the people in the hosting project community open to exchange knowledge and network with like-minded volunteers comfortable and able to work and communicate using English language have the knowledge and ability for peaceful, efficient offline and online interaction / communication (prior and after the seminar)
FINAL PROGRAMME
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OUTCOMES
The project was initiated by youth activists from Europe and West Africa, who are active in SCI and WAVAN (West Africa Voluntary Association Network)in the arena of youth/peace work. Participants of the seminar were been selected from partner organisations in West Africa and Europe with which VWAN has a longstanding cooperation. The activities during the seminar were centered on Peace education, intercultural learning, conflict management, and youth cooperation. The seminar enabled a common awareness on issues bordering North and South, this encouraged young people to see the connection between their local activities and the global effects it can have, in this way we have been able to promote solidarity, participation, tolerance and inclusive growth, thus the duality of NorthSouth is being bridged. The methods applied during the seminar are drawn from a range of best practice materials developed within SCI network, previous training toolkits such as the COMPASS of the Council of Europe and the peace building experience within VWAN. Participants were grossly engaged to focus on their needs and the priorities of the project through methodological activities that includes; team building games/energizers, collaborative methods, role – play techniques, facilitating discussions, video screening, and use of experimental exercises to be individually done/reflected and then discussed. Participants got involved in the implementation process from the start as everyone had the opportunity to contribute to the process; the facilitators were able to create the environment for sharing, cross learning and knowledge creation, in which the inputs from participants created a spectrum of experiences and diverse faculty of knowledge INTRODUCTION DAY 1 The seminar started with series of ‘getting to know’ activities which familiarize participants and facilitators with each other, one of the activity was done by asking participants to walk around in a random motion, they had to stop at the signal of the facilitator with each person taking 5mins to chat with the closest person to them, asking about their background, family, what we are doing at the moment and personal motivations for activism. After that they had the task of arrange the according to their shoe sizes, birth month and days, and length of volunteering experience without speaking to each other. Thereafter, the facilitators briefly introduced the drafted seminar program and pointed out that the final agenda would be adapted according to the needs of the group i.e. it is not a rigid program. Next, the participants were expected to come up with a group contract by responding to the question "WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS WEEK A PEACEFUL AND FRUITFUL EXPERIENCE? For this activity four discussion groups were firstly created, each group came up with four needs, which was further discussed when two groups merged together to discuss and agree on the outcomes. Before 6
taking the coffee break, the outcomes of the two final groups were discussed in the plenary and streamlined into four agreed needs, which are;
constant interaction open group forum non violence sharing innovative ideas to network
After the coffee break, the sessions continued with short energizers, and then the participants were engaged to reflect on their expectations, fears and contributions towards the seminar. Their reflections was written down on a sticky paper, then each participant came forward to present their expectations, fears and contributions to the group, and placed the paper on the wall chart provided. It was further explained that since the participants know of their personal concerns from the activity, the group should coordinate itself in a way that can support everyone in reaching their personal aims. What is volunteering about? After lunch we had about half an hour to rest, we resumed with some active energisers to getting back into our bodies. Then, Steffi explained the approach that is being applied for the seminar; nonformal approach cum experiential learning. Participants got into 3groups to discuss 3 statements: VOLUNTEERING-DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS; HOW CAN YOU AS A VOLUNTEER PRACTISE/CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE AND NON-VIOLENCE? VOLUNTEERS SHOULD BE PAID!. The responses were emphasizing that “volunteering is a sign of freedom, without payments and ought to be encouraged; standing up for peace; committing to the cause for social change; giving time, energy and resources; and, willing to sacrifice to make a difference” Participants went into reflection groups to give feedback on the day’s activities; they mostly expressed feeling a high level of motivation to go more into the topics of the seminar. Mapping exercise The morning session was centered on organisation/project fair. Each participant had the stage to present their organisation to the other participants, in a mimicked TED style talk, participants shed more light on their organisation’s values, mission, target group, aims and objectives, stakeholders, needs and success stories of their projects. It was interesting to feel the passion behind each participant's expression and to see the plethora of expertise and working topics within the group of organisations that is represented in the seminar. Participants were also able to examine what are their organisations’ needs in order to be effective in their work.
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What is Peace? There was a short break after the mapping exercise, after the break the participants were actively engaged in another practical activity to create a ‘peace art’. Everyone had 5mins to walk around the premises to find any item they can relate with peace and describe what 'Peace' meant to them through it. It was interesting to see how participants connect their chosen items to peace and their creativity using various items such as peace plant, flower, water, family picture, Pen, Onion and much more to describe peace. This activity enabled everyone to share their respective views on peace, as we know peace is a very abstract term, and as result can have divergent connotations for different people. So we shared about this abstract term in a very in a very interactive way. The next activity after the coffee break was the ‘game of life’, this activity significantly went deeper into more abstractions of ‘peace’ and ‘war’ by delving into many other terms that are connected to peace and war. A box filled with different terms was presented by the facilitator; participants were required to pick a term and express their opinions, by placing the term on a position on the board, whether it contributes to ‘peace’ or to ‘war’, which are both extremes on the game board. The discussion that resulted was highly controversial and was subjected to deliberations among the group, as some of the participants felt some terms contributed more to peace while others deemed them related them to war. The discussion forum could not be exhausted but sometimes, the majority supported neutral between peace and war. We discussed terms like globalisation, energy, democracy, language, media, culture, ecology, migration, etc. it is posited that these can relate to both peace and war, yet sometimes it is difficult agree on their connotation towards peace or war.
After dinner we screened the documentary ‘Pray the devil back to hell’. The movie is about the women peace movement in Liberia (coordinated by - Leymah Gbowee), who were profoundly instrumental in ending the second civil war in Liberia. The movie showed how Leymah Gbowee started the Peace movement and with the support of thousands of women from Liberia and around the world, they were able to push for advance peace talks between the Liberian government and the 8
rebels to put end to the civil war that prevailed in Liberia for a very long time. An interactive forum followed the movie screening and participants intently discussed the salient aspects and reasons for the success of the women movement in the peace building process in Liberia. Participants were able to identify key. Building peace? The day’s activities began with participants engaging in silent discussions on 3 questions: What is peace? What is non-violence? What are human rights? The questions were written down on a paper which was placed around the room. Participants discussed only by writing their comments on the paper. The outcomes were presented by the facilitator and the participants gave feedbacks to each other about the questions and comments.
EXPLORING CONFLICTS The session engaged participants to explore the dynamics of conflicts with curiosity to increase sensibility about conflicts. To begin with this, participants were provided with various definitions about ‘what is conflict?’, more widely used typical definition were studied, then participant were presented the conflict-time graph which illustrated the processes that often leads to the escalation and de-escalation of conflicts in time. Personal conflict experiences were shared with the group, as participants described a specific personal conflict experience with the group. They shared if it resulted into any form of violence and which strategies they used to resolve the situation. A short classical movie (the neighbours) was screened, the movie showed how in simplistic terms how conflicts develop to violence.
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A questionnaire was shared among participants to examine their personal conflict styles and how they would most likely react in conflict situations, it was helpful for participant in reviewing their approach to conflicts. Conflict analysis models were introduced, ‘onion tool’, ‘conflict tree’ and ‘conflict triangle’ (Johan Galtung’s), these models presented to the participants were used in the group to dissect a specimen conflict situation to and identify the attributes of the conflict and possible actions that can lead to the transformation of the conflict. A further section was devoted to critical issues in conflict analysis, including; power, culture, identity, gender and rights to explore how conflict management knowledge/skills can be effectively utilised in building peaceful processes within our work fields. Participants thus were guided to identify stages of conflict, learn different conflict styles and ways they can be applied in personal life and work. Through the transcendence of preferred conflict style participants learnt they could adapt and constructively transform different types of conflict. Clear messaging and feedback rules were also explored as critical elements of communication towards conflict transformation. Community action On day 3, participants were tasked to organize peace building action within the host local community (Iperu-remo) the next day. They divided into 3 groups that focused on 3 aspects of the action (aim & objectives, Logistics & target group, and Media & outreach), in order to facilitate the development of the action. The 3groups worked on their tasks for 30mins and presented the outcomes of their brainstorming to the whole group for ratification. Participants had an engaging time planning their action within the community, without a prior knowledge of the local context and possibilities therein, also given the short amount of time they have to plan and implement their action. At the end of the process participants were able to articulate their motives for the action as thus: AIM:
to spread the idea of peace building to the students of Social Development Institute Objectives: To share our gained knowledge on peace building To engage the students in practical games and activities To encourage more youths on the importance of volunteering in building peace
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During the community action (practicing exercise), participants managed by themselves to set up a full scale 2 hours workshop reaching a broader public of the local college (SDI), the participants were given the task to exercise the skills and knowledge they acquired and they implemented an own activity (going through the complete project cycle: planning – implementing –evaluation). After lunch, VWAN president, Anthony Lokosu and other VWAN representatives were present to address the group, they highlighted the level of viable youth fellowship and exchange that existed in the sub region and they presented to the participants the organisational agenda to increase youth exchange and cooperation among the West African partner organisations. Taking Non-violent action- Final day On the final day, the seminar started with a session on non-violent communication. Participants were introduced to the NVC theory; they explored the modes of NVC and were guided through the steps that lead to NVC. This was followed with some exercises in which participants were able to apply the four steps in NVC model (observation, feeling, needs and request) to a previous personal conflict experience, the task was for them to transform the communication in the context of the conflict in other to be able to empathize with themselves and the other party in the conflict so as to have a possibility to meet their needs. After coffee break, a session was held on project harvesting, focusing on the steps that are involved in project/action planning. Tools such as SWOT analysis, problem tree and project management cycle were explore to give participants a vintage on project planning. After the presentation of the tools and the discussion groups that followed, participants were guided into reflecting on the needs they identified at the beginning of the seminar (needs within their organisations for their work to be effective), these needs were further categorized under 3groups, each participant freely choose one group according to his/her interests and the priorities of their organisations. Each group had a task to come up with a proposal for concrete future actions that aims to meet these needs, by using the tools (problem tree, SWOT) that was presented by the facilitators to analyse and plan their actions. The outcomes that were presented were quite interesting and diverse, the groups showed a good level of commitment to continue developing their various proposals as a potential follow up idea after the seminar. -
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Workshop on “Merits of youth engagement for peace building in our local communities”: The group has been mainly compiled by participants from the hosting community, who want to reach out to local secondary schools and collages with small workshops, presenting the idea of peace education and making the local youth acquainted with possibilities to engage voluntarily in peace building. Follow up Training Course/ Seminar: Another group identified a strong need for structural capacity building and financial management of the sending organisation Follow up Workshop on Advocacy for Peace (education), to spread the idea of peace education and youth engagement
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Workshop on Inclusion: 3 Participants created an outline for afternoon activities to be held in urban centres of Nigeria and Cameroon for marginalized youth and children, to get familiar with youth programs and civic engagement. These Workshops are planned to run consistently throughout the year.
Evaluation of the week-long seminar was conducted by the facilitators, as participants made an appraisal of the separate elements of the seminar. The program was ended with the “Falling Bush party� a committee of participants organised for the group and the hosting community.
Follow Up
Throughout the seminar, along the intense discussion we acknowledged 2 major needs that would need to be addressed in order to facilitate the future engagement of youth in peace building and in order to mainstream the seeds planted at the seminar: structural capacity and methodologically development We observed a strong necessity for structural and organisational skills development and the enhancement of cross-border cooperation (on regional or intercontinental level) as the learning outcome has been overwhelmingly acknowledged, but at the same time the lack of youth opportunities in the region and between the two regions (Europe and Africa) has been articulated by the participants. In our humble opinion local organisations would appreciate more guidance to re-build capacities and abilities in youth work and especially in application of non-formal education/ global education, an international implementation team worked well in our case, whereas local initiatives struggle with lack of experience in funding applications, organisational management and non-formal education has a key potential in the region. Youth shall be considered more broadly to meet the realities in the Western region of Africa, we suggest defining youth as people aging from 18 to 35, and allowing their participation in youth projects therefore.
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LIST OF PARTICIPANTS Sonoiki Olusola Ibiwoye Victoria Koch Steffi Amusan olamilekan Idokoko Paul Fonge-Atem Henry
F F F M M M
Nigeria Nigeria Germany Nigeria Nigeria Cameroun
Adeosun Lawal Foly Akpeyedze Foli
M M
Benin Rep. Togo
Sasurova Nikola Olanrewaju Elizabeth Parvanien Sanna Adelaja Olufunmilola Aganran Oluwafemi Tebi Honourine Adeyemi Adeshola
F F F F M F M
Czech Rep. Nigeria Finland Nigeria Nigeria Cameroun Nigeria
Social Development Institute (SDI) One African Child Service Civil International Voluntary Workcamps Ass of Nig. (VWAN) Social Development Institute (SDI) Benevolent Community Education and Rural Development Society (BERSDCO) Ecological Network Africa (ENA) Association Togolaise des Volontaires au Travail (ASTOVOT) INEX-SDA Czech Social Development Institute (SDI) Volunteer Action for Peace - UK National Youth Council of Nigeria Voluntary Workcamps Ass of Nig. (VWAN) Better World Cameroun Youth Challenge International
PARTICIPANTS’ IMPRESSIONS
Some participants went on to share their impressions with the facilitators one month after the seminar; we would like to thank them for their feedback. Honourine Tebi (Better World Cameroun) “…My experience as a volunteer had never cut across peace building and conflict management. So this was quite a new skill gained from traveling by Air out of the country, creating new networks of youths and learning new things. It was very interesting seeing youths contributing creative ideas in peace building and community development, understanding the various ways of transforming conflicts and the tools of analyzing conflict. Not leaving out the world cafe and the silent discussion as non-formal way of education that enables participants to bring out their understanding of peace, conflict, non-violence, and human rights. All these have help to build my capacity to carry on with Better Worlds Cameroon (BWC) activities to build the capacity of youths and women and also to impact the participants during BWC international summer work camp which started on 1st to the 21st August 2014. In line with the theme of the seminar; educate globally, act locally, as a multiplier I started giving back to BWC volunteers all I learned in Nigeria and also in the camp program, I added peace building and conflict management with communication to the camp program. About 20 youths have been empowered and am looking forward to other platforms to continue sharing the knowledge.”
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Victoria Ibiwoye (One Africa Child Nigeria) “I really learnt a lot from the peace building seminar. I learnt about Peace Building from the ordinary connotation of Peace. Individuals can contribute to peace and avenues such as volunteering can be a very good platform. It was a memorable experience as I still remember the energisers such as the golden knot game (which is about team building and cooperation), the game of life (this taught me how to have peace in our everyday life). I will always remember the Game Board exercise, I learnt a lot about global actions contributing to peace or to war. I was inspired so much by the movie documentary "pray the devil back to hell", i will remember a great African leader in -Leymah Gbowee. I will always apply my knowledge of conflict analysis, community action and building a volunteering culture in my organisation and to my community. I will always remember all the participants for their great values and of course, our falling bush party! …” Nikol Sausurova (INEX-SDA CZECH) “I am very grateful for such an experience as peace building seminar in Iperu was. As a participant from Czech Republic I can tell that everything was very professional and completely comparable with similar seminars in Europe. Also the place of stay was chosen very wisely. Social Institute is very quiet place with newly renovated houses so the stay over there was greatly pleasant. The content of lessons was to me quite familiar in view of the fact that I study international development and peace is inseparable part of it. I was also very happy that we have the opportunity to immediately take an action and pass our new knowledge on to students of the institute. It will be my great pleasure to share my experience in my school when I return to the Czech Republic” Lawal Adeosun (Ecological Network Africa) “It was really great to meet with my fellow African-European Brothers and sisters sharing our views, ideas and beliefs. It was a wonderful experience. The leadership training has thought me to choose my words and my actions carefully considering that to any action there is always a repercussion. Also the fact that there is nothing constructive in a fight or war, it only leads to destruction, poverty and sorrow. Non-violent communication skills and the act of conflict resolution has already its impact on my community building process. I like to stress that i like to share this experience with my community members, since a rich man among poor men is also poor, so i look forward to the next seminar in my project, so the rest members can also benefit directly...” Fonge Atem Henry (BERDSCO-CAMEROON) ‘’…Considering the current trend, events around the world and within my community. Conflicts and violence everywhere with little effort towards with youths being the most affected. The seminar was therefore important because it targeted youths from different countries and diversities, with them being the main actor’s and the current driving force in the society and the participants have as responsibility to educate others and their communities bringing about peace. I as a participant, I learned a lot on the importance of peace and being as a peace builder with the global view on conflict and resolution (Advocating for Peace). My skills and knowledge about volunteerism was been enhanced. I believe I will help improve on capacity in my organization by passing on the knowledge to other staffs, which as a whole work as a team to sensitize and educate the community for better changes in the society. ‘’ 14