ERASMUS+ TRAINING COURSE
IF YOU BELIEVE IN INTEGRATION SHARE YOUR COOKIE
10.01.- 19.01.2020 BERLIN, GERMANY
TRAINING COURSE FOR YOUTH WORKERS FROM SERBIA, NORTH MACEDONIA, TURKEY, GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN, SLOVENIA, PALESTINE AND GERMANY TO EXPLORE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION THROUGH INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
TEAM BUILDING ORANGES MARKET Participants were divided into three groups, each group was given a paper with a task was written. Timing to discuss the tasks within groups and to create a strategy was around 30 minutes. Each group represented an island: one was selling oranges, the other two needed to buy these oranges, for different purposes.
Both islands, the buyers, were suffering from a severe illness so one needed the orange juice and the other needed the peels to use as a medicine for its people so they won’t die. The purpose of such activity is to find the best strategy each group should follow. The point of the exercise is that the three groups should realise that it can be a win-win-win situation. The solution of those tasks was reached by the proper communication and negotiation between the three groups.
At the beginning, the participants implemented their ideas slowly, but in no time new associations flew from around the circle of people and everyone could feel the passion that this exercise stirred among the group. As observed, the group concluded that being human is complex. Next, the group explored what it means to fully be a human, as well as what people need to live in dignity. In the end, the human form was full of qualities that are, more or less, essential for the human persona.
HOW CAN WE DEFINE HUMAN RIGHTS? BRAINSTORMING The materials needed for this exercise are simple, only a flipchart and a marker! The first step is human being Then, together, with qualities human being!
to draw a figure of a with a single line. fill the empty figure that define it as a
The participants took a turn, filling the empty human with words that define it as a human being.
This method is quite useful for bringing people together, as well as activating their sense of purpose. Most people would be reminded of the real aspects of the human complexity, therefore implementing their empathy into the exercise. A method that activates everyone while triggering a continuous flow of thought, this method is perfect when it comes to reminding people of the issues in the modern society. The fruitful opportunities that this method provides in the training courses can be very helpful when it comes to the starting points of the concept of human rights and how this has evolved through the ages.
PERSONAL REFLECTION
By all that, we had a chance to learn other participants' priorities & aims.
EXPLORING WISHES, NEEDS AND RIGHTS
Also during the session all participants mentioned their opinions. They told each other about which one came to their mind first such as protest and activist war.
As we all know, human rights affect all areas of our life, since our topic of the training course is relevant to human rights. Today during this session we listed our wishes and basic needs that are relevant to human rights. For this reason each of us was given a summary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a material for us to brainstorm. Afterwards, we exchanged papers in which we listed our wishes, basic needs connected to human rights.
Personally, we could reflect our opinions and feelings to a paper which we were given to list wishes, needs, rights. At the end, we were categorizing our previous knowledge in a chart and discussed the categories related to human rights.
ROLE PLAY WE PREPARED A SHORT THEATRE PLAY, WITH A PURPOSE TO POINT OUT EXAMPLES OF VIOLATING HUMAN RIGHTS We split into three groups and each group chose their study case. The groups spent time discussing and analyzing the scenario. After that, we did the actual reenactment and performing. The plays, or specifically the theatrical pieces were quite representative, It was very clear
which human rights were violated on stage. After each group's performance, a discussion followed. In the last scene, all participants were a part of the play, in order to make them step in the shoes of the oppressed. In the debriefing, we had a broad discussion and we came out with possible solutions for these issues: what we as youth workers can do in situations like these, what is realistic and of course, how we can raise the awareness.
RELIGIOUS CONFLICT & TRANSFORMATION ATTITUDES TOWARD RELIGION We expressed whether we feel either religious, atheists, spiritual, or nothing of the kind. As some people consider themselves agnostic, we discussed what this actually means, regarding atheism and deism, and not all of us agreed on the meanings. We learnt about these attitudes, but also we found out that sometimes we interpret the attitudes we discussed in a different way, and that people cannot divide themselves strictly according to this categorisation.
We shared our personal experiences with religion and religious institutions, and these thoughts reconnected us, in a way. We realised that every religion puts kindness in the first place, but also that morality of the humanity is not conditioned with religion – if you are not a member of any religion, it does not mean that you do not have morals. We also mentioned major religions in the world, which are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Still, we agreed that we would like to learn more about different regions, different branches of these religions, flows in the world and similar, but we had very limited time for this.
DIALOGUE OR DISCUSSION? DIALOGUE VS DISCUSSION VS DEBATE Method details: Materials used: pre-prepared flipchart with 2 sections. Section 1: "Dialogue VS Discussion (Debate)", Section 2: was "Dialogue in youth work". Setting: all participants sitting together, a trainer standing in the middle with a flipchart so everyone can see what's written there. The topic was comparing Dialogue vs Discussion (Debate) and its usage in youth work.
At the beginning a trainer asked the questions and associations of participants regarding the topic. Afterwards the trainer started to explain all the written points one by one, giving the examples and asking if everything is clear. After the theoretical part, the trainer divided all the participants in few groups. These groups needed to discuss the given topic and choose a person to represent during a simulation of a dialogue. The simulation went successfully, because the trainer had already explained how a real dialogue should be like. Such kind of sessions are very informative and can be used for preparing the group for sessions where participants will implement the given knowledge.
ARE YOU WEIRD ENOUGH TO COME TO BERLIN? "Memorable" could be a lot of things in your life. Fairy tales you were listening as a child, your grandparents stories, first kiss, a heartbreaking arguments, a taste of first cigar, first flight... Berlin is memorable as well. “When the Walls Come Down” It all started with the Wall - the former barrier has become today’s line of freedom. Models or photographers - what to be? The greatest dilemma! Everyone was overwhelmed about the photo of the year in front of that wall.
Lots of pictures were taken there with a lot of passion and excitement, could yours be the best? Our participants tried it also. Practising “Brezhnev and Honecker kiss”, hugging each other, making silly faces, and protesting in the most incredible manners. Are you sure that Google knows everything? Do its maps lead you well? In Berlin, I don’t think so! Blinded by the city’s lights and amazed by its culture, getting lost is a must! Between the many bus stations and different trams directions, it’s okay to ask if you’re not one hundred percent certain about where to go. You remember the Joker metro scene? Try imagining living it! Going in a wrong tram line, mislead us to a garage. Exciting, isn’t it?!
NORTH MACEDONIA North Macedonia has been one of the universal centres of interreligious dialogue for years, having 5 major projects and programs done in the country. The laws of North Macedonia prohibit religious discrimination and provide for equal rights for all citizens regardless of their religious belief, and people generally have the freedom to practice their religion without disruption. Religious organisations have complained about unfair treatment by the government around questions of building permits and property restitution. There have been incidences of vandalism and theft against religious buildings during the conflict in 2001.
GEORGIA Georgians identified themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians (83,4%), but in constitution, it isn’t considered as a Christian country. Other religions practised are: Islam 10.7%, Oriental orthodoxy 3.9%, Catholic Church 0.8%, and others 1,2%. Georgians used to say: “ ენა , მამული , სარწმუნოება " which means : “language, motherland, religion“. From this, we could see how important religion is for them. The Georgian constitution provides freedom of religion and generally respects this right in practice, but there have been reports of violence and discrimination against nontraditional religious groups. This conflict was settled down by the police. NGO’s were addressing to the Parliament and making training courses for minorities.
TURKEY Turkey is a secular country by constitution. Majority of the population practices Islam, 80.5% practicing Sunni Islam, 11.6% Alevi. There are also Christians (0.2%), atheists (1%) and people with spiritual beliefs instead of religious. The youth representatives aren’t satisfied by the current religious situation in Turkey and are trying to change it by being active. The present predictions of religious radicalism in Turkey is unstable and changes constantly. This aspect is being influenced by big flows of refugees entering the country. NGOs’ role in interreligious dialogue in Turkey increases by each year but still being influenced by politics.
AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan is a secular country. The main religion is Islam being practised by 94% of population and divided into Shia & Sunni. Islam was spread after the 7th century. Christianity began to spread in Azerbaijan by means of Caucasus Albania in the first year of time of Christ's apostles. 3% of population accepted Christianity. Only 2% of population do not consider themselves part of any religion and other religions form 1% in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan young people are not forced to follow a certain religion. All people of all faiths may choose and practice any religion without any restrictions. Every youngster has a right to choose and change his own religious affiliation and belief. There is no religious extremism in Azerbaijan and religious institution coexist peacefully.
ITALY Interreligious dialogue in Italy is represented by the importance that the various religious groups are attached to these meetings by sending their top-level representatives there. Â Italy is a big country, it has a huge diversity in religion: Agnostic/Atheist 22%, Catholicism 75% and others 3%. Â But still, each citizen can practice their beliefs freely.
GERMANY Various religious groups also exist in Germany. The dominant is Christianity, with two branches – both Protestantism and Catholicism, which compose approximately 30%. The second largest religion is Islam, with around 6 %. There are some other religious minorities, such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Yazidi. Misunderstandings among different groups that co-exist, produce tensions among different religions, especially when it comes to representations of Islam. As elsewhere in Europe, in the recent past years there has been an increased number of intolerance and hate speech against religious minorities.
SERBIA Serbia is a secular state which recognises seven traditional religious communities, but in which as many as 28 religious communities operate simultaneously under the Law on Churches and Religious Communities. Catholic leaders have expressed a desire to establish a Catholic university in the near future, most likely in Subotica. The Islamic Community of Sandzak has its own International University in Novi Pazar. Other religious communities also have institutes to educate their priests, such as Adventists (in Belgrade) and Baptists (in Novi Sad).
PALESTINE In Palestine, religious differences are not the main issue, because Palestinians deal well with such diversity. There are Muslims, who form the majority, as well as Christians and Jews. Conflicts in Palestine are mostly related to the political situation instead of the religious one, due to the Israeli occupation. There are some NGOs and other religious institutions which support the minor parties with all possible resources.
SLOVENIA Officially, there are 54 registered religious groups, but majority of the population perceives themselves as Christians. Most of these officially registered religious groups are not visible in the society, for they have only few members. Statistically, almost 3/4 of Slovenians consider themselves as Catholics. In the North-East region Prekmurje, we find a minor but visible Protestant community. There're a few Jews left in the country. There is almost 4% of Muslim people, but Islam has only became present in the country in last two decades, due to ex-Yugoslavia conflicts. As of recently, the refugees are fleeing from the Middle East towards the country.
Although, the statistics say that there is only 15% of non-believers. In Slovenia, the bond between religion and traditions is not that strong. Majority doesn't involve religious practices, except from celebrating major religious holidays. However, the recent migrations furthered populist discourse from the right wing about how Slovenia has to protect its Catholic values and morals.
YOUTH WORKERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE CREATING OWN WORKSHOPS
WORKSHOP 4 The group implemented a debate about immigrants’ rights In the beginning to the participants was read the story of a Mexican girl living in the USA. After 10 years of active living in USA, her family faced possibility to be deported back to Mexico. Although she has been facing diverse types of discrimination in her school, and her father had to work four jobs in order to ensure their living, she didn't want to leave USA. Then, facilitators divided the participants into 2 groups - one pro and the other con the deportation of this family.
They gave them 10 minutes to think about arguments for the debate, and to choose 3 representatives to participate in the debate. The debate was organised in 5 four-minute rounds during which the participants expressed their views and counter-views. To make the debate more interesting, the facilitators intentionally often changed the representatives of the opposing groups. During debriefing, participants shared what were the most significant issues in the story, why they decided to focus on certain arguments, how did they determine the order and method of responding to the opposing team’s arguments, and how did they develop their strategy.
WORKSHOP 3
Our group chose the topic of discrimination. We had 10 minutes of brainstorming and discussing the possible methodology. As a result, we agreed on a role-play called “Step forward�. We found the original template and made a new variation of it. One of our goals was to make participants feel themselves in the shoes of the given roles. Setting: outdoors Timing: 45 min Materials: role cards, flip chart with some quotes about discrimination, evaluation paper. The workshop started with a brief introduction into the topic of discrimination, then giving the instructions to participants. At the beginning of an activity, everyone stood on the same line.
The facilitators gave the role cards to the participants. A few people got the same roles to see the differences in their perceptions of these roles. Roles and situations were chosen according to different discrimination types. Participants closed their eyes and took a few minutes to feel the role, then the role-play started. The facilitators read the different life situations and the participants made a step forward if by the given role they could relate to this situation. In the end all the participants stood on the different distance from the start line, some not moving at all and some making the maximum amount of steps possible. Participants returned to the training room and started the discussion and evaluation. Organisers lead the debriefing part and asked the questions about their feelings. The questions were constructed to make participants think from the roles` perspective and remember examples from their real lives. The answers varied depending on the participant`s origin country and the background.
WORKSHOP 2 The facilitators chose a storytelling as a method to discuss discrimination. They borrowed the story from a movie "American History X", released in 1999. The leading motive of the narration is Nazi-ideology, and tensions between White Americans and African Americans.
After reading the story individually, participants had to discuss the story in groups comprised of five people. The task given to the groups was to classify the characters from the one that had the most negative influence to the one that had the most positive influence, according to them. Therefore, we were weighing the actions of the people in the story, their intentions, their strengths and weaknesses, but their influence on other characters was crucial in making a decision.
There are five characters in the vicious circle of crimes, wrongdoings, and even positive findings and changes.
A the end, we discussed and shared different points of view and made a conclusion about the process.
We asked them questions about how many of them have experienced different types of discrimination in the contemporary society. In the end, we concluded how many of them have experienced discrimination in their everyday life, in the same or different manners. The conclusion that, despite their differences, so many people suffer from the same kinds of discrimination has left a remarkable note on the participants. This method can be used in all kinds of workshops, projects and training courses that have to do with any societal issue.
WORKSHOP 1
For this workshop, we separated into four groups. Each group made a workshop with a specific task implemented as a method of learning. Different materials were needed for each group's workshop. In group 1's workshop, we invented and presented a social experiment in a closed room of people, which represented a classroom of a highschool. Various types of people with different genders from various religious, cultural, ethnic, and sexual orientation were implemented as roles of the 'people' / participants in this method.
The other groups implemented other similar methods. Group 4 presented the debate method in which the participants debated for and against a certain existing case in society. Group 2 used the method through which a story was shared among the participants and a certain societal case was analysed and the answers of the questions presented fruitful answers about the issue of discrimination. Group 3 led the participants outside in a football field and started the 'Step Forward' method which led the different citizens of society to a certain extent towards a certain goal. The ones who were more privileged in society than the others came closer to the goal, thus providing information about the issues they face in society on both sides.In conclusion, the participants experienced how it is to be a youth trainer in such challenging world conditions..
THE LOESJE POSTERS The following posters were created during the Loesje creative text writing workshop in this training course. Find them for free on these links, and spread them: www.loesje.org/posterarchive/ad vanced https://www.facebook.com/pg/Lo esjeBerlin/photos/? tab=album&album_id=30000091 06677593
THIS BROCHURE WAS DEVELOPED AND DESIGNED BY THE PARTICIPANTS DURING THE MULTIMEDIA AND DISSEMINATION SESSIONS. "THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SUPPORT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PUBLICATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT OF THE CONTENTS WHICH REFLECTS THE VIEWS ONLY OF THE AUTHORS, AND THE COMMISSION CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY USE WHICH MAY BE MADE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN."