STDS The organization MOJU - Associação Movimento Juvenil em Olhão - and its partners present the youth exchange “Stop Thinking about Differences and Smile” (STDS). STDS consisted in an International Youth Exchange which aimed to create a space for young people from different European countries can share their knowledge (assumptions, facts, stereotypes), opinions and experiences about Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD's) and the discrimination exerted by the society towards people infected with STD's. It was held in Olhão, Portugal between the 16th and the 22nd of September 2013 and gathered 31 participants from 6 different countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Serbia. The youth exchange followed a non-formal education approach and was based on the experience of the participants, exchange of information and a combination of both different and creative, participatory and interactive methods.
STOP THINKING ABOUT DIFFERENCES AND SMILE
The core Team was composed by 6 people: Aleksandra Davidovska (FYROM/Macedonia), Dejan Tatic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vasilis Zorbas (Greece), Nemanja Jankovic (Serbia) and Sofia Nobre (Portugal).
This Magazine shall help people who are interested in making possible a Youth Exchange! However, it will not focus on Logistics preparations and it will mainly concern some activities that can be carried out during such an event!
So what is Non-Formal Education??? Non-Formal Education (NFE) gathers different educational practices which are not included in the formal system of education. NFE is a methodology, which can be carefully adjusted to the participants and structured practices which fosters the personal, social and professional development of people, on a voluntary basis; whereas informal learning is related to what one can learn during daily life activities (work, family, leisure, etc.) being considered learning by doing. Both Informal and non-formal learning can empower youngsters in important conceptions, as social inclusion, anti-discrimination and active citizenship, as well as contributing to their personal growth. NFE is an educational approach which may act in a complementary way with the formal educational system. All learning activities of NFE are meant to attend young people’s needs, aspirations and interests, on a voluntary basis and learner-centered. The methods used in NFE are very diverse and are mainly based on creating healthy environments of trust and sharing experiences. This type of education provides added value for young people, for the economy and society in terms of capacity-building of organizations, systems and institutions. This education takes place in a diverse range of environments and address specific target groups and subjects, facilitating the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities.
The programme of a Youth Exchange usually follows the following moments: Introduction, Group Building, Intercultural Learning Activities, Introduction to the Topics and an Acting out!! Of course you don’t have to follow this order since the most important is to adapt the activities to the outcomes and the team of participants you are facing! This magazine aims to give some examples of activities that can be lead during the phases above.
Welcoming Space: Introduction During the introduction, you should let the participants know how the activities will be lead, without giving them all the juicy details!! Ice-breaking games are a very good tool to make sure the participants start interacting with each other!!
The introduction of the welcome space is through written instructions that the participants will have to follow and will guide them. The working space is divided into a number of zones. The Participants are required to explore the Welcome Space, they are required to visit every zone, they can revisit any of the zones as many times as they like, they can spend as much time in any zone as they like, during a given amount of time. Zone 1 – Aims and objectives of the Study Session; Zone 2 – Programme, Expectations & Fears (Regarding the programme, participants are asked to write their expectations and fears on a post it and place them on the programme); Zone 3 – Get to Know Me! A good way is prepare a table and chairs with a sign saying ask me something, so the participants can arrive, sit and ask each other questions; Zone 4 – Contributions (Pieces of paper with “I will contribute this week…”); Zone 5 – Opinions (Papers are placed around the room with key words of the project and the participants write the first thing that comes to their mind when they see the key words).
Team Building There are many exercises you can use for Team Building and one good example is: Lost
in the Sea!!
One advise‌ Make sure you are able to facilitate is before you adventure yourself, since it is not the easiest for a Junior Facilitator ;) For the full instructions, you can go the link bellow: http://cphp.sph.unc.edu/aithailand/source/Module1/LostatSeaExercise.doc
The Scenario:
You and your team have chartered a yacht. None of you have any previous sailing
experience, so you have hired an experienced skipper and two-person crew. As you sail through the Southern Pacific Ocean, a fire breaks out and much of the yacht and its contents are destroyed. The yacht is slowly sinking. Your location is unclear because vital navigational and radio equipment have been damaged. The yacht skipper and crew have been lost to the fire. Your best guess is that you are approximately 1,000 miles southwest of the nearest landfall. You and your friends have managed to save the following 14 items: 1. A Shaving mirror; 2. A quantity of mosquito netting; 3. A 19 liter can of water; 4. A case of army rations; 5. Maps of the Pacific Ocean; 6. A floating seat cushion; 7. A 7.5 liter can of oil / petroleum Mixture; 8. A small transistor radio; 9. 186 square decimeters of Opaque plastic sheeting; 10. Shark repellent; 11. 1.1 liters of 160 per cent proof Rum; 12. 4.5 meters of nylon rope; 13. 2 boxes of chocolate bars; 14. A fishing kit.
In addition to the above, you have salvaged a rubber life raft. The total contents of your team’s pants pockets amounts to one package of cigarettes, three boxes of matches, and three pieces of paper currency. So, YOUR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL WILL DEPEND UPON YOUR ABILILTY TO RANK THE ABOVE 14 ITEMS IN THEIR RELATIVE ORDER OF IMPORTANCE. GOOD LUCK!
For the next step, you might think to yourself “If it’s a Youth Exchange, how can I introduce the topics in an effective, but yet interactive and relaxed way?” One of the answers can be the
Agree/Disagree activity!
This activity may be used with a group of people from 15 to 30 people. The only materials needed area list of statements, a Facilitator to read the statements, and the Youngsters! 1. First, you can gather all participants in the middle of the room. 2. The activity may be used with 15-30 participants. The only materials needed are a list of statements, a Facilitator to read the statements, and the participants. Have the participants in the middle of the room, and tell them that they are about to hear some statements, on which they should have an opinion. They may “agree” or “disagree”. 3. Designate one side of the room as the “Agree” side, and the other as “Disagree.” Designate the mid dle of the room for those who are unsure about the statement. Encourage them to stand according to their true beliefs. 4. After the statement is read, the participants shall move to the side of the room that best expresses their opinion. Create a conversation and take some answers from both sides. The participants are able to move if they hear an argument that appeals to them. According to the topics of STDS, the statements were for example:
A person infected with an STD lives a conditioned life. If my co-worker is infected with an STD, I have the right to be informed.
The sentences should be ambiguous, so that they induce reflection!
Intercultural Learning A good activity to use for creating awareness of the impact that cultural diversity can have and to create mutual understanding is the
“Euro-rail a la carte”.
The aim of this activity is to explore the
foundations of prejudice and stereotyping. The duration of this activity is usually 40 minutes.
1. First, you have to explain the context of the activity. An example is: “You are boarding the train from Bucharest (Gara de Nord) to Oslo. Normally, the journey takes 45 hours, but since there are heavy works on the railroads, it will take almost four days to get to Oslo. You are travelling in a couchette compartment which you have to share with three other people. With whom of the following passengers would you prefer to share it?” 2. Secondly, give the following instructions to the team: a) Individually select your three first choices of the people whom you would like to travel with the most and the three you would like to travel with the least. You have 5 minutes to do this. b) After that, in the groups of three persons, share your choices of the 3 preferred companions and the 3 companions you would like to avoid travelling with, and discuss the reasons, which led to your decisions. You have 15 minutes for this part of the activity. 3. Thirdly, handout the list of passengers (Listed bellow). 4. Fourthly, have a small debriefing with the participants. You can use the following questions: How realistic are the situations presented? Has anyone in the group experienced a similar situation in real life? What were the major factors that determined your individual decisions? If the groups did not manage to reach common conclusions, why was this? What was most difficult? What factors prevented you coming to a consensus? Which stereotypes does the list of passengers evoke? Are the stereotypes in the descriptions given or in our minds and imagination? Where do we get these images from? How would it feel to be in a situation in which nobody would want to share a train compartment with you?
This activity is an adaption of the exercise “Euro-rail á la carte” of the Education Pack “all different - all equal”, Directorate of Youth and Sport, Council of Europe, 2nd edition: http://eycb.coe.int/edupack/pdf/31.pdf
List of passengers: 1) A disabled war veteran from the Balkans 2) An overweight Greek bank manager 3) An Italian DJ with a stereo system 4) An African man selling leather products 5) A young artist who is HIV positive 6) A German rapper living a very alternative lifestyle 7) A blind accordion player from Austria 8) An Ukrainian female student without a valid passport 9) A middle-aged Roma woman with a child 10) A Dutch hard-line feminist 11) A skinhead from Norway with a bottle in his pocket 12) A refugee from Syria living in Germany 13) An American soldier from Kosovo in a uniform 14) A Russian businessman with 3 mobile phones 15) A young leader of a right-wing party from Slovakia 16) A Chinese man with five large bags 17) A gay rights activist from Hungary
Acting out So the moment for the Acting Out has arrived and you ask yourself, what is this? This is the highest moment of the whole event, since it is the opportunity for the participants to show what they have learnt and what they intend to take from the project to share among their peers and their community! And acting out can be very difficult or very easy to facilitate, depending on your personality, since it is the moment where the facilitator shall guide, but completely allow the participants to act upon their imagination and creativity! So here are the basic steps: 1. Introduce the team to the objectives of the activity and to the target-group with which they are expected to interact. For this, there are some information points you should consider: Age of the target group; Cultural background of the target group; The space where it will happen; The materials available; Time duration. 2. The second step is to make clear that every activity developed should be decided by the participants, although the core team will be present at all time to support if necessary. The activities can include role-play, theatre, music, etc; 3. After the presentation of the activity, use the basics of brainstorming to stimulate the participants and write on a flip-shart their ideas; 4. After having all ideas gathered, ask the participants to which activities they would like to contribute. Also, you should explain that they can participate in more than one activity. After they have assigned themselves to the activitites proposed, ask them to assign a leader to each activity; 5. Tell them to gather in the small groups and decide on how to proceed. They should also gather as the whole team to update the rest of the team on their preparations at some point. Help them rehearse if needed; 6. Last but not least, after the Acting Out, make a small debriefing to gather the rections and feelings of the participants.
Evaluation This is a very important part of a Youth Exchange and it can be done in several ways. In STDS, we had different points of evaluation but I would like to explain is the Daily Reflection Groups. The reflection group creates a space for the participants to reflect on their performance and attitude during the day, personally as well as towards the other members of team. Additionally, in small groups, some persobalities tend to “open up” and share some thoughts that aren’t shared when interacting with the whole team. The Reflection should also serve to get feedback concerning the sessions developed during the day. The results of the Reflection Groups shall be used to improve the continuation of the whole project.
How to lead a Daily Reflection? 1. Firstly, divide the team in small groups (the method for division should be agreed among the Core Team) and assign one Core Team member to each group; 2. You can use different methods to help the participants “open up”; some examples are images, a colour system and rating the day, skype faces and the activities in a number scale. 3. After gathering the results of your reflection group, get together with the remaining Core Team members and evaluate together the results. Use the information gathered wisely and try to preserve the privacy offered by your Reflection Group.
So this Magazine has come to an end, hoping to help many people in the future, when organizing their Youth Exchanges! For more information concerning the STDS project videos, content, etc.) Please take a look at our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stopthinkingaboutdifferencesandsmile Video: http://youtu.be/MXTw2G9Fl_w
And of course, do yourself a favor and… STOP THINKING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES AND SMILE!!