Trusting life all around the world

Change Factor

2011-06-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

What is really important in your life?

What is guiding you? What are stronger for you: your thoughts or your emotions?

What counts more for you? The people around you? The nature? Yourself? Your own life?

What is your mission in life? What is the sense for you to be where are you know? What is your aim? Are you able to control what is happening in your life or there is some unknown force that is guiding/controlling you life?

Are you happy? Disappointed or depressed? You have hope or lost it long time ago? What makes you continue?

.....

Can you answer to all this questions easily? Do you need a lot of time to actually define your life or perfectly clear for you?

How much time you spend just with yourself every day? How often you don’t let yourself affected by all the external factors that are around you? How easily you can forgive and move on? How able are you to control the way you react to an event from your life?

Do you think you are a result of various meetings with various situations? Or a results of own personal decisions and “work”?

Do you think that if you change something you will change around you? What and how?

How much do you feel a change factor in your community? Or in your environment? How do you act in this directions?

Therapists, coaches, mentors, consultants, facilitators, trainers are some of the people that in their work are asking questions, with the aim to help various beneficiaries to find answers that will not come by default to them; to guide a self learning process, to process an experience or situations, to find solutions to various problems, to determine a change in attitudes or mentalities, to develop and improve; to make a change;

If I will ask you what do you think is the essence of creating an ideal world what you will answer? I hope you will say the people; people that want to have such world (whatever means for them ideal) and willing to act as change factors to bring along that world as a beautiful snow ball process.

If an ideal world will mean to have peace and no more conflicts (any kind of conflicts) it should be the same process; and the change should start from any of us and not to expect the others to start.

Are you acting as a change factor in your life to bring along peace?

Peace Revolution

2011-06-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

I use to live in Turkey…for a long time indeed. Manny Turkish people are very proud of Ataturk that founded the Turkish Republic and he had a very famous saying: “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”

When we speak about Peace Revolution, which is in fact a very interesting program with strong values that have long term mission to change the world is connecting with the same saying specially through the Inner Peace approach- Inner Peace-Outer peace. The core idea of this program is that if we are at peace within ourselves we will spread around us good energy, the choices we will make will be affected by it, and as the butterfly effect goes by we will directly or indirectly make other people more peaceful people, so on a long term we will contribute to a more peaceful world. The change is inside of us, and the change starts from each of us.

The focus is ourselves, and how we, if we want to, or if we realize that we can, we will influence the way this world will continue to be. If is more of us, then the effects will start getting visible much faster- therefore is an atypical revolution ;)

The method of this revolution is meditation: time to look inside of you, to stay there few minutes a day, to reflect on various aspects of your life, your thoughts and your emotions; to look at your past and present life and to reconsider the way you plan and live your live. It can be challenging and benefiting to follow a self development mediation program, to allow time to stay just with you, and no thoughts, feelings, doubts, worries and plans…do you think you can do that? In every moment we are thinking about something, try to be 10 minutes with no thoughts, no plans, nothing, just you going deep inside of yourself! It is challenging, and is also extremely interesting and revealing for what kind of person you are; especially when this meditation method doesn’t come by itself is also followed by reflection on yourself and your life.

I dare you to try 30 minutes today to go inside of you, where are no thoughts and no feeling – if you want some kind of guidance you can do that following this link.

Peace IN-Peace OUT ;)

Africa for beginners – Ghana

2011-04-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

My previous experience on African continent (you can read also about here) showed me different aspects of African life (I didn’t include in those articles my experience in North Africa which I separate it because of so many cultural and historical aspects).

The sign: “Africa for beginners” on Ghana travel guides made me smile ;) and by saying this “promotion motto” to all the Ghanaians I met for sure they all smiled even more but in the same agreeing with it-myself as well after spending some time over there!

First time in Africa? – You can start with Ghana! Is a very easy going country, with peaceful and very friendly people, where you feel secure and not so much in the “zoo syndrome”. People are quite used with white people and have a very open and calm attitude towards life and other cultures.

Some of the reasons for what stated before are the following points

Ghana is the country of NGO-s and international volunteers! You will be surprised how big is the level of knowledge and awareness of regular Ghanaian people about volunteers (there already see them as a different category of people that are in their country: "are you a tourist or a volunteer?"). In every city and region of Ghana are hundredths and thousands of NGO-s and most of them are working with international volunteers. At the moment i can just dream to make people in Romania or even Turkey (where I lived so long) so aware and acknowledged about the civil society and international volunteering.

Of course to volunteer there means mostly to pay from your own money for accommodation and food and maybe some taxes to the people that are managing your local project but you can choose a very broad area or work : from helping build a school to deliver workshops for children or adults!

I even met some American friends that travelled and explored 14 African countries before deciding to develop a branch of an international NGO in Ghana – because is the most easy going country in terms as well of paper work.

I meet some of these NGO , some of them planed, some of them just in the bus , or on the beach (because I told you they are at every corner) and some of them exist only through international volunteering, sometimes with no local volunteers at all and in my perspective this is not sustainable at all and also not valuable for the local community.

For sure on such a good public opinion and huge network many things can be build – a base exists – the will is missing at the moment!

Ghana is the country of churches! Yes it is! And not only of churches, I think is the country of love for GOD! First , at every corner of every city you will find a different church (Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Anglican, Protestant, Baptist, Lutheran, Muslims, Charismatic Church, New Age, etc – and I am really sorry for not recalling all but for sure are much much more). I think for every 50 people is another church? I was in a village of 1000 people and they had 8 different types of churches .

Every Sunday everybody is on the roads going to various churches for the mass (some of them starting in the middle of the night in fact with the services)

As I said is not only about the churches, is about the love for GOD, almost every shop has a title related to some divinity actor: Jesus loves shoes! GOD loves you shop! Clothes from Jesus! Etc. etc. (I think i didn’t see any shop that didn’t have a divine title!

Obroni! Means "white" in some of the local languages and people will address to you by using this title : something like: YOU , white one ......! It can be fun at times, and annoying at other times , especially when you realize that for some people you are just a colour and not more ; they do address each other with friends, sister, brother (without even knowing each other) but they will not address to you like that! Maybe the most disturbing thing is that children learn that from small age, shouting to the white people on the streets: obroni, obroni, obroni! And their take cares are not explaining, telling anything to them! Is a different experience when you go in villages, where sometimes children will be terrified by you because you are white, speechless and curious – as a difference from cities where they have a lot of “superficial” contact with white people.

Non-formal education! I experienced and play with various methods with some NGO leaders and with some girls from a girl high school! None of these groups were familiar with non-formal methods, they were expecting lectures and one way information giving. For some of them was strange to ask them to involve in various games and exercises.

I had a very interesting and fascinating experience , and indeed growing for me as a trainer. Using the circle of stereotypes (where everybody has to show with they body – as statues various concepts and words) proved to be a very different experience then in Europe. With the groups I worked with in Ghana the concrete thinking was prevalent and the abstract one was a lower level. I tried to use same words like i do in Europe (some of them concrete: man, women, volunteers, American, villager, etc or more abstract: change, power, will, etc) and the results were most of them showing the concreteness of their first thoughts on those concepts.

Another interesting part was when i asked 4 groups of girls to create a small sketch where to show an ideal school. And all of them performed violence made by the teachers, strong discipline towards the students and between them. All the groups said that this indeed how they imagine an ideal school : with even more discipline and firm and tough teachers!!! Once again I was reflecting on the fact that I am just facilitating a process and not their results. Their lesson in that day from my workshop was that each of them are responsible for the discipline in their class!

Don’t imagine socking beautiful nature or safari opportunities ...Ghana doesn’t have to much of that ...the beauty and easiness of travelling around is coming from its people!

Tool Kit on Street Animation for Social Change

2011-01-24T10:05:00.001-08:00

Almost a year ago, when EVS my project in Turkey finished I was mentioning about the fact that I will work on a tool kit based on my experience in Turkey and not only.

Well, the work for this manual finished some time ago, there are still some free copies for the people that are interested in having one (so feel free to contact me) but you can have a look or even download it from here.

You should know from the beginning that this type of guide is the first one to be realized in the English language and what is making it unique is the fact that it offers every reader the chance to go through a variety of street animation methods, to open their curiosity and appetite towards them, and more than that to offer an alternative that maybe was not in your mind: to practice street animation in order to make a social change in your community!

More information, details, and articles about this Tool kit you can find here:

An article on a Local Philanthropy Community Web Site
On a Salto website (Tools section)
DEEP Times (newsletter January 2011)
TRIALOG Information Service (January 2011)
An article on the Turkish Host Organization (Community Volunteers)
In 2008 a Romanian tool kit on Street Animation I developed was mentioned and introduced here

Enjoy this tool kit and I truly hope you will find it useful for your work!

Please feel free to add your comments, questions or if you want the material, the comments section is open!

Other Realities Therapy

2011-01-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

How many times it didn’t happened to you to see a movie, episode of a series, read a book, hear a news and so on and to, either find yourself in the life of the hero or to be happy you are not the hero (and implicit to feel good with your own life)?

Doesn’t matter if the characters or the people we encounter this way are losing everything and then taking it all back, being miserable, lonely, popular, ugly, beautiful, ignorant, very intelligent, extremely lucky or unlucky, with great relations or the worst relations , being in the right moment in the right place or opposite, rich or poor, hating or loving their lives, etc ....all this looks different on TV then in our own lives! The colours, the music, the actors, the lights and angle of view, etc all this make them look more impressive and more touching sometimes...

If you are the bottom of your life and see a movie that kind of reflects somebody else bottom of life, on one side you don’t feel alone in this feeling and on other side (because during the action of the movie the person kind of manages to lifts up) is inoculating some kind of hope for you and a perspective for you potential lift up!

And is not only for this: if you are poor maybe you will be reach, if you are unlucky maybe this will change, if don’t have success you will have, if you are fat and ugly this can change or at least some people will appear that don’t care, if you are alone you will not be at some point, if you don’t have a good relation or not at all it will appear at some point, if you didn’t manage to do something you will do, if it didn’t came to you it will come, ....all can happened , by chance and mystery , like it happened to that character that looks or reminds you of yourself- is giving or increasing a feeling of hope or acceptance!

Even if in your own life you think that something is not realistically possible, is too late, too much time passed, you forgot, somebody else forgot.... then a movie or a book comes and gives you a perspective that you didn’t thought of!!! Or, if everything goes like shit in your life , don’t forget there is that real (or not) person that had the same life but was a genius in the end...so maybe you too are a genius or some very important person that has to be like that in order to do its missions....and there are endless possibilities or situations...just think of yourself and your own life!

This piece of art that resembles so much reality is amazing ....either is a movie, a episode, a book, a story , it looks real and you find yourself (either now , or in the past or if its going to happen to you also in the future and you will make the connection) in it! Is a kind of alternative "unknown" therapy that is feeding us with fake hope that for some of us maybe works or maybe makes us feel even more miserable ...or maybe not! It’s all depending how they are telling the story that seems that is your own story!

One thing is clear if your life is shit why not loosing yourself with the help of these tools in other "people" lives and realities ....maybe at some point your life will became a book or a movie about somebody that was watching manny movies and living in a paralel life - for sure it will look much better on the screen then what your lifes looks now!!!!

Ode to you

2010-11-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

This post is for you...the one who is passing through some horrible times at the moment....let face it: in fact they are hell on earth and are THE most horrible times for you!!!

You are lost, confused, hurt, disappointed, alone, sad, depressed, useless, tired, wasted........you will prefer to disappear or to wake up and understand it was all a bad dream. Yet this is not happening, you are not waking up because ironically this is the reality and you don’t disappear, you are not in the hell even if maybe will be better to be dead but you can’t make it!

The past is hunting you...the happiness you had and that all of a sudden vanished! You don’t know why, why you had to live what you lived, why everything happened they way it did, why he could do all those horrible torturing things! You were the happiest in your whole life, you had started a new life in a new place with new plans, you trusted and loved with all your hurt, you invested all your emotions and dreams....and you felt that he did the same..... the past is hunting you but what a tragedy, he is not 2 people but only 1 that maybe didn’t actually loved you the way you believed....or maybe he did ...nobody knows, or at least you don’t know....the facts are that your heart is bleeding and dying and somebody in other part of the world doesn’t even realise it and doesn’t have any signs of regret ...can love do this? Can life do this? Can life or love betray you just like that???? Stupid questions....they already did...fuck your live, it doesn’t deserve you! How can you become from somebody's angel a devil in one night???? How come?

The empty words of the people around you that are claiming that everything will be ok, everything is happening with a reason, just wait and see are USELESS and not only that, are empty, heart less- there is no sense now isn’t? So fuck all the sense and the good that will come...is no going to make you feel better now, no?

Fuck all of those that are scared to face a bad time of their “friends”, that are coming automatically with solutions that are not requested (get a new job, travel, work, go to therapy, don’t stay alone, bla, bla, bla) and that are having the impression that if you don’t cry every second that means you are handling everything quite ok!!! Get away from them, from all those advices and solutions....run away from them and just live what you feel like, cry all the day, don’t call anybody, don’t speak with anybody, watch all the day movies, eat junk food, drink until you forget all, stay at home all the day, don’t go out, again cry specially when you hear all those love songs that had a different meaning for you, talk with people that seems to get you, cry to them as well, write it down, GET EVERYTHING OUT!!! Otherwise it will hunt you anyway in a way or another!!! Don’t hide anything inside, live all that pain that you feel even if hurting like hell....live the pain and don’t focus on the meaning!!! When you are in pains there is no meaning for that except the fact that is another sign that life sucks big time!!!!

This post is for you, I will get all your tears out of you so you can’t sink in them!!!

Image Theatre-World Youth Congress

2010-09-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

This summer I had the chance to participate in 5^th World Youth Congress and I also delivered a workshop on Image Theatre.

It was for the first time I worked with a group of participants from almost all the continents and the most challenging aspect was to work specifically on social problems because the perspectives , opinions on them are so various and different– especially if we were trying to find solution and to speak about their realism and possibility to be applied in their reality – when we talk about state, NGO, or even people role in the society here my participants came with so many different realities that made the discussions so hot and so lively and with no specific conclusion that fits each of them. (we approached problems of discrimination, corruption and domestic violence).

I don’t have pictures or material form that specific workshop but I have from second day where I had to present the method of Image Theatre to others educator in the field.

Here is a short movie about it.

African Experience - Personal Opinions

2010-09-02T02:07:00.000-07:00

In July this year I participated in The Second African University on Youth and Development for the second part of the LTTC for Trainers in Euro-Africa Cooperation. It took place in Cabo Verde which is a group of islands in West Africa (closes country Senegal).

Based on my not so wide experience in Africa I dare still to make a comparative observation based on my time spent in 2 African countries (Ivory Coast and Cabo Verde). In both of these countries my experience didn’t limit at the time during the trainings or the programmed offered by the organizers – I spend extra days for exploring the local culture as much as possible.

Cabo Verde it was a group of unhabitated islands discovered by Portuguese around 500 years ago. After that they were populated with slaves from other parts of Africa and Portuguese colonizers – so technically they kind build this country and the culture is a mix of various African routes and Portuguese; they are proud of getting their so called independency 30 years ago but from my point of view it should be understood like a baby that get older enough to take care of him self so is cutting the ties with his parents and moving out of the house. In what matter Ivory Coast the situation of course is different being a country with a huge and long history behind, with a real occupation and colonization (by French) and with a real fight for independence and various struggles afterwards.
I mentioned the previous point because this historical aspects are reflecting in the culture of the people, of the place : in Ivory Coast I saw culture specificity (in clothes, in architecture, in hand crafts, in foods, music, etc) but in Cabo Verde I saw a brother of Portuguese (a bit more exotic) – no specific architecture, hand crafts, food , BUT they do have their music –about they are very proud)
I saw Cabo Verde as a expensive country and also as a more rich African Country, moving beyond the cliché that they want to play as victims of poverty it is a lot of richness in the country and I am not absolute at all (don’t take me wrong) – in Praia (the capital city) i don’t think you see less than 90% of 4x4 types of cars! between the islands are no so often passengers ships but daily are flights (that are not at all cheep) and seems that are quite popular; Products are expensive (but mainly because 90% of it are imported) and seems that human services look more cheep; food is expensive (even if is based on the fish around their own coast) and as tourist be ready to pay quite a lot for accommodation, travel to various touristic places and food.
Ivory Coast is indeed cheaper and being in land is easier to have mobility in various parts of the country or remote villages. The nature and wild life is bigger but in the same time is not so easy to access it (because of human activity and consuming behaviour) seems that the “nature and animals” are escaping from people.
Cabo Verde is not at all Verde (Which means green) is actually a very dry place and with a very dry colour.
In Cabo Verde there are many whites people, also the type of colour skins is more lither so for a white person in this country it will not be a very strong experience of “zoo” feeling. Also the begging is not spread so not too much hassling is happening.
In Ivory Coast to be a white and as I was travelling as a single white women (no guide, no group) was socking many and putting me on spot just by being in same buses. Because of late civil war the security at the moment I think it was high (army check points very often) the people perception was that is still dangerous for white people – so basically most of them were scaring me by saying that is a very dangerous place to be (one time a women came with me all the way until hotel to be sure I am fine, another guy from the hotel was my unwanted escort for all my travels in that region), people were asking for taxi or bus drivers numbers so they can follow my track ....etc well it didn’t happen anything to me but in the same time to travel all the time with the fear that people were giving me is not very fun and enjoyable either (of course I was really wondering if is a dangerous place or not after all);
I saw Ivoirians as nice, friendly and more humble people and I saw Cabo Verdean as more of proud, arrogant and with a more high self esteem and Cabo Verdean strong identity; at least from this point of view they are keeping their more keen to keep their own language (Creole) then Ivoirians that are using mainly French;
In Ivory Coast I almost didn’t see any promotional materials for the country (like t-short, key rings, hats, magnets, etc) but in Cabo Verde I think they were in every shop and corner in a high diversity and options!

Over all my experience in Ivory Coast was more reach in culture contact, observation and closure to the local reality then in Cabo Verde. Maybe I am easily “judging” the Cabo Verdean reality because it was not so easy to move around on all the islands but after all this is what it is a personal impression based on my not so wide experience in 2 African Countries.

Forum Theatre multipliers

2010-07-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

In the last years I delivered quite a big number of trainings in Forum Theatre either for introducing the method, developing skills in using it or for multiplying it (both nationally and internationally) and with each learning process that I am leading in this subject I am growing more and more.

I had many roles in what matters a Forum Theatre Project (actor, joker, coordinator, evaluator, facilitator, trainer, etc) and as a Trainer my main target is to motivate my participants to believe in the impact of the method and use for making a change in the society.

Usually I handle with 2 types of participants and various reactions:

Participants that are getting really into the method as multipliers, actually in using the method in a short time (youth workers –new or older in the field – the older one are more courageous and ambitious; trainers/ facilitators – many of them wants to be just trainers in the method without actually working in the field with it – which is a huge error and I am paying attention to them; volunteers with big dedication to social work and change;
Participants that even if they like the method they will not actually going to use it (volunteers – new or older that they are not ready to take big responsibilities – they need a support group in their organization that will lead them; “training tourists” – they are coming for other reasons not for changing the society – but they enjoy the process; busy people – working already in too many projects and areas , even if they have the capacity they will not use it because of time and personal availability) ;
There is also another group of participants that is not liking the method (which usually is much smaller than the others) because they suspect it of manipulation, to heavy, easy to lead to conflicts or violence, not having a real impact, etc (these people stigmatize the method without actually giving it a chance and without trusting other workers in the field : usually they are the people that know already everything)

Recently I delivered with my colleague from A.R.T. Fusion a training in Ireland for various volunteers and youth workers across Europe. The energy of the group was huge and the motivational vibe of them was quite strong in the last day of the training.
After the training some of the motivated people started to use it and share their experience with the others. Some of the people that were about to use it are felling that the time is passing and they are falling in the second category (they are sharing to me this feelings); Some of them think already they know so much they can do a training by themselves (as I was telling before).....

Where I want to go with this post? Well I am trying to underline the role of the trainer AFTER the training!!! He has to manage, feed and motivate the energy and the motivation of the fresh new babies Forum Theatre multipliers in order to make sure they will be able to manage. I am writing this because many of my colleagues don’t do it and they are feeding their self esteem as trainers based on the strong feeling and motivation that the participants have in the last days of the training- which is wrong and selfish!!!

In all of my trainings besides the post training work, coaching and motivational work that I am doing I am strongly underlining my help and my availability any time after the training when they have a questions, need some support or want to share to write to me; i want to make them secure and having a support in exactly the person that wanted to developed them some skills!!!

So....Forum Theatre Multipliers...don’t forget your mission and keep on going in changing the world in witch we are living!!!

Turkish Language

2010-04-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

I used to say and I will still saying this (comparing myself with other people) that I am not good with languages!!! I learned English with not actually having this as an aim (from television) , I am managing with Latin languages because they are the brothers/sisters/cousins of Romanian witch again is not something that I worked for – just happened to born Romanian.

In school they tried but failed to teach me German and from this experience I got scared a bit from the classical system of learning a language (by classical I mean regular lessons, learning grammar, memorizing and making exercises) because for the languages that I know I never did this!!!

Well seems that I manage quite good to learn Turkish in a very good schooling system. Sceptical at the beginning but motivated to learn it seems that I actually like this language!!! :)) And is quite a pleasure to learn it! It’s a logical and quite systematically language with a completely different system of grammar (from English or Latin) so after it took me some time to adapt my mind to it...everything is going smoothly! Not only making your mind work in Turkish system is challenging , also to accept any kind of weird aspect without questioning to much. For example there is not verb for “to have or to can” and even “to be” it exist but is not actually used as we use it :).

But the idea of this post is actually to congratulate myself because i didn’t expect this positive outcome!!!

Tebrikler!!!

"You are part of this world, Be part of its future"-training for multipliers in Global Education

2010-03-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

In February in Romania (in a beautiful place near Brasov – Cheile Gradistei) an amazing group of people gather in order to became Global Education Multipliers in “You are part of this world, be part of its future” – training course!!!

About this week I will use many superlatives words, even if people around me know me for a critical person but this training represented my dream after I participated in Eurizons 2007 became true. The quality of the participants, the energy and the atmosphere in the group, the flow of the program and the huge challenge that we had for doing a training like this for first time for an international group of youth workers was for sure rewarded. Innovating, skipping sleeping, creating “heavy and demanding” sessions, challenging and being challenged, smoked brain and a lot of motivation and power that participants give and took - being a continue 2 ways learning process.

More about the training details and selection of participants here

More about the results of immediate evaluation here

More about the impressions of the participants, photos and post training impact evaluation interpretation(after 3 months) on the blog of the training: http://partofworldsfuture.wordpress.com/

Thank you all for participating, involving, taking as much as possible and sharing, using and acting as Global Education Multipliers (to make our communities to be part of the world future as well).

This training course was financed trough Youth in Action Programme by Romanian National Agency for Action 4..3 and implemented in Romania by A.R.T. Fusion Organization.

The information presented in the article (and the links referring to) represents 100% the opinion of their authors.

"Challenge YOU and YOUR community" - finished

2010-02-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

My EVS stage is finished!!!

12 months of my life that passed faster and more difficult than I expected!

I am not sure I ever reached the level of empowered actor as in the model of intercultural work (presented by me in august) but for sure I did as much as possible taking in consideration local specific but also my own specific and personality and I know I tried and sweet my brain out to make a good connection between these 2 in order to make my project true.

I had a meeting with the EVS coordinator from Istanbul and we closed this project (from the stage point of view). The evaluation is still going on between me and A.R.T. Fusion and in the next months I need to develop a tool kit based on my experience here in Turkey (tool kit that has to include Street Campaigning, Social Theatre and Global Education- I need to find a relevant way of including/combing these methods in youth friendly way). I have plenty of time in front until September for this activity.

Just an overview of the last year based on the initial aim and objectives of the my project:

The aim of the project was to stimulate the active participation (as a value of European Union) of young people in problems that concern today society by using participative art, creative street animation methods and innovative campaigns.

Stimulating is a proper word for what I did this year in Turkey….and I also use what I know best: street animation methods, social theatre and attempting innovative campaigns.

The methods that were used in this project :

social theatre as a method of social intervention
non formal education workshops on development education (this part was a bit weaker then estimated because of lack of interested in Turkish volunteers to involve in such big topics)
street campaigning

The objectives of the project were:

to train more than 60 young people to be multipliers in social theatre (more than 60 young people for sure got to know what is social theatre )
to raise awareness and personal involvement in what matters the Millennium Goals for Turkish general young people. (only in what matter the MDG 7 on environment)
to implement various campaigns that raise awareness in different topics (additional more than 50 young people will be trained and develop street campaigning skills) – (we did implemented various street actions and more then 50 people developed skills in street animation)
to stimulate the volunteering among young people (I did my best here :)

“Challenge YOU and YOUR community” represent an EVS project (European Voluntary Service) implemented by A.R.T. Fusion(Romania) and TOG (Community Volunteers, Turkey) financed by trough Youth in Action Programme by Romanian National Agency.

The opinions expressed in this article belong 100% to its author!

Social Theatre Training in Istanbul

2010-01-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

I am happy and proud that I am able to do something more in-depth and with a higher multiplying effect: a multiple days training on Forum Theatre for other EVS volunteers and as well local volunteer from TOG (Istanbul Region).

One of the participants wrote also an article about it that appeared in the web site of TOG.

I am copying the article below because seems that can appear problems with the TOG website:

Masters of changes

During this weekend (16-17^th of the January) there was held a training, named „Forum Theatre“ organized by Andreea-Loredana Tudorache. She came from Romania for a year (2009-2010) to do her EVS in TOG, Izmir, with her own project "Challenge YOU and YOUR community".

In the training were participating 10 people and as training language was english, besides turkish participants, also other EVS from Istanbul and some erasmus students were participating. The main idea of the training was to teach participants new training method, so they could use it as a tool to make people aware of social problems around them and how everyone, including themselves, can be a part of changes, how averyone is actually can become a master of changes.

Ekin,

As a method, I believe it was satisfying for few days. I would be happy if it was longer. Actually in the beginning it wasn‘t very clear in my head, but at the end I could understand how the process works. I think to be a part of the play is the most effective way to to really understand the idea of theatre, so I could use it later.

Image Theatre

After the team building people were introduced to some power games and image theatre, which basicaly consists of building different statues from people, showing their mood, atmosphere of the situation played and etc.

Forum Theatre

Theatre creates space and distance, which allows sensitive topics like for exaample sexuality or violence to be addressed in an indirect way. Some issues feel too close and hard to talk about publicly, and drama enables people to explore personal issues safely and outside taboos. By discussing characters and their motivations, you can express your own ideas without feeling exposed. Interactive theatre creates a transitional space where you can safely try on different roles and test out new ways of behaving before using them in real life.

Miriam,

It‘s the first time I experiencened something like that, when you‘re put in to the different roles, so you have to consider the point of view of different people as an actor, but as we always switched roles, I was also able to step back and see the whole picture, so you can get a chance to look at the situation and at the same time to participate in the situation. Usually you‘re in the situation or looking at it, and there we could be both.

The purpose of Forum Theatre is to create a space where people can express their thoughts, feelings, and concerns. In Forum Theatre, the main character confronts oppression, an unjust use of power that is maintained by a threat of force. Even though they are victimized, someone who is oppressed is not the same as a victim because victims don’t fight back. The oppressed confronts a problem, analyzes what is happening and takes action to change his or her situation.

Experiences

All the participants were included in two plays that they were creating by themselves according to the problems, searching possibilities to solve them. Situations played were about two main topics this time: domestic violence and discrimination. During the training all the participants were included in the process, so everyone could become and actor and the one, who has the power to change something.

At the end of every exercise, play or workshop, there was a time to discuss the opinions, ideas about what had just happened. Surprisingly everyone was eager to share some ideas about what was going on at the moment and what could be done in the future, so everyone was included and felt free to express their opinion. After the training, people were encuraged to share ideas, what could be done about some problems dicussed before and how this method could be used in their job.

Adam,

It was really good opportunity to learn new things. For my point of view, it was a nice training and method used during training, it helps to develope yourself, I think. I didn‘t hear about this method before. I am working in youth organisation, so I think that I will share my experiences with job friends and use that method in my future work. I am doing some meetings about youth policy and problems, so I can do some similar training as well. I am sure I will try to organize this training in the future.

( author of the article Renata Gylytė)

It was a challenging weekend because I wanted to empower these volunteers for actually be able to use the method after the training/ or to be really motivated to make further steps in use elements of the methods in their work or even to make more reading and research about it.

The immediate feedback was really good, constructive and I wish that this beautiful young people will continue in the field and act same as the responsible citizens they were performing on the stage and continue to change the lives of the victims or vulnerable people around them.

We approached 2 main topics in the performances and in the discussions: domestic violence and discrimination of scarfed Muslim girls.

Thank you for participating in this training and keep me updated about the future work in relation with Social Theatre!!!

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Christmas Mood

2009-12-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

I am in Christmas Mood :)) Of course time to go home (after plenty of time already) and enjoy many goodies that is no chance to even find them here :)

One of them being of course: SNOW!!!! (here what they call winter we call spring – here meaning S and S-E part of Turkey)

2 more months to go for my special EVS project in Turkey! Oley!!!

Lately I became truly much relaxed and patience and less rigid when I plan something that is related working with Turkish volunteers
My Turkish Classes are going really good – I will make a break for the holidays and I wil continue in January (certanly this lessons had to be done in this way from the begining og the project)
The international training that I was talking in my last post became in the last moment a national training and also in the last moment i was out of the team because after all it was going to be in Turkish and also because they wanted to keep they first version of program with no changes and improvements from outside support (me and the Izmir Regional Coordinator)
The 1 December Day went out really good because of a huge number of people that joined the march; too bad not enough people wanted to create some social street theatre or animation for bringing more awareness to the public on the streets (we did some workshop but no action in the street); but still for the level of street work in Izmir even the fact that so many people mobilized is an asset
I am preparing a 3 days training on Forum Theatre for Istanbul (in January) – after discussing with EVS coordinator from Istanbul we agreed that in Izmir there is not enough will from volunteers part for a longer training and will try out in Istanbul in order to assure some multiplying effect on this method in TOG.

Craciun Fericit si La Multi Ani tuturor romanilor!!!!

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Fruitful Autumn

2009-11-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

I was waiting for autumn for continue properly with my project and for continue to “push” volunteers in joining big ideas for their communities....

Indeed more activities happened ....in the same style like in spring (I think until I will not be a Turkish/or speak advanced turkish and staff member of TOG more in-depth and larger perspective orientated things will be almost impossible for me to do- i have to accept this fact and work with it)

Let’s take one by one the developments of last months:

The sustainable development camp promised to be more then what it was- as I was speaking about planning process in Turkey – nothing consistent/relevant was prepared beforehand ; topics and the composition of the group changed in the last moment and even me I was not part of that project anymore (even if I was in the initiative group and I had also expertise in the topics) – i will not detailed , is based again on TOG working system and the power the give to their local volunteers in organizing and make in a project and the staff doesn’t interfere even if they go in wrong direction (they have to learn by themselves)- at least I was on the group for some time in the preparation time and i do know the outcomes of the camp (that changed from non-formal education to lectures and conference type of think) so I don’t regret i was not there after all
I took part again in the TOG Youth National Council , this time with workshops about Image Theatre. It was in Samsun (in the north part of the country) and I meet also the new members of EVS crew from Istanbul (that are so in the first phase in the intercultural cycle presented in previous post :))
I took part in the Mid-Term Evaluation of EVS organized by Turkish National Agency (in Van – the most east city with a strong Armenian and Kurdish history); We were a small group of volunteers (5) but for all of us it made very good to share and debrief on our experience up to this point. Sessions on what was good and bad in our EVS projects and discussion that came out of it were really beneficial. For all of us (Polish, German, Spanish, Lithuanian, me) working in Turkey and with Turkish people proved to be a very good lesson and test of our patience, flexibility and adaptability.
I continued with my workshops on social theatre for various new groups from Izmir region;
I started again Turkish lessons, and my progress up to now seems that didn’t value to much because they put me on the first level (because knowing words is not enough if you don’t have a grammar structure). In first 2 weeks i didn’t learn something new but i did fixed in a proper structure all that I knew and after that new topics came and I started to be more and more into this language – you see how important is to have good teachers, methods and manuals- I assimilate pretty fast and correct and to bad that my project is starting to end and I can’t use all my achievements like I wanted in spring for example.
More street animation groups are joining to prepare an action for the 1 day of December for speaking up on HIV!!! Great!!! I am also IN!!!!
I am coaching a group that wants to organize a international training of 3 days on youth participation (seems that they really like to talk a lot on this topics but less to actually do something about it) – I am helping the program team and providing inputs for developing sessions – I will be also trainer for some of the sessions;(once again the TOG system is hitting me: the volunteers can join any working group they want not conditioned by the skills or experience they have – so in my program team i have 6 people and 4 of them have never participated in a training course – imagine about actually doing one? And 2 of them have bean participating but never doing one- and the funny thing is that they really want to do the program like they want based on no arguments or no matter what more experienced people are telling them;

Them: We want video session in the first morning?

ME: what is the aim of that session? I mean for what you want to use that video?

Them: Video about active participation!

ME : Do you have already a video in mind?

Them: NO, but we want a video session!

Me: My suggestion is first to think about what we want to achieve in that session and then to think about witch method is better for that aim!

Them: BUT the team decided that we want to have a video session!

........

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Experiencing Summer in Turkey

2009-08-30T05:21:00.000-07:00

Summer is really hot in Turkey!!! Of course not only in Turkey......don’t let me start the topic of Global Warming!!!

But summer has a special effect on the Turks (especially the ones on Aegean or Mediterranean regions) is making them relax more and more (like they were not relaxed enough) and doing less and less (....). People are refugee in cafes/bars on sea side, or in summer houses in different villages on the coast or just escaping on coast cities , beaches and resorts. Izmir looks ghosted and the people that are forced to stay inside in the middle of the week for sure you don’t see them at the end of it. The perfect image of this ghosted city is in fact in the weekend. Can you speak about awareness campaigning, active participation, heavy social problems and topics to somebody in these days? Find them first and then try out!!! :)

I did tried to find them :) by going to their summer houses, in different sea resorts, in cafes as well and telling to myself autumn is coming and new opportunities as well.

What I did recently (even in the previously presented conditions)

I visit some refugee organization (for some future work – they are also basing on the students involvement and if they will not join no big idea of mine will come true)
Planning work for the camp on sustainable development in September and also for my home work for the training for trainers in Africa-Europe Cooperation (a training for global education multipliers)
Planning work for my future months from my EVS – including some serious Turkish lesson (in a specialized school) because my students abandon me some months ago and either i am not good with languages to catch it by myself from streets or from books or serious training is need for this different family language!
I moved 2 times from my temporary houses – is ok...now I have more peace and a more central location :) !!!
I offered a “crying” shoulder for other EVSs from other organization from Izmir :) my university specialization is coming in force!
If you didn’t understood from the photos (also from my last post- I cut my 4 years long rasta hair :) I started with a 0 haircut!!!

Autumn, be ready here I came with stronger force!!!

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