Fruitful Autumn

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!

........

“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!

Experiencing Summer in Turkey

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!!!

“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!

Intercultural model

In the last training I was involved in Africa I learned a very smart theory (although incomplete) about the cycle of phases of somebody that wants to be a empowered actor in a new culture/ setting/ organization and I think is really fits every long term volunteer/worker in a new culture that desire to be an integrative part of the new system he joined. I don’t have the name of the theory , also i don’t have all the names for each phase, look below and if you know who created this model or you have a more detailed description please contact me.

I discused with all my EVS volunteers friends about this model and all of them saw its relevance for themselves and for understanding their experience more.

There is nore determined time for each phase (everything can happen in one month or in years - is depending on the characteristics of both invidual and the cultural setting he is joing.

For more questions I am here,

Capacity of influencing how the system works	Knowing the system’s order. Rules, principles	ORDER	NO ORDER
POWER		4)“Empower Actor” After getting the order he is developing as well the power to influence it;	1)“New Comer Syndrome” He thinks he has the power but he doesn’t know the order of the new system; enthusiastic, motivated, full of energy and ambition
NO POWER		3)“Theory of the Plot” He starts to understand how the thinks works, to get the order but still not having the power for influencing it; therefore “ they have something with me/they don’t want me etc” phenomena is developing; very mental phase where cinism is strong, stereotypes and prejudices are mobilized;	2)“The Fall” – he realised he doesn’t know the order and therefore he has no power to do what he wanted ; frustration, disappointment, depression, anger (very emotional phase)

Summer in Turkey and Africa

Almost 6 months passed from my EVS project .... Hm!!! Not exactly the time to make a evaluation because my hosting organization has different NGO life in summer then in the rest of the year because as you remember they work with students and students have holidays in the summer no? In the summer no local projects are happening in TOG but some national projects are happening : lets call them kind of camps.

In this camps volunteers are gathering from all the country and they can vary from training or seminar kind of camp to more physical work (for some orphanages or poor areas). Is a good area to make workshops on various topics (including for me) but as saw from my last months experience not a good place for having a more longer impact , for starting a idea that the volunteer to actually put in practice in their communities. I am working a lot that’s for sure but i had to reduce the amplitude of my expectations: this volunteers don’t want to be multipliers in any methods, don’t want to have the responsibility in bring strong topics to the community but seems that for sure they will like to be a trainer with certificate after some hours of workshops and without using ever social theatre or street animation!!!

Yes, people are telling me that Turkish young people don’t have the patience to be involved in a longer training program, they want to see some results immediately....i will answer back to this people that Turkish young people have to mature a bit more and be more open to what is new or coming from out side of their group/organization/country.

Hmm....i still have to asses my cultural shock effect on me!!!

Lets tell some more positive aspects as well.

Something unexpected happened this month in a area where I was thinking that I will not manage to do something valuable in Turkey :Global Education – this is another long story about TOG attitude to global topics, awareness an education.

Me and the Izmir regional coordinator are going to be part of a program for trainers in Europe-Africa Cooperation. We took part in a training in Ivory Coast and now (because she has the motivation after involving in this project) we are going to develop some initiatives on this area for Turkish volunteers. Slowly slowly people are gathering to my core group :)

(for this training I used all my free days from the EVS project because this is an event financed by North-South Centre and to participate in it I needed to arrange my work time accordingly so I can use only my free time for it)

The training was a good networking event and good motivational push up for working in this area (global education, with African Diaspora in Europe, to bring up these topics to general public, etc)

Seems that for Turkish young volunteers we can approach them with environment protection (for which seems that they are really resonating) and the idea is to organize a camp (like described before) about sustainable development, renewable energy, recycling, etc) for volunteers all of the country in a eco-farm near Izmir. Good start, it will be the first camp on such topics and if we are lucky it can generate local projects lead by the volunteers.

PS- Africa was a wow!!! After South-Asia reaching another continent is fore sure impressing and affecting my system of perceiving the world ; Ivory Coast was as well affected by civil war and it really put a mark on them (because it was recently happening) ...I will come back in later posts with details about my impressions in and about Africa.

“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.