Are we true activists in our daily life?

I met many people in my work all over the world that are promoting, working and claiming similar principles, values and mission as me. We are many involved in making a more just world, more clean and sustainable, more tolerant and intercultural, more fair and equal for all people in the world, more transparent and more ethical, etc.

Working in international field is always a pleasure to discover how many people out there work in same direction as I do and very often I feel that we are making a difference and our efforts (even if separate) are having impact among many people.

In the same time I face dilemmas of what I call the honestly and true integrity of what are we doing/practicing in our life- do we really walk the talk?

 We talk about sustainability, environmental problems – and make concrete proposal for high level official on what to do in this sense BUT

• We take a plastic/paper cup instead of a glass one when we have our coffee/tea!
• We don’t cheek if what and where we throw in the garbage is/can be recycled!
• We don’t use the paper on both sides when we take notes in conference and we don’t finish our book notes!
• We don’t cheek much about the brands we are consuming, buying and their impact around the world!
• We forget lights on, TV or computers in stand-by, or charges plugged constantly etc. during events/projects or in our house!
• In our projects we print lots of papers (often only on one side), brochures, booklets and make sure we have more than enough always!
• We travel so much by plain-became a reflex (even for shorter rides that could be done by trains)!
• We use the elevators up and down for just few floors
• Do we really know what Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle means before promoting for others to do?

We talk about food shortage in the world, about strategies to fight hunger and high prices on food BUT

• We leave food on our plates (even if we decided what and how much to put on our plates)!
• We have our meetings in manny stars hotels with luxury conditions!

We talk about equality, tolerance, human rights, representation, and how to make people voice of all backgrounds heard BUT

• We don’t have patience in our own meetings to listen to each other (with different accents, language ability, etc)!
• We don’t make sure language differences or constrains are being respected/facilitated!
• We already think about what our reply will be from the middle or beginning of what the other person is talking!
• We talk about equality in general but in certain limits in our own contexts where our prejudices are strong!
• Who do we really take/invite/have in our meetings when we talk about global issues?

For me observing these aspects is interesting, puzzling and sad and very often when I did open the discussion with the people around me about it most of the time I end up looking at patronizing, smug, condescending and irritating person.

I think that for most of us will be hard to accept that indeed, this acts reflects a lack of integrity and true internalization of the principles we promote but in the same time I think if we do lie to ourselves, if we do act like blinds to our own life, if we don’t start from ourselves is rather ironic to claim big, structural changes from big actors, and others. 

How do we end up claiming changes from structures which are actually ruled and managed by people?

In fact we do want changes from people (even if strangely we are not truly aware of it) and we should be the model, example of what kind of changes we aim for!

If everything we believe in will be reflected through all the things we do our message will be powerful, real and truly inspirational. 

Therefore what kind of activist are you in your daily life?

Theatre as a Tool For Change

A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.
– Horace Mann, Philosopher

It is true that in a nation the true power of change lies in its people! We can extend this to a global perspective and  say that the key for change in this troubled world it is in its inhabitants.

• What motivates people to decide to change something in their society/community?

• How can people discover and use their (inner) power for bringing about a change ? 

Read more

Change Factor

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?

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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

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

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

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!