Peace Work Institute, Armenia

Here I am in Yerevan, Armenia for the second part of the Peace Work Institute. As for the promised weather from Vardan, it has not delivered so far. However, I do not mind. It has been a busy couple of days and I am very tired despite this, after the first day I am looking forward to what is to come. 

It was a long journey here but a relief to meet Gerard and Welmond in Schipol. After arriving at the hotel at 4am it was surprisingly difficult to sleep made more difficult by the arrival of my roommate for the next 6 days of Christina from Cyprus. When 6am and the sun came up we finally fell asleep. Getting to know each other was more important than sleep.

Today has been the first full day of the conference and what a day. I got thought the first half of the day on adrenaline, nerves for my presentation about the School of Peace in India. Vardan set me a big challenge to present all my learning and experiences from India (I was there 4 months) in 30 minutes. Of course I over ran by 10 minutes but I was relieved it was over. I must add that I have been humbled by the compliments from the other participants about how much they enjoyed the presentation. It was hard work for me to recall such experiences and the emotions that went with this but I thoroughly enjoyed sharing them with the European Peace Corp. The message is spreading far and wide about what Peace work the YMCA is involved in around the world.

This afternoon we started the one of the main themes throughout this conference which is Digital Activism. For me, this had some elements that were informative however; there were some parts that were basic information about being online. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that people are at different levels and before we move forward, we all need to be at a similar level of understanding about being online. I am looking forward to the sessions to come on digital activism as this is an area I know I could do better in and have an area where I could learn plenty.

For me, one of the best parts of these conferences is having the chance to share experiences, views, stories and opinions from the other participants. I am reminded of how privileged I am to be born in the UK. Some of the stories from the Balkans and the Caucasus, for me, remind me of some of the atrocities that I witnessed in India, but these are in Europe. I find that when we, in England, think of human rights violations and current conflicts as being something that is in “developing world” or Africa and Asia. This is not the case, these things are happening in Europe. They don’t look the same and they won’t feel the same to the people experiencing them but they are present. Here, in Europe. I knew there was recent conflict and on-going tensions but I have had my eyes opened this conference about what are the realities of young people in Europe are. Something to think on for me.

I would like to end with a quote that I used in my presentation, a quote from a young person from Laos called Noy;

“When you know the meaning of the word it does not mean you understand the situation and feelings of the people”