Long awaited YMCA England Youth Democracy Project blog

OK so after having a nightmare with the blog, being unable to post and then writing it twice (saved instead of published and then couldn't find it again when I realised) here is my blog about the Youth Democracy Project.

The Youth Democracy project was made up of 2 parts the first being 3 day long sessions where we learnt about British democracy and the European Union. In the first session we discussed the how government and power works, we tested our knowledge of democracy and how local and national government works. We then went on to discuss issues that face young people across England, many issues were raised but due to the relevance to the discussions being made in parliament at the time we decided to focus on the threat to housing benefit for under 25s. Although this was not the only focus for the project is gave us a focus for the rest of the sessions and enabled us to use it as a topic when learning about other aspects of the democracy process. This made me aware of how although all of the participants are from the YMCA we are all working on such diverse issues and coming from many different backgrounds. This was definitely a strong point to the project as I now feel I have a much greater view on the impact the YMCA has all over England.

The second session was around the European Institutions, in which we learnt what it means to be part of Europe and how the different parts of the European bodies work individually and also how they fit into and work alongside each other. This part of the project was very helpful as it made me more aware of what being a part of Europe actually means and how the different parts are separate from each other. It dispelled a lot of rumours and for me and made me realise I was quite misinformed about how everything works. In the second session we also went on to learn about constructing an argument, looking at how to best structure it to make your points the most effective they can be. The final part of the session gave us a chance to practice our argument structuring and debating skills in a debating arena. This was good as I learnt not to go out full force and give all my points away at the beginning as it then leaves you with no ammunition later on in the debate.

The final day long session was based on Lobbying and Campaigning in which we learnt how to (in theory) plan and deliver a successful campaign. This session opened my eyes to the many different campaign methods that exist.

Now for the fun parts ;)

The second part of the project was 2 international exchanges between France and England. The first of them taking place in London and lasting 4 days. In this time we not only delivered a pocket sized summery of the different part of the UK and how our political system works, we also got the chance to show the French how it works by taking them on a tour of the Houses of Parliament and also to Ealing Town Hall where we were able to speak with Councillor Jason Stacey who when not playing the role of Local Councillor, doubles up as Head of Policy at YMCA England. These visits not only enabled the French to get a deeper understanding of how our political system works, but also to see how local issues in England are similar to those in France. We also went to the Natural History Museum (clearly something every tourist to London needs to see.) This part of the project greatly increased my knowledge of the English Political System and visiting the Houses of Parliament was fantastic as I have never done this before. 

Onto the second exchange…Paris. 

Whilst in Paris we had a host of opportunities, we visited the Eiffel Tower, Paris City Hall, The Arc de’ Triomphe and of course The French Assembly. This gave us the opportunity to learn loads about the history of France and about how deeply connected the French Political System is to it’s history. It was interesting to see how it had developed through history and learn about the effect the French Revolutions had on the way politics now takes place in France. 

Whilst in Paris we visited a YMCA, not just any YMCA, the YMCA where the Paris Basis was signed in 1855 at the first ever World Council. This was an amazing moment for me, and made me realise just what I am a part of. A movement with such a rich history that spreads right across the globe. It left me feeling proud to be part of something so big and something that has been around for so long! I can’t really put into words how inspirational just being in that place was, it has inspired me to keep doing what I am doing and to be proud about being a part of such an amazing thing that has been and is continuing to make its mark on the world.

 

Over and Out.

 Alex Taylor
(Barnsley YMCA)

Son of France?

Well well well! Yes I'm back from the dead to bring you a pre Christmas blog from the forever pleasant Rocheton!

I do believe the last time I wrote was a post Prague hype blog where I finished not knowing what I was going to do after my year volunteering in France.

Up untill my last two days my plan ended up being going back top England to restart the ever so challenging and demoralising task of finding a job... But when it came to the day before I left I got offered a contract as staff here! So I changed my travel plans and took a nice 3 week holiday back to England to say good bye to friends and prepare for my future in France.

Now I'm back I now have 4 job roles instead of just maintenance. Now I work in the kitchen, reception, cleaning and maintenance. I find it even more interesting now because I'm doing different jobs each day which helps alot with my ever progessing French skills. I was always scared to answer the phones because I thought my French wasn't good enough but now I work in the reception it is part of the job and I do it happily. All in all, I still love my job if not more!

Now there are 4 new volunteers, soon to be 5, working at the Rocheton this year. More equal ratio of German to English with two English lads and two German lasses but after new year it shall be 3 German girls. Still better than the 4 Germans to me ratio last year! It's quite strange now having them coming to me to ask questions about how my experience last year was and any advice I have for them but I'm always happy to help them out!

The only major event since my return has been the National General Secretaries meeting held here. I was placed in the reception just to speak English. Nice easy few days for me! I have no idea what went on in the meeting but I do know the post meeting drinks were hilarious in an Irish bar called Le Glasgow on the second leg of the France v Ukraine World Cup qualifier... Busy is an understatement! Still after the match was hilarious seeing the Director of Le Rocheton dancing with the NGS of Norway and also Juan being his usual crazy self! Got to love all things European in the Y!

The only annoying part to the whole part of being in France is finding somewhere to live! yeah it's all good living where you work, not having to mess about getting the bus or whatever but the major blag is I go to bed and I'm at work. I wake up, I'm at work. I have my days off, I'm at work... Too much of a good thing is terrible!

I am still a Son of England at heart but I think I am officially a Son of France aswell!

Till next time, au revoir!

Parcels of hope in Kosovo

Adi is a former member of staff from Bolton YMCA, a participant in our Leadership Development Programme and a founding member of the YMCA Global Link Network.

Dear friends,
Hope you are all well! I'm writing to you this Monday morning with a small update on the food parcel project you kindly donated to.

This weekend saw the first phase of the project deliver parcels in Gjakova. This years parcels included rice, pasta, salt, sugar, coffee, oil, soap, washing powder, 2 litres of coke cola, flour and sweets for children. Due to our partnership with Ys Men Denmark we were also able to include knitted scarfs, socks, hats and gloves along with some teddy bears for children.
The project also appeared on the news, with the local media taking an interest.

The project will now take a short break and the second phase will take part between Christmas and New Year, when its at it coldest here and when the parcels are most needed. We are well on track to provide around 50 families with parcels across 3 main cities.
From a personal point of view, the conditions and wealth of the families are among the poorest i have ever seen, please be assured your donation is providing families with hot meals, warm clothes, presents for children but most of all hope and the feeling they are not forgotten. Each parcel is given with love, hugs and a listening ear. The receiving families range from war widows to those whose parents are terminally ill and unable to work to those with no jobs living in make shift houses from building debris.

Have a wonderful week, i will update you in the new year along with pictures and testimonies. From everyone in this movement have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New year.
Love & Respect
Adi & the Kosovo team

YMCA England Youth Democracy Project

The Youth Democracy project was made up of 2 parts the first being 3 day long sessions where we learnt about British democracy and the European Union. In the first session we discussed the how government and power works, we tested our knowledge of democracy and how local and national government works. We then went on to discuss issues that face young people across England, many issues were raised but due to the relevance to the discussions being made in parliament at the time we decided to focus on the threat to housing benefit for under 25s. Although this was not the only focus for the project is gave us a focus for the rest of the sessions and enabled us to use it as a topic when learning about other aspects of the democracy process. This made me aware of how although all of the participants are from the YMCA we all come from such diverse backgrounds both personally and also within the YMCA. I definitely think this was one of the strongest points to the whole project, and could be something to replicate in the future, not only did it inspire residents to become more involved in th YMCA Movement but it also allowed me to see the YMCA from a whole new angle.

The second session was around the European Institutions, in which we learnt what it means to be part of Europe and how the different parts of the European bodies work individually and also how they fit into and work alongside each other. This part of the project was very helpful as it made me more aware of what being a part of Europe actually means and how the different parts are separate from each other. It dispelled a lot of rumours and for me and made me realise I was quite misinformed about how everything works. In the second session we also went on to learn about constructing an argument, looking at how to best structure it to make your points the most effective they can be. The final part of the session gave us a chance to practice our argument structuring and debating skills in a debating arena. This was good as I learnt not to go out full force and give all my points away at the beginning as it then leaves you with no ammunition later on in the debate.

The final day long session was based on Lobbying and Campaigning in which we learnt all of the different ways to design and deliver a campaign. This was very useful as it opened my eyes to all of the different types of campaigns.

Now for the fun parts ;)

The second part of the project was 2 international exchanges between France and England. The first of them taking place in London and lasting 4 days. In this time we visited the Houses of Parliament

The Roads to Freedom....

Chris again here, ILP and YES member.

Firstly, apologies to stick this in the middle of the fantastic blogs coming in this week from Strasbourg… I think that ILP members branching out into other YMCA groups and events great for our group as a whole.

My blog today focuses on the trip the YES Group made to Gdansk last Wednesday (27 November). We made the short journey from Gdynia to the ‘Road to Freedom’ museum.

We first knew we had reached the underground exhibition when we were greeted by three pieces of the Berlin Wall, with multi-language “road to freedom” directions on the pavement. I felt quite embarrassed that I knew so little about Communism in general across Eastern Europe before the trip, especially with so many participators from affected countries.

The first piece we seen of the tour was a typical shop under a communist regime. The few items such as bread, cheese and milk that were available were in very short supply. Across the hall was a mock up of a toilet block, and the first thing to notice was that newspaper lay where a toilet roll should. It was not just food that was barely sought.

We moved through the small walkways and one thing I immediately recognised was that a lot of the exhibits were not behind glass like you see in so many other museums, you could touch practically everything which gave me a realisation that this was still in the recent memory for so many people.

Several videos and multimedia resources aided the flow. Colour videos of high quality… videos of the public of all ages getting beaten by police, just for wanting, pleading for a voice.

The final part of the museum was an educating video outlining the timeframe of which the dozen countries broke free. What really hit me here is that Ukraine only achieved this in 2004, just ten years ago. There were people I was walking around with who had experienced these times themselves. This was real. This was their life.

Outside a short walk away from the museum now stand three huge pillars in the middle of a square to represent Gdynia, Gdansk and Sopot where the revolution began. There are plans well under way to build a huge education centre right by the memorial that will give users a freedom to learn and progress for years to come, while still well aware of the sacrifices that were made to make this a possibility. 

Peace Work Institute, Strasbourg

Hello this Frah from North London Blogging from the PWI from Strasbourg. 

I am sitting here, torn between wanting to blog about how wonderful the Peace Work Institute conference has already been or how beautiful  Strasbourg is, or how fortunate and honoured I am to be part of such an extraordinary  conference that has the potential to inspire the world and bring change and hope once again.

We took a long and cold walk to explore Strasbourg city yesterday. Strasbourg, France Christmas Market (Christkindelsmärik, capitale de Noël in French) is the oldest one in France. It far exceeded my expectations…All of the buildings had some sort of decoration on them and there were banners leading down streets to other markets.

Strasbourg is a beautiful city with so much to see and the Christmas decorations made it all the more wonderful. As the sun set, the smells of street food and mulled wine embalmed the air while a million tiny twinkling lights set the city off. 

Today we starting working in our tandem groups on our projects "study visit to Karabakh" which is going well so far so good, the context of the project coming together and will have a great potential for both parties.

Young people can make a difference if they come together,reflect and share and act on there ideas, first thing is to change ourselves, then the others will look to us for inspiration and will act. Human potential is amazing... We have the capacity to create a world that is peaceful...one that spreads kindness and love rather than hatred. If we believe it to be so, it will be our truth, and we will create it.

I will leave you with a little saying " Leave the world a little bit better than you came in to "

Peace and love 

Soggy Baps and spuds

Darryn here; Ok, so I'm not the best at this blog stuff, but Rachel, Andy and Adi have been pressurising me into this (and there's me thinking youth workers were supposed to discourage peer pressure). 

Anyway, we arrived in Strasbourg on Sunday evening after quite a long journey but to be honest the journey wasn't so bad (except for the hassle of trailing our luggage the full length of the train and practically assaulting people as we passed by with out suitcases, which was rather embarrassing and funny at the same time).  Upon arrival we had the chance to introduce ourselves to the group as Andy and I are new to this project and everyone was very welcoming and kind.

Anyway let's fast forward a little to the first day of the program...

We had an early start (well early for me) at 8.30am for breakfast and I can assure you I am not a morning person by any means, and shortly after we got to work.  We got a snap shot of the work carried out by the Council of Europe and we had time to have some fun inbetween.  To be honest I wasn't really sure what to expect from the group and from the sessions but I have found many of the discussions and debates helpful as they have helped me understand other conflicts, and the various contexts YMCA works in and it has helped me step back and reflect on my own perceptions and opinions.

One thing I will say has been a bit strange, surreal even, is the food although you probably already guessed that by the title of this blog.  So please, let me explain...at dinner time on Monday one was quite hungry so rocked on up to get my dinner and to my surprise I noticed we were getting burgers, yes burgers.  So I'm thinking this is awesome, burgers and mashed potatoes (aka spuds) I will definitely be having some of that, so the burger and spuds are on the plate, I'm think YES DELIGHTFUL, then the chef says "sauce?" and naturally I made the assumption 'he means gravy' I mean what is better that mashed potato and a burger, well that's simple it's mashed potato with gravy and a burger so naturally I said 'oui' and this my friends where it all goes horribly wrong.  The chef reached for the ladle, he dipped it in the sauce, and then proceeded to pour the sauce (which at this point I realised was not gravy) all over the top of my burger.  "Then here's me, WHO DOES THAT?" inside I cried 'nooooo, it's ruined' but on the outside I just smiled and took my plate. 

You see Monday 2nd December 2013 was the day I had 'soggy Baps and Mash potatoes' for dinner.

Notes to readers:

Soggy Baps = Soggy Burger Bun

Then Here's Me = and I said

Community and Diversity of Social Transformation.

Wednesday afternoon and its Tom here doing my best to get back into the swing of things and what I call a normal working week after an absolutely inspirational and fantastic week at YMCA Europe’s Seminar on Social Transformation. As always it takes a few days and even weeks for everything to sink in which I find common in those who have attended these types of international seminars.

Community - a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
Diversity – the variation of social and cultural identities among people existing together in a defined employment or market setting.

Above are 2 definitions that meant so much to not just me but all participants during our 6 days in Gdynia.

In general diversity means variety. So a diverse community is different people living in one community. They may be different because of their gender, social class, upbringing, culture and religion.

On Tuesday we had a session led by Juan the Secretary General of YMCA Europe. We looked at the Theory of Change and Social Transformation.
The area I want to speak about today look at the social responsibility and effective participation of the young people who attended the Seminar.
Juan as a very knowledgeable and talented man with a wealth of experience asked the question just after breakfast on Tuesday. “What do we all have in common?”
We all have a vision as a potential ‘agent of change’ and as key young YMCA Leaders. We all together have a similar understanding of our roles as individuals yet we also do as members of the community and as young YMCA leaders. Regardless of our Diversity we are all looking at that same vision as young leaders. We all strongly believe in youth participation as one way to achieve social transformation.

Juan highlighted to the group the ‘amazing’ process of participation. It is for people who are ready to take steps forward but for people who are also ready to face the challenges. As we as YMCA leaders look at the process we must combine internal participation and external social commitment which then combines personal growth and social responsibility as we aim for the overall vision of Social Transformation together.

Together we looked at the key aspects of social responsibility. What does it take for Social Responsibility to be effective? There has to be a genuine appreciation of diversity, co-operation between an individual and their community and a healthy expression of feelings as a source of communication is the key to the success of social transformation being delivered in a diverse community.

It is a personal learning journey by ones enthusiasm that we encourage the learning process ‘to be’. We as young YMCA young people and leaders are always learning and its great knowing personally that you will never stop learning but that you are also always learning to live with others. You are accepting as social citizens the differences of people and human beings but having an acceptance of the differences between people. But as we move forward we also deliver a sense of empathy as we accept those differences.
In our roles as social and global citizens we will serve the people we work with regardless of their culture, religion or looks. It is key for us as citizens to know  as part of our social responsibility in which we learn to be part of society we respect social habits and have emphasis in being activists to improve public life.
As leaders we are always searching for that next chance to find an opportunity for the people in our community and making sure that they are opportunities for all.
Juan really did strike a chord with me during this session and made me want it to be the inspiration behind this post.

It is then we are able to see and celebrate those two words of Community and Diversity as we learn from them constantly through our lives but for me to see that through Social Transformation in the YMCA all the young people who joined me in Poland last week came from 17 different countries, 17 different communities of 17 different diversities. Yet we all have that one thing in common, all of us regardless of what we look like, what we do and where we have come from, we all have our own Vision.

Powerful Conversations

Andy here from YMCA Ireland blogging from Strasbourg at the YMCA Peace Work Institute seminar.  At the YMCA Prague festival I was briefly introduced to the leader of this project - Vardan, and next thing I knew I was signed up! Honestly, I've been really excited about this week long seminar for months and it's great to be here. Young people from a whole host of post and continuing conflict contexts, sharing their experiences, explaining what the YMCA is doing in response, and envisioning partnerships to build upon YMCA peace-work initiatives, it's powerful!

This morning Darryn and I shared with the participants about the context of conflict in Northern Ireland, the current situation, and some of the community relations work YMCA Ireland is engaged in. I used a quote I heard from when I was at uni - 'Some of the best community relations work is done around pool tables.' The principle behind this statement is the power of dialogue; how values can be challenged and tested and re-thought and new ways of thinking tried out through conversation. This afternoon I had one of those powerful conversations as I chatted with Dorina, National General Secretary of Kosovo. It was incredible hearing her personal story and the impact of the war years on her and the people close to her during the war years in her region. Moments like this are very special to me.

Of course, it's not all intense conversations, there's plenty of banter being had. The European Youth Centre in Strasbourg where we are meeting is a brilliant space, not least because of it's table football, table tennis and pool table! I've engaged in some pretty intense table-tennis games with Adi to find out who is the better youth worker, I don't want to boast but it's not looking too good for the former Englishman. And tonight was the wonderful world of YMCA inter-cultural evenings, the Guinness went down about as well as the Balkan Boze, a greyish gunge type drink that I discovered tastes as bad as it looks!

I'm looking forward to what the rest of the week holds and some of the conversations in store with such a diverse group of people!

Peace

Hi, this is Rachel in Strasbourg at the third and final session of the Peace Work Institute. A programme ran by YMCA Europe Roots for Reconciliation programme. So we are coming to the end of the first full day, we, the planning team, have welcomed participants from 14 countries, launched the session into full swing and started to get down to work. I arrived on Saturday and while the participants were arriving on Sunday, the planning team were busy making the final preparations to the programme. I think I speak for all of us, Dorina, Vardan, Rezi, Marius, Ankica and Ivana, were all really excited about the programme. It has been a long time planning with meetings in Prague (August, yes, at the festival) and Strasbourg (in September) with Skype meetings between now and September. But we are now here, and so are the participants so it is time to start reaping the rewards of all the work and, hopefully, have a successful session.

Today has gone to plan. We have had a lot of fun, interactive learning with a lot of laughter coming from the room! There is a point to the fun stuff, I promise. With later in the week some emotive conversations needed, it was felt that we needed to bring the group together...what better way to do it than with laughter hey? Plenty of fun and games with lots of different team games, introduction to the Council of Europe through a quiz followed by a self reflection exercise to share why we are here, why we do what we do, why we do peace work with others in our group. This self reflection was done with an exercise called River of Life, where the participants and facilitators will reflect on their life and identify the key points in their life that motivate them to do the work we are doing here; peace! It was powerful stuff, the energy in the room was, almost, electric. There was so much emotion put into the session that you could feel it in the air surrounding everyone.

As I sit in the European Centre of Youth surrounded by participants, no, friends, talking, having a drink while other participants are off enjoying the city. I wait for 8pm to come so that I can have a skype meeting about the GLYN conference in January. It is a pleasure to be surrounded by so many like minded people, to feel at home in a country where none of us are from, to feel happy, to be at peace.