Make diversity happen! My experience at this year's European Youth Workers Camp

A belated post from experiences at the European Youth Workers Camp 2016 in Michelstadt, Germany. YMCA Europe organises a camp for youth workers and young leaders across Europe to come together every year to share ideas and experiences from their work and walk away with an arsenal of tools, games, and projects to strengthen the offer to young people in their local YMCA. This year’s camp titled ‘YMCA youth work in Europe - Make diversity happen’ focused how youth workers can promote diversity and inclusion in a more multicultural Europe. 

The programme composed of a morning plenary which offered inspiration for the day with thought-provoking talks and activities on leadership, language barriers, spirituality and different backgrounds.  I foolishly volunteered to offer an early morning yoga session which meant very early starts, thankful the attendance dwindled by the fourth day allowing me a much needed 30 minutes extra sleep!

Following the plenary, participants had a choice of four courses to learn different methods of youth work: Media, Treehouse, Youth Work, Ten Sing and Sport. The 3-hours a day courses aimed to provide the participants with the necessary skills and tools to implement or build on these methods with an array of new games and activities, hands-on experience and an end of course presentation/activity to put their learning to the test. The media course, lead by Mirek from the Czech Republic, armed the participants with digital cameras turning them into Camp 'paparazzi'. They roamed the camp capturing images of the other participants in the many activities on offer. They conducted interviews, worked on editing and compiled an amazing slideshow of the best pictures from the camp for the final evening.

On the Treehouse course, they built a rather impressive structure and some of the brave souls actually slept in their masterpiece on one of the evening despite not having a roof. Of course, it rained and they suffered but credit to them for braving it out. The course inspired a member of staff from my YMCA, Dot Walsh, to look at how she can offer something similar with the young people she works with in Coventry and Warwickshire. The Youth Work course offered greater insight into the principles of engagement with young people, new games and icebreakers and sharing of different approaches used across YMCAs. The popular Ten Sing course introduced the successful programme that uses music and drama as a vehicle for youth work. Plenty of singing, acting and generally making a lot of noise, sometimes at the expense of other courses. The course culminated in an enthralling performance at the final evening which wowed the crowd.

Last but not least, the sports course; the best course on offer and that’s not because I helped put together and participated in it. The participants had an opportunity to learn principles of delivering physical activity and learn big and mini games. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, the course was predominately practical which meant 3 hours of vigorous exercise every day on the sports field and in the pool.  Needless to say, by the end of the week, everyone had taken significant strides towards a six pack. Something no other course could claim.In the afternoon, participants had the opportunity to offer experiences for others. Some of the wonderful things on offer included making Russian dolls, drawing, dance, acapella singing and my personal favourite Jugger. A game that resembled something out of Gladiator and very good fun.  

The evening programme also offered some captivating and spectacular performances and talks. The first of these was the United Colours evening. An opportunity for all the nations represented to showcase their culture or glimpse of their YMCA work. The evening was full of laughter, cheers, and amazement. Russia, who brought a large group, performed some traditional Russian folk dance in traditional clothing and make-up. Ireland performed a mesmerising traditional Irish play telling the story of a man who ate the fish of wisdom complete with outfits, lighting, and music. Simply amazing. As expected England were given a bit of a tough time by the Icelandic group following what transpired at the Euros and Scotland added salt to the would with their retelling of the heroics of William Wallis against the English. All in all, it made for a great evening of sharing and learning with laughter throughout.  

In another evening of sharing, we had some TED talk style presentations for anyone to share something they have learned in life. Though not many people knew what to expect, as each speaker took the stage and gave their talk, it became clear how profound and inspirational the evening was. Participants, some as young as 16, gave heart-warming accounts of their experiences of trying to achieve a goal, accepting their true self and overcoming challenges. A young man from Ukraine called Alex shared his ambition of leaving his small town in Ukraine to live in Canada and become a musician. He said he does something every single day to make his dream come true and watching him speak, I got the feeling that he will achieve it. Sara from Iceland talked about her posed the question ‘what is normal?’ and encouraged everyone to be who they are and celebrate their identity. My description does not do her talk any justice, it was magnificent. Finally, Monika from my YMCA gave a talk on the challenges she faced moving from Poland to England as a young child. It was a brutally honest and eye-opening account of the experience of being a migrant that brought the room on the verge of tears. Her compelling story echoed experiences felt by many young migrants across Europe and inspired many questions from even the most senior staff keen to understand more about what can be done to support people in similar situations. As someone who has supported Monika, I was moved and proud. She said it was very empowering to have people value her experiences and knowledge, especially the more senior people in the audience. The best moment for me at the camp.

Finally, the camp was wrapped up in an evening celebrating the achievements of all the participants who worked very hard in their courses and experiences and contributed so much to create a great environment at the camp. Recognition was given to the staff and leaders to organised and delivered camp activities, the majority on a voluntary basis. Finally, the kitchen team who cooked delicious food all week accommodating for different requirements and responding quickly to feedback. Hands down the best vegetarian food at a YMCA event yet! I genuinely left the camp feeling part of a family and I cannot wait for next year’s camp.