We’re just over halfway through the YMCA Change Agent’s Global Gathering at YMCA Setúbal, in Portugal. There are 149 young leaders from YMCAs representing 49 countries.
While I have been reconnecting with those I met at our regional training in Avignon (read my post about this), I have been discovering new stories about the people around me and hearing from those around me about the impact, challenges, and work of the largest youth movement in the world.
Outside the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon
We have participated in workshops delivered by World YMCA, YMCA Europe, the Asia Pacific Alliance of YMCAs alongside a programme of workshops and sessions led by Change Agents working and volunteering at YMCAs around the globe.
What has really stood out for me is despite the vast differences in what our different cultures would traditionally find acceptable and familiar, and the potential for barriers in communication that this presents, there is an overwhelming amount of understanding and respect that is unifying us.
A contemplative moment
The other night after dinner YMCA Setúbal arranged live music for us, and while I started writing this blog, I looked across the outdoor area and noticed that regardless of our backgrounds people were dancing together, cheering, laughing, sharing their experiences and stories as if we had all been working together for years.
We also spent time in different parts of the region undertaking activities supporting the local environment, clearing invasive vines, improving community spaces and historical monuments, in the heat of the Portuguese sun it was hard graft but impressively in three hours - as a collective – 19 days was given back to the local community.
Social impact volunteering in the local community to benefit the environment.
Since we arrived, Johan Vilhelm Eltvik, Secretary General of the World Alliance of YMCAs, has spoken to us about YMCA’s journey and the untold story of injustice towards young people and the Portuguese Government’s Secretary of State and Minister for Youth and Sports welcomed us to the country. We’ve attended workshops on everything from how YMCA India engages young people in Global Citizenship; YMCA’s 2018 World Challenge; YMCA Norway's Stop Poverty campaign; YMCA Victoria’s Bridge Project in Australia, working with young offenders to support them into employment and much more besides.
Alongside this, the seven English Change Agents have also been presenting on Civic Engagement, our mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE and sharing information about our work in Birmingham, Derbyshire and Sutton Coldfield.
English, Scottish, Swiss and Greek Change Agents in Lisbon.
Karina from YMCA Fairthorne Group, who trained as a Change Agent in the previous cohort, has been supporting the facilitation and getting up just that little bit earlier than most to make sure people start the day the healthy way!
Today we visited the Portuguese Parliament, in Lisbon, welcomed by politicians from all the political parties. They hosted a panel presentation, where Change Agents put questions to them on how they are empowering young people, and what more can they do.
Cultural evening and party
While we are not yet finished I want to extend warm thanks to the staff and volunteers at YMCA Portugal, and especially YMCA Setúbal (notably Antonio and Tiago). Also to my colleagues and friends from around the world who have made this experience of discovery and learning so far such a poignant one. Over and out, more to follow once I return home.
World YMCA is proud to
support four key areas of advocacy to support its goal of empowering young
people all over the globe (Health, Environment, Employment & Civic
Engagement). These areas involve a ‘World Resource Group’ where leaders and
young people share best practices and knowledge to succeed in spreading and
supporting YMCAs global youth empowerment impact.
YMCA North Staffordshire
That’s the world, but
a little bit about me and maybe, why me? I started in humble beginnings
volunteering in my local YMCA (YMCA North Staffordshire) buttering up
sandwiches for young people. Eight magnificent years later here I was in Geneva,
sitting at a table at World YMCA, meeting with other YMCA leaders from
different areas of the world and also in attendance was World YMCA Secretary General,
Johan Vilhelm Eltvik. For more than a year, I have been privileged to call
myself a YMCA Youth Ambassador. It is a role that has taken me to noteworthy
events and places of global importance with an overarching goal of advocating
on behalf of all young people.
Back - (Daniel, Myself) Front (Carlos, Lisa, Johan, Nader Lloyd) Outside World YMCA
The
next step of my YMCA journey was to join the World Resource Group for Civic Engagement
and through my years at YMCA, I have produced a strong passion about young
people; how young people engage civically in their local and regional community
in addition to their involvement with democratic processes. All the above has
been strengthened through my visit to the United Nations ECOSOC Youth Forum in
New York as well as attending a World YMCA Programme Innovation Camp (Youth
& Parliament).
Swiss National Day celebrations
After a manic rush
that preceded my landing in Geneva, I was finally there. From the airport to
our meeting point, I was greeted in central Geneva with a carnival atmosphere –
literally. Fireworks, people in the streets singing and dancing, a park full of
people hovering around a large fire and a small concert. Clearly Geneva and
Switzerland put out all the stops as they knew I was arriving, all the fuss wasn’t
for the fact it was to celebrate Switzerland’s national day, it was just my
welcome party.
Why play one traditional Swiss horn, when you can play two
Geneva to the World
We all arrived at World
YMCA full of vibrant ideas and concepts that can help shape the way YMCA
impacts and supports young people to engage in ethical social action, such action
that develops and strengthens young people but also the communities and societies
those young people live. We are a small, but growing group, Nader (Middle
East), Lisa (USA), Daniel (Mexico), Carlos (World YMCA) & Lloyd (Africa)
and I (Europe). We all support and advocate Youth Empowerment:To give youth the platform and tools they
need (whatever that may be, depending on the young person’s starting point) to
feel needed, trusted, and able to believe in possibilities, to further trust
themselves to lead and believe they can make a difference, thereby becoming a
change maker in the world.
Stand and Deliver
The
question may be simple but the answers are not, how do we get young people to
engage civically? We didn’t converse around a table to make young people see
civic engagement as a tokenistic opportunity. We deliberated on how young
people need to be better equipped to create positive change through ethical
action and how we (YMCA) one of the largest youth organisations in the world can
aid young people to achieve that feat.
A photo in the room, if ever we needed inspiring - 1894 YMCA Jubilee Celebrations at Windsor Castle, England
It is early days for this
Resource Group, but the journey has started. YMCA has a proud and strong
history which has created the foundations for present. Now I look to the
future. The future is uncertain, the future always will be, however with young
people being active in creating positive change, I am optimistic that the future
will be a positive and inclusive one. My fellow colleagues and I will take an
active approach in making sure this is achieved – buckle up, I’m ready!! Are
you?
It's quite difficult to find appropriate words to articulate my experiences from Avignon, France; however as a Communications Officer for YMCA England & Wales, I will try my best. As many a blog on this website will tell you, and for some reading this, a YMCA international experience is incredibly powerful – especially your first - and something you will never forget.
Joining up with trainee Change Agents and YMCA France volunteers to explore the city of Avignon.
In unfamiliar territories, with people who are often strangers, from vast cultural backgrounds and far removed from the realms of our comfort zones – one unifying theme becomes apparent quite imminently: a will to empower young people.
These last few days marked the start of a two year journey to become a YMCA Change Agent, and I’m feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information there is to digest and process as I return home.
Change Agent trainees Tom Truman, YMCA Birmingham and Jerahl Hall, YMCA North Staffordshire in the garden at YMCA Avi
Joining me were young colleagues from our national office, YMCAs across England, volunteers and staff from across Europe, Kosovo, Palestine and Russia. In total 22 nations were represented.
As a global leadership programme for young people we covered many subject areas that would enable us to develop, plan and deliver new projects to reach more young people in our communities, YMCAs and countries.
Discussing politics in our respective countries and the impact it has on young people.
This wasn't just a series of PowerPoints and lectures though, as the schedule was full of self-facilitation, delivery by inspiring participants and graduate Change Agents, management of our own learning, and through conversations that would start in the scheduled agenda and often end up continuing until all hours of the night.
However, I believe one of the most powerful tools in our arsenal as agents of change is the art of storytelling. Our first full day began with two hours on the subject. To both share our stories and with space to contemplate how we develop an emotional connection to them - that in turn can, and does, drive change.
Dren, from YMCA Kosovo, and myself.
And so I listened to the stories of what motivates those around me, who and what inspires them and their personal experiences of being a young person in their countries. I learned of political oppression and dictatorships, of fear to speak out, triumph over adversity, of those individuals who we have loved and lost that drives us forward every day.
These anecdotes continued into every aspect of the training, and I'm sure will continue for a long time to come. Stories that truly humbled me, and at times left me shocked, but helped me to develop a much deeper understanding of the diversity and differences in our world.
Change Agents and YMCA France volunteers together
I look forward to new-found friendships growing in the coming months as we now look ahead to our global gathering in Portugal where our Africa, Asia and Pacific counterparts will also join us.
I will return to our National Council offices with pages of notes, a renewed sense of vigour and motivation, ideas for collaboration with new friends by my side, and confident in YMCA’s global potential to be a movement for immeasurable societal change.
Cedric, YMCA France, supported by Adi, World YMCA, to 'Surf the Change' in an exercise of trust led by Change Agents and volunteers from YMCA France.
I'm in Varna, Bulgaria as the official delegate for YMCA Europe to the European Youth Forum along with Ana Sofia Abreu from YMCA Portugal. We are tasked with representing the position of YMCA as a full member of the YFJ with voting rights. We will engage in the amendment of the YFJ strategy and work plan, vote on new members and a new board for 2017-19. We will also have opportunities to gain more insight around the work of YFJ and other member organisation through workshops on migration, youth rights, youth advocacy and much more.
This was the view from my morning jog after a very long first day at the European Youth Forum (YFJ) General Assembly in Varna, Bulgaria. This is the only glimpse of the outside world I will most likely see so I'll savour it.
Our journey here was slightly tricky but we made the most of it, even allowing Ana to have the quickest tour London at midnight on our way from Heathrow to Luton. I was unsure about the scale of the Forum but once we arrived it became clear the importance and responsibility that we had be trusted with. After settling in the hotel, we were taken to a large venue in Varna where we received a keynote speech from an executive in the UNFPA on our part in delivering the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Very inspirational is an understatement.
Already overwhelmed, we were then lead to a “room” where 2000 people were waiting for us and received an almost Olympics style welcome. We were honorary guests to the selection of the next Youth Capital, a prestigious award for a city working to empower young people. What then transpired was incredible (see images!). Performance after performance, with each one surpassing the last.
The next day marked the beginning of official proceedings. Ana and I, being the newbies, were apprehensive to say the least but we have had amazing support from the many other youth organisations like the Scouts and Girl guides and of course Ilenia, Heidi and Tinna from YMCA Europe.We got our head around the online system, voted, listen, fought for our amendments and made some new friends. We watched a debate from all the candidates for the Presidency, Vice presidency and Board members. There is strong political machine at work and I hope we come out of it unscathed. We are make YMCA proud and represent them well and have already managed to get some amendments accepted after some gruelling debates and look forward to more. The day ended at 11pm and a cold Bulgaria beer in true YMCA fashion. We are thoroughly enjoying the experience and grateful for the opportunity to represent YMCAs across Europe to empower young people.
"Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." -- Dr Seuss
It's all over. I'm surrounded by a mountain of luggage, laundry and a load of duty free, having stumbled through the door of my home back in England. It was a fairly easy trip, nothing to report and I am looking forward to some much needed sleep.
There aren't words to describe how much of an amazing experience I had in Poland. Following the presentations, people took to the great outdoors, participating in social outreach, worship and Ultimate Frisbee, not to mention the absolute plethora of dancing sessions. I never thought I'd dance and even now I am propelled into a state of disbelief at the idea, but I've somehow learned three in the space of a week. My feet are on fire.
Having said that, I am inspired.
It goes to show God does powerful things and is an advocate of change. Bringing people together is the crux of it, but the whole point of this trial is to prove that no worship is confined just to hymns and fanciful buildings. Young people can lead in new, innovative and creative ways, sharing lives, life skills, stories.
What can I say? I'm just excited to expand the movement, doing my bit to try and promote #youthUNIFY as well as God and the incredible people that are behind it.
I'm going to miss this quirky bunch, but the future is feeling bright.
I've just come back from the presentations of all countries here - two hours of pure insight into the ins and outs of every YMCA and a little bit of the culture to top it off. It's been an experience with a few of our own taking to the microphone.
England, Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, Columbia, Germany, Belarus, the USA and plenty more added to the mix.
Speaking of culture, we've been learning how to dance.
As a Brit, the two left feet let us down, but our hosts managed to make salsa and ceildh dancers out of us.
"You never understand your first language until you learn a second."
-- Anon
So several hours and one relentless attempt to connect to the Wifi later, I'm happy to report that we are settled in at the conference. I have spoken in 4 languages already despite being here 1 day.
On first impressions, everybody has been keen to get to know each and with the shaky Wifi, communication has been even better.
Early days, but so far so good. I'll report in a couple of days if the internet holds out.
I also have a really cool idea for the Lords Prayer, but I'll see how that plays out.
They say it's often not about the destination but about the journey.
Well after 27 hours travelling from Heathrow via Chicago to Estes Park, with its beautiful surrounding scape...I think in this case it's fair to say that the destination wins.
It's my first full day here in Colorado and things are kicking into gear; Estes Park staff who greeted us at 5am this morning were back up again mere hours later, serving new arrivals like they never missed a beat. At breakfast this morning I walked passed familiar YMCA faces from across the globe; catching up with some of them over pancakes and promising others that we'll "do lunch".
Importantly, this picturesque site is full of new and young faces. For those who I've talked who say it's their first international YMCA experience, I am excited for them. Things haven't even begun yet and already pockets of new conversations between young people from different continents are starting up all the time.
Simple start up questions like "Where are you from?" or "What do you do at the YMCA?" may seem trivial but they are the start of something great. These small steps can take you out of your comfort zone of course. But once you're there you begin to learn about this huge movement through what are sometimes powerful conversations and you begin to see the world through a global lens.
So my advice this week is to step outside your comfort zone and talk to those new faces. It might seem scary to take those steps, but the destination is worth the journey.
