Suche nach Hoffnung: Geschichten von jungen Migranten

Jugendliche beschäftigen sich in deutsch-ukrainischem Austauschprojekt mit Flüchtlingsproblematik

Sumy/Frankfurt (Oder). Die Begegnung „Seeking Hope: Stories of Young Migrants“ bringt Jugendliche des Kompetenzteams Frankfurt (Oder)-Slubice mit ukrainischen Jugendlichen zusammen. Seit vergangenem Freitag beschäftigen sie sich in der ukrainischen Stadt Sumy mit dem Thema Binnenflüchtlinge, dazu werden Interviews mit Jugendlichen aus Donezk geführt. Die aus Donezk Geflüchteten leben aktuell mit ihren Familien in Sumy und erzählen in sehr persönlichen und hoch emotionalen Gesprächen ihre Geschichten. Die Ergebnisse der einwöchigen Begegnung werden im Rahmen einer Fotoausstellung demnächst auch in Frankfurt (Oder) zu sehen sein.

Beim Austausch: Jugendliche aus Frankfurt (Oder) und Slubice sowie Sumy und Donezk

Beim Austausch: Jugendliche aus Frankfurt (Oder) und Slubice sowie Sumy und Donezk

Das Begegnungsprojekt, konzipiert vom „Center for European Initiatives“ und der pewobe gGmbH in Frankfurt (Oder), wird im Rahmen des Programms „Meet up! Deutsch-Ukrainische Jugendbegegnungen“ von der Stiftung „Erinnerung, Verantwortung, Zukunft“ durch das Auswärtige Amt und die Robert Bosch Stiftung gefördert.

Im Oktober kommen die Ukrainer nach Frankfurt (Oder), um sich mit der Flüchtlingsproblematik in Deutschland zu beschäftigen. Interessierte junge Menschen zwischen 16 und 26 aus Frankfurt (Oder) können sich für diese Begegnung im Herbst bei der pewobe gGmbH bewerben.

Three months in Germany: EVS experience 2016

I am Hasmik Hakobyan from Armenia and I began my EVS in February 2016. It will last until January 2017. So far, EVS has been three months of service with lots of new experiences, challenges, and of course happy moments.

My first contact with German people took place at the airport TXL and I was positively surprised about the kind and welcoming behavior of German people. The first lesson I learned from the trip to Germany was to ‘’Pack light’’. I like my room in Frankfurt and the flatmates who are welcoming and English speaking. I work in the office of pewobe with very kind and welcoming people. I like the office environment, people, and the view from the windows. The city of Frankfurt is very close to Slubice, a small Polish city. I can experience totally different cultures in a 10 minute-walk from the office.

Hasmik Hakobyan

The first few days I was trying to integrate in the social life and there were many challenges which I still try to overcome. The first challenging experience was the communication with German people. Almost nobody speaks English and I felt helpless for the first time in my life. Thus, I learned that the most important thing I is to learn the language. Also I experienced some other social behaviors that are new for me but I am getting used to them.

I went to an ‘’On arrival training’’. There, I met other volunteers and learned more about the rules of EVS. It was a very good experience; we could share our experiences with other volunteers and helped each other. I also took part in the JULEICA leadership project and learned a lot regarding the role of a leader in projects. That was a very useful experience. We met other participants from other locations and exchanged experiences and thoughts as well.

Lately we hosted 4 interns from Poland who helped us prepare projects for our “Europatag” and “Kindertag” . It was very nice to work in an international team and develop common projects. Also I leaned a lot regarding project proposal development and I think soon we will submit several project proposals which I would like to develop. In addition, we had a meeting for Sommercamp preparation and I got an idea on how to prepare a project and I would like to work on it.

Months full of creative work lie ahead and I hope to be productive in learning the language and preparing project proposals for further accomplishment.

Intercultural Cooperation through Environmental Exploration – DESERT part

by Filip Kudzia, Marcela Masina and Pauline Grahl

What?
A youth exchange of the project “Intercultural cooperation through Environmental Exploration”. The first part “ICE” was taking place in the EuroCamp. We talk about culture and its influence on our nature and environment.

When?
30.03. to 07.04.2015
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Who?
More than 25 participants from five different countries took part, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Germany and Poland. Our partner from Macedonia unfortunately couldn’t join us.

Why?
It was the second part of our culture-environmental project, which will be furthermore followed up by an exchange in Bosnia and Herzegovina in June.

What happened?
The main topic was environment again, focusing on the desert, and what influence it has on our culture. We were discussing the terms discrimination, culture, stereotypes and prejudices to understand those better. Our Tunisian friends taught us a lot about their surrounding and the desert. Furthermore we have been on two trips, one to Metline (our hosting city), where we saw important places and visited the center for handicapped children. The second one was to El Jem. The beautiful amphitheater, shopping and the place itself were the main attractions. We had a lot amazing evenings together, like the Traditional Tunisian evening and the intercultural evening.

What will stay in our memories?
Easter in Tunisia is a very unforgettable experience. Also riding on camels, conduct a polish Easter tradition – pour water all over others – and always dancing and singing to Tunisian music was a lot of fun. Actually, we experienced so many great things that we cannot write down and even remember them all anymore 😀
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In the media?
On SLYNCS’ (our partner from the UK) Facebook-page you can find some posts about our exchange in Tunisia!
www.facebook.com/SLYNCS?fref=ts
We have been to the local radio station and did interviews!
http://bizerte.radiomjs.tn/channel/1-Wikiradio#podcast
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Youth Leadership – Academy for Active Youth Participation

By Marcela Masina

The Youth Exchange “Youth Leadership – Academy for Active Youth Participation“ supported the skills of us – young people that are needed to active youth participation and can be used in our local and international activities.This youth exchange took place in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany in October 2014. The aim was to develop a project together that will start a transnational youth initiative. We did it! We made an international project “T.A.D. Together Against Discrimination”.The way to archive this goal wasn’t easy and led through many activities and workshops in which we had the change to get to know better the different Leadership Styles, Processes of Decision Making, Public Speaking and Project Management. This intercultural cooperation was possible throughout the exchange of 30 young people from organizations from Great Britain, Macedonia, Poland, Germany, Tunisia and Turkey. Thank to this project we can put “T.A.D. – Together Against Discrimination” into practice.
During the project, we – young people, have also a lot of fun and now we have a lot of good memories. In our free time, we were able to organize a Halloween party, Farewell party, visit Frankfurt (Oder) and just to speak with people from another culture and get to know them better.

More about the idea of the project “Together Against Discrimination” you can find by following the links below:
http://www.icaadglobal.org/
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/fight-against-discrimination/
http://www.oregonunitedagainstdiscrimination.org/lgbt/b
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/234784-bill-prevents-discrimination-against-religious-organizations
http://www.equalitynow.org/

Intercultural Cooperation through Environmental Exploration – ICE part

By Julia Smielewicz

What?
A youth exchange, first part of the project “Intercultural cooperation through Environmental Exploration”, taking place in the EuroCamp. We were talking about culture and its influence on our nature and environment.

When?
30. January 2015 to 7. February 2015.

Who?
More than 30 participants from five different countries took part, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Macedonia, Germany and Poland.
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What happened?
The topic of the workshop was “Ice”, we discussed the dangers and what are the advantages of ice. Everyone actively worked in the groups of their nationalities, as well as in mixed groups. In the groups everyone tried to speak slowly and understandable for all. Together we have been doing a lot. Furthermore we discussed and created the plan for the next part (“Desert part”), which will be held in early April in Tunisia. In addition to the workshops, we also had time for fun and relaxing. Every evening participants had attractive activities, we watched movies, we were dancing, doing sports, playing cards, bowling, and playing hide and seek. We also had two evenings, during which each country could present their culture. We also visited Frankfurt and Slubice twice. We were at the zoo, we were ice skating as well and of course we had free time. Everyone had a great experience and lots of fun in the whole week. We had a wonderful time and everyone was very nice towards each other.

What will stay in our memories?
Daddyyyy… UK’s role play on cultural discovery evening was epic and will cause a lot of jokes. Also Ice Skating was really funny, for both talented and not-so-talented participants. After that first part we are all really looking forward to the follow-ups in April and June. Tunisia and Bosnia – here we come!

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Kompetenzteam visiting Nîmes

By Filip Kudzia

What?
In November Kompetenzteam was invited by Nîmes to talk about sommercamp in the future.

When?
13.11-16.11. 2014
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Who?
Representatives of Frankfurt (Oder) relative youth affairs Sören and Heike and Kompetenzteam: Manuela, Pauline, Marlene, Marcela, Filip, Kuba, Julia, Monika, Wioletta.

From which countries did the people come?
Germany, Poland, France.
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Why?
We went there to improve the relations with our partner town Nîmes, to talk about new actions and get to know the community.

What happened?
14.11.2014 some participants of Sommercamp 2014 and representatives of both cities met in Youth Centre in Nîmes.
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What did we talk about?
Representatives of Nîmes and Frankfurt (Oder) were talking about Sommercamp in the future and youth actions.

What will stay in our memories?
Everything will stay in our memerioes because it was the best trip we’ve ever been and we will never forget it. But for sure the flight was a big experience for us. We will never forget also thousands of pictures before Eiffel Tower and driving by very fast TGV. We were all impressed about Nîmes. This is a city with beautiful history and architecture.

In the media?
www.facebook.com/video.php?v=932810540063507&pnref=story

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“Youth empowerment and non-violent conflict transformation” – Training course

By Mateusz
Dilijan, Armenia from 25th of November – 03th of December 2014

General information:
Hosted by the Italian organization “Vicolocorto” in cooperation with the “Youth Cooperation Center” of Dilijan the training course focused on several important aspects concerning successful and nonviolent conflict management. Supported by two coaches from Germany and Italy, both long-experienced workers on peace education, the participants contributed by many different ideas and experiences to the programme. All sessions were held in an outstanding atmosphere, characterized by the high motivation and work dynamic of the young volunteers. Completed by an intensive training on facilitation skills and an almost perfect organization of all logistic matters, it led into an extraordinary, much demanding, but still really joyful event. From our “Deutsch-Polnisches Kompetenzteam” Frankfurt (Oder) Mateusz was participating in the training course.

When did it take part?
November 25 – December 3, 2014
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Who were the participants?
Altogether, 24 participants between 18-29 years found the way to the Dghyak hostel in Dilijan to discuss about conflict transformation, different methods of peace education and to practice their facilitation skills. Most of them represented one or more NGOs from their home countries Armenia, Italy, Georgia, Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Besides a well-organized and wonderful intercultural evening the participants could share experiences about their work within a NGO-fair in the middle of the training.

Main issues of the event?
The main task of the training course was to share many different education tools in order to empower young people to become active agents of peaceful change of conflicts in their home regions, especially regarding the current political situation in Europe and the Caucasus region. Other objectives were: getting familiar with value-based approaches of education of peace, sharing of educational methods for working with youngsters in conflict analysis and resolving, and last but not least, designing educational programmes on peace education for young people. These goals where reached by using different kinds of group work, role plays, strategic exercises, simulation games and theoretical trainee-led workshops. Accomplished by an excursion to one of the most famous monasteries in the region of Dilijan the training course was a real contribution to the personal development of the highly-motivated participants.

What will stay in our mind?
The highlight of the event was surely the time-consuming training and improving of facilitation skills thanks to an intensive session preparation, followed by six powerful presentations concerning topics like unemployment, multiculturalism or prevention of gender-based violence. Regular self-reflection, constructive feedback discussions, countless ice breaker games and the amazing team work have shown that the training course was an awesome contribution for further projects and activities of the future facilitators. Besides the issues of the training it should be mentioned that despite the fact, that Armenia is a comparatively small country, thinking about the lake Sevan, many big woods and a great number of beautiful mountains makes clear that is has a really breath-taking nature, in summer and in winter.
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“Youth empowerment and non-violent conflict transformation” – Trainingskurs

Von Mateusz
25. November – 03. Dezember 2014 in Dilijan, Armenien

Allgemeine Informationen:
Dank der guten Zusammenarbeit zwischen der italienischen NRO “Vicolocorto” und dem “Youth Cooperation Center” in Dilijan durften sich die Teilnehmer des Trainingskurses in einer intensiven Weise mit den vielen verschiedenen Aspekten erfolgreicher und gewaltfreier Konfliktbewältigung beschäftigen. Unterstützt durch die Arbeit zweier erfahrener Trainer aus Deutschland und Italien, beide mit besonderem Fokus auf Friedensarbeit, trugen die höchstmotivierten Freiwilligen mit vielfältigen Ideen und Erfahrungen zum Projekt bei. Jede Sitzung war durch eine herausragende Atmosphäre und eine erstaunliche Arbeitsdynamik gekennzeichnet, was nicht zuletzt auf die hohe Bereitwilligkeit zu aktivem Beitragen jedes Einzelnen zurückzuführen ist. Ergänzt durch ein intensives Training, das neue Fähigkeiten hinsichtlich einer erfolgreichen Sitzungsplanung und -durchführung vermittelte und gekrönt durch eine nahezu einwandfreie Organisation sämtlicher logistischer Herausforderungen, bildete der Kurs ein außergewöhnliches, intensives, aber dennoch fröhliches Erlebnis. Von Seiten des Deutsch-Polnischen Kompetenzteams Frankfurt (Oder) nahm Mateusz am Projekt in Armenien teil.

Wann fand die Veranstaltung statt?
Die Veranstaltung begann am 25. November 2014 und endete 03. Dezember 2014.
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Wer waren die Teilnehmer?
Alles in allem haben 24 Teilnehmer zwischen 18-29 Jahren den Weg zur Dghyak-Herberge in Dilijan gefunden, um über Konfliktumwandlung und verschiedene Methoden zu erfolgreicher Friedensarbeit und reibungsfreier Sitzungsorganisation zu diskutieren. Die meisten von ihnen vertraten dabei eine oder mehr NRO’s aus ihren Heimatländern Armenien, Deutschland, Georgien, Italien, Polen und der Ukraine. Neben eines gut organisierten und erinnerungswürdigen interkulturellen Abends, konnten sich die Teilnehmer auch während einer traditionellen NRO-Messe in der Mitte des Trainings persönlich austauschen.

Um welche Themen ging es speziell?
Das Hauptziel des Kurses bestand darin, verschiedene Bildungsmöglichkeiten zur Stärkung der Jugend im Bereich der Friedensarbeit zu vermitteln.
Vor allem in Hinblick auf die politische Situation in Europa und der Kaukasusregion war es ein wichtiges Anliegen, aktive Interessierte für diese Tätigkeit zu gewinnen und sie zu gewaltfreiem Konfliktwandel in ihren Heimatregionen zu ermuntern. Weitere Ziele bestanden:
• im Bekanntwerden mit wertorientierten Ansätzen der Friedensarbeit,
• im gemeinsamen Austausch von Bildungsmethoden zu Konfliktanalyse und -lösung mit Jugendlichen,
• in der Gestaltung von Bildungsprogrammen für die Friedenserziehung junger Menschen.
Diese Ziele wurden stets in Form zahlreicher Gruppenarbeiten, Rollenspiele, strategischen Simulationen und Übungen, sowie gecoachten Workshops verfolgt. Abgerundet wurde die Veranstaltung neben dem bereits erwähnten interkulturellen Abend durch einen Ausflug zu einem der berühmtesten Klosteranlagen im Nationalpark Dilijan, was alles zusammengenommen einen echten Beitrag zur persönlichen Entwicklung der Teilnehmer darstellte.
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Was bleibt unvergessen?
Ein wesentlicher Höhepunkt der Veranstaltung bildete sicherlich das zeitintensive und leistungsorientierte Training von Planungs– und Veranstaltungsfähigkeiten von thematischen Sitzungen, das in sechs starken Präsentationen zu Themen wie Arbeitslosigkeit, Multikulturalität oder Vorbeugung geschlechterspezifischer Gewalt widergespiegelt wurde. Reguläre Selbstkritik, konstruktive Feedback-Runden, unzählige Gruppenspiele und die tolle Gruppendynamik zeigten, dass das Training in einer besonderen Weise eine wahre Bereicherung für weitere Projekte und Aktivitäten aller Beteiligten darstellte. Außerdem sollte erwähnt werden, dass Armenien trotz seiner eher beschaulichen Größe abwechslungsreiche und schöne Naturlandschaften bietet, denke man beispielsweise an zahlreiche Wälder, den Sevan-See oder die schönen Berglandschaften, die sowohl im Sommer als auch im Winter für Glücksgefühle sorgen.

„Active Europeans“ – Training course

By Mateusz

The training course took part in Tbilisi, Georgia and was hosted by the local NGO “Society Bridge to the Future” in cooperation with the “Deutsch-Polnisches Kompetenzteam Frankfurt (Oder). During one week the participants had the opportunity to discuss about their different opinions on the current civil situation in Europe and acquire basic skills in project development, negotiation and media training and conflict prevention as well. Completed by several funny country evenings and a study visit in the city center of Tbilisi, the course can finally be described as informative, successful and beneficial for further activities of the participants.

When did it take part?
1st – 8th of October 2014
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Who were the participants?
28 participants between 18-35 years from 8 different countries were involved in the project. The single delegations came from Armenia, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania and Turkey, representing one or more local NGO’s from their home countries. Thanks to a NGO fair it was possible i.a. to share personal experiences and talk about possible cooperations in immediate future.

Main issues of the event?
“Active Europeans” implied to explore what it means to be a “European Citizen” and the advantages of “Youth Mobility” and Active Youth Participation. Within the project the space for intercultural dialogue was created, which marked a great opportunity to exchange different concepts and obstacles of the above-mentioned topics. Therefore the aim of the training was to raise a level of participation of young people, learn from each other and exchange best practice examples. The activities foreseen by the training helped the participants to get new essential skills for breaking the stereotypes about other cultures and create a positive atmosphere of common understanding, tolerance, diversity, united Europe; additionally it raised sense of confidence and become active citizens in order to take an important role for positive changes in their communities in future.

What will we keep in our minds?
The many varied ideas for organizing the cultural evenings. Beside a merry polish wedding full of many special surprises, all participants took part in the celebration of the most important muslim religious fest, Kurban Bayramı. In addition, we enjoyed the walks through the beautiful streets of Tbilisi and the extraordinary architecture in the old town as much as the trip to the castle by lift and the great funicular railways allowing us to see the television tower from near and the city from the top. Last but not least, we will never forget the beautiful view over the city from our hostel (especially at night), which meaned, that we always had to climb many steep streets in order to come back from the center to our dormitory. Is there something we won’t miss? Well, the driving style of many Georgian cab drivers made us think about the enormous value of german discipline and order on the road, sometimes it can be so much relaxing to know that everyone takes care of pedestrians who want to cross the street.
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„Active Europeans“ – Trainingskurs

Von Mateusz

Der Trainingkurs fand in der Hauptstadt Georgiens, Tbilisi statt und wurde von der lokalen NRO “Society Bridge to the Future” in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutsch-polnischen Kompetenzteam Frankfurt (Oder) organisiert. Im Laufe der Woche konnten die Teilnehmer über ihre persönlichen Meinungen über die aktuelle gesellschaftliche Situation in Europa diskutieren und grundlegende Fähigkeiten in Projektplanung, Verhandlungs- und Medientraining und Konfliktvorbeugung erlangen. Ergänzt durch zahlreiche fröhliche Länder-und Kulturabende und einem Studienbesuch im historischen Zentrum von Tbilisi kann der Kurs im Großen und Ganzen als informativ, erfolgreich und nützlich für weitere zukünftige Projekte bezeichnet werden.

Wann fand die Veranstaltung statt?
Die Veranstaltung begann am 1. Oktober 2014 und endete am 8. Oktober 2014.

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Wer waren die Teilnehmer?
28 Teilnehmer zwischen 18-35 Jahren aus acht unterschiedlichen Ländern nehmen am Projekt teil. Die einzelnen Delegationen kamen aus Armenien, Deutschland, Georgien, Italien, Kroatien, Polen, Rumänien und der Türkei. Sie vertraten dabei eine oder mehrere lokale NRO’s aus ihren Heimatländern. Dank einer NRO-Messe war es unter anderem möglich, sich über persönliche Erfahrungen und mögliche zukünftige Kooperationen auszutauschen.

Worum ging es hauptsächlich?
Der Trainingskurs “Active Europeans” ermöglichte es den Teilnehmern zu entdecken, was es bedeutet, ein bewusster europäischer Bürger zu sein und worin die Vorteile von jugendlicher Mobilität und aktiver Beteiligung zu finden sind. Im Rahmen des Projektes wurde Raum für interkulturellen Dialog geschaffen, was eine wichtige Möglichkeit für den Austausch verschiedener Konzepte und Bewusstmachung über potenzielle Hindernisse zu den oben-genannten Themen darstellte. Somit verfolgte der Kurs hauptsächlich, die aktive Teilnahme junger Leute am gesellschaftlichen Leben zu steigern, von gegenseitigen Erfahrungen zu profitieren und praktische Fähigkeiten zu vermitteln. Die angebotenen Aktivitäten halfen den Teilnehmern dabei, Vorurteile gegen andere Kulturen zu überbrücken und eine positive Auffassung des gegenseitigen Verständnisses, der Toleranz und der kulturellen Verschiedenheit eines vereinten Europas zu entdecken. Außerdem stärkte es unser Selbstbewusstsein und das Streben, aktive und zukunftsverantwortliche Bürger Europas zu werden.

Was wird in unserer Erinnerung verweilen?
Die vielen abwechslungsreichen Ideen für die Länder- und Kulturabende. Neben einer fröhlichen polnischen Hochzeit, die voller spezieller Überraschungen steckte, begangen alle Teilnehmer zusammen mit der türkischen Delegation das wichtigste muslimische Fest, das Opferfest. Darüber hinaus genossen wir die zahlreichen Spaziergänge durch die schönen Straßen und Gässchen von Tbilisi, sowie die außergewöhnliche Architektur im historischen Zentrum, den Lift zur alten Burg und die Fahrt mit der Seilbahn, die es uns im Endeffekt ermöglichte, den markanten Fernsehturm von nah und die weitläufige Stadt von oben zu sehen. Zu guter Letzt werden wir wohl nie den wunderbaren Blick auf die Stadt von unserer Herberge vergessen, der vor allem nachts für eine tolle Stimmung sorgte. Das bedeutete allerdings auch, dass wir jedes Mal, als wir von Ausflügen im Zentrum zu unserem Schlafplatz zurückkehren wollten, nicht wenige steile Straßen zu überwinden hätten. An dieser Stelle bleibt etwas, dass wir eher nicht vermissen werden: das teils aggressive Fahrverhalten der georgischen Taxifahrer ließ uns des Öfteren über den spürbaren Wert deutscher Disziplin und Ordnung auf der Straße nachdenken. Manchmal kann es so entspannend sein, zu wissen, dass Autofahrer Rücksicht darauf nehmen, wenn Fußgänger die Straße überqueren möchten und daher auch rücksichtsvoll bremsen. Andere Kulturen, andere Sitten.

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