Coming Projects

Hola Todos!

We are now in a process of organizing new projects! They will be held on September, so we are really busy and excited currently to manage everything until that time. One of them is:

                                                                                        

                                                          360º Peace in Media - (2-9 sept)

It aims to provide young people a deeper understanding of the relationship between media and peace-building and equip them with skills in analysing critically the freedom of expression and information in the contexts of conflict (social, military, interests). Focusing on the role of media in conflict, the course will raise awareness about the important role played by the media and the educational role that it has, especially in developing the values of peace, justice, freedom, mutual respect and understanding, as well as human right.The final result of the training will be a travelling photo exhibition to be held in partner organizations’ countries after the training, and will last for 6 months. This follow-up phase of the project has been planned in consultation with all project partners, reaching approximately 21.750 and 3,800 youth and adults – as direct and indirect beneficiaries of the project.



Peace Bag: PEACE BAG 2012 is a training course that aims to build the training capacities and skills of young educators, trainers and multipliers on mainstreaming peace education and intercultural dialogue through non-formal learning methodologies.

Focus on Practise!

I attended a Training Course called "Focus on: video and photo as tools for peacebuilding" in Lizbon-Portugal between 13-21 November. It was really a pleasure being there and breathe in that atmosphere. I think it was a bit different from the other usual trainings as this was more based on practical side and discussions rather than just theory. All participants enjoyed and used every moment to learn, create, experience and something new so we felt like really productive. As well as taking a look the general definitions of peace, stereotypes, media, conflicts, identity, most important point was to feel the real team building to create something new both through video and photography. That was the spark leading us discover and creative new things.

  Especially the preparation part of the TC for videos and photos was a lot fun. Eveybody and everygroup were trying to produce something. After finding the topic it was more easy to get closer our main aim.

 But at the end it was a real success! We produced 3 qualified videos and a photo exhibiton in which I worked in. Then we showed all the videos to the people who are working there and made the exhibiton on the youth hostel. It was really a pleasure too see what you produced after all your efforts!                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                            

Online Volunteering Award 2011 !!

70 online volunteers have contributed extensively, during several months, to the Peace Bag for Euromed Youth toolkit drafting, reviewing and translating the 191 page publication into 12 languages, as well as creating the layout and a web version. The Peace Bag, which offers practical tools to promote a culture of peace at the local and regional level across the Mediterranean, has been developed in a participatory process that involved 18 youth-led and youth-serving organizations from 14 countries in the region, coordinated by the Fundació Catalunya Voluntària.

“All the work, effort and the dedication of these volunteers have resulted in a very powerful publication that seeks to transform society by educating young people about how peace is related to their everyday lives,” says Meghann Villanueva, project coordinator from Fundació Catalunya Voluntària." This is an extraordinary team who went beyond what they were asked to do. Their strong sense of initiative was what mattered most, and this was what made our toolkit extraordinary.”

While the toolkit will be distributed among organizations as well as public and private institutions from all the participating countries, for Fundació Catalunya Voluntària the impact of the collaboration starts with the volunteers, whose interest in intercultural dialogue and peace-building increased through this collaboration. “This project provided them with an intercultural platform to learn about different cultures, countries and people – which is the very content of the toolkit. According to our volunteers´ feedback, they learned a lot during the work process, and for us, this is an impact that has no price. Many of the volunteers are interested to collaborate further in our project,” says Meghann Villanueva.

Gayatri Navaratnam, born in Nigeria and living in the United Kingdom, confirms that she has learned a lot about “how peace must be transformed from an abstract to an active and immediate part of our daily lives if it is to really impact any part of the world,” and she recommends others to involve themselves in online volunteering “as it provides a medium to practice intercultural dialogue, an essential aspect of fostering global communal ties.” And Dina M. Mansour from Egypt states: “I was amazed by how many Euromed foundations cooperate with each other to build peace and bring minds and people together. I felt I was a part of something huge and didn't mind how many hours I spent reading, analyzing and translating.”

Álvaro Martín, Annalisa Foglia, Dina M. Mansour, Gayatri Navaratnam, Karolina Ginalska,

 Katerina Papadopoulou, Laura Sánchez, Paola Cavallari, Peter Weekley, Porzia Persio, 

ÜlgenTürkmen, Yadín Acedo

 
 

Volunteering for peace in Merce 2011!

On 23, 24, 25 of September, all volunteers and FCV team collaborated in various activities together related to the theme of peace at the castle of Montjuic. Some of these activities are: Accompanying children to paint clamour for peace. Explaining to parents the Clam Project for Peace. Performing other volunteering activities with the children. With these workshops our volunteers worked with a certain degree of autonomy and had fun with children. Now we are adding each of the photos that were taken during the festival. 

A visit to mental disabled people in Urpina

Fundacio Catalunya Voluntaria organized a visit to disabled people in Urpina  (Manresa, Barcelona)  on 1- 2 December. All  FCV team shared some workshops with them and made some activities altogether. First day, FCV team took all the disabled people of that organization  to the disco in Manresa and they had fun all the evening! The second day, all Urpina residents painted the bird of peace on papers and many photos were taken altogether. Here are all the photos during these enjoyable moments! 

Peace!

''International Day of Peace'' was presented by Fundacio Catalunya Voluntaria on 21 of September in a different way. All the participants and volunteers on the training '' Deconstructing the Other''  and '' How should we  face the crisis? '' gathered and helped to create this activity. Coming altogether, we decided to write 'pau'  in Catalan which means 'peace'. Thanks for all who contributed to this meaningful activity!

“No pain, no gain; but have fun!”

¿Qué es un intercambio intercultural? Yo hasta hace poco no hubiera sabido responder con certeza a esa pregunta. No había participado en una actividad como esta en mi vida, en gran parte por desconocimiento (si llego a saber de su existencia antes, seguro que ahora sería un experto intercambiador intercultural), por otra parte falta de tiempo; no lo sé. Pero me alegro de haber entrado un día en la oficina de Fundació Catalunya Voluntària y haber descubierto este pequeño mundo. De la noche a la mañana me vi convertido en group leader para un intercambio de gente joven en Portugal. Yo, con mi ingles nivel 0 y sin saber por dónde empezar… Pero aquí estoy ahora escribiendo este pequeño artículo. Eso es porque al final todo ha salido a pedir de boca.

El trabajo para reclutar al grupo español no fue nada fácil, pero encontramos a dos jóvenes malagueños, Ana Yara y Guillermo, que hicieron un gran esfuerzo por asistir al evento, y la verdad es que no podría haber tenido mejores compañeros.

Haciendo balance de esa semana, es fascinante como 35 personas completamente desconocidas, de países y culturas diferentes, se interrelacionan y comparten sus experiencias, trabajan juntas en equipo, se divierten y dan lo mejor de sí mismas. El primer día, piensas que eres incapaz de conocer los nombres de cada chico y chica; pero cuando acaba la semana, vuelves a casa pensando en cada uno de ellos. Eso es un intercambio intercultural.

Durante la semana realizamos una buena cantidad de actividades diferentes, pero si tengo que mencionar algunas, sin duda empezaría por las noches interculturales. Sencillamente geniales. Era una forma divertidísima de conocer a los demás países y sus culturas. Bailes típicos, gastronomía, tradiciones… Mención especial a Bélgica y Hungría: consiguieron embriagar hasta al vigilante del parque con sus licores extremos.

Otra de las actividades más satisfactorias fueron los trabajos de voluntariado, una buena forma de entrar en contacto con el trabajo altruista. Por otro lado, los talleres de reflexión, directamente relacionados con la temática del intercambio (aunque no todos) nos ayudó a intercambiar ideas y opiniones con los demás participantes, algo que me resultó muy agradable e interesante.

Por supuesto, nuestro día libre en Lisboa fue inolvidable. Una ciudad digna de visitar, con sus antiguos y diminutos tranvías, sus calles adoquinadas, llenas de vida, sus plazas… Sin duda, Lisboa desprende una magia que encandila y te pide volver.

Evidentemente, no todo fue perfecto, algunas actividades no fueron lo que se esperaba y algunas cosas fallaron. Pero no es necesario darle más importancia, pues lo que queda en el recuerdo es un buen sabor de boca.

Hay que dar un 10 a la organización portuguesa por el alojamiento que nos ofrecieron. El parque municipal Cabeço de Montechique donde pasamos toda la semana es precioso, enorme y plagado de naturaleza. No nos faltó de nada, los trabajadores del parque eran muy amables y atendieron a todas nuestras necesidades.

Este ha sido mi primer intercambio y a la vez mi primera experiencia como group leader, y sin duda el esfuerzo ha merecido la pena. “No pain, no gain”: objetivo cumplido.

Rubén Mateos