URI Middle East and North Africa (MENA) organized a youth exchange under the Euro-Med youth program action. The project was designed to empower youth and enhance their understanding and acceptation of socio-cultural differences. Understanding these cultural differences advanced participants’ intercultural sensitivity and broke down common myths, misconceptions, and stereotypes of countries and cultures.
The project activities are meant to stimulate and encourage mutual understanding between young people within the Euro-Mediterranean region and to fight against stereotypes and prejudices. The participants were able to exchange knowledge on the topics of diversity, xenophobia, and racism in different countries. The project succeeded in energizing participants and building their skills to promote and disseminate positive narratives of social cohesion, coexistence, tolerance and diversity through real experience and visual storytelling.
Main methodologies included:
- World Café as platform for Intercultural dialogue
- Cultural Games Night
- Thematic Presentations on diversity and Coexistence at home community
- Field visits: Best Practices in Jordan
- Workshops: Mapping Civil Society in Jordan, Accepting Diversity and Integration, visual storytelling, Social Entrepreneurship and Creative Tools
- Storytelling Project developed by participants
- Sport games with orphans
Participating organizations:
- The United Religions initiative (URI MENA) Jordan, organizer and host
- S?awek and Friends, an informal group from Poland
- Volunteering for Peace Cooperation Circle, Palestine
- Antigone - Information and Documentation Center on Racism, Ecology, Peace And Non-Violence, Greece
Summary of activities
Report 31/3/2016
- At the official opening, the URI Regional Coordinator welcomed the participants and delivered a talk on URI’s activities in MENA and Jordan. Also, Samar Roslan Kasih (Coordinator of Youth and European programs within MENA team in Jordan), explained the importance of such projects in developing young people’s life and professional skills. Then participants introduced themselves and organizations.
The program was discussed in detail and the rules of the exchange were set and approved by participants.
Report 1/4/2016
- Real work started with an energizer. It was our first session, so the game was about remembering our names and getting to know each other. We threw a ball, saying a person's name. After that, we played "speed dating" - we had about two minutes to present ourselves and our organizations to each other. The last one was an energizer similar to tai chi, where we had to react with other people in order to get a first connection.
- The first session was a presentation of URI organization. We learned that, for example, some URI Cooperation Circles help women to develop the competences necessary to start a career. There are many other examples. Each one of us presented our name, occupation, age, interests and other basic information. We also talked about the Euro-Med initiative.
- After lunch, we did one of the most famous workshops during youth exchanges, which is "Fears, Hopes and Expectations." Among the most common fears there were: isolation, not covering all the topics, leaving Amman without gaining new friendships, fear from extremism of religion, and "finding out that women don't have equal rights." The most popular hopes and expectations were: gaining new friendships, uniting with the group, and finding a way to understand the origin of stereotypes and how to fight them.
- After dinner, we presented our NGOs. We learned more about the actions provided by our organizations, like helping refugees, organizing youth exchanges, collecting sweets for orphans, and promoting wearing reflecting elements to avoid car accidents on the roads after twilight.
Report 2/4/2016
- We started the second day of our youth exchange with an energizer called "Castles and Princesses." It was a funny game that made us get moving and laughing. After, we started discussing the main topics of the exchange, like exclusion and extremism. In general, we were presenting differences in our cultures, talking about respect for diversity and sharing some personal experiences concerning our native lands. Some examples mentioned were: relations between the Turkish and Greek in Greece, Palestinian - Israeli conflict in Palestine, and Ukrainians in Poland.
- During the second workshop, we divided into groups and each one of them discussed discrimination and coexistence in our countries. As a tool of demonstrating the main points to the rest of our group, we used drawings and scenes. We discussed discrimination of Palestinians, and a scene prepared by the participants showed the scene of a pregnant woman trying to get to the hospital. We talked also about the Greek organization called "The Golden Dawn" which helps only Greeks in need, declining help to other nationalities. The third scene presented discrimination against an Arab-looking man in Western countries.
Report 3/4/2016
- Today we started off with a game in which we had to draw each other. It was a funny energizer and we could get closer to each other and laugh together.
Then the session started. We were divided into three groups and discussed freedom of speech and expression, refugees, and extremism. We tried to find possible solutions.
1) The first group discussed the freedom of speech and the situation with refugees after the recent events in France. After the attacks (i.e. Charlie Hebdo), the Arabs' situation in France got worse. In Denmark also, there was an incident with the prophet's satirical pictures and caricatures that led Muslims to get offended and demonstrate. On the other hand, all this tension with Arabs made some people scared, and due to their ignorance, they were led to think, "Oh, these people are coming here to rape our women" and similar racist claims.
In U.K. and Poland lately, there are also many racist jokes about Muslims. This creates a lot of problems for Arab women, for example. In Poland, France, Belgium, and other countries, if someone wears a hijab, she will be looked at as strange and possibly be threatened, so she may feel insecure and not comfortable, and eventually she may have to quit wearing the hijab.
About the refugees, there are two types of people: First we have the "true" refugees, who are in need and had to escape their country because of war, natural disaster, etc. They look for work and shelter and want to be integrated in the society.
There is also a second type of people: the economic immigrants. They sometimes pretend to be refugees, in order to reach the wealthy countries like Germany and live on their social aid. The problem is that the second group leads to a bad image for refugees and people from the Middle East in general, and many misunderstandings.
The solutions the group proposed were as follows:
- To organise seminars for the refugees/immigrants. Seminars could be language courses that are much needed, introduction to the culture of the hosting country, help on how to find a job and how to use their capabilities and skills in the hosting society (for example, if someone has studied medicine, and they learn the language of the host country, then they could be useful to the society. We should focus on the development of their skills instead of refugee status and perceive them as human beings).
- To organise seminars aimed at the hosting society, with emphasis on the languages and cultures of refugees' countries, and showing ways the local people can help refugees.
- To use social media wisely, to promote those seminars and spread the word to the local community, and also to show a real face of the refugees as doctors, medical professionals, etc., with videos like: "Give me a hug, I'm not a terrorist."
- A website could be created to help refugees contact with the local people.
- Cultural events, like Arabic days with information, seminars, introduction to culture, dances, or cuisine of foreigners.
- Hosting events for the refugees, to introduce them to the local culture (for example in the U.K., fish and chips, Beatles etc.)
- Organise courses by experts to inform governmental officials and politicians, so that their decisions are not influenced by prejudice.
2) The second group discussed freedom of expression. We realised that very often the media use their power to promote their ideas and brainwash people, and show things through their angle. For example, people in Europe sometimes consider Palestinians as terrorists and that they attack Israel for no reason, when in fact, we all know there is no smoke without fire. But still the media continues on showing their part of the picture.
Also, after attacks like the one at Charlie Hebdo, where some pictures were very offensive to people and to their religion, we wondered if there should be a limit to what people can actually say and what not, and how far we can go.
In the end, we saw that, sometimes the right to expression can be abused, and people can say whatever they like, even very offensive stuff, or publishing explicit content without caring if they will insult anyone. But, limiting freedom of expression is not the solution.
Our solution is that people have to double-verify their sources, especially because of the internet world and the huge amount of information there is. People have to learn to critically accept information.
What's more, education is the key. In order for people to make proper use of freedom of expression, they need to be educated and be able to distinguish between fake and true, exaggeration and reality. This can be achieved through:
- Lessons at school. As we know kids are more open to new ideas and if they learn how to think from a young age, then they will become responsible adults.
- Seminars and public events to raise awareness about different topics, like different cultures for example.
- Most importantly, SELF- IMPROVEMENT!!!
- “Be the change you wish to see in the world” is the message, and each one of us has to pay attention before forming an opinion, and always have an open mind.
3) The third group discussed acceptance and tolerance, after the recent terrorist events.
- Our thoughts were many but we reached some conclusions:
- After the attacks, the European Union is more closed and negative towards refugees.
- People coming from a country where the main religion is not Islam treat refugees (who are mostly Muslims) as if they are dangerous.
- The governments use the attacks as excuses to save money and close the borders. In some cases, they increase the military police and put cameras everywhere, and this way they have a reason to interfere in people's lives and control them.
- This creates a negative feeling in the society and makes people more afraid and hesitant, while they are somehow given the "freedom" to be racist. Many of them that would be willing to help in other terms, tend to be like, "Oh, I would like to help, BUT you know… the attacks, etc."
- The media makes the situation worse, as they use the attacks to say that the whole Muslim world in general is bad and all Muslims are terrorists.
The group had some ideas for solutions to these situations as well.
- First of all, people should stop using religion as an excuse for their decisions or actions. The barriers between people can be broken by getting close and receiving knowledge directly from people. Interaction through workshops, events, communal kitchens, and in general, real communication with real people will break all the walls.
- People also have to react to the continuously increasing control of our lives by saying no to military police, cameras, etc. And keep an eye on the media, always checking the sources and their independence. Most media are subjective, influenced by political parties and money. We should create and support independent media which do not have financial or political interests. Those media they search and investigate to find the truth, having a critical view on things.
After lunch and some energizers, we moved on to the next session. In this session, each one of us had to pick a word, and we needed to find a definition for it and pair it to the opposite. The pairs were:
Discrimination - Coexistence
Social Exclusion - Inclusion
Immigrants - Refugees
Terrorists - Real Humans
Stereotype -Knowledge
Degrading -Tolerance
Homogeneity – Diversity
Then we discussed a bit about the definitions.
Report 4/4/2016
In the early morning we departed to Petra - one of the seven new world wonders. During the journey, we had an energizer that consisted of a little dancing party in the bus. After coming to Petra, we did a six-hour walk during which we saw the most important places in Petra. After the walk, very tired, we went for lunch to one of restaurants in the city of Petra. After it we moved to Wadi Ram, where we were accommodated in tents. After dinner, we organized a dancing party during which we had a great opportunity to dance Dabka and have fun all together. After midnight, we walked through the desert where we had a really good chance to admire a beautiful sky full of stars and spend time together around a bonfire drinking tea. After this full-of-impressions day, we spent the night in Bedouin tents.
Report 5/4/2016
In the very early morning, part of the group went to see the sunrise in the desert. After breakfast, we went for a Jeep trip through the desert, which was an amazing experience. During this trip, we visited a Bedouin camp where we had an occasion to taste tea and listen to traditional music. After coming back to the camp, we prepared ourselves to depart to Amman. During the journey, we stopped at a camel farm and had an opportunity to pet those animals and try their milk. After arriving to the school and taking a shower, we ate dinner and had a group reflection meeting. The rest of the day we spent working in our teams and preparing reports, booklets, etc.
Report 6/4/2016
Energizer: horses
Facilitators informed the participants about the daily schedule. There was a presentation about occupied Palestine, the chronicle of the war, and projection of two short films (animation & interviews) showing restrictions and repression that Palestinian people face.
Open discussion among all participants.
Break.
Energizer.
Workshop about discrimination: Each participant expresses in one sentence what discrimination means for her/him. The facilitators split the participants into smaller groups in order to discuss the given topics: 1. Homosexuality 2. Isolation of people with special abilities. 3. Women’s rights in the Arab and Western world.
Lunch.
Afternoon:
Energizer.
Discussion about the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam. Open discussion among participants.
Break.
All participants and team leaders spent two hours playing with the kids and staff of Schneller School.
Dinner.
Group reflection.
Report 7/4/2016
Breakfast.
Energizer: music chairs.
Discussion in groups: 1. Homosexuality 2. Women’s discrimination 3. People with special abilities.
Presentation of the discussions' outcomes and possible solutions to ameliorate the situation.
Presentation of Erasmus+ program, opportunities for mobility addressing to youth, Leonardo Da Vinci for vocational training, Euro-Med, etc.
Lunch.
Workshop: development of a mobility project (youth exchanges, training courses) by each national group.
Break.
Discussion about terrorism. Participants are asked by facilitators to express in one sentence what they feel about the given topic. Open discussion.
Participants split into two groups to brainstorm on the role of media in forming public opinion, and the solutions/actions that could be adopted by us, as members of civic society, to change the situation.
Group reflection.
