Thank you for the picture, participants.
From 12 to 20 October 2021, the Creating Dialogue youth exchange took place in Otrokovice. Its aim was to raise young people's awareness of the importance of intercultural and interfaith dialogue as a key tool for positive change in communities by creating respect for cultural diversity, improving coexistence in today's diverse societies and promoting active European citizenship. There were young people from seven European countries - Northern Macedonia, Spain, Poland, Greece, Italy, Turkey and the Czech Republic - took part.
The first day was devoted to getting to know, forming a group and presenting the project and discussions about the planned program. In the evening we had the first international evening. It was dedicated to Italy and Spain. In addition to watching interesting videos, we also had the opportunity to learn some slang expressions in Catalan or to taste a little of the local cuisine.
The next day, we looked at the differences between formal, non-formal and informal learning, researched what YouthPass is and how we can use it, and also learned what intercultural and interfaith dialogue is. In the evening there was a beer-pong tournament.
Friday was dedicated to the essence of human identity and how we define it. We tried to uncover it based on an iceberg model. We also thought about the different social roles we may take and what values are reflected in them. We also evaluated how our life visions differ from those that other people on the planet may have, and how we can work with it in practice. We then clearly experienced the situation in a short theatrical elaboration focused on revealing the differences between individual social groups and their influence on others.
The next day was devoted to stereotypes and prejudices. We dealt a lot with specific examples from our lives and the possibilities of solving given situations. We also presented the reality in our home countries with migrants and refugees and, based on that, tried to find examples of good practice of what we can do to improve the situation and the fate of these people. The day closed with an international night directed by Greece and Turkey.
Thank you for this amazing dancing movie, dear participants.
We spent Sunday morning partly evaluating our personal view of various aspects of multiculturalism, and partly preparing the flash-mob. In the afternoon we had a trip to Zlín, where we danced in the square in front of the public. I believe that after this day, none of us will have the song Beggin 'by Måneskin associated with anything other than this project.
In Zlín, we also had several tasks to complete - for example, to find out who Tomáš Baťa was and how he turned the original swamp that covered the area into solid ground; as the city was called in the past or where the local "skyscraper" is located. And we also had to ask local people what is unique about them in Czech culture (the majority answer was: beer).
Credits goes to Valerija. Thank you.
On Monday, after a brief evaluation of the previous day, we were interested in the topic of interfaith dialogue, especially thanks to the film Pastor and Priest describing the situation in Nigeria. Thanks to the Theatre of the Oppressed method, we were able to try out some situations depicting discrimination to practice our dramatic skills. At the same time, another international night was held, namely in Northern Macedonia, Poland and the Czech Republic.
The final day was filled with many activities. Both by formalities such as the final evaluation of the program, creating proposals for new projects, passing on YouthPasses, and also, for example, revealing secret friends (i.e. games in the background of the whole event) or writing messages in an envelope. In the evening there was a big party with karaoke, dancing and the last tasting of Czech beer.
I thank all the participants, for creating a stimulating, friendly and safe atmosphere, all the group leaders for their activity, initiative and willingness to leave the comfort zone, and also thanks to Michal and Káťa from Cesta rozvoje for the organization and for taking me with them. The project was implemented with the support of the Erasmus+ program.
