MULTIETHNIC CHILDREN AND YOUTH PEACE CENTERS (MCYPC),
Mitrovice/Kosovska
Mitrovica, Kosovo/a.
http://MCYPCMitrovice.freehosting.net
August 2001 Seminar Focus:
"Multiethnic Grassroots Youth Peace Education Projects in war affected regions - challenges, accomplishments, future joint initiatives"
Location: Mitrovice/Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo/a
Note 1 - because of ethically mixed group of participants and the unstable
security situation in Mitrovice/a, we are working on an alternative location in Vushtrri;Note 2 - in case the seminar will take place in Mitrovice/a, participants will be accommodated on either South side of Mitrovice (Albanian participants) or North Mitrovice (Serbian participants). This arrangement is necessary due to security reasons. Internationals will be accommodated in either one of the above houses, subject to space availability and their preferences. Transportation to/from meetings will be provided. Meetings will be held in KFOR confidence zone where we arrange for renting a conference room.
Painting day - participants will join a project on the side of Mitrovice where they are accommodated
Dates: August 23rd - August 29th 2001
Aims of the meeting:
The seminar has certain focuses
In particular, we will be discussing three things:
Main programme elements:
During the first two and a half days, we will go around the circle and present
our projects and accomplishments up to date. We will also show beautiful videos
from "World Core Curriculum Schools" for Peace and Global Education.
We will then go around the circle once again and
talk about challenges each of our organizations was facing, and how did we
(didn't we) deal with the problems. This will allow us to learn from each other
what works, to see what solutions can be used and have proved effective, etc. It
will also make our programs easier to compare. The last part of these sessions
will be dedicated on discussions about what we all have in common (finding
common denominator).
There will be one day of a break in sessions after that, and participants will
have a unique opportunity to join MCYPC Classroom Renovation Project, helping
children pain the peace murals of their design in their classrooms. [in plan B -
seminar outside of Mitrovice - this day will be for informal discussion groups
and leisure, team building activities]
Next two days will be dedicated to working groups: - for people interested in
sister school program; - for people interested in peace education through art; -
for people interested in starting together a children's radio program on the
internet, dedicated to peace (staff of two local radio stations - Serbian and
Albanian - will be invited to participate in this working groups). The working
groups will be organized in different timeframe each so everybody can
participate in more than one (or all) of them. Finally, there will be
fundraising/PR workshop, also open to everybody who wants to participate.
Last day will be a decision-making day; we will also be drawing a "plan of
action" for future joint initiatives and networking. The seminar will then
end with a dinner party to which several members of local and international
media and organizations, KFOR and UNMiK staff members etc are invited.
Working methods:
The seminar is a direct follow-up of MCYPC
activities up to date, namely: networking activities, summer camp project and
classroom renovation project, involving many of the participants of the above
programs. We want to organize this seminar in KFOR-protected confidence zone so
every young person, regardless of their ethnicity, will be able to participate
safely. We will create mutual learning situations based on participants'
experience in their projects, working from this experience and extending it. The
leaflets with pictures from summer camp and personal stories from participants
of this and other projects will be produced and distributed.
In general, the group of seminar participants will remain active in MCYPC work,
either directly or indirectly, and will create the very core of future
multiethnic exchange programs. The personal ties and friendships they will have
developed during the course of this as well as in previous and future activities
will help them overcome difficulties of inter-ethnic communication, and they
will be able to lead others by the example of their own goals and work.
Since the seminar participants come from different projects/organizations, and
one of the meeting objectives is to develop long-term plans for cooperation, it
is our hope that such plans, once produced, will result and many successful
programs throughout the year and later. In particular, the seminar will produce
detailed plan of action for Sister Schools program, Peace Education Through Art
program, and Children Peace Radio Station project. We will also hopefully
develop joined fundraising/PR strategies.
The intensive exchange programs following the seminar and organized throughout
the year will combine regular educational activities as planned, recreational
activities (such as sport and art activities) with regularly scheduled conflict
resolution sessions in which young people, with the support of professional
facilitators (both international and locally trained), will have the opportunity
to learn more about their similarities and differences; confront their conflicts
with each other in peaceful ways; build trust; and explore their hopes and fears
about coexistence in a safe, supportive environment. We will also suggest
setting up multiethnic "support groups" which could work on common
fundraising plans, exchange experiences, seek solutions to problematic
situations together etc. All of the above will ensure long-lasting, sustainable
effects of the seminar.
The activities will be conducted throughout the year, both in Mitrovice and in
partner towns, as agreed upon during the seminar. The Sister School Program will
begin September 1st 2001, with 6 Western and 12 Kosovar (Albanian and Serbian)
schools participating at the beginning. To make sure that necessary support and
follow-up is given to the partners, a mobile support team consisting of local
and international youth leaders of MCYPC will be created. The team will visit
each of the partner projects at least once a month. Leaders of partner projects
will also be encouraged to visit MCYPC on a regular basis. In addition, regular
NetMeetings will be held. In November 2001, some of the seminar participants
will join the conference for outh Leaders in peace Education, organized by
Bridges For Education in Hungary. This will create an opportunity for
preliminary evaluation of joint programs' development up to date. For those who
will not be able to attend, evaluation forms will be produced and distributed
for regular updates.
Profile of the participants and recruitment
procedure:
The majority of participants are Balkan youth leaders with experience in
peace-building work with children and youth. They are Albanian and Serbian youth
from Kosovo/a, and the participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina and from
Albania. Those from the outside are present because they either have long
experience in peace education, or they have successfully run a program to this
extend before. Participation is rather competitive because of this. >From
outside of the Balkans, there will be a person who has worked successfully on
multiethnic sister school project (USA-Kosovo/a) for over a year, and Prof. Edna
Aphek from Israel working of peace education (Israeli/Palestinian) there. We
will also have an artist from Singapore, and another grassroots activist from
Poland. The participants are recruited from various MCYPC partner
organizations/initiatives in the Balkans. They are asked to present the
contribution they want to make to the agenda. It is then discussed openly
through MCYPC mailing list, and based on that discussion, a final decision is
made by preparatory team.
Age range: The majority of participants is 17-25
years of age; International Coordinator is 33, and two of invited speakers are
respectively 39 and 46.
Type of lecturers/experts to be invited:
Eve Tan In In, Singapore - Artist, are designer and leader of various
multicultural community art projects in the past 12 years. Art educator.
Prof. Edna Aphek, Israel - educator, consultant to the College Department in the
Ministry of Education in Israel, academic adviser to High Schools Department,
Director of Kamrat - Israeli-Palestinian Sister School Program.
Jill Cerqueira, USA - a social science teacher, with teaching certification in
history education and psychology. Mandel Fellow with the United State Holocaust
Memorial Museum, and the recipient of the John Hopkins University Excellence in
Teaching Award in 1999. Speaker/consultant at the United Nations Conference on
Children in War-Affected Areas. Founder and coordinator of Global Connections
Sister School program linking high schools in New Jersey with Albanian and
Serbian schools in Kosovo/a.
The seminar is prepared and organized in a conjunction with the following
organizations:
M.M.M. = Mouvement pour un Monde Meilleur = Organization for a Better
World, Paris, France Voluntary Association located and registered in 1993 in
Paris, France, with an initial purpose to assist and integrate the excluded
disadvantaged youth groups in France (the homeless, refugee groups etc.)
Activities: - direct and social assistance to the groups of focus, Internet
courses and thorough computer education, etc. Foreign missions carried out in
cooperation with Order of Malta, Guilde Européenne du Raid, Enfants du Mékong,
Pour un Sourire d'Enfants, FIDESCO and other organizations, to Kosovo (1999),
Rwanda (1994), Bosnia (1994), Cambodia (1995), Armenia (1996) to provide basic
but efficient social help in refugee camps where there was a lot of hate and
tension. The aim for the following months is to develop the activities of the
association through the creation of international contacts and to carry out new
projects with foreign partners like MCYPC.
Balkan Sunflowers (BSF), Tirana, Albania - a local NGYO registered in
Albania in September 2000 as a locally rooted continuation of the programs of
BSF International. BSF brings volunteers from around the world to work as
neighbors and friends in social reconstruction and renewal. By organizing
social and cultural activities, BSF exchanges ideas and energy in order to
promote understanding, further non-violent conflict transformation, and
celebrate the diversity of the lives and cultures of the Balkan region.
Bridges For Education (BFE), Buffalo, NY, USA/International - The purpose
of activities organized by BFE is to promote tolerance and understanding using
English language as a bridge, thus BFE emphasizes activities that promote team
building, consensus, debates, leadership development, self awareness and esteem,
peace education, cultural awareness, and conflict resolution.
The Centre for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence (CCPN), Tuzla, Bosnia and
Herzegovina - a non-profit, non-government, local organisation, funded in august
1997, as an independent citizens' association, registered in Ministry of Justice
Tuzla Canton. CCPN program aims are: developing a culture of peace and
non-violence, strengthening peace process in B&H, region and wider,
building civil, democratic society. In realisation of these aims, CCPN
works through: education programs, establishing of inter-ethnic, inter-religious
and inter-cultural dialogue, networking and making links between different
groups, research work and advocacy for peace and non-violence. CCPN program
includes: workshops/training and seminars, by interactive method of
learning, in programs which are group specific, meetings, conferences,
camps, gatherings, round-tables, etc., using print and electronic media.
The CCPN has activities are on three levels: local (city, state), regional
(co-operation with post-Yu countries andcountries from SE Europe) and
international. Programs are conducted by the CCPN team, with many local
and international partners.
Service Civil International - International Voluntary Service (SCI-IVS)
USA - SCI-IVS USA, a bilateral partner of MCYPC, is a branch of SCI
International, the oldest world network for promotion of peace and cooperation
through voluntary services and actions. MCYPC cooperates also with SCI SAVA
Working Group (which focuses on Balkan cooperation).