TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Maria Larisa Giangkampozidou
Building on the lessons learned from the 2024 Call for Ideas project to support and safeguard women peacebuilders, the project team proposes to implement a similar programme in 2025 to care for the caregivers. This programme addresses the needs of female professionals within the Bosch Alumni Network who are working in international development, humanitarian relief and crisis management.
The programme supports women working in high-stress, unstable and physically, emotionally and mentally demanding environments, namely in the humanitarian context. This could include conflict-affected countries and emergency situations, as well as other contexts where women are directly supporting and caring for vulnerable and at-risk groups, such as the elderly, women, children, persons with disabilities, refugees and IDPs, etc.
The programme focuses on co-creating a supportive, safe, collaborative space, albeit virtually. Participants will gain an understanding of the effects of stress and burnout on mental health and emotional wellbeing; skills to regulate stress and prevent burnout; and tools and techniques of self-defense and empowerment. Participants will gain value from being a part of and co-creating a global community of women humanitarians that is a safe, supportive space.
Trainers Team: Albania, Greece, Sweden and Kenya
Participants team: Ukraine, Lebanon, North Macedonia,Albania, Uganda and Croatia
The training used a blend of experiential, creative, and reflective non-formal methods designed to build community and strengthen personal and collective resilience. These included grounding exercises, artistic expression (drawing, storytelling, vision mapping), peer-to-peer sharing in breakout rooms, collaborative digital tools (Miro/Mural), guided reflection, wellbeing and self-care rituals, and community-building practices such as gratitude circles and symbolic closing activities. Together, these methods fostered trust, enhanced learning, supported emotional safety, and empowered participants to apply the skills within their communities.
- Women humanitarians feel a greater sense of holistic security and empowerment and feel cared for in the work they do to care for others in distress and in need;
- Women humanitarians feel a greater sense of physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, despite the difficult circumstances in which they work;
- Women humanitarians have the tools of self care and wellness to apply in their lives and to share in their communities so as to prevent burnout, depression, etc; and
- Women humanitarians have the opportunity to implement a self-care activity for themselves that will address a need they have to strengthen their wellbeing; and
- A virtual support network and community for the security, care and wellness among the ten women humanitarians is created.
To share the learnings with the wider network, the project team will present the programme at the end of the project in an online session with BAN members and will also share information on the project page. In addition, the project team can share results, outcomes and learnings from the project with the relevant clusters and impact fields - especially those to which the participants belong.
I led three workshops, one in the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end of the project on the topic of community weaving and connection to self and others.
The workshops focused on building a strong community of women peacebuilders through personal storytelling, creative expression, and shared reflection, helping participants connect with their inner voices, map a collective vision, and celebrate their growth and achievements. Together, they explored challenges and commitments, strengthened mutual support, and closed with gratitude rituals that honored both their individual journeys and their collective bond.
My work entailed preparation of the workshops, facilitation and follow up. Also I supported in the selection process as well as in the writing phase of the project.
Maria participated in the important task of community weaving with the women involved in the training. Through her activities, the women derived a greater sense of connectedness, friendship, and solidarity despite their different locations.