TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Nebojsa Nick Djeric
Youth in Action Programme project, Training Course Action 3.1 has implemented in period from 6 - 13 May 2013 in Novi Sad, Serbia, with participants from European program countries and neighboring partner countries.
Training Course by name ”Hey rocks and stones, I provoke you all to break” was about fighting discrimination and social exclusion of the LGBT population through creative poetry writting
The main objectives of the project were:
-To promote anti-discrimination on every level, particularly on the basis of sexual orientation
-To promote tolerance, equality and solidarity among different cultures, nationalities, ethnic backgrounds
-To promote young people’s active participation in society, and especially to empower LGBT youth to take an active role in their communities in fighting homophobia and discrimination
-To increase knowledge of poetry as a tool in fighting discrimination, homophobia, hate speech and violence
-To promote non formal education and non-violence as the only acceptable method for fighting against discrimination
Target group in our TC were youth workers, youth leaders, NGO activists and all people who would like to fight against discrimination and homophobia of LGBT youth. Participants were interested in poetry, and in exploring how to use that as a method in their youth work and social activism.
Participants from Croatia, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, Macedonia and Turkey took part in the Training Course. The working language of the Training Course was English.
The working methods used on this training course were non-formal education and informal way of learning. This included: games, energizers, ice-breakers, team building exercises, individual and group outdoor educational activities, work on practical examples in a small groups, simulations, thematic workshops, discussions, debates, presentations...
Activities on our training course were:
• writing poems and choosing participants favorite poems on topic of Love, Tolerance, Peace and Solidarity
• sessions about reading poems
• group making puzzle
• recording/making video about all training course
• workshops and discussions every day on topics related to the fight against discrimination and exclusion
• presentation of Youth in Action Program and informing participants about new possibilities
• presentation of non-formal education and informal way of learning as a method for fighting against discrimination of LGBT youth
All these activities had the aim to promote solidarity, cooperation, and creativity in youth work and in fighting discrimination, violence and social exclusion.
The main theme of the Training Course “Hey rocks and stones, I provoke you all to break “ was how to use creative art non-violent methods (poetry) in combatting discrimination and social exclusion of LGBT people, and promoting solidarity and equality of all people, regardless of their national, cultural, ethnic, religious, sexual, gender or other differences.
The main goal of our training course was to offer the participants an opportunity to get actively involved in fighting discrimination and social exclusion of LGBT people, through creative methods and activities involving poetry, making puzzle in shape of heart which have poems written on them, that participants were made. During the course, using non-formal ways of learning, participants were created a product – by writing their favorite poems which they were wrote on a puzzle (on their native and English languages) every participant had one part of puzzle and in the end we were collected all pieces, read them loudly and made them in shape of a heart, with colors of rainbow (colours of LGBT community). With this action, we wanted to encourage, to motivate participants to express themselves, their opinions on LGBT issue in poetry way. Through this we wanted to send out the message of love, tolerance, peace and solidarity among different nations and cultures. Whole happening was video recorded.
The product – Heart Puzzle and the video– was distributed after the training course in all participating countries, therefore spreading out that important message of tolerance and peace.
In this training course I worked as a trainer with my colleague Milena Cuk, Assertiveness trainer and Human Rights activist www.licnirazvoj.com
In total two trainers from Serbia delivered program activities using an interactive and participatory approach method.
Training course “ Hey rocks and stones, I provoke you all to break ” supported by European Commission and Youth in Action Programme http://ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.htm and organized by NGO Elektrana, from Novi Sad Serbia, www.elektrana.net