The Long Term Training Course "Promoting Diversity and Inclusive Youth Work Practices" was intended for youth workers, youth trainers and facilitators who are ready to work on the topics of diversity, inclusion and anti-discrimination in order to activate the potential of diversity in trainings and work with young people both at National and the European levels.
Our two participants, Irina Novac and Ioana Pînzariu, shared with us the results of their work:
"In the first part of the project PRIDE, which took place in Armenia, at the end of February, we discovered the historical part of Armenia and its hospitable culture. This time, at the beginning of May, we got to be witnesses of one of the most important moments in the history of the country - the Velvet Revolution. Reading international media before the project, going to Armenia seemed a little dangerous. Nobody knew what the future was going to be. When we got there, our trainers, Armenian volunteers and participants made sure to explain to us the whole situation and what to expect. We were extremely amazed by the actions of those people - they all came from different backgrounds, but fought together for the same aim - to fight against corruption. And no blood.
We were there the day Armenians won - it was lunchtime and we realized that there were no Armenians in the room. After a few seconds, we heard everyone yelling in excitement - an Armenian participant came to us, with tears in her eyes and the Armenian flag wrapped around her waist and told us they won. The cooks were hugging each other and crying at the same time. In that moment, we realized what being united means and how a divided population will never be able to succeed."
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| Sharing the results with everyone |
"The project itself was about the dissemination of the projects we organized in our community as follow-ups for the part time. It was so interesting to see how the participants of the same projects managed to contribute and bring change in 13 different countries.
But, the true lesson we learned is connected to the Velvet Revolution, especially because Romania is fighting against corruption as well. What they did and we do not, what we did and they did not. We came to the conclusion that it stands on the people of the country, that they all need to unite and participate in the community. They all need to protest and they all need to vote. The change did not come in one day. They protested for weeks - and the beginning, there were a few people, then day by day, the number of people involved went up and up. Until they succeeded. While they were protesting, shops closed, the police were calm and supportive to the protestors; they did not try to intimidate them or beat them up. Even Armenians living abroad protested in the countries they lived in. Some came home to be part of the revolution, because every single person who went on the streets and chanted ”No more corruption” made a huge difference.
Now, going back to PRIDE, it was incredible to network with so many people and work together for future projects."
The organisation that made this possible, More Mosaic, put together a video showing the many wonderful moments that happened during this long term Training Course: