“God Jul”

Winter is coming, along with the Christmas holidays. It is my first Christmas out of my home country Georgia and also, it is the first time for me to celebrate it on 25th of December. In Georgia we celebrate the Orthodox one on January 7th.  

Lights and colors, decorations and music, there is a Christmas atmosphere all around the city which made us to make Christmas mood in our office as well. I tried to take responsibility of making this mood. Finding old decorations, buying new ones and decorating the rooms was a very joyful process. We tried to make our office cozier. We put a small Christmas tree, lights, stars, candles. 

Also, Iryna and me had a special mission going to the forest early in the morning in order to look for cones for a wreath. Actually it was not so difficult for us, because around our house in Tumba there is a huge forest. The most interesting part was making the wreath itself. Our mentor Kristina taught us how to make it, it looks very nice. You can see the result.  

Christmas mood in Framtidståget is not just the decorations. On the 8th of December whole Framtidståget’s team was invited to the Engelen Restaurant where we had a “Christmas Table” – “Julbord”.  During the event we tasted delicious dishes and also alcohol free glögg.  It wasn’t easy to taste everything, but we did our best.  The whole evening was very nice, full of nice talks with our coworkers and some jokes.  On the next day at the weekly meeting our boss Yousef made a surprise for us - presented the gift card to “Coop” supermarket.

  At the end of the article I want to tell you about the St. Lucia celebration which is celebrated on the 13th of December. It is the longest night of the year and Lucia is associated with light. On this day, I had a chance to attend the traditional Lucia concert in the church. It was a double pleasure for me, because my mentor Kristina was Lucia and she was singing. The angelic tone of her voice and the gentle glow of candlelight made this day an emotional one. Spreading the warmth  is the message of the day and yes, SHE DID. 

The meeting of AMSED network

  From 19^th to 22th of November association AMSED organized a networking meeting where gathered the partner organizations from UK, Romania, Turkey, Portugal and Lithuania. I had a possibility to represent Föreningen Framtidståget at this meeting. The meeting of AMSED network took place in Strasbourg. The main aims of the meeting were to make cooperation between the represented organizations and to exchange the project ideas.

  On the first day we got to know to each other and made the presentations about our organizations and our works. All participant organizations are working with youth and mainly with Erasmus+ projects. We had lots of common topics to discuss. During the meeting we had some kind of brainstorming about possible cooperation and project ideas. Because of the fact that we were just 6 participants we were working as one group. The main working topic was partnership ideas for 2016. Some of participants presented a project idea, which was already created. Also, we were working with the new ideas; we created 3 topics of project ideas and wrote the drafts.

  The first part of the second day was about tools and actions. We exchanged our experiences and discussed the methods, which would make our work more productive. Also, on the second day we attended the Meeting of Youth and Diversity. The event was organized by AMSED and included different kinds of activities, such as: language workshop, live library, hate speech and dancing workshop.  

  During the visit we had possibilities to see some interesting places in Strasbourg and to have a nice time together. 

Train of the future

  On the 26^th of November Föreningen Framtidståget hosted members of the board Achraf Tribak and Said Bouchiba from the branch organization Train of Future (ATAL) - Larache, Morocco. We discussed the strategic plan for ATAL. It was about the future actions, projects against the environmental problems, working with youth and also, art projects. We had a discussion about some common plans, ideas and also, our project manager Kristina gave to them some advices. The moderator and also the translator of the meeting was Anas. The visit aimed to make a strong cooperation. 

Study and networking trip with ForumSYD

From 15th to 19th December, 2015, I took part in a project trip, organized by ForumSYD. We visited Chisinau (the capital of Moldova) and Kyiv (the capital of Ukraine). The goal of the trip was to broaden cooperation between civil society organizations of the Eastern Partnership. Among the participants were the representatives of several Swedish organizations: ForumSYD, FN-Förbundet (United Nations Association in Sweden), Män för jämställdhet (Men for Gender Equality), PRO Sverige. I was there officially as a representative (and a boardmember) of Sveriges Belarusier (Belarusian community in Sweden), however during each presentation of myself covered also my EVS volunteering.

At the very beginning of the trip I met several representatives of Belarusian diaspora in Moldova, among them - the leader of cultural Belarusian movement Hanna Mazur. Among those, who came to the meeting, where people, who had moved to Moldova 40 or more years ago, and those - who had done it just several years ago.
Together with all participants of the project trip we had numerous visits to other Moldovan NGOs, for example - Moldovan Institute of Human Rights (IDOM), UNDP Moldova, Legal Resources Centre from Moldova (LRCM/CRJM), East Europe Foundation and branches of Swedish organizations Civil Rights Defenders and Individuell Människohjälp. On the second day we took part in a big meeting of different Scandinavian, Western European and local civil society organizations at the Swedish Embassy, where the representative of European Commission described the new program "EU Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society".

In the morning of the 18th November we arrived in Kyiv and on the same day had visits to organizations Convictus and Studena, who work particularly with gender-based discrimination. The same evening I met the leader of the Belarusian language club, where the majority of the participants (including the leader himself) are Ukrainians - so it was really a good example of how people of the neighbor country behave about my Homeland.

From the 19th till 21st of November Kyiv was a meeting place for an annual Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. Most of the participants, including the Belarusian National platform, arrived the day before. So in the afternoon of 19th of November, on the last day of my networking and study trip, I had a great chance to get acquainted with big group of representatives of different Belarusian civil society organizations, including youth NGOs. Obviously, with youth NGO's, who, among all, work with Erasmus+ program, we had a lot of common topics to discuss and even had some kind of short brainstorming about possible cooperation and project ideas.

Study visit to “Kvinnor utan gränser”

   On the 10th of November we had a study visit to a women’s association named “Kvinnor utan gränser” (Women without boarders). We met the chairwoman of the association Salwa Abdallah, who was the guide during the whole visit. We had a possibility to see the center where they are working and to meet other members. They are from different countries with different backgrounds. It was very interesting to speak to them. It was inspirational to see the workshop rooms, too. The center is very well organized, suitable for different kinds of activities.

 The organization helps women and girls to integrate into Swedish society. The members and interns participate in everyday activities and get prepared for the job market. They have handcraft workshops, such as knitting and sewing, as well as baking.The women also sell their products on various fairs. Sometimes they also organize discussions and work for democracy. The association has cooperation with the city municipality and with other organizations.During the meeting our boss Yousef and project manager Kristina discussed some common plans for Kvinnor utan gränser and Framtidståget, too. We also had fika together and had a pleasure to taste the fresh potato pies baked by  the women from the organization.

 It was so interesting to see how people, with different backgrounds try to integrate into the local community and also, to keep their own roots.

Mid-Term training

   From 3^rd to 5^th of November I was in the “Bromma Folkshögskola” in order to take part in my EVS Mid-term training and to meet again other EVS volunteers from all around Sweden. Unfortunately, not every member from our “International Band” was present. Unlike the arrival-training course, we were just 9 volunteers, but I am sure, all others were with us by heart. 

   On the arrival day we had the group work called “This is Sweden”. During the group work we discussed about the facts which we faced in Sweden, about stereotypes and generally what are positive and negative sides of Sweden. Also, on the arrival day we had a possibility to meet the drama class students from Folkshögskola. They showed Forum Theatre to us. They were acting in different kinds of problematic situations, and we had to find the solutions. 

This workshop was called “Dealing with conflicts and dilemmas”.

   The second full day was about the past. For the brainstorming we read the letters from the on arrival training, which we wrote to ourselves. It was really emotional to see what were our fears and expectations in the beginning of EVS. Durng the day, we had enough space and activities to look back and reflect on what has happened during our EVS so far.         It was a good way for us to share with each other what we have done, what we are proud of, and the challenges of our projects, all in all - our stories and impressions. We had a possibility to check our competencies according to the 8 Key Competencies from Erasmus + Youthpass. During this session we had a visitor from the NA.

  The topic of our last day was the Future life after EVS. It was really good to see the motivation and the enthusiasm of others and we could easily get inspired by each other.  As for me, this day gave me the most as it helped me to define my dreams and priorities. Moreover, the future planning sessions made me bear in mind that EVS is "just" a station of our bigger journey which can develop and prepare us to reach what we really want from our future. 
   After all these activities, I felt that I am so lucky that I am volunteer in Framtidståget. I was so proud and satisfied because of myself and of my organization. This day I saw what I have done during 7 months as an EVS volunteer. 

   All in all, the training could give to me lots of memorable moments. We had so enjoyable and nice evenings in Stockholm. Unfortunately, maybe it was our last group meeting in Sweden, but for sure we will meet somewhere and somehow, and I always will be a member of the “International Band”, which is made by the EVS volunteers 2015 in Sweden.

Mova Nanova - Stockholm

At the end of September 2015 with the help of the EVS volunteer Iryna Azaranka the official Belarusian community in Sweden 'Sveriges Belarusier' have started the language circle Mova Nanova in Stockholm. The methodology was developed in Belarus at the beginning of 2014 and became popular inside the country and among the Belarusian communities abroad.

Föreningen Framtidståget kindly helped the organizers with the comfortable and well-equipped space for the circle. The lessons are build in an interactive and non-formal education form, free for everybody, suitable for the Belarusians and all other nations. A person can join at any moment and attend the circle with any frequency. The lessons are hold by Iryna Azaranka herself, together with another Belarusian here - a university student Lesia Rudnik. The circle is officially registered at Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan.

The lessons take place each Wednesday, starting from 18:30! All the needed information can be found on the FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/movananovasthlm/
Welcome!

 

Asia-Europe Forum on Education

It was a great pleasure for me to represent Föreningen Framtidståget at the III Asia-Europe Forum on Education in Bucharest, Romania 7th – 11th October 2015. The forum was organized to mark the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of UNESCO (AEFE) by the European Federation of UNESCO clubs, Centers and Associations (EFUCA) with the support of Romanian National Commission for UNESCO.

AEFE 2015 was themed The Sustainable Development in Education with the following subtopics:
- Future education and the Alliance of Civilizations
- Education post 2015 and 2030 agenda
- From theory to practice, the partnership between school and business in professional, vocational/dual education
- University education-tying technology and innovation on the labor market

The participants were leaders of UNESCO clubs and Associations of over 30 countries and also the representatives from international and Romanian organizations. During the forum the participants had a platform to speak about challenges of education, which they are facing in their countries. Also, they were talking about the education as a way to promote tolerance, human rights, fight against terrorism and etc. The forum brought together persons who are active in the field of education. It was a great possibility to see how Europe and Asia work productively together. The themes of the forum were about formal and non-formal education, which were so interesting for me,

as a student and as a youth worker. I got lots of inspiration from this forum, which I will use in my future projects. 

After the forum activities, we had possibilities to visit some interesting places in Bucharest: a village called “Pietroasele” which is known for its vineyards and the “Berca Mud Volcanoes” (it is a small volcano-shaped structure typically a few meters high caused by the eruption of mud and natural gases). During these days we had a pleasure to see old Bucharest which was really so attractive. The area has retained many old and historical buildings that make it a cultural highlight. On the last evening we were in the “Central University Library Carl I” where we attended an amazing concert of “Royal Camerata”.

I would like to express my special thanks to Madam Daniela Popescu for the invitation and to the organizers’ group for such a great event.

We hope to continue our active cooperation in the future.

Three conferences per 2 weeks

On the border between summer and autumn I attended three conferences on different topics, and each of them was a separate surprise for me.

First, on the 20th of August, 2015, I visited the seminar "European Integration in crisis", which took place at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. At that time it was quite new (and that's why exciting) for me to be surrounded by numerous local politicians and to watch and listen live (not just online) speeches on serious and really global topics in terms of Europe. The seminar was in English, and there were representatives from several countries, also a person who represents Sweden at the European Parliament. It was also quite useful to see how different the speakers were in terms of views and values and how it impacted the overall seminar atmosphere.




Then, on the 2nd of September, 2015, I took part at the meeting of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Network, that was organized by ForumSYD and was held at their office. I was really nervous before the visit, because it had to be the first for me in the Swedish language (which I had learned only for 6 months by myself by this date), and because I knew that my Hosting and Sending organizations were working on projects for ForumSYD and I was in some terms the "face" of these organizations, so even unconsciously could affect the organizations' image.
However, the atmosphere was surprisingly very warm, cozy and even homelike, people were friendly and my first presentation about myself (in Swedish) was successful and understandable by others. :)
I was surprised to see so many Swedish organizations, that work with Eastern Partnership countries, including Belarus. The event went very well, and as a result of it the 2nd Swedish organization, that I represented at the meeting, Sveriges Belarusier, was invited to take part in the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Network.


On the next day, 3rd of September, 2015, there was a conference at Europahuset about the new European grant programs. It was also in Swedish, however, the vocabulary was pretty understandable because of the previous 6 months of reading and listening a lot on the topic, so I could make notes, that later presented at Framtidståget's project department. The conference covered three main programs: Erasmus+, "Kreativa Europa" and "Europa för medborgarna" ("Europe for citizens").

Peace Bridge

 Peace Bridge – was a training course for youth workers and youth leaders conducted under Erasmus + program, organized by NGO “Active Ukrainians in Europe”. The project took place for 9 days since the 23rd of August, 2015 in Stockholm. To encourage active citizenship, inter-cultural dialogue, tolerance, social inclusion and to promote mobility and capacity building were the main goals of the project. 

  Participants were representing Georgia, Hungary, Moldova (Transdnistria), Sweden and Ukraine. Framtidståget was one of the co-organizers together with Fryshuset. We, EVS volunteers were participating both in planning and implementation process.

 The week was very intensive. The Training course was divided into several main parts: presentations, meetings, study visits, workshops by Framtidståget and by Fryshuset. During the project Iryna and me had a pleasure to lead some workshops, such as team building activities, project management and cooperation…

During the study visits we have been to Amnesty international, UN-representation, Forum för Levande Historia (Roman exhibition) and could explore the work of these organizations, as well as to increase awareness about human rights and youth work. We also had a meeting with the member of Riksdag, Stefan Nilsson. During the project every activity was useful and enjoyable, too. We tried to make activities in creative ways.

 Of course, every evening there was an intercultural evening with traditional food, souvenirs, songs, games etc. After the training we had a time for walking and visited a lot of attractive places in Stockholm. For example, we were in Nobel and Modern arts museums.

 Overall, we are so happy we met great people and had great moments. We hope it is not the last time we, “Peacemakers” meet each other.

Kupal'le (Belarusian Midsommar) in Stockholm

On the warm and pleasant night between 4th and 5th of July the official diaspora of Belarusians of Sweden for the first time in their history celebrated Kupal'le - Midsummer. The fest was attended by 35-40 participants of different folks: Belarusians, Ukrainans, Latvians, Estonians, Russians and of course Swedes. The fest lasted for 12 hours, from about 19:00 till the next morning.

This celebration was organized by me and three other active participants of Belarusian community here Sergei, Lesha and Alex (Alex is, besides, a boardmember of official community "Sveriges Belarusier"). At the beginning of this summer we were inspired by the Ukrainian community here and decided to organize special Belarusian events more often, at least twice a month. The first try was the evening of Belarusian board games, which had a success and interest not only from the side of Belarusians, but other folks here in Sweden. So then we decided to organize something "more serious".

We started to create a program of the event at the beginning of June, and focused on the aim to show as many ancient Belarusian Midsummer traditions, as we can, but to make the fest interesting to contemporary youth and grown-ups, and not only for the Belarusians, but for other folks also.
Still, to keep the atmosphere, that it is a Belarusian holiday, we have created playlist of appropriate folk, rock and medieval-style music, national clothes, ribbons with Belarusian ornaments. We also used some methods of non-formal education, that I have learned here at Framtidståget, to break the ice between our guests. And some of the Belarusian traditional Midsummer righuals has become the non-formal education methods, that are used now by Framtidståget on different projects, even in Morocco!


We made everything for the fest by ourselves, had not searched for any grants or sponsors. For sure, the event looked a bit amateur, but each of us worked hard and spent so much time and soul and energy, as he or she could. Nobody of us could even guess, how the holiday actually would be. And it was great! :)

Training 'The Fundamentals of a Democratic Society Stockholm 2015’

At the beginning of June we assisted in a project training ‘The Fundamentals of a Democratic Society Stockholm 2015’, organized by NGO “Active Ukrainians in Europe”.  The project had taken place for 12 days since the 1st of June and included activities in Stockholm (different meetings), Gotland and in NGO’s place.  There were participants from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Moldova, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium.

Among events in Stockholm were meetings with Civil Rights Defenders, Östgruppen, Swedish Institute, Amnesty International, European House and even with the politician Stefan Nilsson from Swedish Parliament. (we even had an excursion over the Parliament and visited Old Chambers!!)  We took part in most of these events. Also our manager from Framtidståget Kristina Morzevska made a presentation of our hosting NGO for participants, which happened to be very interesting and followed by a lot of questions.

Of course, every evening there was an intercultural evening, presented by country’s national food, souvenirs, songs etc. I think Georgian and Belarusian evenings were really the best ones. ;)

On the 6th of June there was National Day in Sweden. And participants also took part in it but in their own way. At that day they organized so-called Vyshyvanka [‘embroidery’] March, Ukrainians and Belarusians were wearing their folk clothes with beautiful embroided or printed ornaments. :)

Link Hip-Hop

   
   On the 4-5 of June, in Linkoping a reception was held to make Hip Hop Festival, named – LINK HIP HOP.  The event was organized by the “Kulturhusen Elsas & Skylten”; the organizer was EVS volunteer, Lionel.

   Festival was full of different kinds of activities, such as: Beatmaking Workshop, Writing Workshop, Scratching workshop, Graffiti Workshop, Live Painting and Live concerts. Despite the fact, that I am not a fan of hip hop, these days were so interesting for me. We participated in two workshops and tried to learn how to write the rhymes and draw graffiti.  In the end of the days there were Live concerts: 4^th of June - Ays’N’Beez ( Den Där Tim – Blezz) / Rusty Label; 5^th of June -  the Original Maylay Sparks, Antone Mecca, 100 Crew, Pharcee.

  
  Apart from useful workshops and enjoyable live concerts the days in Linkoping were really memorable. We were 4  EVS volunteers and 3 local volunteers who hosted us. We were joking that an International band has a tour in Linkoping. 

  The city is so cozy and cute, full of interesting and nice places. We visited old Linkoping, place where one can see a lot of old houses, museums and shops of hand made things. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to see everything in Linkoping, but it is a good reason to visit it again.

   As you know, we volunteers are not rich people (just try to save money) so, our breakfast was food from ICA, and we had cheap lunch in a park. And also, we had cookies from Stockholm and eco nuts from eco village, for FIKA.  We slept in a dancing room, with big mirrors and great music system - the one I was using in the mornings to wake up others.

As you see, it was such an adventure and a nice visit. For sure, it will be continued...

Happy Independence Day, Georgia!

 Every year Georgia celebrates its Independence Day on May 26. On this day, in 1918 the country declared its independence from the Russian Empire. Later, the country became a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. It regained independence after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

 Despite the fact, that I was born in the country that is called a "beacon of liberty" (In May 2005, President George W Bush) every Georgian’s daily life is a fight for a life in an independent and democratic country. That is why 26th of May is such an emotional day for all Georgians.

   This year I celebrated it in Sweden.

   On the 24^th of May, in Danderyd - at the outskirts of Stockholm, a reception was held to celebrate Georgian Independence Day. The event was organized by the Georgian Community in Stockholm. We (Kristina, Iryna and me) were with our friends from Ukraine, Armenia, Latvia, Poland and Czech Republic on this event.  During the day we had a pleasure to meet Georgian Diaspora in Sweden, to listen to great Georgian music, to taste delicious Georgian food.  

   This was one part of the celebration.

 On the 25^th May I celebrated Independence Day at the meeting organized by the Embassy of Georgia in Sweden. The meeting took part at the Scandic Hasselbacken, in the historical part of Stockholm.

 The celebration was attended by the representative of the Swedish government, diplomatic corps, NGOs, students and Georgian Diaspora. Meeting was opened by the Ambassador of Georgia in Sweden Konstantin Kavtaradze. He congratulated us and spoke about the importance of this day. During the meeting we were listening to Georgian music, watching videos about Georgia and tasting Georgian food.

I want to congratulate my country from Sweden and I wish we can all feel what a real independence is.

LONG LIVE FREE GEORGIA!!!