Between 4th and 11th of February 2018, CCIVS volunteers (Nicolas, Siyuan, and Sara) participated in the Life across the fences Peace Action Week, organised by the Egyesek Youth Association, which took place in Hollókő, Hungary.
Participants from Service Volontaire International (Belgium), Solidarités Jeunesses (France), IBG (Germany), Elix (Greece), Factor Escucha (Spain), Stowarzyszenie Promocji Wolontariatu – FIYE (Poland), Volunteer Action for Peace (UK), Egyesek Youth Association (Hungary), and CCIVS convened, in a creative space to discuss one of the dominant issues affecting Europe nowadays – the refugee and migration crisis.
The purpose of this Peace Action Week training course was to focus on migrant and refugee rights, as well as the right to citizenship. The participants were given the opportunity to hold debates and to share their opinions freely regarding the issues and challenges facing us today, such as that of civilians fleeing their homeland to seek a better life in Europe. Thus, it helped the participants to have an active reflection on the topic of Migration & Refugees through non-formal education activities within intercultural dialogue. Participants had also discussion sessions about Human Rights and the rights to citizenship with the countries represented in the training. Not only had they gained a better understanding regarding the inevitable fact of the refugees’ situation in Europe, but they had also gained more insight into the Hungarian policy towards the refugees.
The training was held in Holloko, the facilitators organised for the participants a meeting with two Hungarian NGOs (Artemisszió, Menedék) and two activist groups (Migszol, Open Doors) in Budapest. This was the moment where participants could understand how Hungarian NGOs and civil society organisations work to ensure social integration for refugees and migrants and to do the most important work for the cause. This meeting entailed raising awareness about the situation in Europe and empowering participants to take action in their own countries following the Peace Action Week. By the end of the training, a photo booth session was organised during which participants could voice their messages.
CCIVS volunteers; Siyuan, Sara, and Nicolas tell us how they feel about the Peace Action Week training course in Hollókő, Hungary.
Siyuan: It is a great chance to know the situation of migration crisis in a European country. I never imaged refugee life before this training course. What I have learned is feeling more empathy for others and having a diversity view to see this world.
Sara: On the one hand, this training helped me to have a better understanding of the Hungarian policy on migrants and refugees, as well as how the Hungarian NGOs do the most important work for the cause. On the other hand, it was an amazing opportunity to meet people from different background and to get to know each other in only 8 days.
Nicolas: The experience was quite eye-opening in the sense that we were immersed in profound conversations regarding migration and human rights. Furthermore, I was able to develop a better understanding of the migration crisis in Hungary — something that I did not fully understand before the training.
(Photo credits: Cathy Manousaki)
Sara Galy
CCIVS Communications and Project Support Assistant
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