Ivanka Puleva, Bulgaria ARM-BG volunteer
Pilot Activity Re: The “Artist Within” 3rd Training “YOUR INNER CLOWN, HUMOUR STRATEGIES AND OTHER COMPETENCES” Leipzig, Germany
Reflections on my participation in the training “Your Inner Clown – Humor Strategies and Practices” 3-11 October 2015 Leipzig, Germany As a full-time humanitarian worker and occasional volunteer, engaged in the “helping professions” field, in the recent years I have participated in numerous trainings on various topics, related to my work. A great deal of them have been dedicated to expanding the participants’ knowledge and skills on informal education and/or alternative methods of helping vulnerable groups overcome difficulties, traumas, insecurities, etc. I am emphasizing all of this with the intention to attribute more credibility to my words when daring to define my participation in the Leipzig training on humor practices and strategies under the project “The Artist Within” as one of the most productive, sensible, fulfilling and meaningful activities I have attended so far. The experience proved to be one of the most inspiring – both professionally and personally. Initially I was highly interested in the topic of the training because I felt its objectives were important and crucial for my field of work – implementing social activities with vulnerable groups of asylum seekers and refugees, as well as organizing trainings for volunteers and social workers on improving their professional skills for dealing with all kinds of tasks in regard to the target group individuals. When reading the information provided by the organizers of the training “Your Inner Clown” I could clearly see how the knowledge, gained at the event, would be invaluable in terms of the more efficient work with refugee children and youngsters (especially unaccompanied minors) on overcoming traumas and facilitating their process to psycho-social recovery. This was briefly my expectation of the Leipzig training; this was what triggered my motivation to apply as part of the ARM-BG team for taking part in this opportunity. Now that I already had the chance to participate and access the numerous gains I took home with me, I have to say that the positive outcomes exceeded the initial expectations. Here it is why: •
First of all, the whole logistical and technical part of the training was perfectly organized. Everything during the 9-day period of the event was happening flawlessly which suggests an in-depth planning on the part of the organizers. I am emphasizing 1
Ivanka Puleva, Bulgaria ARM-BG volunteer
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this aspect because in my opinion the immaculate level of organization behind the training allowed the participants to concentrate fully on the activities and the “profit” coming out of them. The program was intense but not tiring. Each activity of every training day had its own purpose, essential for the objectives – from getting comfortable with the topic of humor and applying humor in everyday work, to exploring one’s emotions and humorous side, getting the participants out of their “comfort zones” in terms of how their “inner clown” might look from the outside, etc. In my opinion, there was not one activity or exercise that did not belong in the program – all energizers, games, exercises and performances followed a logical order and were somehow necessary for developing the “clowning” skills intended by the very purpose of the training. Thus, we arrive at the comments in regard to the implementation of the program. I would say that both – the methodology that was used and the trainers that applied it were extremely professional and well selected. I found all exercises very balanced in a way that included a full physical, emotional and psychological engagement. Each activity for building upon and reinforcing what was learned or experienced from the previous one. The trainers, on the other hand, took time and care in explaining the reason behind each of the exercises. They were more than helpful and attentive to the needs, comments and suggestions of the participants, and tried to facilitate in all possible way this inner “journey” to everyone’s “clown figure”. Moreover, the trainers made sure that we were provided with theoretical knowledge as well. So in addition to the improvisations and physical doings, there was also a Power Point presentation session with lots of terms on the topic of humor and its implementation in the helping professions field. We were also shown numerous video clips and movies – for further understanding of the strategies, for illustrating the skills we were trying to develop and for future inspiration on continuing to explore the humor area after the end of the training.
I would not be exaggerating when summing up that I know myself much better after this particular experience. I have always considered myself a not-so-funny person and have rarely been able to apply humor to my work which I sense now as being a significant oversight. Because working with/for refugees and migrants, essentially people from different cultures and backgrounds, is always challenging, and overcoming the obstacles could often times be facilitated through humor. Thus, what I found particularly beneficial during the training was the session on how we could actually implement the new knowledge and experience into our work. Opinions were shared, ideas were exchanged and all of us found a unique way of projecting humor practices onto problem-solving in their daily tasks – primarily when interacting with target group individuals, but also with colleagues and even management. I would also like to point out another beneficial outcome of the Leipzig training – the opportunity to get to know colleagues and professionals from similar field from all over Europe. We all had the chance to exchange experiences and practices, to engage in “networking” activities, to share problems and solutions, to see ourselves finding and using their humorous sides. In this regards it has been a truly precious but also fun experience that lead to building interpersonal friendships and will hopefully lead to professional partnerships. Last but not least I would like to stress on the intercultural aspect of the training – it is personally enriching to meet and interact with counterparts from other European countries and to observe how people with various cultural backgrounds develop in the same context. The fact that there were “sharing reflections” sessions at the beginning/end of each day brought a 2
Ivanka Puleva, Bulgaria ARM-BG volunteer
sense of belonging and closeness to the group. The fact that it all happened in English strengthened even more the beneficial effect of the training – by giving an opportunity for linguistic skills practice, so important for the work of nowadays young professionals. Overall I feel grateful for having the opportunity to take advantage of such an EU know-how sharing and capacity building experience. I am looking forward not only to holding an interesting pilot activity as a follow-up of the event, but also passing the skills and knowledge to other colleagues, volunteers, social workers and target group individuals as a whole. After my personal development in terms of applying humor practices more efficiently in my work I feel much more confident and well-prepared for overcoming all kinds of difficulties. Using humor strategies brings a whole new set of tools for that – having “my inner clown” by my side is the biggest one among them. Copyright Recipients are free to use all or parts of this document for personal use however are requested to inform the author. Recipients are requested to acknowledge The artist within – Applied eMOTION consortium and the author in any reference to the content of this document. In the event of any further queries please consult the author. Acknowledgements This project was possible with the financial support from the Erasmus+ program. The methodological resources and inspiration came from the The artist within – Applied eMOTION long-term adult education project (www.theartistwithin.eu). The generosity from the fund and these organisations is much appreciated.
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