MOZAIK 38/2019 Diversity and inclusion from a Youth European Perspective PART 2

Page 1

and Inclusion
European
world student christian federation europe region ecumenical journal | issue 38 | 2018
Diversity
from a Youth
Perspective

This issue of Mozaik is produced within the WSCF-Europe Work Plan 2018 “ Humanity Reclaimed: Youth Participation, Inclusion and Development”. The publication is funded with the support received from the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and the Oto per Mille fund (OPM) of the Waldensian Church in Italy. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the donors cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

editor-in-chief

Daniel Jara J.

journal editor

Mathew Friesner

art editor

Andrea Franic

illustrators

marharyta taraikevich

katerina mavroeidi

photographer

Ana Meladze - Colours of the Life address

wscf Europe

Via Pascoli 11, 38122, Trento, Italy

Mozaik Editorial

It is my pleasure to introduce this issue of mozaik as the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal. At this time we plan to deal with one of the most important topics for Europe’s identity and social cohesion in the 21st century. This is the needed inclusive character that Europe’s multicultural and diverse population requires in order to avoid reckless nationalisms and the mermaid songs that come from some far-right wing ideologies. In this sense, it follows the thematic line of our last issue and its stress on the plight of refugees, migrants, and others who come to make this continent their new homes. Nevertheless, this issue expands its focus in order to be nourished with the experiences and reflections from young Christian students and activists from other regions. As usual, the current issue aims its atention at the reflections from our previous study sessions and conferences, this time in Strasbourg and Thessaloniki.

In the first section entitled Reflecting, the article from Dr. Niki Papageorgiou from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ofers an expert and sensible vision on the challenges that migration poses to Christian believers from receiving countries. Ramy’s article displays an overview on Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt during the January Revolution in 2011. Anna shares her reflections on the war through which the eastern provinces of Ukraine have sufered for several years and how it has been re-signified in order to become a unifying factor of her people. Finally, Emad reminds us how deeply embedded are the concepts of diversity and inclusion in our Christian identity.

In the second section designated as Acting, Marharyta from Belarus ofers us insights about her anti-racism activism through art and Facebook. Angelina reflects on the youth struggle against hate and division in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Katya delves into the challenges that sol-

diers face afer returning from the Donbass batlefield in eastern Ukraine. Finally, Alexandra shares her personal experiences and reflections regarding volunteering with youth refugees on the island of Lesbos. I am personally very proud to credit those who make mozaik such a unique journal with their contributions. Our Journal Editor Mat, our Art-Editor Andrea, our illustrators Marharyta and Katerina, as well as photographers and writers. To all of you: Thank you for dedicating your talent and time to this project.

To close, I want to thank James, our former Editor-in-Chief and to the entire team of the wscf-Europe for your trust and support in order to continue with this great project. In this sense, I am happy to announce that mozaik is starting a process of renovation with the intention to add new media products to our communicative ofer in order to reach a broader audience and promote closer contact with more students from Europe and the entire world.

Blessings,

Daniel is a theologian and psychologist from Quito, Ecuador. He is interested on the worldwide rich diversity of reflections and practices of the Christian faith and how to make them understandable to each other. He is a movie fan, news consumer, and is beginning in the art of Bonsai.

Mozaik 38

section 1 | reflecting

Reflecting on migration as a Christian–Orthodox believer | Niki Papageorgiou | 6

“Again, the Crescent embraces the Cross on the street”; An overview on MuslimChristian Relations in Egypt during the January Revolution in 2011. | Ramy Hanna | 10

Ukrainian People resisting together: War as an Unexpected Unifying Factor | Anna Lavryk | 15

A Christian Coptic theological reflection on religious inclusion and forgiveness | Emad Atef | 18

section 2 | acting

Anti-racist Activism Through Art and Facebook | Marharyta Taraikevich | 26

Youth Struggle Against Hate and Division in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina | Angelikí María Mitsaki | 34

Life 2 .0. War and Peace | Katya Potapenko | 39

Volunteering: A youth tool for inclusion | Alexandra Zosso | 42

mozaik 38 I Acting I 23 section 2
Anti-racist Activism Through Art and Facebook | Marharyta Taraikevich | 26 Youth Struggle Against Hate and Division in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina | Angelikí María Mitsaki | 34 Life 2 0. War and Peace | Katya Potapenko | 39 Volunteering: A youth tool for inclusion | Alexandra Zosso | 42
Acting

That day, af er going up and down a number of hills, God’s messenger, holding his trumpet underneath his arm, arrived in the valley of Josaphat. Upon reaching the topmost part of the walls, he rested himself on the corner stone, took a deep breath, then blew his trumpet. The ears of the world listened. All sleepy eyes opened and the earth’s inhabitants, from the greatest to the least, knew that the hour of reckoning with God had come. Then, the messenger cupped his hands and yelled: “Hear ye everyone! Make haste! Everyone must come to the valley of Josaphat! This is Judgment Day! The big day has come and the Lord will judge all nations, and all people who have lived under the sun, from Adam to the last son born of the woman on earth.”

A great multitude gathered among one another, invoking their respective gods. They did not notice the thin young man, whose robe was full of patches and was making his way among the people. He was carrying a walking cane and he looked very tired. Finally, af er much shoving, he reached the center, wiped his sweat, approached the stool and took his seat.

— Friends, I apologize for having made you wait — the young man said — the reason is... I have just been released from jail and I was a bit exhausted. I was imprisoned for quite a long time, and was transferred from one jail to another. I was jobless for many years, knocking from door to door. Yes, I also tilled the soil, but the land was not mine. I have sown for centuries in a foreign land, I have sweated it out in various shops, worked like a beast in many textile mills, swallowed so much dust in mines... only to earn a measly sum of money, not even enough to tide me over my hunger. I had to sleep in the open, as there was nowhere to sleep, I was helpless, trembling with fever... without even a piece of rag to put on my forehead. I have roamed all over the world. I have been born in shanties and perished in wars. I have traversed mountains of misery before I finally came here. I have sailed in seas of tears just to be with you today. You remember me, don’t you? Or you do not know who I am? Don’t you recognize me?

All the inhabitants of the earth gathered in the valley of Josaphat tried to recall where they had seen the young man, as his face was very familiar to them....

— Isn’t he Martin? — An old Egyptian said — the guy who came that night, begging for a plate of soup?

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— No, man. He’s Lallus — replied a young atheist of elegant manners — he is the activist who incited the farmers to go on strike. He was beaten af erwards....

— This is odd! —Finally said an African mother — I met a widow who looked very much like him!

Amid all the discussion everyone heard a deep, resounding voice, like the voice of rushing waters from above, alongside the sun: “What you have done unto him, you have done unto me. What you have not done unto him, you have not done unto me.”

Then the young man seated on the stool covered by sheepskin raised his cane. It was like a shepherd’s staf. With that, he separated the huge multitude before him; some he put on one side, and the rest, on the other side.

Once again, the heavens opened and the deep voice of the unseen God was heard anew, that of the only true God whose name is mystery and whose face no mortal has ever seen: “Those on this side, you may go away now. It never mat ered to you if your brothers and sisters su f ered hunger, cold and misery or not. Go away! You, on this side, come with me. I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me water to drink. You opened the doors of your houses when I needed shelter to spend the night. You consoled me when I was sick, when I was in jail. You fought for justice! You cared for your brothers and sisters. Come with me!

We have heard Jesus tell this story in the Jerusalem Temple’s atrium, Jerusalem, beside the Golden Door, facing the valley of Cedron, also known to our countrymen as the valley of Josaphat.

The Gospel According to Saint Mat hew 25: 31-46

Extract from: María and José Ignacio López Vigil. A Certain Jesus: The Good News for the People of Latin America. h t p://www.untaljesus.net. at 429 -434

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Anti-racist Activism T rough Art and Facebook

Special Text Edition: Daniel Jara

When I immigrated to Belgium from Belarus, I quickly fell in love with its multicultural society. I was excited to work, to eat together and to communicate with people of such diverse backgrounds.

How to widespread this love? That was a question I asked to myself in 2015 when I felt my beloved multicultural and tolerant society under threat. That year I had the impression that the xenophobic discourse was rising, and I became motivated to challenge it by widespreading pro-inclusive narratives. I decided to do it by means of art.

I see my pro-diversity atitude as an undeserved gif. I have noticed that people who share anti-migrant views are often nice, kind and even tolerant in their practical life! So the question for me is: how to make the others see the beauty that I have the chance to see?

searching for the right images

In developing visual images for pro-diversity propaganda, I’ve begun with works that may remind the soviet concept of the “friendship of peoples”. For example, the following image of two young women, one of whom is wearing a hijab may seem idealized. Nevertheless, it originates from my own experience: it represents me with a good friend of

mine sharing a cofee. The cat is the only fictional character. On my perspective, it is important to remember that being optimistic does not mean being not realistic enough!

However, I must accept that it bears some stereotypes to overcome. Depicting a headscarf as an atribute of Islam is a bit narrow, inasmuch as not all practicing Muslim women consider its use as mandatory. On the other hand, many Christian women wear headscarves, for example, I put it on while entering an Orthodox Church in Belarus. So, in another paper-cuting work I depict a Muslim women with opened hair, and a Christian one wearing a headscarf, hoping it beter reflects how complex human diversity can be.

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The Night in Brussels (2016; pen drawing)

By that time I had already made my inspiring “migrant discovery”: I noticed that people’s views and values don’t directly depend on their ethnic origins, geographic backgrounds, or –strangely- religion. For me, the fact that sometimes I have more in common with a Chechen Muslim than with a Belarusian Orthodox Christian is a clear manifestation of our God-given free will.

In this sense, I believe that despite the great influence of one’s social context, we make our choices by ourselves. This is an additional argument against the “new racism” with its vision of diferent cultures as fundamentally incompatible.

However, it poses a problem in visual art: how to represent a less visible part of diversity, such as views, values, choices, social and personal experiences? For me, it was an answer

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Cofe (2015; papercuting)

to depict this by showing hands, instead of faces.

As an artist, I was constantly searching for the right symbols. For instance, I use cats as an anti-racist symbol because cats are always making multiracial love, constantly demonstrating that race mixture does not spoil the beauty of the specie.

In my work ships are symbols of migration. They show migration as an act of courage and hope. I don’t like seeing migrants just as victims: I prefer to underline their capacity to take risks.

However, I seriously doubt that they are optimistic symbols, considering that these means of transport are usually risky alternatives to safe and legal migration to Europe, and they are associated with deaths in the Mediterranean sea.

Connecting the image of a girl wearing a headscarf with the map of Europe is also a risky bet, as it may remind to some people the unfortunate concept of “islamization of Europe”. Nevertheless, I try to use it to challenge this narrative by representing a Muslim girl as part of Belgium’s diversity in the work “The girl from Brussels”.

connecting with others

In order to reach a broader audience, I passed from litle individual street art exhibitions and Facebook activism, to expose my works in empty shop windows (thanks to the artistic group ‘Vitrine Fraîche’ and its leader the artist Bere Zinc, who makes it possible in the town of Tournai). Since then we have been making grafti in collaboration with children and adults and with the permission of the local administration.

It did not take me long to understand the value of connecting my artistic vision and work with others who share the same interest and passion. For instance, it was exiting to discover how others invested their time making art with refugee children or building nets of solidarity with new-comers. But at first, I didn’t know anything about their actions. I managed to build connections with the activists only afer doing some actions myself!

During the last years, I have found some ways to use the works I had made solo to nourish collective actions and multiply their reach. For example, by participating in collective expositions.

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Selfie (2017; paper-cuting)

Love, Freedom, Diversity, Mixity! (2016; marker drawing)

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Liberty, Solidarity, Inclusivity (2016; drawing with a pen)

According to some politologists only organizations or groups, not a one-unique person, can be considered agents of change. Nevertheless, I suppose we should not wait for finding an organization to begin to act, as it is possible to firstly work, and then to articulate eforts and experiences on collective endeavors.

For example, I am able to share my art and reflexions on human migrations in the post-ussr cultural spaces by online activism. It started by sharing my positive impressions about multicultural societies on my blog, the socio-political site “Belarussian Partisan”. Then I became active of Facebook, by widespeading pro-migrant posts and participating on discussions under friends’ texts. I also created a Facebook page mainly for French-speaking audience, where I post my pro-diversity art as well as links to articles and other information about migration and diversity.

Because I firstly used Facebook mainly for staying in contact with Belorussian friends and culture, once I wrote publications in French or in English, I just didn’t get “likes”, so I had no impression of being useful. Then I gained more Belgian friends, by deliberately adding people who share my views, and then, litle by litle, inviting them to like my page “Ouverture” (Openness). A decisive moment for my “Facebook activism” was when the Belgian government made it possible to confine families with children in centers for future deportations. Those who found unacceptable to imprison children put their profile pictures into barred frames. So I added people with such frames into my friends list, as well as those who used some other frames claiming solidarity with migrants. By doing this, I was able to energize my Facebook activism.

I also discovered that my anti-hate posts in French got more “likes” when they were accompanied by photos. That

led me to publish pictures with short texts. I made them on PowerPoint afer installing it on my mobile phone. In this sense, I must admit I followed the example of the far right, with their viral memes on social networks. The diference was that this time I puted technology at the service of humanist ideas and verified information (for example, real numbers on immigration), with indicated sources.

I still consider my Facebook activities have limited influence, but it doesn’t bother me anymore because I recognize that it is also part of my activism to support the materials of

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The Girl from Brussels (2016; paper-cuting, collage)

others who share my same vision. Now I understand that even if I’m not strong enough to make great social changes just by myself, there is a special power of joint activism. I do it so on Facebook by “liking” anti-racist posts of others, by commenting them and by sharing their contributions.

mistakes to avoid

In the process of such propaganda, or social pedagogy, I’ve understood some mistakes of mine.

Firstly, I shouldn’t have denied someone’s right to be afraid, for example, of terrorism. Fear is valid. Even knowing that, contrary to myths, violent crime rate is now declining, so the world in general is becoming safer. Instead of shaming the others for their fears, we should admit that it is normal for people to want more safety.

Intersectional feminism taught me to listen to people, to believe them when they tell their own experiences. I shouldn’t have questioned people’s own experience, even if it is not convenient to me. For example, when they talk about unpleasant episodes with people of ethnic minorities. On the contrary, I must admit the complexity of social co-existence.

My own theoretical response to anti-migrant or anti-minority discourse consists of moral universalism, and intolerance to violence. I believe that both good and bad are universal, that objective truth exists, and that all of us can contribute to its collective search. I also believe that truth can be searched in common freedom, and that a feeling of freedom is an indicator of its presence.

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Migratory Justice (2018; marker drawing)

I feel myself free in a society with strong social solidarity and tolerance to diferent kinds of otherness. I think that it is not only my subjective preference, but it is rooted in Christian love. I believe that this kind of freedom is real and good, and all kinds of oppressions are bad and must be fought and not tolerated anywhere in the world. “Tolerance to diference, intolerance to violence”, this is the slogan I use against misunderstandings on tolerance. It seems to be abstract, or idealist, but this kind of atitude makes my everyday life beter, it empowers me with social optimism, and helps me in discussions.

Marharyta was born in Belarus (former USSR) and holds a Master degree in Social Pedagogy. She moved to Belgium in 2010, where she gained work experience organizing art activities. Marharyta is an Orthodox Christian, who is interested in the promotion of Belarussian culture, human migrations and diversity.

Tolerance to Diference, Intolerance to Violence (2018; drawing with a pen)

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Youth Struggle Against Hate and Division in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina

For more than one thousand years the geographical region of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been inhabited by diferent ethnicities with diferent religions and dogmas. The main historical source of this region which refers to the religious and ethnic diversity goes back to the beginning of the 9th century. At that time the people from the western parts of the region, such as various areas of the modern state of Croatia, Dalmatia and parts of Montenegro, declared themselves as Catholic Christians. Meanwhile the people from the eastern parts, such as western modern Serbia, Republika Srbska and various parts of Montenegro, declared themselves members of the Bosnian Christian Church, which around the middle of 10th century acceded to the auspices of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchy of Constantinople. Besides the rapid expansion of the Otoman Empire all around the Balkan Peninsula during the 15th century, the partial Islamization of the conquered population also started, sometimes as the only choice for survival and sometimes by the

free will of the persons. So, in the middle of the 16th century the first Muslim groups of inhabitants started to appear in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The centuries lapsed, and empires rose and fell. Bosnia-Herzegovina was part of the Byzantine, Otoman and the Austro-Hungarian empire, partially belonged to the first Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro, a member of the second Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, and a crucial geographical territory of the first and the second Yugoslavia (literally “Land of Southern Slavs”). Each form of authority treated each ethnic and religious group beter or worse depending on the common characteristic they shared or their usefulness to the ruling powers. For example, during the Byzantine times or the times of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro, the Orthodox population was in a more beneficial position than the Catholic or the Muslim population. On the other hand, during the Otoman empire the Muslims

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were considered high class citizens, while the Catholics lived beter under the Austro-Hungarian government. It is a commonly accepted fact that all religions, dogmas and ethnicities were almost equally accepted during the first Yugoslavia, while on the times of the second socialist Yugoslavia no religion, dogma or ethnicity was tolerated in any way. More specifically, the political confrontation of religion during Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (sfry) changed more or less each decade. From the complete prohibition of any kind of religious public practice, participation and expression during the late 1940s and 1950s, Tito and the governors of the socialist republic gradually started to permit expression of religiosity. However, these expressions unfortunately were almost immediately linked with the nationalistic and political agendas of the political parties of each ethnic group. After the death of Tito in 1980 the situation started to get out of hand and within twelve years the simmering nationalism, which was always related with religion, finally exploded.

In the beginning of the 1990s one of the most abominable wars in modern European history took place in the Balkans.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had fallen, and the modern states of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia took its place, some of them through war some of them peacefully. Bosnia-Herzegovina’s land was located exactly in the middle of the sfry’s territory and later was it in the middle of the belligerent area. As a consequence, most of its population was ethnically and religiously mixed (13% of mixed marriages was the average number all over ex-Yugoslavia meanwhile specifically in Bosnia Herzegovina this percentage was nearly 40%, that’s why almost the overwhelming majority of the villages and cities had mixed inhabitants). But because the war was generally characterized by the components of religion and ethnicity (components which have already been mentioned that existed for centuries in this part of the world), the fanaticism of nationalism and the hate of every group against the others, the most cruel and heinous war crimes took place in the most mixed and crucially located region: Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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For someone who is not familiar with the topic a general delineation of the groups and their ethnoreligious identification is the following: A Catholic believer must be Croat, an Orthodox one a Serb, and a Muslim has to be Bosniak. As it is mentioned above, during Tito’s time the entire population of ex-Yugoslavia was mixed and there was no “pure” ethnic or religious community within the region. However, when the political situation within the Republic started to change and the ethnic parties gradually became nationalistic, this identification meant that as the war started families began to fight against each other, neighbors and friends were killing one another and the conflicts quickly burst out all around the territory. The clashes were terrible and thousands of innocent civilians died. Many of them tried to escape as refugees both within and outside the borders of ex-Yugoslavia, but unfortunately not all of them succeeded to find a safe place to stay. The years passed, and neither side seemed willing to give up but neither could triumph as well. Thus, when the United Nations finally imposed a short-term period of peace in the region of Bosnia-Herzegovina by forcing all three sides (Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims) to sign the famous Dayton Agreement and bring back tranquility to the long-sufering state of the Balkans, no one expected that this short-term agreement would last until today. Additionally, even though the agreement was favorably signed and the batles ofcially ended, it had and still has a long way to go until peace is permanently established in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Afer the signing of the Dayton Agreement the armed conflicts stopped, but that did not mean that the war stopped. It just changed form and way of action. An informal kind of religious and ethnic cleansing started to take place and it continues into the present day. Bosnian citizens move into cities, towns or villages depending primarily on which group lives there and which are its religious beliefs. So, even if the population is still mixed, Banja Luka, the capital of the mini state of Republika Srbska, which constitutes 49% of the

whole country, is inhabited by ethnically Serbian Bosnians who believe in the Orthodox dogma. Meanwhile other cities like Goražde or Čapljina are inhabited mostly by Muslim Bosniaks or Catholic Bosnian-Croats, respectively. The hate and the discrimination among the ethnicities is very strong and very obvious across all regions of the country.

One would expect that the people who experienced the war and all the brutalities it brought would be significantly narrow-minded and ultra-nationalists, but the opposite reality comes as a surprise. Paradoxically, the children who were born afer the war ended in 1995 are more nationalistic than the generation of their parents who lived through all of the atrocities. This is because the generations who grew up afer the war, although not traumatized by the shocking experiences and memories, live in homogeneous and coreligionist communities where they, nonetheless, feel the old pull of their families and their ancestors.

Unfortunately, a clear example of this kind of division into three diferent religions and ethnicities is the separated schools. The educational system reflects the general political and social reality, which means in general terms that each ethnic or religious group teaches its own perspective of historical facts, especially about what happened from 1990 and onward. Each side is taught that they were the victims and the others were the aggressors and neither one of them learn about the atrocities and the crimes their own side commited. It is easy to understand that people who are nurtured by these values and this education see the religious and ethnic Other in a particular way. The mixed marriages between Orthodox, Catholics and Muslims are now only 4% of all marriages, while since the ofcial end of the war there are people who do not even want to walk in the same area as the religious or ethnic Other. The example of Mostar’s bridge is very characteristic. Mostar used to be a city where mostly Catholic Bosnian-Croats and Muslim Bosniaks lived. During the war they tried to exterminate

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one another with indescribable hate and fury. When the war ended and slowly life started to flow again, the city also started to reveal its new form. The once mixed and peaceful city had been divided into two parts with the Catholic Bosnian-Croats on one side of the bridge and the Muslim Bosniaks on the other. This division makes the city look like there are two litle independent towns. Mostar nowadays has two bus stations, two train stations, strictly divided restaurants, cafeterias and an inane competition of which religious temple – cathedral or mosque – is going to be taller than the other. In the city of Mostar there are people who do not even cross the bridge anymore and do not visit the other side of their city. But the division among the bars and the cafeterias is obvious everywhere within the country. In Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republika Srbska, where the three groups live separately but still together, it is easy for a visitor to see that there is one bar for each religion/ethnicity from the tents and the brands they use. For instance, Sarajevsko beer is for the Muslim Bosniaks (the average Muslim in Bosnia-Herzegovina drinks alcohol, smokes and behaves like the rest of his or her non-Muslim compatriots), Ožujsko beer is for the Catholic Bosnian-Croats and Jelen beer is for the Orthodox Bosnian-Serbs. This is a widespread picture all around the country.

Apart from the factors that divide the people, there are also a few that unite them. The most important one is the strong phenomenon of unemployment. Even though the Dayton Agreement had delivered respite from war in most recent years, it has not established a harmonious and free well-being sense of peace. Any kind of development which can create working places requires a stable, and in one way or another, trustworthy political situation within the country, a fact that does not exist in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The political instability and the extreme

corruption lead to a very high percentage of unemployment within the whole territory (39%) and especially among the youths (60%). Consequently, waves of mostly young Bosnians of all the ethnoreligious groups emigrate abroad in order to find a beter future in safer and more stable countries. The high number of talented young Bosnians who leave their country has created various problems, but one of the most important among them is that they are not there anymore to play their own crucial role in the reconstruction and change of the political scene and the improvement of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In this environment of hate, thankfully there are still some young people who have decided to fight against the bigotry and the intransigence which characterize the modern society of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Through few non-government organizations and with the contribution of some university projects, young people from diferent ethnic and religious backgrounds come together and try to solve the uncountable problems their post-war society faces. Their main goal is to fight against the ignorance and the stereotypes that exist by geting to know each other and by trying to break the created taboos which make the unsound educational system due to the strong support of the media and the many

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corrupted ideas they serve. The territorial isolation of the three diferent groups and the continued reproduction of animosity and antagonism among them make the acquital of the Other really difcult. In recent years some university faculties have started to run various interreligious parallel studies in which students from Orthodox, Catholic and Islamic studies have the chance to cooperate, study and get to know the religious culture of the others – an action which has never been accomplished before – in a safe and respectful academic environment. Faculties from Serbia and Croatia participate in these parallel studies, which play their own additional and important role in the peace-building atempt within Bosnia-Herzegovina.

ngos contribute as well by organizing summer camps where an equal percentage of the three involved ethnoreligious groups participate. These summer camps are run basically for children and adolescents and usually the team leaders are also young people from diferent ethnoreligious backgrounds. Through various games and activities they bring the upcoming generation of Bosnian citizens closer and they try to reverse the general negative feeling by building friendships and creating happy and carefree memories. During the year they also have occasional events so that they can contact new people and let anyone who is interested get to know each other. But unfortunately, quite ofen, even if the kids want to make a diference and overcome the widespread hatred mentality, the parents block them and use them as social and political vehicles which must carry the beliefs and the ideas of the family. If more atention is paid to the direction of love and friendship in a wider context, then we can speak again about hope, peace and quality of life in the long-sufering country of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Last but not least the Jewish minority plays its own significant role in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian reality. Jews have a long history in the territory of modern Bosnia-Herzego-

vina and they ofer a lot of important values in the creation and the configuration of its society today. Sadly, the once great Jewish community of the country did not escape the extermination of the Holocaust in the passage of the Second World War and as a result the current Jewish community is dramatically reduced. Due to the already almost impossible to deal with political mess in the country where all the administrations and public sectors are divided into three – one for each ethnic and religious group – there is no space for the Jewish people, who do not even have the basic political rights of an average Bosnian citizen (Jews, Roma and others who do not identify as one of the three constituent peoples according to the Dayton Agreement in 1995 are treated as second-class citizens and, for example, do not have the right to elect or be elected). According to Sergio Della Pergola, a demographer of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, there are about 500-1000 Jewish people living in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but unofcially this number is almost double because many of them choose to hide their real religious identity so that they can enjoy basic civil rights. The hopeful news is that there are active young Jews who try to raise their voice and demonstrate their existence within this unfair political situation and some of them participate in the inter-religious university studies and programs in the peace-building ngos.

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— angelikí maría mitsaki Angelikí María Mitsaki is an orthodox theologian, who works at Muhyiddin ibn Arabi Society – Latina in Spain. Her interests are oriented towards Islamic mystical theology and religious freedom.

Life 2.0. War and Peace

Understanding, communication, comfort, relationships, social connections – ofen we take it all for granted. But not everyone can witness the presence of these aspects in their life. In recent years, to be accepted in society or not to be rejected even by one’s own family became a real batle for thousands of war veterans in Ukraine. At least half of them, afer returning from the Donbass batlefield (Eastern Ukraine), found themselves facing a new challenge – living in peace.

The number of retired combatants is astonishing. At the beginning of 2019 the ofcial number of registered veterans of current military actions in Eastern Ukraine was around 360,000. The Ukrainian government even established a special Ministry for Veterans Afairs in 2018 to ensure the formation and implementation of state policies in the field of social protection of war veterans (including not only current participants in anti-terrorist operations, but also veterans from World War ii, Afghanistan and other conflicts).

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But the main reason for creating this Ministry as well as the emergence of some human rights organizations in Ukraine is not found in these numbers alone.

While dealing with the inability of Ukrainian cities to provide a decent human life for people with disabilities, veterans are also forced to deal with the biased atitude of society, whose aim originally was to help them to adapt to the new life.

One of the biggest problems, which Ukrainian society tends to conceal, is employment for today’s veterans. There are many cases in which employers refuse to hire people only because of the fact that they received the status of participants in combat actions, stating that “this is a corporate policy”, which forces veterans to hide their status, to be ashamed of themselves.

Despite the active social advertising about the acceptance of veterans, quite a large part of society is afraid and does not accept them, because it does not know what to do with them, and most importantly, how to treat them. Knowing that, veterans themselves are not ready to initiate communication because of the fear of being rejected. Cases of fake

veteran id’s, suicides, alcoholism, and aggressive behavior are also not helping smooth things over.

According to psychologists, at least 50% of participants in military actions need professional help, a kind of rehabilitation. But the reality is that most of the veterans are ashamed to admit that they need help, presuming their call for help is a weakness.

During the first steps in peaceful life veterans are facing the constant feeling of guilt of the survivor, grief, continual pressure, change of values, lack of hope for the future, loss of emotions, even loss of faith. Sometimes it is not obvious and do not appear immediately, but afer two or three months and later triggered by even the smallest details like a sudden scream or slamming the door. A lot of veterans say that they do not actually feel that they came back, that in some sense, psychologically, they are still gone for quite a time.

But for some of them the feeling of mortal danger became an impulse to start over, to fulfill the dream that was postponed “to beter times”. Ukrainian church chaplains, who

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were and are now one of a greatest support for the veterans, say that men ofen come to the understanding that the best time for these dreams is now, especially afer the loss of comrades. They are trying to perceive emerging difculties as opportunities for personal development.

There are definitely encouraging and optimistic examples. For Roman Panchenko, a veteran of the 25th Airborne Forces Brigade, the clue to the real “coming back to life” unexpectedly became sports. He was severely injured in the batle under the Krasnyy Lyman: his liver, spleen, and spine were damaged. He survived a number of complex operations, and now he is in a wheelchair. During rehab he tried archery and afer six months of training he won a gold medal at the Toronto Invictus Games (the equivalent of the Olympic Games for veterans). In addition to his new perspective on life, he found real friends on his team and coaches and now he has started on a new path – entering university.

There are other notable examples, like Maxim Myzuka, who is now counselor of the mayor of Dnipro-city, and is responsible for adapting the infrastructure of the city for the benefit of people with disabilities. Or Leonid Ostaltsev, the owner of a popular network of catering establishments, who provides veterans with places for work around the country. Or Artem Chekh, whose book “Point Zero” became a national best-seller and a real revelation for those ignorant of the current situation in Ukraine

Deputies and politicians from time to time suddenly remember veterans, usually before elections. Volunteers and ngos are trying to help veterans and their families to deal with health problems. By their side, churches and psychologists help to overcome their moral pain. There is still a long way to transit but its path is becoming a litle bit more clear: accepting not a hero, but a person, pointing not to the barriers and problems, but to the opportunities and the ways of cooperation.

The good examples are inspiring but they are not enough for establishing a general atmosphere of understanding and acceptance. Each country that faces military action sooner or later finds itself at the point where it needs to pay special atention to these who have now become one more vulnerable social group, people who were involved in an armed conflict.

Katya is a Ukrainian journalist and radio-host, founder of the on- line magazine Cedra. She participates in wscf-e events and has an indestructible faith that together people have power to make life free and beautiful.

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42

Volunteering: A youth tool for inclusion

For the last three years I have been volunteering, and later working, with refugees stranded in Greece through a small and new ngo named Northern Lights Aid (nla). I was recently given the chance to talk about my job as a Field Coordinator of nla at the wscf conference “Humanity Reclaimed: Youth Perspectives on Diversity and Inclusion”, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece, in December 2018. Passionate about my job and commited to the cause we serve, I welcomed the opportunity. Reflecting on the conference theme, I began to see that underlying our work volunteering within a rich context of diversity and cultural diferences was an important tool for inclusion.

Northern Lights Aid was created in January 2016 and I joined the organization in March of the same year. Initially based on the island of Lesvos, where people seeking hope and safety were arriving by boat, the organization later moved its operations to the border between Greece and the Northern Republic of Macedonia. Here, border restrictions had halted the onward journeys of many refugees. Finally, in August 2016, nla setled down in the city of Kavala in eastern continental Greece, where an “ofcial refugee camp” or “hotspot” was about to be opened. Since that day, the nla team has been working to support the residents of the

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camp, first ofering its services inside the camp and later in rented premises located a walking distance from the camp. There we ran and continue to run a wide range of projects, some long-term, and others created and adapted to meet emerging needs.

Northern Lights Aid main projects in Kavala revolve around material support, education and community integration.

The first project implemented was a free clothing store where residents of the camp can find much needed clothing items. Displayed as a normal store, it aims to be a dignified and enjoyable alternative to sometimes dehumanizing

mass distributions. Once per week, nla dedicates a day to mothers and babies, in which they can access specific items for their needs as well as support from their community and relax in a safe space for women. Alongside material support nla ofers daily adult English classes for all levels, which are an opportunity for self-development and a chance to look towards the future by building new skills. Acquisition of new skills is also possible in our workshop, where camp residents and volunteers conduct all kinds of craf endeavors, following one’s own ideas or to create material for the community. Finally, nla engages in many events and partnerships within the local community in order to foster integration between groups. A great tool for this was recently implemented in the form of a community garden. Created within the city and open to all, it was imagined as a place for encounters, relaxation and joyful gatherings.

Northern Lights Aid activities and projects are funded by private donations, mainly from individuals, many of whom are former nla volunteers and their relatives. Through the years we have also been supported by financial or material donations from amazing groups, such as schools or charities working towards the same mission. Being able to finance our projects is a constant struggle, especially as the humanitarian situation in Greece is no longer making media headlines. Alongside fundraising, crucial awareness campaigns have required constant efort from the team through the years.

Today nla consists of a team of approximately 10 to 15 volunteers, local, international and camp residents. Much like the unpredictable finances of the organization, workforce is also sometimes lacking. However, through 2018 we were lucky to welcome more than 55 volunteers! The size of the team varies with the season as many volunteers are students who ofer their time during the holidays. Mostly, our volunteers are between 18 and 25 years old, but we welcome people of all ages and have had volunteers up to 75

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years old. Over the last year volunteers were mainly women, but it is an opportunity open to all, regardless of gender, origin or experience.

Northern Lights Aid was originally created with the mission of providing assistance to those arriving on the shores of Europe due to forced displacement. At that time the work performed by the organization was oriented towards emergency relief, including distributions and coastal surveillance to assist sea rescue missions. Years later, however, the situation has changed and what was once called a crisis has become the new normal. The numbers of arrivals in Greece has dropped since 2015, mainly due to political decisions regarding European policy, but the number of people stranded in Greece is rising. This not only challenges Europe on a humanitarian level but has also led to what some call an “identity crisis” for the continent as the choice of whether to respect its values as well as legal framework is at stake.

Indeed, in my opinion, the response of the eu to the most basic and vital needs of displaced people was tainted by human rights violations, flaws, delays and gaps. If the lack of preparedness of the eu could be blamed on the unexpected situation at the start, it became apparent through the years that it was also symptomatic of a changing political climate, unwelcoming to migration in Europe.

It is within this context that Northern Lights Aid is working. First, aiming very practically to fill gaps in the humanitarian response of ofcial actors, it now seems that the nature of our action is also taking a symbolic meaning. I recently came across a sentence in a book saying of the so-called refugee crisis that the question was no longer ‘what to do to, but who to be’ (Osons la fraternité!, P .Boucheron). This approach led me to rethink the sense of our action and the meaning of volunteering itself.

As an ngo there is a limit in what we can achieve (the “what we do”), especially regarding the immensity of the cause for which we fight that goes way beyond the borders of Europe. Even though volunteer work has proven many times to be of an essential value, (in natural disasters, advocacy work and so many other examples) acknowledging our limits is essential. On our small scale we certainly assist and provide services of importance, but we ofer these services to people who have proven many times that they are able to make life-saving decisions without any assistance. I like to believe our work and its practical aspects are appreciated, but I would be wrong to assume that it is needed beyond the ethical sense of ofering a minimum standard which should be granted to anyone. The resourcefulness and resilience of

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the people with whom I work have convinced me that they would “manage” no mater what, and therefore it is not for that reason our work is needed. This observation is not a reason to stop, it is a reason to be humble and to investigate the second meaning of our actions.

So comes the question of “who we are” as volunteers. Without ranking the importance of this symbolic level above the practical assistance nla or others can bring, it seems that this question is of importance. Volunteering is a political and moral statement, a value and a purpose based on the understanding of a shared responsibility towards one another. Acknowledging it is a chance to create a cross-cultural and inclusive identity for people willing to, as the common expression says, “be the change they want to see in the world” by engaging in volunteer activities. Therefore, regardless of the “doing”, the “being” associated with volunteering is of premium importance since it directs not only

the actions of people but also builds people’s identity.

If this sounds admissible on a theoretical level, it needs to be implemented on a practical level. An organization must be inclusive, thus creating a collective identity which carries a symbolic meaning of the change we would like to see, regardless of the size of its actions. At Northern Lights Aid I believe that diferent aspects of our work help in this construction.

First of all, as I mentioned earlier, volunteers come from all backgrounds. Thus nla difers from a professional environment where people are selected based on their experience and qualifications. Even if some paterns emerge in the demographics, they are, by definition, diverse. However, by the simple fact that volunteers have gathered to serve the same cause, their diferences become of a smaller importance. On a team management level, it is important to

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come back to the “cause”, to maintain the motivation and commitment of volunteers by keeping them informed of the situation and its rapid evolution with regular updates.

Then, because volunteering ofen has a significant team turnover (volunteers usually join the team for approximately one month), nla projects need to be valued over individual agenda. This collective sense of action is, I believe, a wonderful tool for inclusion. It is understood that success can only result from individual eforts put together in the same project, which sustain over one’s time in the field. At nla, this is ensured by the creation and constant update of guidelines and systems, as well as volunteer collaboration groups and handovers aiming to pass on knowledge and experience.

nla also developed this inclusive identity with time, thus blurring the hierarchical lines ofen underlying humanitarian aid, with a giver and a receiver ofen connected to a North/South patern. For a year now, we welcome volunteers from the camp into our team, who work with nla as international volunteers do. This step was extremely beneficial in several ways. On a team management level, it ensured more continuity in our projects and gave us a beter understanding of needs and individual situations due to the translation skills of our new volunteers. This inclusion also meant that the status of being a volunteer was above any diferences in personal situation or background. The identity, based on the willingness to help, enabled many of our volunteers, both camp and international residents, to find joy, reduced prejudice, self-esteem, purpose and respect.

Finally, thanks to its size and functioning, Northern Lights Aid remains relatively flat hierarchically. Volunteering makes us only obliged to the ones we serve. Therefore, programs are designed and adapted to beter meet the needs and do not serve any purpose beyond their original goal to help. In designing such projects, all voices are valued equally,

with the inclusion, as crucial partners, of those who will be served by the project (help me to help you). Building our organization and projects at a small scale gives us the chance to remain close to one another, making all members important parts of nla. This is implemented in the field through community, team or individual meetings, and through membership status which gives the right to volunteers, refugees or not, to vote on the organization’s decisions

In conclusion, it seems that volunteering is as much about who to be than about what to do. In a continental identity crisis such as this, when rights and values that previously seemed universally accepted start to be questioned, the symbolic aspect of volunteering is a source of hope. It is so because it is a collective efort towards a shared cause, which people serve before serving themselves. Therefore, volunteering, in spite of the size of the action, carries a new identity that anyone can adopt by considering the other, not as a passive receiver but as a partner in helping. For these reasons, volunteering seems to me one of the most efcient inclusion tools for those who, regardless of their diferences, are willing to do good by conviction.

Northern Lights Aid is constantly looking for new and motivated members to join its team. If you are interested to do so, please find us on our Facebook page (NorthernLightsAid) or on our website www.northernlightsaid.org. There you will find all the information you need regarding our projects or the steps to follow to volunteer with us.

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— alexandra zosso Alexandra Zosso started volunteering with Northern Lights Aid in 2016 at the Northern Greece border. Since June 2017 she coordinates the organisation’s activities and the volunteer team in the field in Kavala.

Mozaik's Team

Daniel is a theologian and psychologist from Quito, Ecuador. He is interested on the worldwide rich diversity of reflections and practices of the Christian faith and how to make them understandable to each other. He is a movie fan, news consumer, and is beginning in the art of Bonsai.

Mathew Friesner is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca), has studied ecumenism in Bonn, Germany, and holds an interest in practical and political theology. Other interests include reading classic cultural literature and philosophy, psychology, playing sports, and traveling the world.

Andrea Franic is graphic designer and photographer from Croatia. Together with partner, she is an art director at her own Idearium Studio. She is an outdoor lover so during sumer she is also an adventure guide in Life & Ventures agency.

Illustrator

Born in 1984 in Belarus (former USSR). Master degree in social pedagogy. In 2010 moved to Belgium. Various work experience, including organizing art activities. Interested with promotion of Belarussian culture, and in human migrations and diversity. Orthodox Christian.

Illustrator

Katerina Mavroeidi is a student of Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Milan and is currently volunteering as editor at the University’s magazine. She is passionate about illustrating and takes inspiration from intercultural issues.

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wscf-europe.org

2018 / Diversity and Inclusion from a Youth European Perspective

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MOZAIK 38/2019 Diversity and inclusion from a Youth European Perspective PART 2 by WSCF-Europe - Issuu