Tolerance of Colours: The International Awareness Training on Racism

Summary: A multilateral Training Course in
Fulda/Loheland, Germany, for 25
youth workers and volunteers from
the countries: Albania, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany,
Greece, FYROMacedonia, Yugoslavia,
Slovenia and Romania.
The training is meant to sensitise the participants to the
mechanisms of racism and to find ways of reducing its impact. The
training is focused in detecting racism on the personal as well as
on the structural level.

It is based on the fact that racism is a result of conditioned
experiences while growing up and endorsed again and again by
the individual interaction with family, friends, colleagues and of
course by politics, media, education and other institutions.

It aims to strengthen the recognition of racism and to intensify
the connection to one's innermost self. Ultimately, it leads up to
the question: How can I recognize and effectively take action
against racism?

The training on Racism awareness is addressed towards youth
workers and volunteers, who are interested in Anti-Racism-Work.
The intense training will provide them with variety of tools and
working methods that will complement their knowledge and draw
on their professional development and behaviour.

The process of the training has two phases:
1. Personal awareness on racism (Understanding)
The first phase will focus on the emotional approach and
cognitive awareness of racism as well as it’s various
appearances. Hereby the training will assume that the basics of
the modern racism approach were set down by colonial racism
theory. On this ground the training will enlighten how far colonial
racism effects various subsystems of racism and furthermore the
personality of the oppressed AND the oppressors.
2. Skills development and providing of adequate tools to face
racism in daily work environment (Action)
The second phase will concentrate on ways and tools how to
build up strategies to combat racism.
This phase is divided in three parts :
a. General strategies: cognitive abilities like reacting during acute
situations by using the language
b. Empowerment of emotional and personal competence: by
exercises like “theatre of the oppressed”
c. Future strategy planning: by using the gained abilities

A daily feedback round will verify the daily work of the
participants.

The training ends with a detailed reflection as well as evaluation
session.

Participants Profile:
The general candidates should:
- be Volunteering or semi-professional Trainers, youth
leaders, youth workers (members of INGYOs, NYCs or other youth
organisations, governmental youth institutions, youth projects
and NGOs working for youth) and other occasional youth trainers
who are, or will be, responsible for one or several training
activities in the near future.
- be actively involved in youth work, while preparing to take
on responsibilities in the field of training with an European /
international / intercultural dimension (in or with young people
from the SEE region)
- be able to work in English
- be aged between 18 and 35 (exceptions may be made on
the basis of justification)

Trainers Profile:
The programme of the course is designed and conducted by a
multicultural team of trainers active on antiracism issue.

Application procedure and selection of the participants:

Please fill out the online application form or use the application
form attached to this document.

The online application form must be filled out and sent by
19.01.2003 (DEADLINE)

The preparatory team will select 25 participants on the basis of
the profile outlined above. It will try as far as possible to respect
the organisations’ priorities, but will also strive to ensure a
balance between gender, geographical regions, different types of
experiences, cultural backgrounds and organisations, institutions
or projects.

Candidates will be informed by the end of January 2003.

Enrolment fee:

Participants from:

Greece and Slovenia: 150 euro
All other countries: 75 euro
(Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bulgaria, FYROMacedonia,
Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia)

This fee includes:

- Travelling to the Airport Frankfurt am Main (by airplane)
and to the seminar venue Loheland/ Fulda (by train and bus).
- Board and lodging
- Insurance, Visa
- Training material
- Catering
Owner: Bosporus International

Web: 
http://www.bosporus.org

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