Today (Thursday, 05.10.2023) is the first full day of the youth exchange. We discused different kinds of discrimination and awareness. The day started with a workshop titled: “Awareness – how we want to treat each other”. Afterwards we made an antimilitarist city tour through Berlin.

Awareness Workshop
After having breakfast, the day started with a workshop titled: “Awareness – how we want to treat each other”. During the workshop we went through different kinds of discrimination and ways in which one can avoid discriminating against one another.
The part of the workshop I enjoyed the most was about the changing of ideas and thoughts regarding different ways of handling stress and difficult emotions. The workshop ended with us having lunch and heading to a city tour of Berlin. 

Berlin antimilitarist city tour
During the tour we stopped at various sites of significance in relation to conscientious objection and antimilitarism. These included the old apartment of Helene Stöcker, the Reichtag building, the memorial to the Sinti and Roma murdered during national socialism and the Reich Chancellery.

At these sites our organizers and guests told us about the functions and actions they have been a part of. One of these examples was the action organized by our friends in Berlin in which they criticized the armament and additional funding of the German military.

I could also see some links in between the progress and what has been happening in my organization’s national context of Finland.

All in all, I really liked the day, and think that I got a lot of ideas and connections that will be beneficial in developing our own actions in the future. Below are some photos of the events that happened throughout the day.