From 4th to 11th October 2023 we are organizing a youth encounter with people from Belarus who have fled from there. “Human Rights in Times of War. Reflections on Democracy and Asylum” is the name of the project. We do this together with the Belarusian human rights organization „Nash Dom“ (Eng. „Our House“) based in Vilnius in Lithuanian exile. We will spend a week together in Berlin, exchange ideas, organize an action and talk to members of the Bundestag.

Nash Dom- Our house
Our partner organization Nash Dom is campaigning for the rights of conscientious objectors under the motto „Stop the 2nd Front!“ so that the Belarusian military does not have the soldiers for a possible second front against Ukraine. We will spend the week with workshops, discussions and political cooperation. The whole thing should culminate in an action in front of the Bundestag and talks with members of the Bundestag, where young people from Belarus can insist on a general right to asylum for conscientious objectors.

Participate?
You are welcome to take part in the youth encounter: Write us a short email to vernetzungpartizipation@riseup.net with a brief introduction about yourself and a short statement why you would like to take part.

Where?

Berlin, on the outskirts in the countryside

When?

Wed. 4th to 11th October 2023
On 4.10. it starts at 2 p.m. and on October 11th we’ll be finished at 2 p.m.

Costs?

nope You don’t have to pay anything. If you are not from Berlin, there is even a reimbursement of travel expenses. Because we receive funding from Erasmus+, the Bertha von Suttner Foundation, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, Future (EVZ) and the German Peace Society United War Opponents (DFG-VK).

awareness concept
We created an awareness concept for the event:

https://vernetzungpartizipation.noblogs.org/post/2023/06/08/awareness-konzept-fuer-die-jugendbegegnung/

please read it Please let us know if you have any questions and/or comments.

How to join?

Would you like to take part in the encounter and help shape it in advance? We look forward to seeing you: It starts on August 1st. at 7:00 p.m. in Berlin with an evening to get to know each other, where we will answer questions, exchange ideas and talk about further cooperation.

If you want to take part, please email us at vernetzungpartizipation@riseup.net . We will then write to you where the meeting takes place.

Preliminary program of the youth exchange:

Wed. 4.10. Here we go!
We start at 4 p.m. with a rally to do something together and to get to know the area around our conference center (practical things like where is the S-Bahn? Where is the supermarket?, but also historically, culturally and geographically interesting. Let yourself be surprised) .
6pm dinner
20h entertainment

Thursday 5.10. Start and look at Berlin

8h breakfast
9:00 a.m. Distributing organizational matters, tidying up, cleaning and cooking, raising awareness, what do the organizations do when there isn’t a youth encounter? and entertaining and pedagogically very valuable introductory games

Eat lunch at 1 p.m

2:00 p.m. Off to the city center: Between the main train station and the Tiergarten, we look at historically valuable places from the perspective of conscientious objection (our place of action is also in the mile between the Bundestag and the Chancellor’s Office). Picnic in Tiergarten, and then bus 100.

7pm dinner

20:00-21:00 Anything else on awareness, sexism, anti-Slavic racism or something?

Then daily evaluation

 

Friday 6.10. Discover conscientious objection, asylum and Potsdam

8h breakfast

9h workshop on asylum and conscientious objection with Connection e. V. (from Offenbach)

12h lunch

13h Off to Potsdam! Monument to deserters, garrison church as a place of learning

6pm dinner

20:00-21:30: Introduction: What is the purpose of the campaign? And why do we want to talk to MPs? And brainstorm for ideas?

Then daily evaluation

Saturday, October 7th What do we want in the Bundestag? Why and what are we talking to MPs?

9am breakfast (did you notice? An hour later!)

10h Workshop: Talking to members of parliament: a) what do we want there? b) rhetoric

1pm lunch

3 p.m. Parallel: Intensive rhetoric training for those who want to say a lot in the Bundestag and prepare action

6pm dinner

7:30 p.m.: Current situation and preliminary discussion for the visit to the Forced Labor Memorial in Schöneweide the following day

21:00 daily evaluation (Notice? Not only do we start an hour later, we also finish an hour earlier)

Sun 8.10. : Forced Labor Memorial in Schöneweide

9 a.m. Breakfast (everything can be an hour earlier, depends on our appointment at the memorial…)

10h Departure to the Schöneweide Memorial

2:00 p.m. picnic on the Kaisersteg, if the weather is bad we go to the HWR canteen (sorry…)

The rest of the afternoon is not planned. You can already think of something to do in Berlin…

6pm dinner

20:00-21:30 Reflection and follow-up of the visit to the memorial

Then daily evaluation

Mon. 9.10. Workshops, practice and handicrafts

9am breakfast

10:00 a.m. Getting ready: where do we stand with the parliamentary talks? Where are we with the action? What still needs to be done?

12h lunch

14h small group workshops:
– Right of assembly for actions
– Coaching during campaigns
– Action Photography
– Again rhetoric and speaking with MPs
– Spray graffiti chic
– Videos of actions
– (…)

6pm dinner

20-21.30 Preliminary meeting of the Bundestag day

Then daily evaluation.

Tuesday 10.10. Bundestag visit and action

8h breakfast

10h Bundestag visit

13h picnic deep in Mitte

2pm-5pm graffiti art action
We stretch a lot of cling film between the Bundestag and the Chancellery and use this as transparent walls to spray-paint demands for easier asylum for conscientious objectors from Belarus. Or we do an action with empty chairs. Or we have an even better idea… And we distribute flyers.

7pm dinner

20.30 Evaluation of the MPs‘ talks and the graffiti art campaign

21.30 Party!

Wed. 11.10. Final spurt!

8h breakfast

9h evaluation

10.30 clean up and get out!

12h farewell dinner in the restaurant

2pm farewell

Supporters:

The project is part of the MEET UP! Youth for Partnership from the Er-
inner, responsibility and future (EVZ), funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the European Union via the Erasmus+ program, the Bertha von Suttner Foundation and the German Peace Society United War Opponents (DFG-VK). This publication does not represent an expression of opinion by the EVZ Foundation. The author is responsible for the content of the statements.