Well, you're reaching your final week of Soliya everyone.
I see from your diaries that most of you, even those who were perhaps less engaged with the groups, had more dynamic sessions and got to discuss some more difficult issues. Please also use this last session as an opportunity to ask the questions you haven't yet managed to ask, to plan if and how you will remain in contact with group members, and also consider if you want to continue engaging with Soliya. They may ask you if you want to carry on and do the basic training to become facilitators - if you are interested in this, and then go on to do the full training and facilitate a group, this can count as an internship if you are interested. If not, it is a good opportunity to carry on engaging with Soliya and at the same time practising your English!! Obviously, if you go on to do advanced training you have a kind of obligation to facilitate at least one group.
I'm also looking for campus liaison officers - that is one or two people who would be willing to follow the project here at Scienze Politiche next semester as I will be away on study leave and if nobody takes this responsibility then the project will be dropped for a semester.
Thanks for sending me your final projects and links to videos, I hope to watch them this week. I'd also like to meet up with you this week if possible. The only time I have available is Friday at 10.30 - I will send you all a mail telling you where exactly we will meet.
Can I also ask you - to facilitate my evaluation of your work, and to be able to offer you language feedback, if you can bring me on Friday a printout of all of your diaries and your reflective paper that would be great.
I would also like to share the links to all of your videos in a post here, please send me a mail if you are NOT happy that I do this.
Enjoy this last week!
Francesca
I see from your diaries that most of you, even those who were perhaps less engaged with the groups, had more dynamic sessions and got to discuss some more difficult issues. Please also use this last session as an opportunity to ask the questions you haven't yet managed to ask, to plan if and how you will remain in contact with group members, and also consider if you want to continue engaging with Soliya. They may ask you if you want to carry on and do the basic training to become facilitators - if you are interested in this, and then go on to do the full training and facilitate a group, this can count as an internship if you are interested. If not, it is a good opportunity to carry on engaging with Soliya and at the same time practising your English!! Obviously, if you go on to do advanced training you have a kind of obligation to facilitate at least one group.
I'm also looking for campus liaison officers - that is one or two people who would be willing to follow the project here at Scienze Politiche next semester as I will be away on study leave and if nobody takes this responsibility then the project will be dropped for a semester.
Thanks for sending me your final projects and links to videos, I hope to watch them this week. I'd also like to meet up with you this week if possible. The only time I have available is Friday at 10.30 - I will send you all a mail telling you where exactly we will meet.
Can I also ask you - to facilitate my evaluation of your work, and to be able to offer you language feedback, if you can bring me on Friday a printout of all of your diaries and your reflective paper that would be great.
I would also like to share the links to all of your videos in a post here, please send me a mail if you are NOT happy that I do this.
Enjoy this last week!
Francesca
Hi everybody,
RispondiEliminaThe last session came; how far the time goes!!!
Yesterday was the session in which the most relevant differences among us emerged. Indeed we spoke about gender role and relation between "western" and Muslim countries and we have different postions.
Unfortunately our group is dominated by girls and the only boy was quite silent in the discussion of gender role. Would be very interesting if more boys, maybe from different cultures, were there in order to see how they perceive gender roles and women's rights. There was a pool considering which element among religion, social tradition, governement has the major impact on gender role. Personally I think that all of them in different ways have a great role on women's rights, but the majority of the group decided for social traditions. We also tried to think which are the most relevant social traditions we have in our countries. All of us have in mind the stereotype of the woman as the person encarged with the care of the children and the management of the house. At the same time we note that something is changing and strongly differences from our grandparent's period exist.
What surprided me was the position of an american girl when she said that she is more closer to her grandparents' idea of family; the traditional family in which the woman takes care of the children and the husband works.
The discussion led to speak about education and work and we created our hierarchy between education, personal interests, work and family. The majority of us putted the family on the top, while for me was difficult to choose because I try to connect all of these aspects. In my opinion education, especially the higher one, is based on our personal interest and I hope to find a work in the field I have interest for. In this way I putted family at the 4 postion not because is less important, but because my parents support me in following my interests and becuase I will create my personal family as soon I will complete my education and I will find an adequate job.
Then we spoke about the relations among western and muslim countries. It was funny when the facilitator asked if according to us the relations among those countries in 10 years will be better or worse because quasi-simultaneusly an american girl answer better and I worse. The opposite positions emerged!!! She is more optimistic and she considered the efforts international institutios do to improve good relationship and mutual knowledge; while I have in mind the crescent ostility against migrants and muslims we are facing in Italy and the feeling of resentement that I listen sometime when I speak with people from arab-muslim countries. I really hope I'm wrong!!!!
At the same time we were agree that the current situation is not good and we immagined what our countries and the other should do to improve the relations and solve the crisis we are facing with. The main suggestions are to strenght the channel for discussion, improve mutual knowledge and respect of the other, enhance transparency and trust-building mechanisms.
Unfortunately the time ended and we must to said goodbye. However I have contacts of some members of the group and I hope to keep in contact with them. ;)
Now is time of evaluations; I appreciated the program because speaking with other people has provided me new input and has enforced my knowledge. What programs like Soliya show are the great opportunities we can found in the diversities ;) However something would be better; I expected more dynamic session and based more on concret events than general issues. For this reason I appreciate the suggestion from the american girl to introduce discussion about the perception of important historical events (such as 9/11).
Despite of these little things I enjoyed the program and I hope that more and more students join it because is a unique opportunity to meet people and to learn new stimulating things. ;)
Bye Bye
Micaela
Marta Perrone
RispondiEliminaDear diary,
My Soliya last session arrived. When the program started I never would have thought I would have these feelings at the end. What emotions, what sadness! With a heavy heart I had to say goodbye to my group. I know that we’ve had difficulty communicating each other, but for eight weeks we’ve been here to share aspects of our lives. Of course, this thing doesn’t happen often, in particular with someone you don’t know. So, like I said, it was a bit hard to finish this experience even if we exchanged our email addresses and phone numbers. I really hope I’ll keep in touch with them. I’ve already started to send mails to Dylan and Christie and I’ll contact Juhaina through Whatsapp.
This last meeting was dedicated to ask each other the questions not yet debated in order to know something of our daily lives and to thank, in any case, for the great job we’ve did. Briefly we talked of how our weekend and Thanksgiving were. Then we discussed how was gone our final projects and the meaning of a video that Julieth sent us. The video was about the awareness and it was related to close mindedness. So its link with Soliya is to remember us the importance to look around and to have a more global perspective. If you look at things from only one angle you miss other important aspects: this is what I’ve learnt from Soliya.
The debate moved on how we react to or express anger and sadness. We were very honest. For example, I said that my biggest problem is the impulsiveness that means I should count to 100 before speaking or doing something. Christie said she likes to stay alone in these moments. Dylan said that music is a pretty good remedy. Our favorite music and singer was the other topic. Music is the best partner you can have. It’s always there for you, when you are sad and when you are happy. I listen to music every day and I shared my passion and love for my favorite singer, Vasco Rossi. Dylan knew one of his song “E..” and I tried to explain why I like him so much and why I listen to all of his CDs when I’m sad. Dylan likes The Rolling Stones and 90s music, as Christie, and also reggaeton. He understood a lot of it when he studied aboard in Ecuador, like he had said by emailing me. Neither Christie nor I have studied abroad, but we want to. Maybe in the future I’ll be in the US and Christie in Italy, who knows. Maybe, thanks to Soliya, we’ll actually have the chance to visit our respective countries.
to be continued...
Marta Perrone
RispondiEliminaThen the conversation led to dating. Julieth asked us if we have ever been in an interethnic relationship. I shared my experience with a Brazilian boy. He is an adopted child and he grew up as Italian, so I never saw cultural differences. Dylan had a Brazilian girlfriend too, but for a short time, so he didn’t notice cultural issues. In Padua I’ve often met many Albanians and I said that I’ve difficulty understanding their conception of women. Juhaina talked of superficial but enjoyable relationship she has on Facebook with American guys. In general all of us have friends from all over the world. Besides my colleagues at university, my roommates were from Albania, China and Iran and living with them I knew so many things about their culture, traditions, typical food, religion and family dynamics.
Like I said before, we were very honest. Christie revealed a very personal part of her life: she has a disability that affects her walking. I’m honored to have had her in my group! Instead, Dylan is a boy scout and an outdoor volunteer leader.
The other activity was to type the name of someone who made us laugh (I choose Dylan because he is truly pretty funny), someone who we learned from, someone who we respect (we said “all of us”), someone who we thanked. Obviously, I thanked Christie for her continuous attendance, patience and iron will.
Then Julieth proposed the possibility to become facilitators. Dylan, maybe kidding me, said that I could become facilitator. I don’t know why, any way I’ll think about it.
We thanked each other and we also thanked our facilitators, Julieth and Robdeti, from the bottom of our heart.
So, it’s finished. But what I’ve learnt, what I’ve felt and the people I’ve known…this will never finish.
Thanks Soliya, thanks group 24! I love you and I’ll never forget you.
Marta
3.12.2014
RispondiEliminaDear diary,
Yesterday it was my last session with Soliya and I so sad because this is my last time that I saw my group friends.
The first thing that I did, I shared with my friends my Christmas tree in the living room. After that we started to talk the meaning of this tree. I explain our tradition. Salah asked us different questions about Christmas, because he don't celebrate it. I explained to Salah how we decorate our home, for example we put Christmas lights, flakes, and so on. He was very curios; indeed he wanted to know if we buy the decorations every year and how much they cost! In his opinion he told us that we spend a lot of money for Christmas. Then every one talk about his kind of meal during these holiday. Kim told us who cook cakes and lasagna for Christmas day. I explain that in Romania there is the tradition to cut pork on 23th December and to cook it for Christmas. The Muslim guys told us that they often eat sheep. They buy it and then they kill this animal. After this they divide the sheep in three parts: 1/3 for poor people, 1/3 for them and 1/3 for relatives.
The second topic was the differences between North and South of America and the differences between Western and Eastern people. A big part of the members thought that the bad idea that a group of people have face other, it depends by media and by government. Then Amina showed us her video project on Muslim prayers. Then Salah explained how many times they pray per day and for who they pray. I think that it was interesting because personally I believe in another religion and I have other traditions. Probably the cause why we don't know all culture of the world, it is because we don't have a good preparation on school. In Morocco around 50% are illiterate. I suppose that if we don't know the culture of other, it is possible that we can create some prejudices.
Unfortunately Nathaniel need to leave before, we greeted him and the we went on. Then we exchange our e-mails and Facebook name to keep us in touch. The facilitators asked us if we are going to work with Soliya as facilitator.
As me in the last part of the session, I had some technology issues, I couldn't greet all people and my facilitators. However yesterday evening I sent an e-mail to my facilitators to thank them for the work that they did.
Personally I liked taking part in this inter cultural program because I have the possibility to know directly different culture.
Stefania Nicoleta
PART 1
RispondiEliminaDear diary,
I just completed my experience Soliya! Unfortunately this time I had to wait several minutes that were linked to another, so I asked the moderator if I could have a prize for punctuality!
It is then connected Ahmed so we started the discussion on the media. I tell that any media need money, who finances them, controls them. This seems obvious to me. In the meantime it is connected Meryem. Marielle then asked what were our sources and Ahmed replied internet and do not watch TV. Meryem also was informed with internet but watching television. Shortly after they arrived and also Nathan and Muhammad.
I then added that the media influence a lot of people in Italy and spread racism and fascism. Muhammad agreed, even in Pakistan the media say only what the regime wants: for instance, communists and left are shown as bad people and people who are at war with Islam. Ahmed added that in general the media support the fears and aspirations of the people.
Nathan agreed with Ahmed and for that reason he hates and avoids the media.
Farah is also linked with the usual excuses for the delay, but after 20 minutes she left because she had yet another incredible event in its universities, must be a university magnificent!I
In the end we all agreed that the media are controlled by power lobbies that manage them as they like. Amanda then asked how we think will be the relations between Western communities and predominantly Muslim communities to look like in 10 years. I responded saying that in Italy there are too many fascist, racist and stupid because relations improve, at least that the economic situation improves. Lilah hopes islamphobia decrease and the Americans know better Islam in the future. Muhammad hopes that the media shall voice the voice of common people.
Amanda insisted asking if the media can do something to improve relations, I believe spoke the use of internet for this goal. All three boys Arabs have said yes, because they saw him as the only way to learn about other places. I believe that the Internet is useful, but also dangerous and misleading, having too much information is like not to have!
We then made a kind of game where we had to specify a name. Before the nicest person: won Muhammad but has indicated me how more sympathetic! Then you have to indicate the person from whom you learned something, in this case I won! When asked who was the most respected in spite of the ideas and who was the most appreciated, the answer was unanimous: everyone! Lilah instead has been named as the most empathetic.
PART 2
RispondiEliminaThe last question was on the project Soliya and how to improve it, but everyone was happy. I have added that we must try to include everyone and every two hours, Muhammad would have preferred to do more readings. But do not read anyone, and when they were made precise questions, many responded with things that had nothing to do so I think it is useless to fien do more readings.
Then we had to make a play, but as in the first session, no one was able to play. Then we said goodbye all.
My final considerations, dear diary, it was a nice and useful experience, I would have preferred to discuss certain topics better. Connection problems and absences constants have limited this project that I think has enormous potential. I do not think Soliya can improve our warlike society because the problems are more than ignorance. I am sure, however, that having known people who almost certainly never see again, helped me to further understand how the world, despite its diversity, is inhabited by people who would be very similar to each other, but that the various companies shape differently and put us against each other for personal gain.
To the tune of "The times they are a changin 'Bob Dylan, I seem appropiate for this final, I close this diary with the hope that in the next ten years, the world will truly be a better place.
Alex Segat
Dear diary,
RispondiEliminaI cannot believe it is over. My, today was our last meeting. And it was definitely amazing and I can say that I am truly touched and that I will carry with me a really sweet memory of this project. But let’s give it at least a try, to write with a decent line of thoughts.
I was afraid that we would have discussed our papers and I plainly told them that I think mine was awful. It did not take too much of our time and I am grateful for that. In the end Casper persuaded me to send him the paper.
Today was a day of sharing our thoughts on the program but we started discussing the role of youth (which would have been a bit more useful to discuss before writing the final project). As always I was impressed by the positive feedback given by Zantasha, mentioning for example the role of young people in the recent egyptian changes. She also told us a few words about the history of her country. I have to say that I was a bit disenchanted, as were Timmy and Hunter. Nonetheless it was good to hear from them the different roles of young people and of older people. It seems we basically thought young people to tend to be some sort of followers, in times of change. In the end we discussed the role of young people in changing how things are and how it is specifically in our countries. I mentioned that in my opinion there is a threshold that should be stepped out of, to make people, young and old, really participate and be active and I told that young people should be more aware of what happens in the rest of the world and not just focused on their local dimension. It was pretty obvious that the discussion was heading towards the experience of Soliya, so Casper asked us which was our favorite moment in the past meetings. I mentioned when we talked about religion, because it is a really personal topic and I was lucky to have the chance to know so many different ways of living spirituality. But I was also thinking about the discussions over minorities, and the one over freedom and security. However it seems that the others liked those moments as well. And I was almost crying when Zantasha told that one of her favorite moments was our one-on-one conversation. I enjoyed it very much as well, she is a beautiful girl and I am so glad that we had the chance to know each other better.
When we were asked one thing we had learned from the experience, it was a bit weird because at the beginning no one knew what to say and in the end we all agreed on one thing: that we expected more conflicts and more action in our discussions, which actually did not happen. We often disagreed with each other, but we were always really respectful. It was so quiet, so reassuring to speak with them, I often received interesting inputs and I was pushed to think about some of my assumptions about my personal life. Although people from eastern countries were usually a minority in our group (like today, when only Zantasha, from Pakistan, was there), and I am afraid we often lacked of people exposing a totally different point of view, I can say that there was not any fight in our sessions.
[Part 2]
RispondiEliminaAnd then Casper started to ask us to type the name of people who made us laugh (and I was one of them, how weird is that?), people we learned something from (and my name came up from two, I seriously think they exchanged me for someone else), people who made us feel listened to, people who made us feel understood (I noticed that my name was spelled in a funny way, like ‘fadrica’ or ‘fedrica’). And in the end we were really kind and sweet to each other. I feel that I really will miss these people and I hope that I will stay in touch with them, even if for a random chat every now and then. And then Hunter started thanking me because, according to him, I always stepped up when others would not, and my input was always valued. And I was really on the edge of crying shamelessly, because I did not think he meant these things. It was good, anyway, that I kept my composure.
One thing that I did while we were waiting for the game to start (it did never start, anyway) was to sing them a few lines of ‘You’ve got a friend’, by Carole King. I told them I sing since the first time, and today was our last chance, so I wanted to share with them something that I like to do and i chose that very song because I feel that we are, if not friends, for sure connected to each other. I believe I am not the only one to think it.
When it was time to close the window, and we already bid our goodbyes and shared our contacts, I have had the feeling that none of us wanted to go. That was touching. I felt we were a true group, that grew through the past weeks. I know that it is weird, but it warms my heart that I feel so close to these people. And i very much hope that we well manage to keep in touch. There was so much wisdom shared between us, mixed with some teasing and respectful debates, that I was amazed by it.
For now I feel a bit of a bitter taste, at the end of this unexpected and wonderful experience.
Federica
Natascia Piasentini
RispondiEliminaDear diary,
Yesterday, I had my last session with Soliya.
I think I will miss my solyia group. I hope that we will stay in touch with the help of new technologies like Skype and Facebook. It was fun to meet up every Monday and to have a conversation about everything, religion, culture, festivals, feasts etc...
In the last session there were three of us: the Moroccan guy, the American guy and I. When I connected to the program, I asked Matt (the American guy) about Thanksgiving Day. I was curious about this American festival that they celebrated on the last Thursday of November. So matt explained to us that it was a day off for people in United States. During that day, he ate turkey and potatoes with family and relatives. He added that this feast dates back to the Pilgrim Fathers and every year Americans thank God for harvests of the past year. So we started the last session by talking about the major feasts in our countries. I said the two major religious festivals in Italy were Christmas day and Easter day. I explained that I loved the period of Christmas because there were lights and Christmas markets everywhere and there was a spirit of hope and serenity in the air. I believe that it is a pleasant experience.
The Moroccan guy talked about two major feasts in Muslim world. The first one marks the end of the Ramadan and another one is in the middle of the year. I asked him if during the feast at the end of Ramadan, Muslims killed a cow because I had read something about that, but I couldn’t remember it very well. So he answered that I was confusing with it another Muslim feast in which they slaughtered a cow or a sheep. He added that during the feast at the end of Ramadan people have a day off and the family eat together with relatives.
After this discussion, Amira, one of the facilitators, changed the subject and she asked a question about the role of youth in each of our societies. In my opinion, it wasn’t an easy question and I didn’t know what to say. Matt started saying that youth were more active than older people in his society. Abdul explained that the role of youth was important in his society. For example, he said, there was a situation in which the Moroccan government wanted to transform public universities into private universities but after civil protests supported by young people, it was prevented.
RispondiEliminaIt was my turn and I tried to answer by saying that in my country young people were active because they would be the future society. I said that young people were very active in protests for example there were protests in Italy about gay rights and a lot of young took part in it. So we shared our opinions about gay rights. I expressed sympathy for gay marriage but I thought that it would be difficult to get gay marriage in Italy because of the power of the Church. On the other hand, I was unsure about the adoption of children for gay couples. I added that to me a typical and a normal family were composed of a mum, a dad and children and it was not normal that two mums/dads bring up a child. The Moroccan guy shared his opinion saying that both marriage and adoption were abnormal to him because God created the man for the woman and vice versa. Matt had an open mind about this subject. For him, gay people could get a married and they could adopt children.
At the end of this wonderful experience, we shared our feelings about the program. All of us were enthusiastic about the program and sad because it would be the last time that we would speak on the platform. We thought Soliya was advantageous for us, especially because, we could listen to other opinions and discover other cultures and traditions.
We sometimes read news about other people of the world but, maybe, they are influenced by media and they aren’t 100 % true. Thanks to Solyia, I could listen to the true opinions of people. Solyia was an adventure for me and I learnt a lot from the program. The sessions were always interesting. At the end of this experience I can say I am happy to have taken part in it!
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to have this experience
Natascia Piasentini
Dear diary,
RispondiEliminaOn Tuesday I had my last meeting with my group for the Soliya Program. Unfortunately, for the fist time, I had huge technical problems with my internet connection at home, it was extremely low… but still I was able to hearing all the conversations that were going on, so I shared my thoughts through the chat box. I was very sorry to not being able to fully participate, view that was our last meeting, and the themes we tackled were very interesting. For example, with Hannah and Hager we talked about the ongoing conflicts in the world, and especially the question of the war between Israeli and Palestinian people. Hannah wasn’t very aware of the current situation in Israel, so me and Hager tried to draw a picture of the two different sides, and to present our points of view on this issue. Actually, we both shared a lot of common points, making a reflection of the unfairly, much higher quantity of military means that the Israel army has at its disposal, compared to the ones of the Palestinian side. Starting from that, we then talked about the dangers and threats that civilians and, especially children, may face during that kind of conflicts: I mentioned some of the international instruments I’m studying right now for a course on human rights monitoring, like the Convention on the Protection of the Child, that are, at the moment, the best way to protect such vulnerable victimes of the wars and other humanitarian emergencies. All together we tried to set a list of priorities that should be in the current agenda of international and national bodies in order to protect in a effective way the children, but in general we all hoped that the situation will change in a near future.
We ended our meeting sharing our opinions on the Soliya project: the balance overall is positive, and I think I would recommend to my colleagues to join the programme if they have the chance, because it is completely different from everything else it possible to do at the other university courses, and it’s also a good way to practice english with students from all over the world. Being able to communicate with people that have very different cultural, religious, social backgrounds is an important skill also for future jobs, especially if it is planned to go abroad or work in an international environment, and I think that Soliya is able to strengthen that kind of capacities. On the other hand, I am sorry that the presence of the people of my group at the meetings wasn’t so constant as I expected, and that probably has affected a little bit the quality of the conversations we had the chance to have. In the end, I think that the exchange of thoughts especially with the Egyptian girl, Hager, was very stimulating, and that is why I decided to develop some reflections on that for my final project.
Liliana
WEEK 8
RispondiEliminaYesterday we had our final Soliya’s session. It was a bit sad, perhaps even because in my opinion we had the best discussion of all eight weeks. As a matter of fact, we talked about Israel-Palestinian conflict, which is a topic I care very much about.
First of all our facilitators made us watch some videos about the history of the conflict, but then we started talking and they noticed we were already well informed about this issue, and we got to have a really good chat.
We started giving our opinions on the nature of the conflict, whether it is more of a territorial one or more of a religious one. Obviously there is no correct answer, but I explained why I think the real issue is the territory.
Then we watched a couple of videos, one about this small Palestinian country, Budros, in which the population has organized some sort of pacifist resistance, and the other one about the attempts of resolutions of the conflict made by some Palestinians and Israeli people. They were good videos (actually they were trailers of two documentaries which I’m definitely going to watch), and even if they moved me I wasn’t that surprised, since I was already aware of these kinds of realities.
We closed our discussion listening to a song of the Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, which has been a very good way to end our very last conversation.
During the last ten minutes our facilitators proposed one final activity to say goodbye, making us draw a person and write three things: next to the head they told us to write what we had learnt, next to the heart how we felt, and next to the feet where we’re going from here. What I wrote is a really good way to describe my experience with Soliya.
About what I learnt I wrote “communication”: I am really amazed about how much this experience has helped my communicating skills. When I remember of myself at the first sessions, when I was so scared I almost dropped the project, it is quite surprising how natural it has become for me having conversations online.
Next to the heart I wrote that I felt glad and hopeful: glad about the fact I chose to take part in this experience, hopeful about the fact that international projects like this are a really good way to bring people together and to open their minds letting them hear about other visions of the world. I really hope more and more people will be able to have this opportunity.
Finally, next to the feet I wrote that I’m going to make as many experiences like this as possible, and that I’m going to travel and talk to people as much as I can, hearing and considering other opinions.
Then the moment of goodbyes came, and we all took a moment to thank each other. We promised to keep in touch and I really hope we will be able to do it.
In conclusion I am really glad I decided to participate to Soliya project. Surely we’ve been very unlucky because we didn’t find a numerous group and especially we didn’t have any Arab students to talk to, but in the end we found two great facilitators who really seemed to enjoy talking with us and hearing our opinions. They even suggested that we became facilitators ourselves, but I don’t think I will have the time to do that. Also I’m still worried about my shyness, even if they reassured me saying that during the training they deal with all of your problems. Anyway, I will think about it for sure.
I would like to thank the whole Soliya’s staff, who allowed me to live this experience, and our facilitators in particular. Thank you all!
Laura D'Onghia
Dear … Soliya,
RispondiEliminaThis is the end, but also a new beginning. Many student are sad in these days because they lost some friends and, although they can keep in touch, they know that the lack of a regular commitment will let an empty space.
I say “they” because I feel lightly ashamed telling that me too I was kept by sadness and melancholy at the time to say goodbye.
I talked with them every week and probably I’ll never see them again; we discussed about many things and finally it’s not so important which things: the true value of Soliya is the bridge that it builds between continents and the knowledge of people’s life that we got through this bridge.
Obviously I admit that the issues were heavy and facilitators worked to introduce them step by step. Sometimes I thought that the program was compartmentalized: the discussion about each issue was almost free, but the sequence of arguments was strictly ordered; a little industrialized, very American.
This evening in contrast I understood that the path was only an excuse; we could have been talking about philosophy instead of religion, or about arms trafficking instead of influence of media, and the result would have been the same: the comparison between us.
The engagement to sustain our ideas obliged us to prove them, to make examples and to accept criticism and different points of view (maybe better than ours).
You can say that it’s not necessary to join Soliya sessions to discuss about Arabs, westerners, religions and oil business, but this isn’t correct, not completely: a structured environment and a scheduled engagement is a great occasion to explore questions that noone normally asks.
Indeed I’ve always been almost passive about conflicts in the middle-east, at least until now; it’s a long history by now and we’re almost addicted and insensitive to news like a bomb attack in Egypt or a suicide attempt in Israel.
This evening we answered many questions posed by Matt and Sarah, our facilitators: one of these was something like “how do you think is possible to change” or “where do you think the change come from”: well, I felt natural to say that the change comes from inside and you cannot ask the others to change before opening your mind first; the way to change is obviously the dialogue, not war, but dialogue must be prepared. A dialogue between people standing on their positions is useless to solve conflicts.
This is the point for a new beginning.
The end of the session was very sympathetic, since Sarah asked us to type the name of the member of the group who made us laugh, or made us feeling understood, or taught us something and so on. The last quarter run away with increasing mutual compliments and, at the end, a really loving exchange of greeting, best wishes and congratulations.
Almost all my mates said I made them laugh because I used to break the ice in a playful way and I reciprocated telling that they made me feel young.
I’m not sure that any teardrop hadn’t been spread and me too I was excited.
Goodbye guys, I love you.
Part 1
RispondiEliminaDear diary,
Yesterday I had my last session. When I started the Soliya project, I couldn’t expect that in the end I could have felt such melancholy as I actually feel right now. This happened because even if yesterday we were the habitual four people, we had been able to grow up as a group, sharing our opinions and our stories of life in these eight weeks, so we’ve become much more attached. It was hard to say goodbye, but we left this dismal moment just in the end, spending the rest of the time like we were in a typical session to discuss a new topic.
After the greetings, we started to watch some videos to prepare our discussion on the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. In reality we had already spoken about this topic transversally during the other sessions, so yesterday we had the opportunity to extend our knowledge on this issue, focusing just on it.
The videos we watched were of an Arabic hip-hop group, called DAM, that sings in aid of the Palestinian cause (and I really appreciated their sound!). Then the facilitators showed us the trailers of two movies both the Israeli and the Palestinian societies. Their purpose was to let us reasoning on the role that these vehicles could have to make the global public opinion aware of the dramatic context in which the Palestinians live. We embraced favourably these realities that I really didn’t know before. I also learnt from these videos that there are lots of Israelis who want live in peace with Palestinians.
Then we watched a video that sums up the conflict history, starting from the origins since Monica asked us which kind of conflict the Israeli-Palestinian is, whether a territorial one or a religious one. I believe that it is a religious one (in contrast with other conflicts, as the one moved by ISIS where the religious reasons are laughable…) and for this reason I had a confrontation with Laura who stated another point.
We discussed other connected issues: the role of the US, Europe and Arabic countries in this conflict, the role of the Jewish lobbies in the Westerner countries, the role of no violent movements.
In general we all were on the side of the Palestinian people: even if we’ve recognized the Hamas and Al Fatah’s responsibilities in the course of the peace process, we couldn’t do anything but sympathize with people who are obliged to live without freedom. Moreover they have to see every day the powerful Israel that, covered by the Westerner countries, occupies their territories against the International law (as Laura correctly remembered) and not respecting human rights. When the facilitators wanted to know where our passion for this topic born, I answered with the same words mentioned above: it’s shameful that the Westerner countries allow Israel to continue its occupation project uncontested. Where are the human rights and freedom issues in the Palestinian context (issues so acclaimed in other war contexts as Iraq and Afghanistan with noble speeches)? Why Westerner haven’t stopped Israeli? With these questions we finished the confrontation, conscious that we cannot find the solutions on such a complex and dramatic situation, but we can just debate on the reasons behind the conflict, increasing our knowledge and hearing other points of view.
In the end, Monica asked us to draw a cutout of a person, thinking and writing about what we had learnt
Part 2
RispondiEliminaIn the end, Monica asked us to draw a cutout of a person, thinking and writing about what we had learnt (matched with the head), what we felt (heart) and what we’re doing (feet) after that session. It was funny because we’re not good drawers, but at least we enjoyed laughing our few minutes left.
The farewell time was really touching: Monica was evidently moved. We didn’t say goodbye to our facilitators, but to people who, by the time, have become our friends. We invited each others to our own countries and promised to keep in touch! We also decided to maintain the Facebook group opened in which we can post videos and news in the future. It was a pity not to see Clay for the last time, he’s participated anyway with us in this path. Monica and Taghreed spent very nice words for us, thanking us for our dedication all the sessions (admitting that it was not always easy since we were a bit disappointed by the low participation), appreciating our growth in expressing as best as we could our thoughts in English, and finally motivating us to become new facilitators, because they believe we could be good ones since they said we have got the right skills.
To conclude, I would like to devote a short time to a final consideration on the whole Soliya project. I’m using the same technical we’ve used during the last session, just without drawing. What have I learnt? I’ve learnt to listen, speak and write in English about topics which I always debated in my own language; How do I feel? I feel disconcerted because there are too many injustices in this World, but fortunately there are also many people who work to call a halt to them all; How am I acting in the future? I’m continuing to divulge and share information on the injustices in the World in many different ways, essentially doing my bit against any kind of racism, violence, injustice, trusting in a World where people can communicate, cooperate and live together in peace.
Thanks to Soliya I’ve had a new experience that has increased my personal knowledge!
Gabriele Chiarello
Hi everyone!
RispondiEliminaOn Tuesday there was the last Session of Soliya Connect Programm !
We were all very excited!
After some various chats we started with a real funny game. We had five miuntes to draw the house wehere we grew up and the people who live there.
Everybody painted funny sketches and no one was a masterpiece, like Erin said ☺.
Then we showed these sketches to each other using the video cameras on our computers and explained to each other what the others are seeing in our sketches.
I presented my artistc masterpiece laughing a lot. It was horrible, I’m not a good artist!
I drew a cat, a dog, a sofa, my parents, my sister, a fireplace, a window from which you can see mountains on the landscape, bookshelf, and a painting wiht a yellow rooster. Moreover I put a painting that my father bought from Brazil a lot of years ago: I consider it very important because my father tells a lot of stories about those days and this painting.
It's quite horrible, but there's a lot of history behind that painting.
Everyone showed his own masterpiece and we laughed a lot.
Then Erin asked us what we would like the relationship between Western communities and predominantly Muslim communities to be in ten years and what would need to happen to make possibile our vision of the future.
Farah told that she thinks that the relationships is not too bad nowadays, but there are people that think that Muslims are terrorists, and she hope that this image could change in the future.
She thinks that the media play a big role in changing our image. Now they don't show what happens there, they show what they want, they don't show the truth. She thinks this is the most important problem and she hopes the media will be more trustful and honest.
Kayla told that we can help expanding our views and our learning, because a lot of people, especially in the US, they're ignorant about Muslim culture. They only know what the media tell them.
I told that I think in the next 10 years, if people change her mind and try to better understand other cultures, the relationship could be better. We have to destroy the preconceptions such that: “the arabs are terrorists and Western people are exploiters”.
I think that everybody from now on needs to start relationships with others without forcing it, and the only way is to know each other and other cultures, because like Kayla says, a lot of people are ignorant. And as a group, I think that we do/have done a lot. For example: Houssem told us that before Soliya Program he thought that Western people would think that all the Arab people are terrorists, but Soliya helped him to know how the people live in their countries and gave him an idea of how people in the world think. He changed his point of view.
I mentioned 9/11 and after this we started a very stimulating discussion about this terribile event.
Houssem told us that he believes it was just created to give a reason to Western countries to attack Iraq and Afghanistan.
I said that 9/11 changed the relationship between Western communities and predominantly Muslim communities, and Houssem said that 9/11 was an inside joke and that was used to attack Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kayla reacted at this opinion telling that it was definitely true.
Her whole family lives in New York, and her cousin was a police officer on 9/11.
For she it wasn't just a ploy to go to war.
I tried to explain that in the world a lot of people think 9/11 wasn’t real, but I think it's impossible because I hope nobody in the world can do something like this only to go to war.
Part 2
RispondiEliminaSo there were some opposing opinions in the group about whether or not 9/11 happened.
I explained my opinion: I’m sure that behind 9/11 were a lot of interests. But I think that the 9/11, the attack, wasn’t only a justification to go to war. They used this to attack Afghanistan and the Arab World. But I can't imagine that it's something that doesn't exist. I think that maybe some Western people, not only Americans, with interests, knew that something would happen, but they didn't imagine something so terrifying.
Kayla said that she does not believe that american people planned 9/11, that's ridiculous for her.
This discussion was very interesting, we had the chance to discover more deeply our opinions about world and societies.
Than we shared some opinions about our experience in Soliya, about our difficulties, about our collegues. I’m surprised to know that everybody consider me the most cultured person.
At the end Erin explained us the two opportunities to volunteer with Soliya after the semester:
Soliya campus Liaison and Soliya Connect Program Facilitator
At the end we shared our contacts. Everyone want to stay in touch with the others members of the group.
I thank to all a lot, especially to Erin, because her work was very helpful, and she was very kind to help us.
We said good bye, agreeing that we will stay in touch to share opinions and advices and to talk about our life experiencies.
My growth in Soliya have been very interesting, educational and formative and I do believe that there should be more projects like this in our University.
I want to thank all my colleagues (from Uni PD too !) and above all Prof. Helm because she gave us the opportunity to participate in this project.
An in my humble opinion, this is the only way University could become a true place of knowledge sharing.
It was a really amazing experience!
Marina Molinari
Carolina Olivi, 1st part
RispondiEliminaDear Diary,
This last Soliya session made me aware of how much we girls became close. The atmosphere was more intimate than ever, since there were just four of us, plus the facilitator. I was sorry I could not see the other girls for the last time, but I know I can keep in touch with them on Facebook, luckily.
The first activity was very nice: we told each other three things we thought the girls still did not know about ourselves. We decided to do it as a riddle and we had a lot of fun. It is odd but, even if they live a long way away from my country, in our free time we love doing the same things. I really did not expect it. Sometimes we go out with friends to have a pizza together, or to see a movie in the cinema; most of the time, however, we prefer to stay quietly at home, to read books or watch television. That is because all of us is a bit lazy and sleeps a lot too! I felt guilty about that once, but now they made me feel definitively less lonely! We often joke about it: we even thought that laziness could overcome cultural differences. Then we coined an amazing slogan for the armies in all over the world: “Don’t make war… make a nap!”
On the other side, we are girls full of dreams and hopes for the future. We want to study, to travel and see different places, to surround ourselves of beloved people. We talked about how we can create a better world and develop Eastern-Western relationships in a peaceful way. Our vision is not impossible, in my opinion. World is becoming more and more globalized, so maybe minds are changing and also the population itself will be mixed one day. I told I will personally use the Soliya experience as an example, while I am speaking with others, that a real dialogue is possible, and that we can love each other quite apart from religion and nationality. The facilitator, Lisanne, thought it was a great idea.
2nd part
RispondiEliminaThe end moved me to tears. Lisanne gave us some short sentences that we had to link to one of us (such as, for example, “someone who I respect even if I often disagree with”),by typing her name in the chat box. All girls chose me when they had to tell who made them laugh and who made them feel understood. You could only imagine how happy I was when I read it!
My mood changed when time was running out. We told each other how much we learned from our discussions and that we hope to meet someday. They were all super sweet and genuine, with no fear in showing their feelings. I must tell I was lucky to meet persons like them. It is not easy for me to explain the level of confidence and affection we have reached in these few meetings, but I can assure it has been something special and unique. I was sad because I cannot stand goodbyes, so we said “see you soon” while leaving the room.
I have not been sad for a long time. Some minutes later I saw a message on our Facebook group from the Egyptian girl: “Girls, I am so sad because we finished our project. I will miss you, I love you so much! And we will all miss Lisanne!”. At this point I wrote that I could not believe eight sessions had gone so fast, but that I knew we would be friends forever. “Yes, we will be friends forever” the other girls answered one after one, like they were magic words: and I am convinced there is a little witch in every young woman like us.
Carolina Olivi
Part one
RispondiEliminaI have just closed the conversation with my Soliya friends and I have a strange feeling. I'm glad I started this experience and at the same time I am sad to have concluded it.
Today was certainly the most beautiful, deep and heartfelt meeting of our group.
Today we went really deep into our thoughts, our ideas.
At the beginning, we expressed our views on what Casper asked us: What would you like the relationship between Western communities and predominantly Muslim communities to look like in 10 years? We all responded that we imagine the word without wars, without racial hatred, with more dialogue between the two cultures and greater racial interaction.
Then Casper asked us: What would need to happen in your country to make that vision possible? What do you think it would need to happen in the other countries/ regions to make your vision possible? What can you do or what can we do as a group to start on the path towards that vision? It was not easy to answer in what ways you can arrive to have the world as we had imagined. So we talked about the role of the media, about the governments and how they might work to achieve the goal.
But the most difficult question to which we had to answer was:
So, let’s make it more practical and concrete - how could you start doing this?
After Casper has proposed us this question, there were three minutes of silence. This was already strange because our group has always been active, between us we have always talked and interacted well. Each of us had to think a lot to give an answer . Then it came proposals as: to work at the University to raise awareness about the experiences of young people from other countries (such as live dialogue between different religions, etc.), to try to be different in our workplace or in our social environment. Most of us proposed to let people know and continue the program Soliya with our university colleagues. Ours was a unanimous appreciation: Soliya is definitely a way to begin to change our mentality and our way of seeing and living relationships between the West and the East.
Part two
RispondiEliminaCasper then wanted to know from each one of us who was the companion during these sessions that made us laugh more, who made us think more, and with whom we disagree more, and so on. It was a very nice time to show our appreciation for each other.
For me, it would be difficult at that time to tell my companions all that passed through my mind
From this experience I have gathered a lot.
I collected the humanity of seven guys who taught me that is wrong to think that wisdom is only by the elderly. Even boys of 17- 20 years can talk about the values of life and show you how you should live them.
I have collected eight weeks of dialogue and listening, and I realized that you can listen without hearing or listen and try to enter into the life of the other to try to live his thought.
I collected the astonishment to discover that you can have a conversation using different worlds and different countries using a single language: English. So, at the age of 53 years I understand the importance of continuing to practice this language who allowed me, during this period, to open my mind looking at other realities different from mine.
I gathered that the effort to find me at the same time punctual for meetings with Soliya, giving up the family and my many work commitments was, after each meeting, rewarded by the satisfaction of having added a piece of what I call "my full vision of the world. "
I collected the emotion to hope to accommodate one day, in my house, one of these students to share with them a small part of their way of life, making him see how I live my democracy, my freedom of thought and my religion.
I collected the certainty that it is never too late to change the way we see the world, to destroy the stereotypes that prevent us from living fully tolerance, to fight racism that small part of who lives in each of us.
It was certainly an experience very tough but also very touching.
From next Wednesday I will try to call my fellow Soliya by Facebook, I will be there at the same time to wait for them. I can in fact continue to communicate with them as well, waiting for the moment, I hope, to give all them personally a hug very tightly.
Francesca Aufiero
(Part 1)
RispondiEliminaDear Diary,
Last Week I had my 8th and final Soliya session. Since the first meeting time has quickly passed.
When I logged in Soliya main meeting room I saw Elena was already there. Since we were alone we took the chance to speak Italian yet Rangi reached us soon after. During this session our usual Facilitator -Rangineh- came back. Last week every group member missed her firstly because she's like a family member and secondly since Sigma connection wasn't fluent last week we had a hard time to understand him. Also Rangi seemed to be happy to meet up with the group again.
After a while Elena and I started making fun of Rangi who told us she speaks a little of Spanish and Italian, which she called “Spanitalian” because of the confusion she makes between the two languages. We stressed Rangi to say something in Italian speech, but trying to avoid our request she asked us what languages other than English and Italian we speak. Elena chased her high-lining this time the Facilitator must to accomplish the task as first. Finally Rangi realized that she had to entertain us speaking Italian and said: “Ciao ci vidiamo?” laughing and blushing. It was funny to hear her tone and I wrote Elena a private chat text commenting about it.
Moving the focus from this funny entr'acte Rangi asked me and Elena -we were alone there- our favorite phrase in languages not native to us. As usual Elena answered firstly telling a quote from a musical: “It's don't dream it, be it”. Then I quoted a line from a U2 song written by Bono Vox: “Ambition bites the nails of success”. The quote I chose earned me praises from Rangi and Elena.
(Part 2)
RispondiEliminaAs Mazen, Nihel, Mahira, Ian and Luke joined the session Rangineh introduced the main discussion topic of the day: – GLOBALIZATION –. We had chosen it last Thursday voting the poll Sigma had provided us with. Aiming to start the debate Mazen asked the group what role capitalism is playing in globalization and if we think it possible that one can exist without the other. This time I've been the bravest answering first and I said that capitalism plays a big role in opening countries to globalization and that as a fact one isn't possible without the other. I continued the argumentation making the actual case of Russia and China, both countries globalized and part of the International Community since their authorities chose to apply an economical model based on the capitalist market.
Afterwards Rangineh asked to clarify what the word “globalization” means to us. According to Elena it is represented by information traffic specifically when similar views are shared between faraway countries yet we have to consider that globalization can be economical, political as well as cultural. She made an economical case claiming that its most noticeable when you go to shopping and find items coming from all over the world. The political one emerges by considering the knowledge everybody has about political decisions affecting primarily people in faraway countries and last but not least the cultural aspect of globalization comes out by looking at the increasing number of people living outside their native countries bringing their cultural background along. Finally almost everyone pointed out that also through Soliya program we were doing a cultural globalization work because we were sharing different people ideas learning about each other's.
Then Rangineh spurred us to think whether there are "winners" and "losers" in globalization. According to every group member the losers are the many activities such as little shops rather than typical food restaurants which are overwhelmed by the competition given by big multinational companies and are consequentially shutting down, whereas the winners are the big companies with huge financial bases which can invest large sums of money abroad and take advantage of an unregulated work market where the labor cost is low.
Afterwards Rangineh asked the group if globalization is a product of education or education is a product of globalization. Mazen said education is a product of globalization because culture is affected by opinions and globalization affects opinions. He made the case of the fast food restaurants that are becoming popular through the media and eventually affecting the education of the young people. I agreed with Mazen saying almost the same thing that education is a product of globalization actually the subjects we studied at school and the classes we chose to take at a university level are affected by globalization.
Time was quickly running out and the moment to say goodbye to each other had come. It has been a very sad moment yet everybody promised that it wasn't going to be our last goodbye. We thought of a solution to keep in touch with each other and we realized it would be possible firstly through the Facebook group page and Skype. No one wants to lose the friendship we've developed during these 8 Soliya meetings and surely we'll keep in touch.
Nicola Berto