The basic tool of child is a crayon. Children use it to colour pictures, walls or whatever crosses their path. Although colours make life more enjoyable, do they make life easier? For an answer, I went to Serbia, and brought along my own crayons.

The European Union funded programme Youth in Action recently convened a training course entitled “Enjoy the Colours of My Society” in Subotica, Serbia from 17-28 March 2010. As we are all aware, the current generation of young Europeans is the first generation to have matured in a largely borderless and peaceful Europe. Growing up in a Europe where they can travel freely, work and learn more easily than ever before, youth have experienced a Europe that starkly differs from the one experienced by their grandparents or even parents. Ambitious and independent young people nowadays have opportunities to realize their dreams, but, nevertheless, obstacles may occur which hinder their realization, requiring them to need a helping hand. In an attempt to aid, the EU provides wide support that address challenges facing youth.

One such project, “Enjoy the Colours of My Society”, gathers a group of select international students with the general intended aim of encouraging cross-cultural dialogue and exposing people to foreign culture. More specifically, using a non-formal education the project emphasizes cultural diversity through the active participation of young people to develop an understanding and skills within human rights education in the local, regional and international level. In our increasingly world, appreciating cultural diversity, which can broadly include lifestyle, tradition, gender, education, and minorities, becomes an important tool to resist the somewhat unavoidable stereotyping and prejudices inherent in globalization. In this colourful environment we must gain the ability to properly define and use terms sensitively. This training course provided participants with the operational definitions of terms, such as culture, cultural diversity, tolerance, prejudice. Through the workshops, interactive exercises and discussions, young people had an opportunity to better know the different cultures of their fellows. As the training course emphasizes, enjoy the colours of both your society and your neighbours.

Although the workshops focused on an abstract notion of colour, the picturesque environment surrounding Subotica offered a more practical palate: the pinks of the city hall; the white of “burek”; the matted brown of pig’s curly hair; the red of a Ferrari Testarossa; and, the rust of a Fiat 126p. In our increasingly monochrome world, we must be attuned to the way each of us shades the colours of our society. While difficult, every society must face this challenge.

The project becomes even better considering that this whole experience remains affordable since participants receive a reimbursement of 70 percent of their traveling costs. To be involved in such a project, all the necessary procedures can be found on the Youth in Action website. |