Vishwa Yuvak Kendra and AEGEE are partners since 2010 through the Beyond Europe Flagship Project. Beyond Europe organised a series of activities tackling the Millennium Development Goals with partners from India and South Africa. One of these activities was a Case Study Trip to India. During this trip, one of the organizations that visited was Vishwa Yuvak Kendra. During this first meeting strong links were created and the participation of AEGEE members in this International Certificate Course in Youth Work was the first big result of a long term partnership.
Ramón Martínez is an independent trainer, facilitator and consultant from the north of Spain working with INGOs, institutions and companies through creative methodologies in such areas as competences development, motivation, self-directed learning, inclusion, gender, international cooperation, etc.
Every box is inside another box.
International cooperation is a huge need both for personal and social development. Some decades ago European cooperation was a dream to reach. Year by year, actions such as being part of international working groups, studying abroad or organising events with participants from different countries have become normal part of our lives. Now that we can say that the goal is achieved, we can set the next.
From 1st to 23rd December 2011, Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, VYK, the International Youth Center of India organized their 9th Certificate Course in Youth Work. This meeting was different to previous ones, as it became the first international edition with three AEGEE participants.
This certificate course aimed at a holistic development of participants. Providing training in skills and competences, giving the basic guidelines on Indian law, policies and NGO management and helping youth workers understand the structure and needs of the community.
From the European perspective, there are many interesting keys to learn from this course, the excellent combination of formal and informal learning methods, a great number of professional and varied speakers and trainers from different backgrounds and specialisations and the inclusion of side activities to complete the training, as library research or yoga lessons.
Even so, the mixture of European and Indian participants was the most worthwhile added value. Both during the course and even more during leisure time. Sharing values, ideas, attitudes and reactions, seeing another way to act or view situations and cooperation in problem solving ended up being main elements responsible for the personal growth of all participants, impossible to achieve in a non-mixed context.
The course included a 3-day field trip to Wardha district, a small area in the state of Maharastra, during which the participants could see the activities of a local NGO dealing with agriculture development, income generation and women empowerment. It was a perfect real example of the topics that were theoretically shown in the weeks before and a motivation boost for participants to take initiative and start activities or form their own NGOs in their local levels. It was also a good chance to see how participants merged together and improved in many different aspects.
This certificate course was the first one organised by VYK with an open call for international participants. First of many we hope, since the successful results of the cooperation between Indian and European participants has opened the door for future and continuous international projects.
This is the beginning of a new branch of international cooperation with huge potential. Next steps are in our hands.
Written by Ramón Martinez, trainer of the Academy