I Want You to Know That There's a Way Out (Prevention of Violence)

Sponsor Organization: GNRC Europe and Sixth Sense

The GNRC Europe and Sixth Sense, a youth focused group that promotes intercultural understanding and peace building, will host a two day event with the theme of stopping violence against children and peer- to- peer violence.

The objective is to establish and strengthen dialogue, tolerance and mutual understanding between the youth and children from different religious and ethnic groups from Doboj and surrounding towns as well as to foster better understanding and strengthening of parent- child relationships and preventing violence against children. As a strong reminder of the Bosnian civil war whose impact is still widely felt throughout the country 20 years later, additional attention will be paid to improving non- violent conflict resolution techniques and constructive communication skills.

Itinerary

Day 1: 23 November: Children’s portion

• Opening session, presentation of Coalition activities, and words of welcome
• “Reach for the stars” (from the LTLT Manual)
• Moment of a prayer and a song by Dorde Balasevic titled “Just Let There Be No War''.
• An introduction in the theme of what is violence, the types of violence, how to recognize violence, who are the victims, and data on violence against children and youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Special attention will be paid to peer violence: verbal, physical, and violence in relationships.
• “Diminishing islands'' (from the LTLT Manual)
• Listening to real life stories and discussion
• KUVI - Constructive use of veteran experience in the prevention of violence among young people
• A round- table with representatives from the Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim communities will attend the workshop and talk to the youth in attendance.
• Candlelight vigil and interfaith prayer for child victims of violence
• Message to adults and media

Day 2: 24 November: Workshop with parents and children

• Opening session and introduction
• Information about child rights campaign
• “Face to Face” – Children and parents will participate in role reversal where children will act out their real life situations in the role of parents and parents will in turn act as the children. Through this type of communication, parent and child will experience their relationships in opposite roles with the hope to improve relationships and prevent violence.

To view more photos and connect with Sixth Sense on Facebook, please visit the following links:

Sixth Sense event page

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

keywords: ethics education, two day event, workshop, intercultural dialogue, war, communication, postive parenting, war veterans, interfaith, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, youth organization, exercises