Now The International Youth Congress 2001 is over. It was a totally fantastic
week at Haraldvangen near Oslo in Norway. More than 70 participants from
22 countries found ”The Power in you” and crossed a lot of barriers.
The first day was just about getting to know each other. We were welcomed
with a red rose, that we were expected to give to someone from another
country. This was a good way to make us talk to a stranger – to make strangers
friends. A kind of volunteer force.
|
|
The facilitator
for the whole week was Kate Nash from the UK. She had a very strong
personality and a natural way of getting our attention. This made
us all listen to her and we all marked her words. As the very
first thing she reminded us, that most of us didn’t have English
as our mother tongue, so we were not expected to talk like those
from the UK. We were all in the same boat. It meant a great deal
to us, that she said that. |
She also told us
that she and her husband Peter met each other at IYC 1992. So we should
think of this like a ”Dating Agency”. The most important thing was to
make relations with others. And so we did….
The second day the theme was “Motivations through presentations”. We
had to find our own power through lectures and discussions. The whole
week we had this perfect mix of listening and sharing our thoughts.
On this day I also remember the trip to the Norwegian Sæter where we
went for lunch and to see folkdances. The weather wasn’t with us that
day, but our spirit was, as we were talking and dining with each other.
In the afternoon the room looked like a big Kindergarten. We sat on
the table and on the floor creating our “Country wallpaper”. It was
a lot of fun but also stressful, as these things always are in the last
minutes. We all worried about bringing the best things to the exhibition.
In the evening
we all gathered together in the Lavvo to hear Norwegian folktales and
to bake bread on a stick over the fire. A Lavvo is an enormous tent
with a hole in the top for the smoke. And here we sat around the fire
and sang together: “ Uhhhh, Aramsasa…”.
The third day Rolf Husebø from Norway began with a very good and personal
presentation about him, his life and experiences. In the afternoon we
all broke some physical barriers with riding, water skiing, fishing
or sailing. “I’m sailing, I’m sailing on stormy waters…”. No stormy
waters, but just sun, sun and sun. So I enjoyed my trip on the water
and the water skiing. I was feeling so
proud of myself. And that is indeed a very good feeling. Yeah?
The fourth day
was about ”Owning your own health”. We had a lot of different cases/situations
where we discussed what to do and why – a great way to understand the
different participants.
In the afternoon we heard about the “Centre for mothers with rheumatic
disease”.
After dinner each country presented themselves by singing, showing pictures,
sharing food or something like that. We chose to show four different
ages by letting each say something about their age. Dorte was dressed
like a small girl, Connie explained about being a student with the (small?)
student support, Jette told about being busy as a career woman and a
wife, and I was dressed as an old women. We ended our little session
with a song that we sing when we get drunk, because Denmark is known
for the beer. …. And hopefully for something more??
We all went on
a trip to Oslo on the fifth day. First we had a great time on a Viking
ship with lunch, followed by some time in the centre of Oslo. The planning
group had arranged two different departure times from Oslo back to Haraldvangen,
just in case someone wanted to go back early. But of course no one wanted
that. J
The sixth day some chose to sleep a little longer and some went for
a trip to a small town nearby.
Just before lunch one of Norway’s leading rheumatologists came and told
us interesting things about the newest medicine. In the afternoon we
all had the IYOR General Assembly. The Danish delegate Dorte Rønsler
was elected as new chair. And I must say that the Danish delegates felt
very happy and proud of her!
We ended the day with a barbeque on the porch looking over the water
with the characteristic rocks.
|
|
The seventh
day went by creating national activities through our (new) international
contacts. We heard about the EU’s Youth Program, the European
Manifesto from our good friend Michael Bernardy, the different
countries’ special projects, co-operation between countries and
gained more ideas. Connie Andersen made an informative presentation
of the Danish project “Patient Partners”. |
A Goodbye Party
ended that day and the whole brilliant week. Here there were speeches
and presents for the new board and the skilful project group.
Even though everybody felt sad because of the very last day of this
magnificent week, all the participants still enjoyed being together
and the opportunity for a last conversation with new friends.
This week has been so great. I can’t even explain it. Between these
lines you should fill out a lot of positivism, warmth, confidence and
F.U.N...!
Published
in Newsletter no. 7, August 2001
More articles about the IYC 2001:
Articles from Newsletter no.
7 - August 2001
-
IYC 2001 is over, by Dorte Rønsler, chair of IOYR
-
Once upon a time, by Gábor Kürtösi, Hungary
-
The week was too short, by Signe Bicule, Latvia
-
Breaking barriers, by Camilla Ladestam, Sweden
-
You are accepted, by Ingrid Kósová, Slovakia
-
A sense of belonging, by Richard Jeffery, United Kingdom
-
Heavy, cosy and relaxing by Lucinda Blauw, Sylvia Langbroek and
Juul van der Veen, the Netherlands
Other
articles:
More
about IYC 2001
|
