It ended last week the 25th annual Film Festival that Amnesty International Thessaloniki dedicates to Human Rights.
A project born as a rib of the biggest Thessaloniki International Film Festival, it has the same minds behind.
Activist and intellectuals of this city that have been operative for years since the miliary regime. And that at the end of the regime founded the local section of Amnesty International and, after , this Film Festival, that following a previous long season in Olympus Cinema is now hosted in the Port, at the Cinema Museum.

9 days of movies, 2 per nights, aimed at debating the issue of Human Rights on a global level.

We saw movies from all over the world, some tough to digest, as the latest Ken Loach’s movie “Route Irish”  about the exploitation of contractors ( armed bodyguards payed to protect privates in wars) in Irak; or the documentary “Everlasting Sorrow, Life after the Death Penalty” by David Andre and Jerome Mignard: an interview with Sean Sellers, condemned to death penalty at 16 years old that we see after 13 years of captivity, weeks before the execution. We will also see what happens next, with interviews to the other protagonists ten years after the execution: what has it brought to them?

The aim of this tribute festival is to sensitize and discuss internal controversies in our democracies and Amnesty International has been active for 50 years to defend and promote Human Rights.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/greece

The Manifesto contains Intentions and Beliefs of Youth Workers and Youngsters regarding Media and Media Literacy:

01. Media is images, sounds and text or a combination of them, created by people for people.

02. Media is a tool that people communicate with.

03. Media is connecting people and can facilitate relationships between people.

04. Media is an opportunity to share a message worldwide.

05. Media has a direct and everyday effect on our lives.

06. Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.

07. A media literate person:

- is able to understand how and why people produce media
- is aware of manipulation and reacts to it out of personal choice, using critical thinking
- chooses what media to use, see, hear in daily life
- uses media creatively to express ideas and share information, in an accountable respectful way
- participate in society using media
- uses media to promote and claim human rights for himself/herself and others

08. We understand media as teaching and learning process

09. Everyone must have the opportunity to become media literate, through formal, informal and non-formal education, regardless of gender, disabilities, status, etc.

10. By developing media literacy we want to empower youth to take action in using media.

I, undersigned, fully agree to the above Manifesto

http://www.slideshare.net/globalsoma/3b-final-manifestoformatted

Guide your Life! is a is a 12-day youth exchange that will take place in May 2012 in Hollókő, Hungary. The program is organized by Youth Creative Life informal group. 36 young people will meet from 5 different countries: Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia in the exchange in the topic of art and culture and social inclusion.

Date: 2- 13 May 2012

Place: Holloko, Hungary

Countries: Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia

Age: Young people 15- 25 years old

Places available: 5 per country (plus 1 team member per country)

Cost: Travel cost refunded up to 70%  plus 65 euros participation fee

Guide your Life! is a youth exchange with personal development and awareness training. The themes of the exchange are active participation in your life and in the life of your communities as well as intercultural learning, participation through creation. You will have the opportunity to learn from people with different cultural background as well as sharing your own experiences. During the exchange we will use the method “Learning to play, playing to learn” which basically is learning through experiences, developed by the International Synergy Group.  We will approach the themes from the personal angle, where the focus will be on you, on the individual. We will always refer to how the action of one individual – you – effect his or her surroundings – people and the physical universe.

Do you want to know more?

Send an email to global.soma@gmail.com to receive the Information Letter and Application Form!

The International Synergy Group offers a 9-day long international youth exchange and Basic Synergy training

Title: You(th) can be the director!
Date: 18-28 june
Place: Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
Countries: SK; RO; BG; HU; LV; LT; GR
Places availables: 4 per country (plus 1 team member per country)
Cost: travel cost refunded up to 70% plus 60 euro participation fee

What is this training about?

During this training you will be provided with tools which can be integrated into your personal or professional life (as a youth leader). The training deals with vital questions, such as: What do I want to do with my life? How do I cope with events? How do I build up good relationships, both in private life and in work situations? How do collaboration, self-confidence, love, self-expression and other aspects that determine my personal growth make up the framework of my life?

vimeo

“A flash mob (or flashmob) is a term coined in 2003 to denote a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment and/or satire. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The term is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisment, publicity stunts, that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals.”  (wikipedia.org).

Flashmobs are a way to communicate, break schemes and make free and public art. They give expression to the desire of people to be free and have a purpose at the same time, the desire to  be visible while self-expressing, together with people,  in an easy, positive and funny way. They dont need money or equipment, just the willingness of the participants and our (and your) camera to film it.

Flash mobs are a new way to join and be active.

You can have the chance to experience it here in Thessaloniki, this June, as a Global Soma’s local action, so stay tuned for more informations or register in our mailing list

vimeo

A media literacy training developed by Global Soma

Title:    Media training for educators, trainers and youth workers
Date:    6-14 May
Place:    Prepes, Greece
Countries: ESP, GR, IT, HU, SLK
Places available:    5
Costs:    30% of travel and 50 euros participation fee

Online Prep Training: 5 April – 5 May

What is this training about?

Goal: To increase the quality and quantity of youth work by adding or improving the use of media as a tool in youth work.

This training is intended for experienced youth leaders from European countries interested in introducing media as a tool in their organizations and in their work with young people.

You will:

• learn new media by creating media
• discover what is your personal visual culture
• create a mental & physical state that supports your learning style
• be equipped with basic audiovisual competences
• draft and add recommendations to the New Media Literacy Charter for Youth
• develop your online and physical marketing skills
• learn to deal with difficult issues
• transform yor ideas into a product, presentable at the end of the Training Course

Practical information about costs, arrival-departure  & accommodation

Content & Programme

Download the Application form!

This training course is part of the 18months long-term project Video Volunteers – Solidarity in the Age of Social Media.

This meeting is the first event, then there will be four more:

• a flashmob organized in Greece in June
• a media exchange in Hungary
• video productions in Greece for six months and
• a meeting in Spain in October

Participants of this long term project will practise to organize flash-mobs, media workshops and to lead groups of less opportunities youngsters successfully.

Bring video activism in youth work!

Η νέα χρονιά είναι εδώ και το Global Soma ξεκινάει δυναμικά με νέα προγράμματα και σεμινάρια! θα θέλαμε να σας προσκαλέσουμε στο  Σεμινάριο που θα πραγματοποιηθεί στις 15-16 Ιανουαρίου με θέμα την αυτοέκφραση μέσω της κίνησης και του χορού.

”Υπάρχει συνεχώς χορός μέσα σου, στις σχέσεις σου στην καθημερινή σου ζωή”

Σε προσκαλούμε να παίξεις, να πειραματιστείς με το σώμα σου, τις κινήσεις σου. Το σεμινάριο είναι χώρος παιχνιδιού όπου κάποιος μπορεί να αναζητήσει, να ερευνήσει θέματα σε ασφαλή και καθοδηγούμενη ατμόσφαιρα. Με αυτή την προσέγγιση, κίνηση και χορός δεν σημαίνουν χορογραφία, παραδοσιακές έννοιες του «ωραίου» και της «παράστασης» δεν υπάρχουν.

Η βασική ιδέα προέρχεται από τα αρχαία χρόνια, πώς η στάση του σώματος καθρεφτίζει δυνάμεις, εμπειρίες και συναισθήματα του ανθρώπου. Όπως επίσης μαρτυρά ιστορίες για το πώς κάποιος ζει τη ζωή του και πώς συνδέεται με άλλους.

Όλα όσα συμβαίνουν μέσα μας επηρεάζουν το σώμα μας και ότι επηρεάζει το σώμα μας επηρεάζει και την ψυχή μας. Για παράδειγμα κράμπες, σταμάτημα της αναπνοής, ο περιορισμός στις κινήσεις μπορεί να είναι ένα παιχνίδι της αλληλεπίδρασης σώματος και ψυχής.

Αυτή η προσέγγιση προσανατολισμένη στη διαδικασία φέρνει δημιουργικότητα, αυθορμητισμό στη ζωή. Οι περίπλοκες αλληλεπιδράσεις του ανθρώπου με τον περίγυρο μπορούν να εξεταστούν σε μια συγκεκριμένη κατάσταση. Οι αυθεντικές κινήσεις, φαντασίες, σύμβολα, προσωπικοί μύθοι είναι ευπρόσδεκτοι και παρόντες να χτίσουν ένα ολοκληρωμένο ανθρώπινο σώμα.

Τι θα αποκομίσεις?

• Να συνειδητοποιήσεις καλύτερα το σώμα σου
• Να αποδεχτείς το σώμα σου
• Να δημιουργήσεις χώρο για αυθορμητισμό
• Να εξερευνείς τον κόσμο με τρόπους παρόμοιους με αυτούς που χρησιμοποιούσες όταν ήσουν παιδί
• Να εκφράσεις πράγματα χωρίς να ασκείς κριτική
• Να απολαύσεις και να εξασκήσεις τον αυτοσχεδιασμό
• Να ενωθείς με τον εαυτό σου και με το περιβάλλον σου ταυτόχρονα

vimeo

Σκοπός του σεμιναρίου είναι να βοηθήσει να αυξήσεις την αυτογνωσία σου και την ικανότητα να εκφράζεις πράγματα μέσω της κίνησης και του χορού.

Έχω επισυνάψει όλες τις διαθέσιμες πληροφορίες σ’ αυτό το email.
Υπάρχουν 20 διαθέσιμες θέσεις!

Group EVS – Icebreaker :: 17th July-7th August 2010

2 places for Greek volunteers available, contact Pro Anna Espy on Facebook.

The main purpose of the project is to realize and practice “EVS” (European Voluntary Service) within a group context. Another fundamental idea of the Group EVS is that we empower the volunteers to explore their social environment and the local community as civil journalists. They will participate in workshops for skills-acquisition for creating photo and video journalism, and written news reports on social issues.

In this group EVS will participate 30 volunteers coming from 10 countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine) hosted in the Netherlands by the foundation Olde Vechte. During the 21 days of the project volunteers will live and work together. They will get the responsibility to create a living environment, in which every single one of them will get the chance to develop him/her self on the level that connects to the individual need. Volunteers will be responsible for the working schedule, house keeping and the free time. During the whole project they will be working in coaching teams of 5-6 people. All teams will have a coach (from the team of volunteers of the organization) and have the support of the two mentors of the project on a daily basis.

The voluntary work will consist of work that can be done in cooperation by a group of people. For example creating stairs for an outdoor theatre (the biggest in Europe) in the forest of Ommen, or cutting trees and bushes so other vegetation can grow, or clearing out tunnels for badges to cross roads safely. All of the voluntary work will be supervised by professionals, and screened on safety.

In this project 100% of the volunteers must be less-opportunity. More information about this as well as about the finances, hosting and travel you will find in the infoletter:  group_EVS_infoletter_2010

Training? Not a clue.. All I wanted was two things –  have a great time in a foreign country and meet new people. They pay for the tickets? – Perfect! So I went there.. We found ourselves with 30 strangers in Poggio Mirteto, and after ten days everyone of us left with 29 friends in his pocket, a huge collection of memories and a new realization of our capabilities – “You can get what you want”, from food, water and shelter to the lifestyle you desire. In this training I got much more than I was hoping to.

Roman Pozikidis, 23

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The International Synergy Group is offering 3 training events

The Event Wise� Training in January 2010 has already 36 applications, which means there are 8 available places. This basic synergy training will take place in the Netherlands from 25^th until 31 of January 2010.� Priority is given for participants older than 30 years (Parents). Translation is available if you need this write this clearly in the application form so we can arrange it.

Download the Event Wise information letter for January 25-31, 2010

The Training for Mastery and Excellence (Advanced Synergy Training) in January has 19 application, which means there are 9 available places. This advanced synergy training will take place in the Netherlands from 16 until 23 January 2010. It is open to graduates of previous Synergy trainings.

Training for Mastery and Excellence – Advanced Training information letter

The Event Wise Training in March 2010 has already 20 applications there are 24 places available. This basic synergy training will take place in the Netherlands from 11^th until 17^th of March 2010.� Priority is given for participants older than 30 years (Parents). Translation is available if you need this write this clearly in the application form so we can arrange it.

Download the information letter for Event Wise basic synergy training, 11-17 March 2010

All interested Greek participants please contact Stella Saratsi at global.soma [at] gmail [dot] com !