FETAC Certificates celebration

On Wednesday 24th of March 2010 I was invited to join the celebration of the delivery of the FETAC Certificates. FETAC is a one-year course of Youth Work and give to the participants the main knowledge, skills and abilities to work as a youthworker. Some of the workers in The Reco and Aisling Project where there to recieve the Certificate. The event was exciting. In the first moment, I didn't know too much about the FETAC, who did the course, how important it was for the participants, etc.

However, the event make me aware about what the FETAC is and how important it is. I think it's important to mention that the lordmeyer of Dublin cames to present the event and delivery the Certificates to the students.

Laurence, the training worker in BRYR, who organised the structure and all the stuff because the FETAC was developed in The Reco, was the first to give us a speech. She was glad and happy because that day had finally arrived and she was also thankful to the students for their participation.

Prunchase and Denise, two of the participants were the next ones to speak. For me was the most interesting words of the night. They emphasised the skills, abilities and changes that the training had given to themselves. They were exciting to have been in that moment and as well very thankful to BRYR, the trainers, and everyone who made that posible.

Finally, the Lordmeyer gave us some words talking about the importance of the youthwork and the youthworkers in the community.

St. Patrick's day

17th of March is St. patrick's day!! We could say: The Irish day!

The whole country strats to prepare that day some time ago. In Dublin lots of activities are running around the city during that day: concerts, performaces, street art, etc...

In the Reco we wanted to celebrate that day as well. Although the centre was closed on Wednesday 17th of March, we did some celebrations before that day. First of all, we decorated the building and the furniture properly for the St. Patrick celebrations.

On Monday, from 2:30 till 4:30, we did a kind of St. Patrick's day party. It consisted in several performances of Irish dancing and singing groups. A dancing group did their exhibitions of Irish dance. Some Irish young musicians show us some Irish songs and, at the end, we could enjoy all together with some funny Irish dance.

In the evening, during the Open Monday, two Irish musicians came to sing Irish songs for the young people. They started their show, and after a few songs the young people, full of energy, wanted to join them, so they started to sing their own songs and we made a really nice and funny show where everybody could participate singing and dancing!

Let's go the theater with the "Ex - Animation Group"

The Animation Group is the old name of this group, a new group with some of the same faces of the last months, but as well with lots of new people. Nowadays, the "Ex - Animation Group" consists of around twenty young people, all the new people arrived during January and February. Now, we are trying to see what we want to do as a group, what interests they have and what we could do to develop it. After some weeks, the young people emphasized a special interest in drama, in develop drama skills as an actor and as well as a spectator, I mean, to join a theater play.

And this is what we did the last Wednesday 10 of March. We went to a previous of a theater play called .... The Group was spectant to see the play theater. We went there and we suprised when we realised that the play would be represented in an old church that didn't work as a church anymore, but all the structure and the church stuff were still there. It was a church prepared to be used as a theater.

The play was about an old famous story. Actually that theater story was written lots of years ago.

We could enjoy the play, because the actors were really good, they acted very well and the play was dynamic.

The story made think to the spectator about topics as the human fear, the personal intersts, love, discrimination of the women, specially in the 17th century, how far can the hysteria goes in the humans, etc.

Now, all of us know what a good actor is. Next step: Bring the theater in the group: workshops, dynamics, short stories...

Training Introduction to Youthwork

On Tuesday, 23rd of February, I took part in a training for a voulnteers and workers. The training was: Introduction to Youth Work.

Before starting the training, to be honest, I thought that, although that training would help me to remind things that I already knew, I couldn't learn any really new topic. Often the humans don't give enough value to the things that has it, or just use to think that we already know more than we really know. That was waht happened to me because, at the end of the training, I could say that I learn new things, for sure.

The first dynamic of the Training was to write on a baloon all that we are related to the youth work. I wrote, for example: EVS, Europe, Education, Support, etc. After that, and comparing what the people had written I realized how your background, age, experience, culture, etc. put you in a concrete position as a youth worker.

After that, we did dome dynamics to know what the theory of the youth work say and what happen dayli in the youthclubs.

The most interesting topic that I learn was about the community dimension of the youth work. We realised with some dynamics and some discussions with the group that the youth work is, in a big part, a communty work, where the youth work must know the needs of the community, the needs of the young people, the history and customs of the people to work properly with them. Moreover, the youth work generate an impact to the communtiy. Impacts that we can see in a short or long term.

Art workshop for the youthworkers and volunteers

Increase your skills is not bad. If moreover, you have the chance to increase the ones which you are not very good with, it's a big chance.

That's what happened on Thursday 11th February.

The Art worker in The Reco organized a worshop for the workers and volunteers.

Although I arrived not too convinced about my success in that workshop, at the end I was suprised...

The story was about making hats. First of all, we had to draw a draft of which kind of hats each one wanted to create and choose one of them. Once the hat was choosen, we had to create the first shape, the structure of the hat, and after that, start creating the shape of your own designed hat. The technic was with straw sticks that everyone had to cut properly for the shape of the hat.

In terms of skills, I realised that I'm not as bad as I thought before starting. It was funny, realxed, and interesting.

Although, for me, the most interesting things of the workshop weren't about skills, good and bad hats, or technics. The interesting things were about how you feel when you are creating an own creation, abot being concentrate in what you are doing, about practice the patience and about trusting in your own skills.

I mean, while I was doing my hat, I was just attentive in what I was doing, my awareness was in the hat, in the shape, in the picture, in the tape, in the straw... The interesting part of it, for me, is that it was an inconscious way to be. I mean, I didn't have to do any effort to put all my atention on it, it was just some process like: If I'm doing that, my awareness is just on that.

Otherwise, I felt relaxed, I discovered that patienly and trusting in me I could have an idea of my favourite hat, draw some hats, choose one, and develop a hat, an art creation.

I thought how many benefits the art and the art workshops can give to the young people, although they sometimes aren't aware about the benefits of that kind of workshops or just think that they are not good with it.

How we could do that the young people see the benefits of the art workshops for themselves and they use it?

Junior Cadets

Junior Cadets is the youth club which with I have been involved for a longer time. Since my first weeks here I have been part of the youth leaders team as a volunteer working and collaborating with them.
This is a youth club for people aged 10 to 12 years ols. It runs evryday from 2:30 till 4 :30 and, under the principles of The Reco, the final aim of these club is to provide the young people with a quality non-formal education service and facilities. A normal day in the Junior Cadets starts at 2:30 when the young people arrive from school and spend some time doing their homework (if they have and want it), or doing some leisure activities with their friends in the pool room, the computers room, Art Room, etc. Every Friday a significant amount of young people with some leaders go to the football pitches near The Reco, where we organize different sport and leisure activities for them. During the year we have been developing different activities such as the creation of Molly Dolls for the Halloween party that takes part every year in The Plaza in Ballymun. A garden project, pool competitions, art workshops and lots more activities are just example of what are we doing in that Youth Club.

On July, in order to finish the year with the Junior Cadets we did an overnioght trip in Wicklow mountains. It was a great opportunity for the young people to finish the year and have lots of fun.

Aisling Project

Every Tuesday since the begining of My EVS experience I have been working and collaborating with one of the groups of Aisling Project. These organisation is not officially part of BRYR but we could say they are "friends organizations" in Ballymun. Aisling use some of the facilities of BRYR as The Youth Facility (The Reco), fact that ilustrate of how the brotherhood among youth organizations works in these neighbourhood. My role in the group is helping them taking part of the activities and the youth club. However, Aisiling has also its own space, provided with different rooms and a kitchen.

The usual programme of this youth club is helping the young people with their homework, cooking the dinner, eating all together in the living room. The second part of the afternoon is dedicated to do some activities related with the interest of the young people who is involved in the club. One of these examples is a short movie we have been workink in. Trying to create a plot related with some of the young people interests and experiences we are now going through all the different steps that this process requires.