It was born very
little but it grew up very fast. Its roots have gone deeper inside the earth
and the branches stretched happily to the sky in a short time. It has turned
out to be a huge tree where hundreds of people can sit underneath. This is Live with Us Share with Us Children
Programme (LUSUP).
LUSUP took place
with 22 volunteers coming from Spain (Catalonia), Romania (Transylvania),
Guatemala, France, Iran and Turkey and 70 local children in Ekinci (Aydi-Former name-Arabic), a village of
Antakya in Turkey this summer again. It was clear that the programme left
distinctive influence behind it. The Servas (www.servas.org) volunteers hosted
by local families studied environmental issues, peace, art, music, creative
drama, different languages, chess, played children games and did reading
activities with children. They displayed short movies, did radio interviews, country
presentations, multi-lingual choir, taught how to make Origami enthusiastically.
“The program area turned out to be a Servas Campus” as Catalan Volunteer Quim
described. The house yard, the streets and the big garden named Amazon were the
places for sharing, learning, having fun, thinking and discovery.
One of the
participant children named Çınar said; “I love Servas because we learn
different things here.” The programme aims to reach exactly this goal. It
succeeds it by bringing people from all around the world into the village
through the volunteers, introducing new ideas, activities, programmes, games,
languages and different cultures of world to the local children. It is a mutual
transfer of the knowledge, experience and background. The children receive new
ideas whereas volunteers learn vast cultural diversity of Antakya (Antioch)
through children, local volunteers and people. We let new fresh waters to join
the lake and open new canals to water different lands. There are lots of
options in life and children need to know them in their earlier ages to
Different languages different lives…
Children started
the day saying “Good Morning” in Arabic, Turkish, Catalan, Hungarian, Spanish,
Greek and other languages. They learnt how to say peace, colours in these
languages and also sing. The songs of multi-lingual choir left a great effect
on children and families. The goal was to raise awareness towards languages. We
were relieved when we heard colorful words coming from the mouths of children
at the Servas Campus every day. The goal was met. The views of Catalan
(volunteer) therapist on the children’s language ability were not surprising.
Quim said; “Kids can pronounce words in
Local people experiencing discoveries…
“Our parents
started to feel proud of us once we started to communicate in English with the
volunteers. Because they liked the volunteers and appreciated their effort they
did for the local kids. The idea of
going abroad did not sound strange to them now” said Selen, one of the local translators
studying English language at University. Muhterem, who hosted a volunteer, tells;
“People coming from every corner of the world try to learn our culture. They like
and respect it. They learn Arabic and Turkish words. Also, they try to learn
the different cultural aspects of Antakya. Honestly, I am also becoming more
aware of my culture each time they ask me questions.” Another host, Semire, explains;
“Marina from Catalonia, asks many questions about our life, traditions and
meals. When my daughter Esra (local translator) fails to answer some of the
questions she asks me or her father. Esra is becoming more curious about life here
and in the world.” Local children get to know new people and they learn how to
trust
The young woman,
Ela, who hosted the Iranian volunteer Nasim deals with communication problems
via
LUSUP and Servas
seeds like these lands and they have blossomed very quickly. The village has become
part of the world information and culture network in six years of time. A new
generation who are familiar with global thinking has grown up now.
Volunteers are teaching and learning…
Volunteers, arriving
with different predictions, knowledge, cultural background and expectations in
Antakya
The sightseeing
tours organised for volunteers allows them discover the multicultural life
background of Antakya. Once they learn that different religions have been
living together and touching each other for ages they realise that they are in
an unusual spot of the world. At that moment I try to explain, Szerénke, coming from Transylvania; “Turkey has many faces.
Antakya is just one of those many faces.”
The children,
instead of going home at night, worked like ants to learn from their
photography teachers
Chess trainer, Erdem,
didn’t expect such big interest for chess. He got lost with kids holding their
chess tables in the deep spots of the fruit garden every day. We sometimes
forgot them and they also forgot the
.JPG)
Experienced
volunteer Zuleyha brought the Little Prince into the village. Children loved
him. They read a piece of his adventures every morning, discussed his
philosophy, did role plays and wrote him letters. At the end, volunteer artist, Leonie, painted Little
Prince in the wall picture (Wonderland) she created with the kids. Little
Prince visited the kids in the village and introduced his little planets to
make discoveries about life.
The atmosphere
that the programme created in the village was amazing just like every year.
Quim says; “there is a lovely feeling in the streets and people. I see positive
things everywhere. Lots of suprises. Lots of different things”. Nasim ; we are always
It was me who took
any advantage to reflect peace thoughts to the souls, eyes and brains of the
kids throughout the programme. One day, I wanted them to design their own peace
organisation and a logo for it. The results were wonderful. One group of
children imaged to form a music band and give concerts in the regions of war or
conflicts. Another group wanted to organise big meetings of people from
neighbouring countries at the borders. They displayed these ideas on posters at
Servas Campus for their friends.
Actors and radio
workers coming from Transylvania combined sports, drama and games together and
had lovely time with kids in the olive tree gardens and streets. They also did
a professional radio interview with all the programme participants to be
broadcasted by the radio station in their country
Local translators explores new windows…
LUSUP tries to
use the local potential as much as possible. More people participate in the
programme every year. Young people, going to university soon, found more
opportunities to volunteer as translators, guides and assistants during the
programme. Hosting volunteers helped them set up friendships and overcome
language barriers. They were not only translating for the children but also for
their parents and neighbours. So the transfer of experience among people was
succeeded. Young people developed their own self confidence and started to imagine
new lives out of borders. One of the translators, Esra, explains with
excitement; “it was a far dream to travel even to another city of Turkey before
LUSUP but now, I am making plans to visit Marina and Nico in Barcelona. Aliye
joins the conversation; “my parents do not think that it is weird to go abroad
and volunteer. I think they changed her mind after meeting the Servas
volunteers.
Growing up with
LUSUP and hosting volunteers for 6 years, Mevsim received a lot of praises during
the programme as she showed high language competency and was very helpful. Let’s
listen to her, "Servas programme was my first motivation to learn English.
Marilyn who was one of the volunteers from Canada helped me learn the first
words in 2009. I learnt many things about the world with this language.”
Language student, Gizem says; “I have never had such fruitful time in the
summer until this year. I wish the volunteers could stay longer.”
From the local to the international….
LUSUP proves
again that any person with genuine experience, background, perspective and
values can travel to different places on earth and share this potential with
the local children and people. It is time to promote this programme in
different parts of the world since it carries the potential of activating the
local resources, provoking the inner worlds and curiosity of children, introducing
the idea of world citizenship, increasing awareness towards environment and providing
a fruitful summer holiday for volunteers. Besides, it costs a
Making LUSUP one
of the main programmes of Servas international and then promoting this
programme in
Mehmet Ateş
LUSUP Coordinator
Antakya/Turkey, 2014
For the 6-year of programme archive:
