Servas Peace School & Servas Cinema School Experience 2018

                                                

·         Peace School: July 06-16^th.

     Cinema School: July 17-21^st.

(Same Dates Every Year)

Concept:

Servas Peace&Cinema schools happen in Ekinci (3aydiy) in Antakya, Turkey every year. Within this school we invite Servas people to come and volunteer for children in the village. Volunteers teach children aged 7-14 anything they know such as peace, drama, music, children songs, languages, chess, pantomime, cultural and environmental issues, art, cooking, etc. We use big gardens, house yards, olive trees fields and streets for the activities. Everywhere is a classroom for us in this village. The main goal of this program is to open new windows in the local children’s lives. Volunteers stay with local families and exchange experiences with them. Families serve meals and their hospitality. No fee needed to attend. Sightseeing tours to experience Antakya (Antioch) are organized form volunteers. Families with children are welcome. 

Antakya is located in the very south of Turkey (close to Eastern Mediterranean sea). It is known to have a multicultural/liberal life style with different religions and ethnic backgrounds (Muslims; Sunnis-Alewis , Christians, Jews, Turks, Arabs, Armenians and Ozbaks). The dishes of Antakya have a big reputation, too.

Peace School Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy-mxog-eNI

http://atesnaar.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-utopia-of-peace-village.html

Notes:

·         Volunteers pay travel expenses only. We take care of them during their stay.

·         School workshops happen in the mornings and evenings only.

·         Any ideas are welcome even during the school time. Flexible program. 

EXPERIENCE SHARE 2018 

Views from participants…

Cinar Ates (12), A Participant Child

I like making my films…

Servas Turkey organizes a cinema school in Antakya, Turkey every summer (June 17-21^st).  Some volunteer cinema people help us to learn how to make films from the very beginning till the end. Normally, children are separated into groups according to their wishes such as cousins group, friends group, brothers or sisters groups. Then, these groups create scenarios. Next, the film crew turns the scenarios into films. All the films that are made in this one week process are presented to the families at the end of the school. But this year we have had a different school format. 

The cinema school was not the same as the other years this year. All the participants worked with groups of 4 or 5 people. Working all together as a one group was the main difference this year. At the beginning, no one liked this idea of working all together in one group. But then, it was pretty exciting and useful. We realized that we did better and more professional film at the end. We created a scenario accompanied with the games in the first step of our film. Each participant had an idea in this film. That was one of the most important things in this process. After we finished the scenario, we prepared the materials we needed for the film. It was tiring days but we managed to finish it in a short time as we shared the responsibilities. Everybody was excited because it was the time of starting making the film. My heart had strong beats. I felt like I was in a dream. We finished our film by working hard. We were so happy. We edited our film with the help of the volunteer cinema people; Hazal and Isik. Finally it was ready. We worked hard and it was really worth it.  It was priceless experience to feel the happiness while we were watching the movie under the trees with friends and families. We want more cinema volunteers from all around the world next year.

Servas Cinema Animation-Peace School, Antakya, Turkey 2018

Işık Dikmen, Volunteer

 Since my childhood I have always had difficulty answering this question; ‘’where are you from?’’ 

would rather not belong to somewhere but belong to everywhere. I have never accepted the idea of leaving, instead I believed in the hope of unity. While I was wishing and dreaming unity a star fell in the sky and I found myself in the village of my dreams with children in Ekinci, Antakya Turkey. It was a meeting in the WORLD.

When I first arrive in Ekinci, village of Antakya, I relaise that I have passed a few pages in the book of civiliation. There are parents who believe in the healing effects and importance of art in the growing world of children. This is a village of children with musical instruments and cameras and a village who reserve a number of walls for children to be decorated.   

I have intended to encourage 20 children with the founder of cinema school, Hazal to make a movie which reflects us/oneself. We have discussed how we can make a movie which includes our imagination, animation, games and our dreams of unity. And finally we have made it.  

First, we have gathered in a circle, held hand in hand and looked into the eyes of one another. We have started the day with the feeling of togetherness by sitting silently even when someone is late. We have had conflicts and got pissed. However we have been able to come together in a circle again. We have shared our feelings and we have become aware of each other.

We have written the scripts of our movie together. How did we do it? There is no specific technic for

that. We have only wanted it from our hearts. Soon we have found ourselves playing the game of the moment but not feeling the necessity of finishing the script. Some of the children expressed the anxiety of exams and some have had to leave school after the failure in the exams.

Every day we have come together in the circle to refresh the feeling of unity. We have melted the anxiety of exams, the pain of breaking up with friends, the desire of freedom and unity in our hearts and we have completed our movie.

I have seen the star of wish that has brought me to the village in the hearts of the children of peace school.

We have been like shining stars of a galaxy that help make dreams of each other come true.

Finally, we have graduated from a magical school that we keep turning around it and that makes our dreams come true.  

Seher&Nadir Kocak, Host family

The Guests of 3aydiy (Village of Ekinci); Greetings to SERVAS

We love to host Servas volunteers coming to teach kids during Servas Peace School. We call them Dyuf (Guests) in our mother tongue; Arabic. The doors of our hearts are always open for them; Ehlen ve Sehlen (Welcome). There are more host families who share their homes, hearts, food tables, conversations, gardens and neighbors with guests. It seems that there will always be such families in this village.

This year, we had the young woman; Ebru Bingöl as a (Dyuf) guest. We didn’t have any information about Ebru beforehand. Actually, we didn’t need to have since Servas means knowing new people. On the other hand, we still had some questions, anxiety and curiosity going through our minds. Was Ebru going to feel comfortable at our home? Was she going to get used to our daily life easily? How about our two little children? Anyway, they were exciting times…

Finally, Ebru showed up and stayed with us for one week. We learnt from her so much and local children did so, too.  She taught children architecture, planned an alternative city, made balls of seeds mixed with clay and they threw them in the nature. They also created the model of the village with recyclable materials. The cultural exchange of the experience was interesting, too. We drank our local Raki (3arak), played and sang together, read poems and exchanged cultural differences. She was good with our children; drew pictures together and played interesting games. We became good friends in a few days. Now, the connection with her is strong and we always keep in touch and visit each other. It seems that this friendship will go on forever.

Let us cut it short!

Isn`t it the enchanted whisper of the desire of humanity for living together with harmony? This is only one of the blessings that Servas has given to us. Let`s remember the Arabic lyrics of the master, soft hearted, strong voice; Samira Tavfik from Syria:

Welcome guest!

Guest of God

The friend of soul,

Won`t let you leave,

God knows we won`t let you leave.

Mehmet Ates, Servas Peace School Coordinator

مرحبا/Merhaba/Hello/Ola/Salute/Privet

We have carried out Servas Peace School with children the 10^th time (July 06-16^th)  this year. Also, a new school called Servas Cinema School was born out of peace school. Cinema school was held by the cinema worker Hazal Orhon and animation practitioner Isik Dikmen between the dates; July 17-21^st.

12 young and adult volunteers participated in the peace school activities this year. Some of the local volunteers were students of school when they were little children. Volunteers from Antakya held workshops and activities during peace school period. Volunteers coming from Istanbul, Izmir and Eskisehir did big contributions to the children and parents lives. There were around 80 children between the ages 5-15 who took part in the peace school activities. The disappointing thing was that we did not have any Servas volunteers from abroad the first time in the history of the Peace School. It was because they found it not safe to travel to Turkey which did not make sense. As we always do, musician volunteer, Uygar Ates, formed a Peace Choir with children and taught them to sing in different languages. The other activities were; School wall decoration with Servas and peace themes, making toy cars using solar panels, hand and sheet prints, bowling, masks and origami with recycling bottles, games with reeds, traditional street games, storytelling, walking trips in nature, dances and watching short films.

At the cinema school, children learned how to work in teams and how to write film scripts, shoot, edit and deal with post production process. When the movie was ready it was displayed on the screen under the grapes trees for the parents. Also, a big party for presentation of the school products was done for parents and local people at the end.

The results of the Peace School after 10 years of experience:

- Children, local people and parents have become more open to different cultures and developed feelings of peace.  

- Children of the village who have participated in the Peace School program started to enjoy learning different languages and the number of the young people who chose to study English at universities has increased considerably.

- University students from the village started to take part in Erasmus and other exchange programs more.

- Local people and children of the village liked and appreciated the Peace School Program.  

- Parents have enjoyed hosting foreign people and it has become something natural unlike in the beginning when they first found it strange to host `strange` people in their homes.

- Parents started to become more willing to send their children abroad and they show more liberal attitudes now.

- Servas Peace School has brought the village not only Servas potential but also the local and national richness and variety.   

- Village of Ekinci in Antakya, Turkey where the school happens is on the way of becoming a village of peace.

- Servas Peace School urgently needs Servas International to support and fund young volunteers from abroad to be able to take part in the school programme.

We would love to welcome more people in our village to share what we know and our care.

Erasmus Almanya Günlügü, 1

Erasmus Almanya Günlügü, 1

Cok sevdigin bir kentte yasamanin bir sakincasi vardir. Yeni kentler kesfetmen icin yola cikmana izin vermez. Izmirden Almayanin Bamberg kentine gelirken ucakta aklimda bu dusunce dolaniyordu. Izmirle ve hatta diger sevgili Antakya ile kavga ede ede yola ciktim. „Sizi biraz unutmak istiyorum. Izin verin baska kentleri de seveyim“ dedim. Sonunda gonulsuzce beni saldilar. Cok eski binlarindan arasindan coskun akan bir nehir ve kanalin bulustugu yere geldim. Sanki az sonra köpruden ve evlerin arasindan rahipler, kesisler, dilenciler ve at arabalari gececekmis gibi his veren Ortacagdan kalma bir kentte idim. UNESCO korumasinda ama ondan onemlisi yuzyillardir halkin korumasinda vaatleri yüksek olan az nüfuslu bir sehir. Istanbul gibi 7 tepe uzerine kurulu Bambergin etrafi orman, düzlük, minik vadiler ve tarlalarla cevrili. Kent insanlari atalarinin evlerinde, sokaginda, kiler kafelerinde, meydanlarinda yasamaya, bira yapmaya ve calismaya devam ediyorlar. Insanlar ve kent tarihi icin ne kadar degerli bir gelenek. Olusan bilgi, kultur, tecrube, degisim ve uzucu olaylar kentin ve insanlarin belleginde bu sayede koruma altinda tutuluyor. Boylece her defasinda yeniden denemek ve kurmak zorunda kalmiyorlar gecmislerini ve geleceklerini… Bilgide ve gelisimde kesinti olusmuyor. Ve bu durum kente saygiyi ve onu korumayi beraberinde getiriyor.  

Bamberg Nazi Almanyasinin bombalarina cok az maruz kalmis ve iste bu yuzden kent eski binlari ile gecmiste yasiyor gibi gorunuyor. Venedik gibi suya komsu evleri ile hayat bir dere gibi sakin ve huzurlu akiyor. Bamberg, katedrali ve bircok gorkemli kilisesi ile ilginc bir kurulus hikayesine sahip. Siradan bir kizla evlenmenin cok garip karilandigi eski caglarda kral 2. Henri tum karsi cikmalara ragmen yolda karsilastigi guzel bir kizla evlenir. Ancak asik ciftin hayat boyu cocuklari olmaz. Henri oldukten sonra ona dua edecek cocuklari olmayacagindan ve boylece cennete gidemeyecegi korkusu ile Bambergde buyuk bir katedral yapmaya ve kesisleri buraya toplamaya karar verir. Bu sayede arkasindan mezari basinda ona dua edecek din adamlarini saglamis olacakti. 2. Henri ayni zamanda Bambergi yine 7 tepe uzerinde kurulu olan 2. Roma gibi yapmak istiyordu. Yani Katoliklerin 2. dini merkezi. Yillar suren inancli mucadele sonunda bunu basarir. Manastir gibi dini merkezler kurar. Zaman icerisinde bu dini cogu hiristiyan ulkede oldugu gibi Bamberg universitesi dogar. Bu arada Bambergde kesislerin ve inananlarin besin ihtiyacini giderecek isli biralar uretilmeye baslanir. Bu biralar Paskalya oncesinde tutulan oruc zamaninda daha da fazla tuketilmeye baslanir. Zira oruc zamani kati olan yani isirilarak hicbirsey yenmemektedir.

Bamberg kenti kumlu topraklar uzerinde kurulmus. Insanlar ortacagdan itibaren kumu temizlik islerinde kullanmak üzere kaziyarak cikarmaya baslar.  Zaman icerisinde 7 tepenin altinda 30 km bulan karinca yuvasi seklinde tuneller olusur. Sonra bu tunellerde bira yapip onu muhafaza etmeye baslayinca Bamberde dunyaca unlu bira sohreti ortaya cikar. Bu arada bu tunellere keller denmeye ve biralara da kiler birasi demeye baslarlar. Sonra da bu kilerlerin ustunde Kiler bahcesi denilen kafeler acilir. Hacilar ve seyyahlar yanlarinda getirdikleri aziklari burada acar ve yer altindan getirilen bira ile yemeye baslarlar. Bu gelenek halen surmektedir. Yani bugün dahi kiler bahcelerine giderken yaniniza yemeginizi goturebilirsiniz.  Bu arada bu tuneller zaman icerisinde farkli amaclar icin kullanilir. 2.dunya savasinda 15 bin nufusa sahip Bamberg halkinin hepsi burada saklanabilmistir. Ayni anda Siemens ve diger sirketler makinelerini tunellere tasiyip savas boyunca cephane ve diger malzemeleri yer altinda uretmeye devam etmisler. Bugun oraya inerseniz pasli makineleri, elektrik kablolarini ve curumeye yakin  bira ve sarap ficilarini gorecek insanoglunun yapabildiklerine ve yapmak zorunda kaldiklarina elbette cok sasiracaksiniz. Iki dunya savasina katilan Almanlar savas ihtiyaclarinin verdigi zorunluluklarla hem silah uretmis hem de teknoloji ve muhendislik becerilerini gelistirmisler. Savaslarin sebep oldugu seylere bir bakin? Bamberg´in baska onemli yonleri de var. Defalarca avrupa sampiyonu olan Basketbol takimini bilmeyen yoktur ancak kentin en basarili oldugu spor basketbol degil su alti hokeyidir. Son 12 yilin sampiyonu bamberg takimidir.

Bamberg sadece kanallardan guzel evlerden ve huzurdan olusmamaktadir. Tarihte korkunc cadi yakma geleneginin siklikla yasandigi bir yerdir. Bu tarihi gercek Bamberglilerden uzun yillar saklanmis. Hatta bu konuda konusmak bile yasaklanmis. Almanlar ve Bambergliler tarihteki kara gunleri ve utanc eylemlerini hatirlama ve onlarla yuzlesme becerisini ileri tarihte kazanmaya baslamislar. Cadilarin yakildigi nehrin kenarina ozur mahiyetinde alevleri cagristiran bir anit yapilmis. Ve ayni zamanda 2. Dunya savasi sirasinda bu kentin sakini oldurulen yahudilerin isimleri, dogum ve olum tarihleri yasadiklari evin kaldirimlarina altin rengi taslara yazilmis. Dunyanin her kenarindan buraya gelip bu isimlerden akrabalarini bulan cok insan olmaktadir. Isimlerin plakalara yazilmasi butun Almanya`da yayginlasan bir uygulama olmus. Sucluluk duygusu az da olsa küllensin diye…

Bamberg Doga muzesi huzur vahasi denecek cok eski bir Barok mimarisi ile yapilmis binada hayat bulmus. Müzenin yaraticisi egitimci ve Alman Katolik aydinlanma hareketinin önderlerinden olan Würzburg-Bamberg Prens Piskoposu Franz Ludwig Freiherr von Erthaldir. Burasi sikilmadan saatlerce vakit gecirebileceginiz bir yer. Gösterisli bir eve benzeyen müzenin 17. Yüzyildan kalma ic tasarimi tarihi bir gezi yaptiginizi hissettiriyor. Ici doldurulmus kuslar ve cesit cesit yumurtalar belki de yüz yildir ayni sekilde burada durmaktadir. Bolgede cikan dogal taslar incelikli bir sekilde sergileniyor. Müzede dolanirken kus, yumurta ve yabani hayvanlarla goz goze geliyor ve canli imis gibi urperiyosunuz. Farkli yerlere konumlandirilmis antika masalar ve sandalyeler müze icerisinde ev havasini vermektedir. Almanlarin disiplinli yaklasimi, kayit gelenegi, sabri, titizligi ve inadi ortaya olaganustu ve siradisi bir muze cikarmis. Muzeyi gezerken kocaman penceresinden disari baktiginizda yüzlerce yillik universite binasini, bina ile ayni yasta olabilecek gorkemli agaci ve altinda sessizligin tadini cikaran sincap ve insanlari yana yana gorebilirsiniz. O anda bahceye cikip yatasiniz gelir. Meditasyon alani gibi…

Bamberg`de Üniversite…

Bamberg Üniversitesine Erasmus yuksek lisans ogrencisi olarak alti ayligina geldim. Sehrin farkli noktalarina sacilmis, hayatla ve sokakla beraber varligini devam ettiren universite yabanci ogrencilerin ilgisini cok cekmektedir. Bu donem benimle beraber 60 ulkeden ogrenci egitime basladi. Cok iyi programlanmis tanitim toplantilari, geziler ve partiler ogrencilerin buraya alismalarini, dostluklar kurmasini, farkli kültürleri ve elbette Almanyayi tanimasini sagliyor. Ilk gunlerde hepimiz geldigimiz ulke ismi ile taninirken birkac gun sonra arkadasliklarimiz ilerliyor ve ulke isimleri yerine insanlar isimleri ile cagrilmaya baslaniyor. Onyarginin azaldigini gosteren ve herkesi insan olarak gorme egiliminin guclendigini ortaya koyan bu durum insanlik icin umut duymanizi sagliyor. Ozellikle dunyada bugun yasadigimiz turlu turlu catismalari goz onunde bulundurursak… Bu sebeplerden dolayi seyahat ve ozellikle Erasmus ile farkli bir kulturde farkli insanlarla birlikte yasamak dunya barisimiz icin cok onemli bir sanstir. Ozerk universite sisteminin en ileri durumunun yasandigi Bambergde merkezi uygulamalar yerine her hocanin kendi ders sistemini uygulandigi bir tarz uygulaniyor. Merkezi sistemle belirlenen hemen hemen hicbir uygulama bulunmamaktadir.  Burada ögrenciler kendi calismalarini, bürokratik islemlerini, fotokopi cekme dahil bircok isini kendileri halletmek zorundalar. Özerk üniversite özerk ögrenciler istiyor. Universite sistemini tanitan Thomas`in dedigi gibi; “Burada size kimse yardim etmeyecek. Herseyden siz sorumlusunuz”. Sanirim Almanlarda gorulen ozguven ve motivasyonda evde ve anaokulunda baslayan ve sorumlulugu cocuga verme geleneginin cok buyuk etkisi var. Bu arada üniversitenin yeni gelen ögrenciler icin yaptigi rehberli tanitim, gezi ve eglenceleri de söylemek lazim. Bunun yaninda henüz ülkemizdeyken her birimize tahsis edilen rehber ögrenciler 6 ay boyunca islerimizi cok kolaylastirdilar. Belediye ise gelir gelmez bize hosgeldin baabinda 50 Avroluk alisveris ceki hediye etti.

Kütüphaneler…

73 bin nüfuslu kücük kentte üniversitenin her mahalleye yayilmis dört kütüphanenesi bulunmaktadir. Belediyenin ve eyaletin cok büyük kütüphanelerini de katarsan Bamberg bir kütüphaneler kentidir diyebilirsiniz. Kimi kütüphane nehrin kenarina kurulmus, su, ördek ve masalimsi tarihi bina manzarasina sahiptir. Bu bastan cikarici müze kosullarinda ders calismak zor olsa da ögrenciler burayi bos birakmamaktadirlar. Kütüphanede istediginiz kitap yoksa ya baska kütüphaneden getirtilir ya da sizin icin satin alinir. Makale yazmanin cogu zaman sinav yerine gectigi bu sistemde ögrenciler kütüphanelerde yasiyormus gibi iclerinde uzun süre kaliyorlar. Yalin ayak, ici icecek, meyve ve kitap dolu sepetleriyle salonlarda ders calisan ögrenciler…

Baska bir Ülkede bir Aile ile Yasamak

Bir insan baska bir ulkede ve hic tanimadigi bir evde ilk gece huzurlu ve mutlu uyuyabilir mi? Eger Birgit ve Martin gibi insanlarin evinde iseniz evet uyuyabilirsiniz. Biyoloji ve Almanca ogretmeni Birgit koroda klarnet caliyor, yardim kampanyalari yurutuyor, Suriyeli bir aileye Almanca ogretmek ve uyumlarini kolaylastirmak icin gonullu bir sekilde evlerini ziyaret ediyor ve tum Bambergliler gibi her kosulda bisikleti ile bir yerden bir yere gidiyor. Hava durumunun hic bir onemi yok. Martin ise bir biyolog. Cevre hareketinde aktif gorevler aliyor. Ispanyolca ogreniyor. Bahceli ve somineli bir evde yasayan ailenin en guzel yonleri ise dusuncelerine gore yasamaya calismalari. Evde cevre dostu Bio urunler kullaniliyor, copler ciddi bir sekilde ayristiriliyor, plastic en asgari düzeyde kullaniliyor, ikinci el esyalar satin aliyor ve gereksiz tuketim yapilmiyor. Bu konuda o kadar ileri gitmisler ki evde yapilan yemekler bes gun gecse de dokulmuyor. Bu sevimli ve evren dostu aile ile kulturlerarasi baris organizasyonu Servas (www.servas.org) araciligi ile baglanti kurdum ve beni evlerine kabul ettiler. Onlar ve ve dostlari ile yaptigimiz dunya gundemi, dinler, cevre sorunlari ve kulturler hakkinda muhabetlerin keyfi ve zenginligi o kadar buyuk ki… Simdi bizim memleketin mutfagi ile Alman mutfagini ayni zamanda Turkiyeden getirdigim tohumlarla buranin topragini bulusturmaya basladim. Ilk sonuclar harika… Antakya`nin Zeytin yagi, nar eksisi, salcalar, kekik ve turlu turlu baharatlar buradaki yemeklere hos bir tat katti. Kumlu topraga ektigim rokalar maydanozlar ve turplar Alman patateslerinin yaninda simdiden filizlendi. Yeni topraklarini garipsemediler sanki…

Sorunu olmayan kent yoktur. Ancak bazi kentler ustaliklarini gostermis. Beraber ve birbirini sik bogaz etmeden yasamanin yolunu bulmuslar.  Insanlar nazik, mutlu, huzurlu gorunuyor ve eglenmek icin, festival yapmak icin kolay bahane buluyorlarsa bu kent buyuk problemlerini asmis demiktir. Belki bu yuzden en zor isi yapanlar dahil tum calisanlarin yuzlerinde tebessum ve isini ciddiyetle yapma tavri var. Bamberg oyle bir kent iste… Bamberg mutlu ve yasli bir kent.  

                                           ev sahibi-host family :)

                                    Bamberg

Erasmus team

                                         Anja&Norbert

                                         ev hayvani mezarligi-pets cemetary