From the concrete jungle to the countryside - twelve young people joined Oui Act's Forum 2022.
by Marina Benedik and Manon Michelle Monhemius
This year’s Oui Act Forum (4-7 July 2022) took twelve young people (between 16 and 20) from the concrete jungle to the countryside, which they loved.
Each morning, a session of silent reflection, introspection (inner compass) and sharing allowed to free the mind before starting a new day of collective life.
The day started with getting to know each other. As competition is seen as a driving force by the young people, the workshop had this element integrated. Afterwards, there was time for everyone to share their experiences with the Oui Act workshop cycle. Participants shared their positive experiences and some of their ideas for improvement. Among some of the ideas were workshops on ‘How to tackle inequalities’, ‘Abortion’, and ‘The importance of physical activities’, were proposed.
During testimonies from Martine and Spencer (IofC France) about ’a life of commitment’, they shared with the young people stories from around the world about people working towards positive impacts in society as a way for them to reflect on one's actions in the world.
During a workshop’ life project’, participants talked about how they see their lives evolving in the mid and long term. They spoke about their values, failures, and lessons to be learned. The idea of freeing oneself from one’s fears and harmful beliefs came to light as several people shared their desire to please their parents constantly.
Participants’ concerns about society and the future were touched upon during a workshop where they discussed topics like, ‘Does money make you happy?’ ‘Life after death’, ‘How to help people in need’, among others.
Realities and motivations behind volunteering were debated in another discussion.
The role-playing game Himalaya (survivors of a plane crash in the Himalayas) was characterised by mutual respect and the willingness to decide in perfect harmony. Both groups endorsed democratic procedures through voting. The debate on leadership and the role of leaders was short but lively, discussing, for example, bad leaders, political leaders, and leadership takeovers. The goal of the workshop was to differentiate between power and responsible leadership. A definition of leadership was unanimously agreed upon: “The ability to inspire others to get involved and act to achieve a collective ambition and reach a common goal.”
After recalling the meaning of Maslow’s pyramid, a debate emerged on the need to respect this pyramid to efficiently offer to others what they need, according to their place in the pyramid. The example of immigrants was used, who first seek to have their basic needs met, like eating and being physically and legally safe, before asking them for things like learning a new language.
During the creation of citizen projects, three significant projects emerged and developed further. Project 1 - Raising awareness about diseases that affect high school students, like STDs, AIDS, Long-Covid, cancer and others; Project 2 - Reconciling society with the sick and disabled by getting people with disabilities engaged in social activities such as preparing meals for the needy; Project 3 - Humanitarian trip to Morocco, to construct a water reservoir for an entire isolated.
During this last day, participants shared experiences about the Forum. They expressed their joy and satisfaction with the days they had spent together, where they got to bond over universal values, and collectively created a banner as an expression of this.
