The training course “Say no to Islamophobia” gathered together in Torremolinos, Spain participants coming from Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania and Spain between 19-26 of February, 2019. The main aim of the project was to equip youth workers with the skills and knowledge necessary to develop practical tools for combating Islamophobia and counteract the spread of negative ideas about Islam and Muslims in their local contexts.
During the first day of the training, participants got to know each other through different non formal games and were introduced to the project timetable, activities and learnt more about the project topic. We have spent a nice afternoon session on the beach, where we had the chance to enjoyed good weather having different non formal activities.
Our second day was dedicated to origins and causes of Islamophobia, Islamophobia in Europe or “What are we afraid of?” and we also discussed the level of Islamophobia in each partner country. During the afternoon, the group visited Asociación Humanitaria Al Emigrante (Torremolinos, Spain) and learned more about their work in the field of emigration and how they help emigrants coming from different part of the world to integrate in the new society and local culture.
In order to understand better what is Islamophobia, in the next day youth workers played some role play games such as “A Mosque in Sleepyville”. This game gave them opportunity to discuss in deeply an important issue that nowadays we often ignore. During the activity in group they debated on the topic “Are you agree if your municipality support the construction of a mosque in your city?”. To deliver the goals of the session trainer also made use of a Youtube Video, “Islamophobic Assumptions exercise” and “Responding to Islamophobia” role play. In addition, participants also discovered what is the position of different national extremism party about Islamophobia.
Another activities we had during the training week were the different energizers, outdoor non formal games and the local campaign in Torremolinos we organized. Our youth workers had the task to raise awareness in the community on different topics that we discussed in the previous days. They also had to create counter-narratives in groups and discussed several issues related to Islamophobia.
During the last session, participants have launched their message against Islamophobia and they were introduced to some of the opportunities that Erasmus Plus programme offer to young people. In addition, participants also received their Youthpass certificates which key competences were previous explained to them.
Last but not least, during the training week we organized an Intercultural night where participants presented their countries, culture, typical food and dances as well as learnt about the many similarities between all of them.
KA1 “Say no to Islamophobia” was implemented thanks to the support of the European Comission through the programe Erasmus Plus and INJUVE.
