'Democracy in Motion III' - Wendy's view

One of the best things about the Multicultural Language Cafe, in my opinion, is the huge variation of mindsets, of views. Sometimes these different visions create a better view of the truth, sometimes they lead to confusion or even clashes, but they're always an opportunity to learn and to broaden our horizons. Umur and I went to exactly the same training course, so of course Umur's view of 'Democracy in Motion III' has a lot in common with mine, and yet there are so many differences that it would be too subjective to give you just one of the views.

As Umur wrote before, it took us a long time to get to Chernivtsi, so although we were 'away' from the 8th until the 19th of October, the actual training took place from the 10th until the 17th. In those days, sometimes we just had to listen and take notes, but fortunately we also learned by doing things, in an interactive way. The best workshop - in my opinion - was about making graffiti stencils. (Funny? Check! Creative? Check! A way of expressing yourself? Check! Usable for illegal activities? Check! ...A workshop can't get much more exciting than that, I think.) Besides this 'practical' stuff, we got information about democracy (e.g., what is it, and what should it be?), activism, artivism or activism through (street) art, and about the Ukrainian Euromaidan protests in 2013/2014. Especially the Euromaidan stories were inspiring, because they came from people who formed the very heart of the Euromaidan protests in Chernivtsi.

If I have to describe my time in Ukraine in one word, it would be 'impressive'. If you are wondering whether that's good or bad: keep wondering a bit longer, because that is exactly why I chose this word. In some ways, this country is the worst I have seen so far. The infrastructure, the amount of stray dogs and cats, the poverty... (I totally agree with Umur that borders are strange, ridiculous things.) On top of that, during the training there were many stories about corruption and other problems, and disturbing videos about peaceful demonstrations that got completely out of hand... However, that doesn't mean I had a bad time in Chernivtsi - not at all. Friendly people, nice city, a good hotel and - last but not least - an informative training course that changed the way in which I perceive democracy and activism.

For me, the most important thing I learned is this: even if you are quite happy with the 'democracy level' of your country, like me, there's so much to stand up for. Maybe you disagree with the way refugees are being treated. Maybe you would like a community garden in your neighbourhood. Maybe you distrust politicians. No matter what, you need to do something in order to change things. Of course, you can just sit back, relax and complain - or you can make a difference. It might seem unnecessary, or someone else's responsibility, but in order to create true democracies and a sustainable world for future generations, we need to act accordingly. We need to participate. And yes, big changes usually require a lot of time and support, but if nobody starts pushing the wheel... By becoming active, you - we - will set democracy (and the world) in motion.