With pleasure permit me to share my experience and interesting moments from a world congress in Copenhagen Denmark.
Lessons learnt
According to the Copenhagen Declaration, the mission of the congress is to analyze and evaluate the possibilities of our profession in the light of a globalised world; no wonder the theme of the congress I attended some months ago was The Social Educator in a Globalised World.
The current economic crisis increases social hardship for many people and makes other people even poorer. The crisis threatens the life possibilities of children and young people and has severe negative influence for people with disabilities and all other impairments.
It never occurred to me that social educators have a direct role to play in order to fight the current crisis. Even if it would have crossed my mind it was hard for me to figure out how. Thanks a lot to this congress because I learnt that as social educators we must specifically point to the consequences of the crisis in the lives of vulnerable children, exposed adult groups (people with functional impairment, abusers of drugs and alcohol, the homeless people and many others). The crisis only worsens the situation.
I also leant that besides specifically pointing to the consequences, social educators must put pressure on national government and international associations and demand that they take care of the ones who are hit most severely by the crisis. We must encourage international relief organizations to devote targeted resources toward children, young people and adults facing exclusion from the society.
Social educators must fight for a globalised world, which benefits all, and contribute to social cohesion. We must create new alliances across national borders; develop new and progressive ways to obtain global justice. We must take advantage of global network and media technology to develop and share knowledge on how to put the professional theories to work. This exchange of knowledge and experience will strengthen the profession and benefit the ones we seek to help.
I was pleased to learn that this kind of work requires ongoing training and continued improvement.
As a matter of fact I hereby welcome invitations to any future training program that would enable me to grow, should the opportunity arise.
I learnt from Jakob von Uexkull, one of the keynote speakers of the congress that the greatest problem we face today is that we have the means but are not using them to solve the pressing problems and challenges in the society. He cited the slave trade (slavery), which was once politically and economically accepted and profitable, but a group of courageous few individuals, out of their conscience decided to abolish it. Social educators can do something to the current challenges in society as well. There are times in history when, to doubt is the highest wisdom.
Dr Karl Elling Elling Ellingsen another keynote speaker inspired me with his lecture on Self-determination for persons with Intellectual Disabilities. The right of self-determination does not exist if the right is disrespected. Violations against legal rights undermine the legal protection and challenge the right to make decision. He also stated that participation without redistribution of power is an empty and frustrating process for the powerless. To make a change, be the change!
Interesting moments
In the congress I found two instances interesting to me. The first was the opening event and the second (to be posted later) was a lecture from Dr Martin Brokenleg, a Canadian.
In the opening event, the President of the International Association of Social Educators, Benny Anderson, welcomed every one by calling the names of the different nations present and their respective flags being displayed on the large digital screen. He started from A to Z. When he approached F, I found myself caught up in this dialogue with a colleague next to me:
Jay: Hey Peter, guess what?
Peter: What?
Jay: We’re going to run into trouble now
Peter: How?
Jay: I am originally from Cameroon, West Africa, but I have registered as a student living and studying in Finland, which means I am representing Finland and I am not sure who to stand for when called upon
Peter: Well…Jay, we live in a globalised world
Before I ended my statement, I heard the President saying ´and now ladies and gentlemen lets welcome our colleague from Finland´ I stood up. The whole hall (over 650 participants from 44 different countries) was cheering and smiling and clapping and the President was laughing and smiling. I am sure that at that moment I was blushing, if I were white.
During coffee break one Danish participant came to me and asked.
Excuse me sir; did you say you are from Finland?
You are right, I confirmed.
And he added, ´but sir, the last time I visited Finland, the Finns didn’t look like you´
`That’s correct` I admitted. And then I continued ´however that was the last time. Due to global warming, the Finns have become darker and nowadays they look like me´
It was an interesting moment. The media immediately rushed for an interview. You can find the interview in a video (Getting Started) from this link
Wishing you all a lovely jolly merry Christmas.
