Global Citizens Day in Bahrain

January 7, 2010
   
Y-PEER Bahrain, in collaboration with the General Organization for Youth and Sports (GOYS), conducted a training session for 20 young people from Global Xchange, an organization that recruits young people to work in teams for community projects. Volunteers live with host families and work in host communities for three months in the UK, followed by three months in the partner developing country. Global Xchange is designed as a fully reciprocal volunteer programme, involving cross-cultural partnerships in every aspect of their work. Volunteers are subsequently selected to reflect diversity in terms of geography, ethnicity, ability, education and gender.
 
Global Xchange Fellow and Y-PEER Bahrain Focal Point, Ebrahim Al Namlity, recently returned from UK and arranged the half-day introduction session for the bi-country team.  During the event, known as Global Citizens Day, Focal Point-in-Charge, Ahmed Fadhul, introduced them to Y-PEER utilizing various resources from the global network, including a presentation about Y-PEER methodology, as well a presentation explaining the links between health and behavior.   
 
Participants gained a perspective on issues related to Sexual and Reproductive Health and the role of peer education. Participating in interactive exercises such as "Power Walk", "Thirty Seconds of Fame" and "How Careful Are We in Our Health?" (taken from the Training of Trainers Manual in the Y-PEER Toolkit), fellows were able to learn about their own values, how to communicate about sensitive issues related to sexuality, as well as to respect the values of other people and how they affect their actions. Y-PEERs also introduced the concept of edutainment, and showed some videos produced by Y-PEER.  

"For participants of Global Xchange, knowledge, learning and experience is derived from direct personal engagement and developed through structured reflection. The programme impacts most directly on the young people who volunteer, but its power extends to the families who host them, the community projects with which they work and the wider communities in which they live. For all of these participants in the programme, Global Xchange demonstrates the potential and promotes the values of active global citizenship."
 
Y-PEER Bahrain was fortunate to exchange information and ideas with the exchange program, and their reciprocal contributions will undoubtedly be reflected in the ongoing work of those involved.
 
Additonal information about Global Xchange can be found at: www.globalxchange.org.uk
 
For further queries about edutainment and theater-based peer education techniques, please refer to TBPE Manual for Peer Education.