CAN Peer Leaders visit Poland
13 staff and young people from NIYF recently returned from a life-changing visit to Poland in Sept 2013 to examine the effects of genocide and the Nazi Holocaust.
The trip to Poland, which included visits to Auschswitz and Birkenau concentration camps, the Weliczka Saltmine and Schindler’s factory in Krakow, marked the completion of a CAN Peace III two year cross community programme aimed at tackling issues such as sectarianism, prejudice, discrimination and racism.
The project was funded by Newtownabbey, Antrim and Belfast Councils and supported by the CAN Peace III Partnership. Throughout the programme, participants also completed an OCN Level III in Future Leadership as well as an OCN Level II in Youth Work.
Programme co-ordinator, Phil Glennon, a participation worker with the Northern Ireland Youth Forum (NIYF) said “this was a fantastic opportunity for young people to travel and experience a reality of history, some of which had a significant impact on their own attitudes, views and opinions. Hopefully this is only the start of a process and we can now build on this developmental work and travel to Belgium and Germany in 2014 and continue the journey of these young Peace ambassadors”.
The following video captures some of their journey:
