- Culture of Peace -
Peace is in our hands
"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of
men that the defence of peace must be constructed." This principle, found
in the preamble of the UNESCO constitution, was the motto of the first day
of the IRFF international volunteers camp. The theme of the camp was"The Culture
of Peace" and it was organised in Slovakia from 16th to 25th July 1999.
26 volunteers representing 12 different countries and three continents gathered
in the historical village of "S
ahy"
situated on the Slovak - Hungarian border. One of the purposes of their gathering
was to join local professionals in the archaeological research of a medieval
monastery located in Sahy.
This was also a pilot project for IRFF, an event with emphasis on the Friendship
characteristics of IRFF. The cultural element of the program and the project
"Culture of Peace" fulfilled the goal of more emphasis of cross-cultural friendship.
The IRFF staff, together with the participants, can be called a laboratory
for an experiment in friendships across cultural boundaries, and from the
outcome we can safely say that it was a success.
The days of the camp where divided into several sections. The first two days
focused on orientation and education, after which followed 5 days of work,
and the last day was reserved for reflection and the closing ceremony. On
Friday evening at the opening ceremony, welcoming remarks and a presentation
on the topics of the history of the Sahy area and UNESCO works in Slovakia
was given by Ms Dvorakova. She is the Vice-director of the Slovak National
Institute of Monuments Preservation and a member of the UNESCO National Commission
in Slovakia.
The first two days we held the "IRFF Orientation Program" educational part
of the camp with lectures, presentations, teamwork and discussions. During
the two-day orientation the focus was to create unity and harmony among the
participants. The themes World Peace, Conflict Resolution, IRFF Worldview,
and How to Do a Project created a high level of interest and involvement from
the participants. The final reflections by the volunteers confirmed this accomplishment.
Mr. Massimo Trombin, European IRFF co-ordinator and the President of IRFF
Luxembourg, led these topics with the participation of Magda Balentova, Director
of IRFF Slovakia. In particular, she gave a report about the "World Congress
of UNESCO Clubs" held in Jekaterinburg, Russia, which she attended from 9th
to 13th June, as one of the representatives of Slovakia. In her presentation
she introduced the vision of UNESCO and the UN concerning the "Culture of
Peace" and the "Manifesto 2000" lunch by the UNESCO.
As part of the orientation we also had an introduction of the site we would
be working at and explanations about the purpose of archaeological research,
given by Mr. Tibor Palinkas, archaeologist and local museum director. A lecture
on "Human Rights and Religious Freedom" was given by Mr. Peter Zoehrer, journalist
and Human Rights activist, and Director of the International Coalition for
Religious Freedom in Austria. Together with a presentation given by Judge
Paul Frank, Vice-president of IRFF Luxembourg and ICRF Europe co-ordinator,
on the topic "Law and Conscience", this closed the first and second day of
the orientation program. IRFF Europe will publish a booklet about this two-day
orientation.
From Monday to Friday we worked at the site. The volunteers were divided into
5 different teams, each with a team leader and assistant. Each team, through
a ballot, received their name and became the representative of one continent.
For a total of 6 hours a day we worked on archaeological research (with breaks
for small refreshments and lunch), and every evening a different program was
organised.
The work was hard but very exciting. On the first day of digging we discovered
graveyards and the remains of some buried people. For the first time in an
archaeological camp in this location, we found some precious remains. Massimo
Trombin himself discovered a bronze lady cover-head from mediaeval times and
a pearl and was proclaimed "Indiana Jones of the day". This really inspired
u
s
to discover more. During the week of work we found several more skeletons
of men, women and children.
The Oceania team discovered a mediaeval arched door frame carved in Gothic
style and they became the "Indiana Jones of the day". Also the African team
found the medieval foundation of a monastery and this help the archaeologist
to better understand the original structure of the building. Catalina and
Jacqueline found the most important discovery, 10 minutes before the closing
of the site, on Friday. It was a coin that will allow the precise age of the
site to be estimated.
The evening program was highly varied. A lecture on Family and Ethics was
given, as well as a presentation of the "
Ipel
Union" by executive director Mr. Wollent. The union is a local NGO that is
a member of IUCN, working in the region between Slovakia and Hungary on issues
of environment and peace. A presentation by the "National AIKIDO Association"
representatives followed by an interesting discussion on the topic of "Martial
Arts and World Peace" was organised in the public gymnasium in Sahy, and more
than 90 people participated. A successful evening, with Medieval Music, was
held in a local church, presented by a professional medieval musical group,
the "Mu
sa
Ludens" from Slovakia. Through this they also became co-sponsors of the project,
together with the Aikido group and the Ministry of Culture , because they
donated those performances freely to the IRFF participants and the people
of Sahy.
The last day, after the Motto of the day, which was co-ordinated by Alain
Roulet (director of IRFF France) all week, and breakfast, the participants
had time for reflections and for presenting their suggestions and comments
about the project. This is always a very precious information for the organisers,
because this kind of feedback really helps to improve the standard and result
of future projects. The rest of the day was spent on a trip to "Banks Stiavnica",
one of the official UNESCO towns of Slovakia. There the visit to the local
ancient mine moved the hearts of the participants when they thought of the
suffering and hardship of the people that worked there in the past under incredible
difficulties. The day ended with a Cultural Evening where each team, and some
talented participants, performed for the enjoyment of all the other volunteers.
At the conclusion of the Cultural Evening, IRFF Diplomas were distributed
to each one of the participants. And to close officially, the whole group
stood in a circle and, with strains in their voices, thanked each other for
the wonderful and enriching experience that they had gone through together
in this project. A farewell party was then held for all of them. 
One of the most interesting aspects of the project was that the age of the
participants ranged from 11 to 65, so the interaction amongst them created
a very unique atmosphere and much excitement. The theme of the Culture of
Peace was commented freely by the participants in a white big cloth posted
on the wall and the desire to see a peaceful world become reality was expressed
clearly in a spontaneous written comment: "It is now time for peace to come."
This was the desire and will expressed by all of the IRFF volunteers who participated
in the project and we hope that this program will help and contribute to the
fulfilment of man's dream: A World of Peace.
By Massimo Trombin
Magda Balentova Directors of the IRFF project
"The Culture of Peace" Slovakia 1999