IFP conference 10/10/17

What were the facts from Sunday? What did you do?

On Sunday, I did an IFP conference that was student lead. We talked about various different peace perspectives such as: media, violence, identity and discrimination. We were all put in 4 different groups and throughout the day, we would change classrooms and learn about a different perspectives every time. The process of learning included many games that were linked to the subject. For example, for violence, we played a game where there was three bystanders, seven obstacles, seven people who had they’re eyes closed and seven other people who would help their partner who couldn’t see get to the other side of the room. This helped us understand better about what can be done about violence and what it is.

How did you feel about what happened?

I found this experience very interesting and I learned a lot from it. When I first arrived, I thought it was going to be students sitting down and listening to teachers talking to us about peace but it was actually very different than what I expected. I really like the fact that it was student lead and therefore, they knew what we liked and what would capture our attention since they were all approximately the same age as us. Some of the perspectives we learned about really opened my eyes. For example, the one about discrimination made me realise how much of a gap existed between men and women. We played a game where we all had to close our eyes and hold hands and the student leader would ask a question and if we agreed, we had to step forward but if we didn’t, we had to step backwards. It was very impressive the huge gaps that were present between men and women in that game (we almost let the hand go) especially for the question “my gender never stopped me from being in a position of power in a project/ work place”

How will your learning from the weekend shape what you do next in IFP…and beyond?

This conference helped me know more about IFP and what I will be able to do after the learning process is done. This is why I found it interesting the fact that it was lead by students that used to do IFP last year as we could realise what the learning process will lead us to. Furthermore, some of the new information I learned will really help me throughout my life especially my learnings about fake media where a newspaper used an image in the wrong context. This will teach me to be more aware about what I read. Another interesting point that I will keep with me is the fact that bystanders also have a role in violence if they do not do anything about it.

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One thought on “IFP conference 10/10/17

  1. I enjoyed reading this blog Andrea. Your decision to structure it around the suggested headings made your blog purposeful and really showed what you gained from attending the conference and how you will use this in the future in IFP. The beauty of IFP is that it is by youth for youth and ultimately so much more powerful because of this.

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