Vtisi / Impressions

"hello ppl,

the camp started out to be a dissaster.
it seemed to be that everything was allready planed by maja and romana.
and in the middle of the week we watched a movie about the day of silence in poland wich brought chaos to the camps organisation.
and voting is not democratic??? what was that about?
after all those problems there where some meetings that calmed us down and made a bit of peace in the camp.
ah well i had a great time as all camp go-ers know.
people i miss most of you!!
i hope we made a difference to the situation in slovenia due to the action."

Donny, 21, Netherlands


"Camp like no other. All I can say is, that living under the same roof with people from four different countrys for a week is an adventure. Friendships, that will be cherished, experiences, that will be useful in nearby future and partys, that will stay in memory. We all gathered with same goals; to have a good time and to prepare a memorable action. And that's what we did. I shall cherish those moments for the rest of my life. Camp of my life."

Matic, 19, Slovenia


"Summer Camp Slovenia was really a great experience. I have learned a lot, from the workshops and from al the youngsters at the Camp...from there culture and experience with LGBT Rights. It was really impressing for me, personal and general. Of course there where things we could do different in the future, but it wasn't possible to create a SummerCamp for so many people from different country's and cultures and make everybody satisfied! So to make a long story short.... Summer Camp Slovenia was fun, hard work, impressing in every meaning of the word..an once in a life time exprecience and I am glad that I can say...I was there, in Kransjka Gora and on "The" bridge in Ljubljana. And to all of you, youngsters, leaders and the organisation. Thank you and hope to see you next year!" I hope this is the thing you wanted..and please darling give me the link of the site!! Hope to speak you soon!

Lots of love

youre own Super Dyke "

Paulien, Netherlands


"This camp gave me the chance to walk up the beautiful Slovenian mountains. That was awesome. Having a vegetarian camp was a genuine experience that I wouldn't have had the chance to try otherwise."

Ioana, 25, Romania


"Hi there,

well, i know that your tits are very talented, but i never expected them to work on a blog. Dont wear them down ;-)How are you? How do you feel about the camp, now almost 2 weeks later?Here things are going their usual way. Slowly moving in a forward direction. Next sunday we will have a summercamp-girls-night out. Its great to see that everyone is still in contact with eachother. This small week changed the life of a few of them. it inspired some to change their life. Thats the greatest gift, unexpected but beautiful :)Last week we had a couple of workshops about homosexuality on a local highschool. Kids around, 15 16 yrs. Pfff the last class i had. 2 boys said out loud that they had gay parents. 1 boys lives with his 2 mothers, he was the result of a sperm donor. And the other boy has a gay father. If that wasnt enough... 2 boys "confessed" that they had bi-sexual feelings. The class was very cool, and all said: but we all knew!!!!!It was hearthwarming to see the acceptance and openess after a week of painfull closet-stories.Hopefully we made a small step to acceptance and more openess in the world.

Take care!"

Tanja, 32, Netherlands


"First days of this camp i was really asking myself what i was doing here, everything was so unclear for me. The workshops where really interesting for me, it was all new to me. I made some great friendships there, wich i will keep in my heart. At the end of the days i was exhausted, but also filled with a happy feeling. I met one really special guy.. he know's who i mean ;-) I'll never forget him. The action and this week did a lot to me emotional. Since i got home i really changed a lot in my life. I joined www.amnesty.nl , also ive contacted www.gay.eu and asked if they wanted to write about what we did in Slovenia, but instead of this they offered me a job as a writer for them, so i can write myself about it and many other things we could accomplish. This camp.. where the best days of my life i'll never forget it. "

Fabian, 20, Netherlands


"I really had a good time, had fun filming, taking interviews and
talking to people. I mostly am thankful for new things that caught my
attention, for changing perspectives. It was also my fist time I was
acting out for LGBT rights, I feel proud of it. I loved Granjska Gora
and Ljubjana, I met some interesting people and nevertheless I'm glad
I spent time with my friends.

Hope you're having fun!"

Luciana, Romania


"I came to Slovenia a bit tired with what I have been doing for the last 2 years, a bit without new ideas and energy, I found it all there and now we can start to rock, just please invite me once again in two years :) Vive la Slovenie!"

Kasia, Poland


"This camp was for me a completely new, amazing and surely unforgettable experience. Working together for LGBT community rights made us friends, and that's why I really hope that we will get another opportunity to meet once again and fight against homphobia as we did on the bridge. My dream is that public actions similar to Ljubljana's would take place all over the Europe. There's no miracles and we have to act ourselves to make this world a little bit better for LGBT. I want to say a big thank you to all the people who sacrificed their time and strength to organise this camp and for giving us the chance to be there."

Tomek, 21, Poland

Izjave z akcije / Statements from Action

"My name is Sherona and I'm from the Netherlands. Please listen to my voice for I am one of the people who will take a step forward to end the SILENCE... Today I'm standing up for myself, my friends from Slovenia, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands.... And every one accros the World that deserve their equel rights... They are discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender... They can't live their life's OPEN and FREELY the way they want to, because society pushes them down... FOLLOW our footprints and let this be a BRIDGE from REJECTION to ACCEPTION..."

Sherona, Netherlands


"My name is Fabian and I'm from the Netherlands. In my country I don't have to hide my sexuality. I hope in the nearby future we can say the same of every country in this World. Sexuality isn't a choice, so I hope we all can take a step forward to equality."

Fabian, 20, Netherlands


Stran v obdelavi / Site under construction

Linki / Links

www.amnesty.si/akcije.php?kid=117
- Novičke o akciji na strani Amnesty International Slovenije. / News about action on Amnesty International Slovenia site.

http://protihomofobiji.moj-album.com/
- Fotogalerija udeležencev tabora. / Pic gallery from camp participations.

www.vest.si/2007/09/06/nad-nestrpnost
- Novica na strani Vest. / News on Vest site.

www.gay.eu/article/10853//Column_|_Activism_in_Slovenia
- Kolumna na strani gay.eu. / Column on gay.eu (go, go Fabian!!!).

Akcija / Action

Dan D. 6. september. Gruča nadebudnih borcev in bork za človekove pravice se je polna pričakovanj vkrcala na avtobus proti Ljubljani. Prva postaja - pisarna Amnesty International Slovenije. Po dobri uri vožnje in malo hoje ter iskanju izgubljenih duš, nam je uspelo. V sejni sobi so nas prav gosposko postregli s čajem, nas zabavali s klepetom, nato pa, kot strela z jasnega, poslali nazaj na deževne ulice. Čas je bil za pripravo prizorišča. Postavili smo stojnice, nalepili stopinje, izobesili zastave in pripravili ostale malenkosti. Čevljarski most je bil pripravljen. Filmska ekipa je skakljala okoli in zbirala vtise mimoidočih. Ostali so delili letake z razlogi za molk. Takrat smo še veselo čebljali. In kramljali. Se tudi pogovarjali. Vse dokler ni polna ura odbila in nas spomnila, da si čez usta prilepimo lepilni trak. Ter molčimo. Molčimo v podporo vsem LGBTQ osebam, ki se soočajo s homofobijo. Petnajst minut tišine, od katerih jih je nekaj minilo v zvokih čutne glasbe (Within Temptation - Somewhere), je poteklo in znani Slovenci in Slovenke so podali svoje izjave, v katerih so se glasno izrekli proti homofobiji. Ko je zadnji povedal svoje, je po mostu zadonel šolski zvonec, in prekinil molk. Čas je, da spregovorimo.

Nekaj znanih Slovencev in Slovenk, ki so se prijazno odzvali povabilu na našo akcijo:
- Branko Zavšan
- Lučka Počkaj
- Andrej Kastelic
- Jerca Mrzel
- Maja Weiss
- Boštjan Gombač
- Jani Kovačič
- Jure Longyka
- Franci Kek
- Urban Golob
- Nataša Posel
- Brane Potočan
- Lara Baruca
- Ali Žerdin


Eng.

Day D. September 6 ^th , 2007. A group of human rights defenders, full of feelings and expectations, boards the bus to Ljubljana. First stop – Amnesty International Office. After a good hour's drive, a short walk and retrieving some activists who got lost somewhere along the way, we have made it. Tea is waiting for us, friendly AI volunteers start chatting with us and before we know it, we are back on the rainy streets. Time to prepare the bridge, where the action will take place. After putting up stands, sticking footsteps to the ground, hanging rainbow flags etc. the Cobbler's bridge ready for action! The film crew is recording comments of passer-by's, others handing out leaflets about the action, talking, chatting, cheering, welcoming celebrities, answering questions ... until 1.00 p.m.

A 1.00 p.m. sharp the bell rang – the sign to put the symbolic duct tape over our mouths and hush – for 15 minutes we stood silent to express our support to all members of LGBTQ, who are still forced to keep their lives a secret. After 15 minutes we spoke up – the first to break the silence were Slovene celebrities (musicians, actors, film directors …). Their clear

Just a few names, who were kind enough to join us in support of our action:
- Branko Zavšan
- Lučka Počkaj
- Andrej Kastelic
- Jerca Mrzel
- Maja Weiss
- Boštjan Gombač
- Jani Kovačič
- Jure Longyka
- Franci Kek
- Urban Golob
- Nataša Posel
- Brane Potočan
- Lara Baruca
- Ali Žerdin

Tabor / Camp

Najprej je bila slaba šala. In ko se takšna šala ne prime, se izgovorimo na idejo. Ideja pa brez razglabljanja sploh ne bi obstajala. Ko pa o njej razglabljajo odločni ljudje, pogosto pride do njene uresničitve. Tako se je zgodil. Oh in sploh nepozabni mednarodni mladinski tabor Mladi proti homofobiji. Ki je k sebi, poleg mladih iz države gostiteljice Slovenije, privabil še mlade iz Poljske, Nizozemske in Romunije. Odziv je bil več kot zadovoljiv, zato smo se med med 31. avgustom in 7. septembrom zbrali v hostlu Nika.

Začetek tabora je potekal povsem pričakovano. Brezglavo dirjanje Slovencev in Slovenk, ki so na hitro urejali še zadnje detajle, in ležerno kapljanje gostov. Vsakega posebej so sprejeli v recepciji, ga pozdravili, zaslišali in poslali v sobo, kjer so se začele plesti prve vezi med udeleženci.

Seveda tudi na začetku ne gre povsem brez težav. Idejo o "mednarodnih sobah", s katerimi naj bi se vezi med državami še okrepile, so pokvarili raznorazni parčki, ki so želeli bivati v istem prostoru. In ker je bilo tam tudi veliko milostnih src, se je prošnjam ugodilo.

Nekako tako je minil prvi dan. Pakiranje, plaho pogledovanje k sosedom in sosedam, grupiranje po materinščini.

Tole ni navaden internetni dnevnik. Zatorej tudi ne bo sledil opis po dnevih. A ker ima vsaka zgodba rep in glavo, tako bo predstavljena vsaka aktivnost tabora posebej, od jutra do večera.



Vstajanje:

Vsako jutro nas je naša predraga Romana zbudila nekje med pol osmo in osmo uro zjutraj. Saj ne, da smo njen klic upoštevali, a treba ji je priznati vztrajnost. In ko smo končno pokazali malo usmiljenja do njenega utopičnega dela, smo odracali na zajtrk, kavo, morda samo jutranjo cigareto. Potem (ali pred tem) pa seveda še skrajno previdno izbiranje oblačil in modnih dodatkov.


Delavnice:

Tabor brez delavnic ne obstaja. In ta ni bil prav nikakršna izjema. Kljub veliki meri stokanja o nečloveški uri delavnic (nekje med deseto in enajsto uro dopoldan), sta nas Maja in Romana prisilili s pomočjo srednjeveških mučilnih naprav, da smo na delavnicah tudi sodelovali. Kar sploh ni bilo tako slabo. Kajti priča smo bili dvema zelo poučnima predavanjema o lobiranju ter homofobiji in heteronormativnosti na delovnem mestu.


Prvo delavnico je vodil Blaž, ki je razložil, kaj lobiranje sploh je, v kolikšni meri je prisotno v medijih in politiki, kako se ga izvaja, kdo ga izvaja, zakaj ga izvaja,... Skratka vse, kar more novopečeni lobist ali lobistka vedeti. Po delavnici je potekala še prostovoljna delavnica, kjer so najbolj zagreti pisali apele na razne institucije ter se tako urili v klepanju besed.


Drugo delavnico je vodila Tatjana Greif. V dobri urici je predstavila situacijo LGBTQ oseb na delovnem mestu, kako se vsakodnevno soočajo s homofobijo in heteronormativnostjo. Razložila je, kako se razne organizacije borijo proti temu pojavu, kakšni so uspehi in kakšne uspehe lahko pričakujemo v bodoče. V razmislek nam je razdelila še publikacijo, ki se s to problematiko sreča še podrobneje.


Delovne skupine:

Za sodelujoče tabor ni bil ravno kraj počitka. Proti koncu tabora je potekala akcija Homofobija: prekinimo molk, katero smo pripravili vsi "taborniki" in "tabornice". Ker takšna akcija ni ravno mačji kašelj je bilo potrebno pošteno pljuniti v roke. Zato smo se razdelili v štiri skupine:

- Filmska skupina; snemali so dokumentarec o taboru in mnenju okolice o LGBTQ situaciji.

- Skupna za pisanje apelov; "izumljali" so različne slogane za akcijo ter vrteli besede na sto in en način.

- Oblikovna skupina; poskrbeli so za lep izgled prizorišča akcije.

- Skupina za druženje; utrjevali vezi med prisotnimi z različnimi družabnimi igrami.


Kuhanje:

Poskrbeti, da štirideset ljudi ni lačnih, je težka naloga. In to zvaliti na pleča dveh kuharjev je neprijazno. Zatorej smo se bistroumno razporedili v skupine in vsak dan je ena skupina kuharjem pomagala rezati paradižnik, bučke, čebulo, skratka raznorazno zelenjavo. Mesa ni bilo. Bila pa je soja. In dolga vrsta pred WC školjko, saj vsi niso navajeni take prehrane.


Šport:

Večurno sedenje ni prijazno telesu. Zato smo vsako prosto urico izrabili za igre z žogo na bližnjem šolskem igrišču. Nogomet, košarka, odbojka in morda še kaj so bili stalnica našega vsakdana. Zdrav duh v zdravem telesu.


Večerne zabave:

Ne pozabimo, da je bil to mladinski tabor. Brez zabave med mladimi? To ne gre. Skupina za druženje je vsak večer pripravila kratkočasno družabno igrico, po njej pa smo se mnogi odpravili v najbližji juke box bar, in pili... Khem... Coca-colo. ;) Tudi tam ni šlo brez igric, ki pa so postale malo bolj predrzne. Resnica ali izziv, Zavrti steklenico in podobne gostilniške igre so bile stalno na repertoarju.



Torej, tole je bil kratek opis tabora, malo v spomin, malo v informacijo vsem, ki so se želeli prijaviti, pa si niso upali. Tako, da jim bo sedaj žal.


Eng.

First it was a bad joke that grew to become an idea. And ideas are worth nothing in theory, thus we decided to realize it. That's how this incredible, unforgottable etc. week (Youth against Homophobia Camp) even came to be. From 31^st August to 7^th September active and enthusiastic participants from Slovenia, Romania, Poland and the Netherlands gathered in Kranjska Gora's youth hostel Nika.

The camp started according to our expectations. The Slovene organizers running to and fro, dealing with the final details, the foreigns participants dropping in throughout the day. Each newly arrived hero was greeted by our receptionists, given a welcome pack and sent to the room (where first ties of friendship began to tie).

The first day went by quickly – unpacking, some shy gazes aimed at your neighbours, hanging out in smaller groups (consisting solely of one nationality). This, of course, changed already the next day, when people started opening up and socializing.

Presenting some formalities:

Morning pleasures (getting out of bed):

Each morning we were gently awoken by Romana (the camp organizer) around 7.30. It took some time before her efforts finally paid off; despite her persistancy some people came down just in time to miss breakfast.

Workshops:

No camp without workshops! Despite the moaning and groaning due to the early hours in which the workshops took place (around 10 a.m.), Maja and Romana used the medieval torturing devices to persuade us into cooperating. Which (as it turned out) wasn't at all bad, since we also witnessed two delightful workshops, one on lobbying and one on homophobia and heteronormativity at work.


Blaž Kovač of AI was the man of the first workshop, explaining what lobbying actually is, how it is present in the media and politics, how things work, who, how, why, where … and all the important things. To make a long story short – he introduced us into the basics of lobbying, then offered us an extra workshop where we practiced appeal writing.

The woman of the second workshop was Ms. Tatjana Greif of Škuc LL. She presented the situation of LGBTQ at work, where most of them has to face homophobia and heteronormativity on a daily basis. She explained the mechanisms which several organizations use in order to fight discrimination, how succesfull those organizations are and what difficulties they are facing. She also handed out a publication that deals with the topic even more detailed, shedding a light on the subject matter from several angles.

Working groups:

The camp wasn't designed to be a leisure oasis. On the last day, we planned a public action called Homophobia: Break the silence, which all of the participants helped prepare. Since preparing a public action in 6 days is not exactly a piece of cake, we had to do some hard work. To be more efficient, we formed 4 groups:

- The film group: filming a documentary on the camp, gathering statements on the LGBTQ situation (asking the people from the surroundings).
- Text-writing group; Brainstorming on different slogans for the actions, playing with words.
- Designers group: Thanks to them, the place of the action looked marvellous;
- Socialising group: Builing up the team spirit by organizing games, ice-breakers …

Cooking:

Keeping 40 people sated is a hell of a task, especially if there are only two cooks to do the job. Noble as we were, we formed a group of kitchen helpers to help them prepare each meal (actually, the organizers made us do it). There was not meat but plenty of soy and an abundance of complaints but the carnivorous camp participants.


Sports and recreation:

Sitting still for hours on end doesn’t do your body any good. Thus we used every possible time unit we could find to do some sports. Football, basketball, volleyball, running … Anima sana in corpore sano!

Pleasures of the evening:

Let’s not forget – this was a youth camp. So many youths and no party? Impossible! The socialising group prepared some fun games every evening. And afterwards we all gathered in the local juke-box bar and drank … coke and orange juice! With each … juice we had we were wilder and wilder … soon we were entwined in crazy drinking games – “Truth or dare” “I have never” “Spin the bottle” … We were playing with such devotion, drinking so quickly, that the bartender could hardly keep up with our tempo.

Well … just a short description of the camp, to let you know what you’ve missed. In case you wanted to apply but didn’t – shame on you! We hope you feel sorry now ;).