Tolerance

We have noted many times that in Samara we have excellent relations with both representatives of the local authorities and with ethnic leaders. For this reason we decided to carry out the first of three trainings we had organized in Samara. The trainings are aimed at young representatives of ethnic organizations in Russia and are part of the project “Development of the Network of Interethnic Organizations for the Opposition of Racism in Russia”.

This project has received financial support from the European Union, and we organized the project together with our partner, the European-wide organization UNITED. Its Director, Geert Ates, flew in from Amsterdam to tell our young active workers about the experiences of their European colleagues. Geert also invited a public relations expert from Prague, Miroslav Prokesha, to assist in the seminars. Miroslav’s great sense of humor and insight were very welcome and made the workshops more enjoyable and interesting for everyone involved.

Originally the workshops were to involve young representatives from public organizations and representatives of the authorities from the Southern Federal Region. The Stavropol participants let us know that they would not be attending one day prior to the start of our training, whilst those from Saratov let us know that they could not participate on the day itself, albeit with a thousand apologies. Representatives from Volgograd also failed to arrive without any explanation.

Unfortunately, discipline, punctuality and the ability to keep one’s word remain skills which many Russians have yet to master. For our Dutch partner, whose schedule and lists of participants for all his activities are detailed six months in advance, such a situation caused shock and amazement. For us, having nine years of experience we had come to expect as much.

The training was all the more pleasant for the presence of young active workers from interethnic NGOs from the Krasnodar region Aminat Shaminoy and Mgera Simonyana. Together with representatives of Samara, Tolyatti and Tchapaevsk, they worked wonderfully on training and brought a little southern sun to the cloudy Volga region. This training could not have taken place without the active organizational and financial support of the Samara area administration and the selfless work of two women – Nadezhda Petrovna Osupovaya, adviser on ethnic issues to the Samara regional authorities, and Natalia Petrovna Kutyrevaya, a leading expert for information-analysis at Tolyatti town hall. With their overloaded schedules, all of them helped us. Many thanks!

The Workshops

Victoria Shukhat and Ashot Ayripetyan began by having participants describe a portrait of a typical young man from Samara. These were the results:

The typical young man of the Samara area 2006

• Aggressive
• Likes to have a good time and live fast
• Loves alcohol and smoking
• Not a home owner
• Indifferent attitude to other nationalities
• Latent nationalism
• All those present at the youth workshops: ethnic NGOs, the press and state representatives, expressed strong concerns over increasing nationalism among young people.

• These were the results:
• Reasons for the occurrence of fascism:
• Influence of mass-media, TV, (aggression, enmity, violence)
• Social influences (family, school, etc.)
• Ignorance, illiteracy.
• Physical and moral weakness of the person (under the influence of the leaders of fascist organizations)
• Provoking behavior by individual members of ethnic groups
• Lack of social security
• Lack of state youth policy
• Lack of common ideology, moral values
• Taunting
• Ignorance of the culture of other peoples
• Feelings of power by participation in groups
• Social instability
• Proximity to conflict zones
• Influence of authorities
• Lack of political ethics
• Biased mass-media
• Lack of coordinated cultural and educational programs at a regional level
• High number of immigrants
• Weak adaptation to immigrants
• Political apathy among the population
• Idleness of youth
• Break down of the family
• Nationalistic stance of the authorities
• Realization of interests by the heads of movements
• Alcohol and drug dependence

It is necessary to note, that participants in the questioning unanimously identified the mass-media as playing a principal role in the formation of active teenage interest in fascist ideology. The need to create a positive alternative to fascist groupings was also discussed. However, in the creation of any organization, its success or failure depends to a large extent on its leader.

Then, in small groups, we asked participants to formulate the basic qualities and characteristics which a leader of a youth organization should possess. Here is what they came up with:

The leader of a youth organization:

• Responsible
• Active
• Sharp
• Charismatic (should draw people in)
• Cheerful (witty)
• Creative
• Sociable
• Tolerant
• Energetic
• Informed
• Sociable
• Friendly
• Competent
• Broad outlook
• 
• Purposeful
• Able to settle conflicts
• Good public speaker
• Organizational Skills
• Curious
• Moral
• Disciplined
• Educated, erudite
• Artful, energetic, enterprising, resourceful
• Authoritative
• Decent

The list turned out to be outstanding.

One of Geert’s main aims was to get young Russian NGO workers involved in all-European work by commemorating two historically important memorials- the 9th November and the 21st March. The 9th November was All-European Day of Opposition to Racism, and the 21st March was International Day of Tolerance. The more people, organizations and countries which take part in the events of these days, the more clearly youth resistance to fascism, extremism and xenophobia will be heard. We were very keen to encourage the Russian participants to express their views on this issue. Mirek told our participants about events carried out by youth organizations in different European countries to confront xenophobia. On the basis of the European experience, the participants came up with a list of activities and actions which could highlight these events:

Events:

• Meetings
• Processions
• Street performances
• Graffiti
• Multiethnic festivals
• Beach parties
• Night torch processions
• Getting celebrities involved
• Concerts
• Road trips to spread information
• Campaigns
• Press conferences
• Planting of trees
• Role plays

• Какими ресурсами уже располагают ваши организации?
• Какие ресурсы нужны вашим организациям?
• Как привлечь молодежь?

Nevertheless in order to carry out such events in a successful manner it is important to establish what strengths your organization already has and ask oneself is it enough for success? The issues facing work with groups of young people is their lack of initiative and a reluctance to participate in activities. In three small groups participants reflected upon these questions:

What resources do your organizations already have?

What resources are necessary for your organizations?

• How do you involve the youth?
• These are the responses:
• What resources do we have?
• Human
• Technical maintenance
• Rooms to work from
• Funding (albeit insufficient)
• Ideas
• Target audience (electorate)
• Contacts within the authorities
• Experience
• Co-operation with the similar organizations
• Understanding of local traditions and issues
• Interaction with local authorities
• Taxes
• Books, videos, etc.
• What resources are necessary?
• Property
• People
• Ideas
• Information resources (support of mass-media, the Internet, directories, databases)
• Money
• Technical equipment
• Creative potential
• Support of the state
• Educational resources
• Presence of own information channels
• Knowledge of foreign languages
• More people
• Interaction with authorities
• Exchanges with other states
• Followers
• How to involve youth?
• Creation of a youth group
• Cultural - mass actions
• Creation of locations where young people can hang out in their spare time
• Advertising

• Media

• Rendering of social support

• Carrying out training programs

• Increase the level of national consciousness

• Widespread positive publicity

• Creation of space for young people to come and work

• Unite under one simple principle

Having discussed these burning problems, participants went back to work upon concrete actions which they would make a big effort to carry out in their own cities to commemorate the two days:

• Lesson of tolerance at schools (a gathering with people in national dress, discussions about their own cultures)

• Procession through cities

• Showings of topical films

• Disseminate posters and leaflets on public transport

• At the main square- 18:00 a concert program (national, different types of music)

• Procession on Leningradskaya Ulitsa, close to the fountain

• Promotion

• Publicity in mass-media

• Press conference.

Knowing perfectly well that it is impossible to carry out all these activities at once, we asked the participants to choose one concrete activity that they will develop further. The participants from Samara agreed on a procession and together they came up with a detailed plan of how they would organize this:

• Procession
• Organizers
• Choose definite place, time and gather participants.
• To obtain the permission from administration
• Gain permission from the Police and request the presence of first aid
• Preparation of materials
• Use media, internet and advertising to invite the public to join procession
• Issue a press release
• Assign roles to organizers
• Gathering at office in day of procession, rehearsal of roles
• Delivery of a distributing material and active workers to a place of procession of minute of tolerance
• An hour and a half before the start of procession- distribution of materials indicating the route of procession
• One hour prior to the beginning start directing people where to go

Participants from Tolyatti, chose to plan another type of program - carrying out lessons in tolerance at schools. We must admit that in our opinion this was a better choice. Experience shows that organizing a procession proves to be a very difficult task for youth organizations.

Working with young people can be a great pleasure, however we are not in Holland or the Czech Republic. Ashot Ayripetyan fielded the question “who, present here right now, would like to be the coordinator of such a procession in Samara?” Needless to say, no-one volunteered. One month later it was clear that nobody had organized the lessons in tolerance in Tolyatti. Civil society simply does not exist there and the ability to understand that if you yourself don’t do it, no-one else will do it for you is lacking. It is true however that a school for “Youth Tolerance” has been set up in Samara, and the initiative for this came from the regional administration.