The annual insight day of Peace Brigades International (PBI) took place on the 8th of November. An event dedicated to the explanation of the values, principles and actions of PBI, with the human rights defenders and volunteers in mind. The event was organised by PBI-volunteers, with the help of several speakers. Three of the volunteers that helped organise the event are Khadija, Kika and Suzanne. They co-organised this event as part of their civic service (maatschappelijke diensttijd) through the Nationale Jeugdraad (NJR).
The participants arrived around 10:00 AM, and we first warmed up with a hot cup of coffee or tea and at 10:30, we kicked off the day with an energiser to wake everyone up and to get to know the group before even knowing each other’s names.
After the introductions, we directly dove into the origins of PBI, presented by Inge van der Spek, followed by an interactive explanation of the 5 core principles of PBI: non violence, non interference, non partisanship, international character and horizontality.
Using different statements, which were connected to the principles, participants had to decide whether they supported the statement or disagreed with it by having to choose a side of the room. After each statement, Inge explained PBI’s perspective and why the principles are so essential. This activity helped the participants to understand how PBI applies their principles in real life.
Following a short coffee break and a chance to chat with the participants, we continued with a presentation about what it means to be a PBI field volunteer abroad and what all of the different aspects of international protective accompaniment are, from physical accompaniment to international advocacy and even psychosocial support. Afterwards there was another interactive exercise where the group had to answer a scenario based statement like they were field volunteers themselves.
Once everyone had a small experience on how it is to be a field volunteer, the participants got to hear about Inge’s experience as a brigadista in Colombia. She spoke about her experiences as a field volunteer, working with human rights defenders, participating in accompaniments, but also about her life in the group house and her free time.
After lunch it was time to wake the group up again and we did that with another energiser where the participants held a rock-paper-scissors battle until there was one winner standing!
Then it was finally time for the PBI-game, a simulation of a week in the life of a PBI volunteer, where the participants have to make decisions on which jobs to take that week, whose character is best suited for a certain mission and to prioritise tasks.
Later in the afternoon, we heard from Shelter City Utrecht intern Morrison, who spoke about the current issues and what Shelter City does, afterwards she introduced us to human rights defender Olha from Ukraine, who shared her important work, the challenges she encountered in her home country and her experiences as a human rights defender.
Last but certainly not least, the participants learned about the many different opportunities on how to get yourself involved, from field volunteer to a volunteer in the Netherlands. And everything the participants have to do to apply.
We ended the day by reflecting together and writing beautiful cards for our guest speaker Olha.
Stay tuned for future PBI events by following our website and social media channels!
See below the aftermovie from the PBI Insight Day:
The PBI Insight Day was co-financed by Wilde Ganzen, Connect for Global Change and the European Union. The content is exclusive responsability of PBI NL and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the EU.