Red Cross Youth Camp

 I was there

 With my friends Jonas and Edward, and upcoming delegate Ida

And my Red Cross Youth accomplice Dasha

Inbetween homecoming seminars and going back to Tromsø to attend weddings and the youth camp, I managed to hold on to my head cold a full four weeks, and they sent me home from the camp after I'd been there one day. Anyway, it was nice to be back in Norway, working with "my" Red Cross and seeing all the other delegates again.

The latest photos I took with my Nikon

 are over one month old (here: Maria, Stephania and Linda)

 and from the Global Forum of Resilience here in Cali

 with participants from 78 different Red Cross National Societies

talking about how to create resilient communities in face of disaster

And then... I don't really use my own camera much, since we have a "work" camera from the Red Cross, and I'm already carrying around too much stuff to add an extra weight to my backpack every day. It feels odd, because even while working in completely unrelated jobs in Norway, I usually used my camera more, at least to photograph my family and friends, but here I really don't use it. It might be some of the same reason that I am totally neglecting the blog - there is too much blogging, computer work and photography in my day-to-day work already, and when I'm at home I just feel like doing other things to unwind. I'll have to see what I can do about this.

Bogotá, Colombia, we are here!

 View from the hotel, this is Bogotá, or at least part of it

Me, Johanne and Willian (former youth delegate to Norway) who picked us up at the airport and gave us food

 

 

Now: It's morning over here and we are getting ready for meetings, meetings, food and some more meetings.

Co-delegate

 This is my brilliant co-delegate Johanne climbing into a tree

And this is after I used a chair to get up there with her

It always suprises me how quickly you get to know people when you spend a lot of time with them. Johanne and I met for the first time in June, spending a little less than 24 hours together, and then again now, two or three weeks ago, and have been spending the days with ten others, getting to know them as well. This coming year will have us closer than most relationships, and I'm looking forward to finding out how that will work. For now, my hopes are fairly high.

My weeks through phones

 I present to you: Team Colombia! Johanne, me, Franco and Silvia (photo: Franco)

 Team Colombia working very hard on solving some task or other (photo: Silvia)

 One Maja-visit at the hostel (photo: Maja)

And one tea-in-a-bowl at the cafè where my friend Ingrid works

These past two weeks have been so ridiculously packed that I don't even know where to begin. In daytime, there's been Organisational Development, First Aid, Security, Photography, Signing of contracts and so much more, and inbetween these courses we've had long lunches, rushed lunches, energizers, stretches, and getting to know one another. This has also continued on in the evenings, since I've been staying in a hostel with the international youth delegates and two of the Norwegians, and we've been making food from Nepal, Colombia, Lesotho and Norway, and often a bit of a mix. I've met other Oslo friends (including Maja) in the weekends and evenings, but also stayed in or gone out with the other delegates and getting new friends.

Next week is the last week together, where we will be trying to cram as much information into our heads as possible, and at the same time having as much fun as possible with people we will meet again in nine months.

Leaving Tromsø, also: redcurrants

 I went berry-picking with my dad today

 Or currant-picking, if that word exists

On our own land and our own plants, we got about five or six pints.

And I'm leaving Tromsø today, I'm going to Oslo on the predeparture brief. I'll be back here one weekend, just before I leave properly, but still. I said goodbye to so many people yesterday, and having to say "well, I suppose I'll see you in June 2015" was hilarious in the saddest way possible. Last night, I stayed up far too late, reading webcomics and distracting myself as far as I could. And now I'm saying goodbye to my parents, and I'll see them again in less than three weeks, but this is the beginning of departure, and I'm sad.

So here's to Oslo being a brilliant experience, to keeping busy and not missing people as much, all the time.

YOUTH DELEGATES TO COLOMBIA

 Sunniva and Johanne, take one

Sunniva and Johanne, take fourteen or thereabouts

So, this is us. We are going to stay in Colombia nine months, from September 2014 till May 2015. We are going to work together, live together, eat together, and be together about ninety percent of the time from the departure brief in August until we return to Norway next May. We met for the first time last Saturday.

This was after almost three weeks of Facebook messaging and feeling like we were preparing for a first date. Only even scarier than that, since we already knew we'd be spending all this time together, and there was no real turning back. I worried about my hair, what to wear, what to say, and so on. And then I spotted her in the food hall on the Red Cross Youth Summer Camp and I ran over and hugged her and everything was normal and easy.

I'm looking forward to this year.

Goodbye youth delegates (and see you soon)

 Samantha (from Zimbabwe)

 Arati (from Nepal) and Sammy

Me, Arati and Sammy

This Monday, I was in Oslo to attend an evaluation seminar with the youth delegates, both the Norwegians who have stayed abroad, and the delegates who have stayed in Norway the past year. I had to say goodbye to the Nepalese and Zimbabwean delegates, whom I will probably not see again in... who knows?

BUT NEWS I am going to be a youth delegate myself, and will travel to Colombia in September, so I could at least say "see you soon" to William and Willian, who are the delegates who were staying and working in Troms before Christmas.

I've got my tickets now, and I'll be leaving for Bogotá in the beginning of September. I really am.

This has been a dream of mine since I first started in the Red Cross Youth at the age of 16, which is now close to nine years ago, which means forever/a third of my life. I've been working hard on fulfilling this dream the past three years, and now it's happening, and I don't quite believe it. And I do realise how lucky I am to get this chance, that there are a lot of chances to travel and discover and exchange in my world.

Youth delegates

 Not this one, this is Dasha getting ready to photograph the delegates

 These ones though, taking photos for their blog

 June and Samantha going to stay in Norway, Mari and Sigbjørn going to Zimbabwe, guess who's who

Now, let's take some more photos of each other

Monday and Tuesday last week (man, time flies), Dasha and I were at Sørmarka near Oslo to meet the new delegates. This week, the Norwegians have left for their respective countries, while the rest have travelled to Tromsø to participate in Street Mediation in the Red Cross. As said, we will have two Colombians here in Tromsø until Christmas. They seem to be the only ones I haven't captured in a photo yet, but I'll have lots more time with them.

As of now, Samantha from Zimbabwe is staying with my family for one week, and we are discussing the Norwegians' fondness for bread, the meaning of names, and the differences in the Red Cross and Red Cross Youth organizations from country to country.

Itinerary

14-16th December: Cabin trip near Oslo with people I'm travelling with in January.
16-21st December: Copenhagen, Denmark, seeing Cecille again for the first time in two years!
21st-27th December: Tenerife, Spain (Canary Islands), family Christmassy time.
28th December: Home! Home, home, home, at least a week or two before more adventures, which I've realised I haven't made that public yet, so you just have to wait...

Now to my Red Cross Christmas dinner, then sleep, then Oslo-time!

Talk

By Lukas Moodysson, I managed to find one with English subtitles

One of the big Red Cross Youth campaigns this year is against loneliness - since the numbers of lonely youth are constantly increasing. The Norwegian Red Cross Christmas campaign is called Loneliness doesn't go on holiday (implied Christmas holiday). Through this I was reminded of this incredibly strong film. It just makes me remember that I should talk to the random odd people some times, because maybe all they need is someone to talk to. I just make sure not to enter their houses (seriously, watch the film) or stay alone with them.

Tired

Finally finished the third weekend of Red Cross Youth courses, this one held by me. Came home and thought I'd get lots of things done, ended up having a Downton Abbey Marathon to catch up with the episodes I've missed the past weeks.

Happy days.

Then sleep.

Precious and Sunniva

 Fantastic unfocused photo

Sweet, normal photo

I have so many amazing unfocused and blurry photos. The one above is a result of giving my no-automatic-focus-lens to Silje, and having no flash, trying to bring the candle as close to us as possible, I upset Precious by bringing it too close too suddenly. We were eating in a really dark pub-type restaurant at the end of the Migration course. More Red Crossing to be done this weekend!

 First photo, perfect focus, subjects busy

Second photo, slightly out of focus, subjects perfect

From left to right: Jens Johan Hjort, Mayor of Tromsø, and Åsne Havnelid, Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross. The Secretary General has been visiting all districts in Norway, and was now in Troms and Tromsø. We had a big breakfast meeting this morning, where the local politicians and the local organisations were invited to the Red Cross house. I was up at 6am to finish the preparations, together with a lot of other tired faces.

Those two are persons who have really got the right job. Both their jobs require them to represent, a lot, to travel around (Åsne) or stay in town (Jens Johan), but always be smiling and happy, be good with the press, but still get their strong opinions through. And they are perfect for their jobs, as they are both wonderfully charismatic people.

Dropp Bomben

 Dasha and Precious in the library this morning

Precious, Dasha and Therese in the library, no mayor yet

This week is the big activity week for our Nuclear Weapons Campaign in the Red Cross Youth - so I apologise in advance to all my Facebook people and others who must endure me going on about it. I normally try to keep the Red Cross down on my personal Facebook account, to not be that annoying person who only posts about one thing (I also limit my toddler photos, much more than you can imagine) and nags everyone to join everything.

Now though. Please go to www.droppbomben.no if you're Norwegian/have a Norwegian post code, or go to www.icanw.org if you're from anywhere else. We need as many signatures as possible for our petition against nuclear weapons. The Ican website is amazing for giving lots of information about the issue, so I don't have to repeat it here.

Global Dignity Day

 Vijitha (who dragged me into this) telling the teenagers about the day

 And telling her own dignity story

 My class made this massive dignity chart, very proud of them

Håkon, the coordinator, with Vijitha, the head facilitator, after finishing at Breivang

About the day: Global Dignity website, Global Dignity Wiki, Norwegian Global Dignity website

Vijitha (a wonderful Red Cross person) called me last week to ask if I wanted to be a volunteer facilitator at Breivang school on Global Dignity day. I probably wouldn't have volunteered without being asked, but being myself (more about compulsive volunteerism later), I couldn't say no. The concept has seemed a bit wishy-washy to me before, but learning more about it and going through the material with the teenagers today, I really liked it.

It's just a discussion about what Dignity means, but it leads to a whole process of thoughts on how you act towards people, how much your self respect has to do with how you treat other people and how you are treated by them in return, and so on. It's something we'll be working more on in the Red Cross Youth as well: How little effort it takes to make someone else happy, or less lonely, than before.

Thank you, Vijitha!

Autumn Camp 2012

 Russian banners, German instructor on a Norwegian course translated into English - normal

 Seminars! Discussions! Elizabeth telling us how English police officers call you "darling" to disarm you

 Silje learning all about the Red Cross Youth

 Anton telling us all about Russian police officers (this became a theme, I don't know why)

 Munya photographing the ladies from Zimbabwe

The ladies from Zimbabwe being photographed by me

This weekend has been the end of a very, very long week. It was good, I met a lot of interesting people, got to talk more to the interesting people I already know, and ate a lot of nice vegetarian food. There were, however, also a few discussions and tears and issues (external, internal etc), and I'm very tired now.

Trying to take tomorrow off. Sleepy times.

But before that: Downton Abbey S0302!

Look what I've got

Five Russians, one of them Tromsø resident, and one Norwegian (spot the Norweg)

This weekend is the annual Red Cross Youth Autumn Camp, the past few years meaning that the Russians come to stay with us and do activities with us in Haraldvollen. We also have a fantastically diverse youth group in Tromsø at the moment, with our youth delegates from Zimbabwe, two girls that mostly speak Spanish and one or two words in Norweg/English, and several other nationalities and languages all mixed together.

This time is always very confusing, with a lot of people together and no truly common language, but I love it. I love trying to learn all the words in Russian and only remembering how to say please, I love learning about the Red Cross in different countries, and I love learning how to dance from the youth delegates. Nothing is perfect, everything is lost in translation, but you learn so much from it. Here's hoping it's a good weekend (I will sleep on Monday. I will sleep on Monday. I will sleep on Monday)

Harstad, you're looking fine

 Precious is on a boat (I mean ship) and she's happy

 Precious and Siren from Harstad, eager for their pizza

 Chicken! And sweet chili sauce! What every pizza should be like (we had gone hungry for a while at this point)

 Harstad is a lot like Tromsø in many ways, here's their cormorant

(we've got one too (ours is a restaurant) (and we have the proper birds as well))

 Harstad is a lot like England in one way, they have an old English telephone box

And hey, they've got mountains and stuff too.

Precious, Munya and I went to Harstad because it is part of our district (Troms), even if it's three hours away with boat. Or six hours away with cruise ship, which we slept on on our way there. We then wandered straight from the ship on Saturday morning into the hotel, got our hotel rooms ridiculously early, and went to sleep again.

We had a good meeting with Harstad Red Cross Youth, followed by pizza (because this is the Red Cross and this is what we eat).

Because there are no boats back on a Saturday evening, we stayed until Sunday and watched at least three romantic comedies in a row in our hotel room.

Then we went home and slept some more.

Of course, in the middle of all this nice social stuff and food and sleep, there have been problems and issues and discussions on different levels, and while my body came back from Harstad very well-rested, my mind did not. I've had to take some mornings off work to balance myself again, and as you can see, only on Tuesday evening did I have the energy to edit photos and do some blogging. I see this as a very good sign.