February 2007 Journey of Understanding

Encompass’ week in Aberdovey as part of its February 2007 Journey of Understanding had been a long time coming. It all began in mid-2006 when Josh Cass, the Encompass Programme Manager, and David Bannister of Westminster Metropolitan Police sat down to discuss the idea of a ‘Westminster Reconciliation Project’. This wasn’t the first time that the two organisations had worked together; Police cadets had already been part of previous Encompass programmes, but this would be their first joint venture.

In November 2006, 20 people from around the Borough of Westminster took part in a recruitment weekend at Avon Tyrell in the New Forest. From these 20, 8 were selected to go forward to the programme in February.

Meanwhile, recruitment was underway in the other territories where Encompass work. In Indonesia, alumni were involved in a rigorous selection process run from the University of Malang. Candidates took part in a series of activities, both physical and discussion-based before a final interview to narrow it down to the final four.

In the Middle East a new team of recruiters (all ex-participants of Encompass programmes!) were visiting colleges, schools and religious seminaries to talk to young people and explain the amazing opporuntity available to them to take part in the next ‘Journey of Understanding’.

Finally, in the US, a team of volunteers and Encompass alumni worked hard to inform various schools and colleges about Encompass and the ‘Journey of Understanding’ programmes. The team did great work and their efforts mean that Encompass has a growing name in the US. For this programme, the 4 American participants were recruited through an internship programme based in London.

On Sunday 18th February the whole group met for the first time at Westminster City Hall, where a tour of Westminster began. En route to the London Eye the group took in Parliament Square before a photo shoot outside 10 Downing Street before a moving visit to the Bali Memorial with Alex and Mandy Braden. From there the group set off to Haringey Scout Park for dinner and onto the bus to Wales.

Monday was cold a wet, typical weather for Wales in mid-February but a shock nonetheless for some of the participants from warmer climes! The day was then spent settling in and acclimatising.

The programme was challenging for all those who took part. When not climbing, kayaking and hill walking, the Encompass Facilitator, Snezana Baclija, ran a series of discussions tackling themes of identity, confrontation, stereotypes and cultural heritage.

“What did I learn from this programme? I learnt more about the other cultures than I ever thought I would. Before the programme I wanted to learn some new things, but didn’t care that much whether I didn’t understand that much in the world. Now I want to learn more and more about conflicts in the world and I want to discover more cultures.”
These are the words of one of the participants. Others said how the programme, “opened my eyes to the reality of things”. For others the value of the programme was in giving them a reflection of how people saw them and their communities.

The group returned from Wales on Sunday 25th February. On Monday, they travelled into London for a final reception hosted by Westminster City Council at Council House on Marylebone Road. In attendance at the reception was Gill Hicks, an ambassador for Peace Direct, and the subject of one of the Forgiveness Projects stories. Gill is a survivor of the July 7th bombings in which she lost both her legs. She shared with those present at the reception her experience and her message of the importance of every moment and the value of every life. It was a truly fitting note on which to end what had been a fantastically successful programme.

“The programme made me more open minded and less judgemental to other people; and more than anything, it made me believe that it all depends on us. Big changes start from small people.”

Click on photo below to see the Album;