This past summer, I joined a team of incredible volunteers as a workshop facilitator for the Bridging Cultures Short Course in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This UWC short course brought together young people from across the Western Balkans for a 10-day program with a focus on transcending difference and creating safe spaces for growth and connection at these crossroads.

I was drawn to apply for this facilitator position because of how my own experiences of bridging cultural divides and learning by immersion broadened my worldview immensely. Encouraged by my time as a student at UWC Changshu, I studied Social Anthropology at university level where I delved into rethinking my unconscious biases and understanding the global diversity of cultural practices and social institutions. On this journey, I came to realise the importance of such immersive learning experiences for encouraging intercultural communication and fostering respect for difference, wherein the UWC values lead the way.

As a result, I had a strong wish to contribute to facilitating a similarly expansive experience for others. The positional significance of the Bridging Cultures Short Course in the context of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina particularly inspired me insofar as it moved beyond theoretical concepts of multiculturalism towards creating a dynamic and engaged peace building initiative.

During this short course, the participants engaged enthusiastically in invigorating discussions on cultural identity, social engagement and peace building. Here, the participants shared their unique perspectives and life experiences which created a foundation for intercultural understanding that grew over the course of the 10-day program.

Together with the other facilitators, we led workshops which unpacked identity, community, activism, safe spaces and volunteering, amongst others. Through this, the participants got involved in the local community, engaged in dynamic discussions on their potential as changemakers in their communities, and reflected on their takeaways from the workshops.

The depth of the programme was particularly apparent on our visit to The War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo, a museum comprised of the personal objects and stories of children who lived through the Bosnian War. This was an intense experience for us all, and to see the participants comfort and support each other in processing the heavy emotions of the day was incredible to see. For me, this illustrated the power of programs like Bridging Cultures as it points to community building as indispensable to peace building, where the short course participants themselves were also a powerhouse in forging this path.

The Bridging Cultures Short Course was a transformative experience for staff and students alike, and I came away having learned so much from the other facilitators and the short course participants about how engaged peace building at a micro level ripples outwards.

Táillte Cooney-Newton (UWC Changshu China 2017-2019)