After two successful Shokkin Kamps, this autumn Shokkin Group came with the longer version of 36 hours Kamp from 27th to 29th of September in the midst of Estonian nature at Kloogarana Noortelaager. Shokkin Kamp: Your Decision to Act!” is a local ESC solidarity project implemented by Shokkin Group Estonia where young people can get awareness on different social topics through non-formal education methods, experience group building activities and socializing with new people and environment.
Additionally, this edition was co-implemented with the national training activity of “European Activist Factory”, a one-year long project implemented by the Shokkin Group International network and supported by the European Youth Foundation and the Council of Europe which aimes to promote active citizenship among young people, aware them of social problems and train them in social activism, through campaigning.
One of the objectives of this kamp was to create an awareness campaign on the topic of mental health aimed at young people. To achieve this, Shokkin kamp VOL.3 was the event set to deliver practical workshops on mental health, informative sessions on campaigning and brainstorming on the concrete topic and phases of the campaign.
13 participants along with 3 facilitators started their journey by train from Tallinn towards Kloogarana Kamp station. After getting to know the surroundings and filling our stomach with a delicious dinner at the canteen, Anja, the lead facilitator, briefly shared the objectives of Kamp, Shokkin Group and the European Activist Factory project.
The next day started with an outdoor energizer and an interesting game of getting to know each other. One of the main informative workshops on mental health was delivered by our guest speaker Hedvig from NVTL (Eesti Noorte Vaimse Tervise Liikumine). She focused on the importance of self-care and how to support ourselves and others while facing mental health problems. We discussed the internal and external fears we face in daily life, and how to overcome them.
In the second half of second day, we had an opportunity to listen and understand each others’ life stories. We were given time and space to share those moments which were so emotional in our lives. In that exercise we learned that sharing emotions and feelings to the people around us reduce our psychological fears. In addition, we also identified and discussed different forms of mental behaviors through various stories. During the 3rd session of the day, everyone jumped into the topics for campaigning, related with mental health. Subsequently, Anja shared the topics and progress of running campaigns from other partner countries of activist factory project.
After having a general idea of mental health and list of topics on paper, the last day went into detail of campaigning and narrowing down the list into best four by voting. So, we were ready to form small group and chose one topic among four after discussing and researching from internet resource. Later, every group presented their chosen topic and called attention of its importance for awareness campaign, especially in Estonia.
To get more specific knowledge on elements of blended campaign, we were assigned a small task to find out the answers of particular questions from the content of provided few successful campaigns. This small exercise was very helpful to understand what basics we should keep in mind before starting any campaign to make it successful enough and to have impact on youth. Later, Anja also shared with us the proposed communication timeline of campaign we would be following, and the roles, we would be assigned in coming days.
Shokking Kam VOL. 3, then concluded with the last sessions of visual and personal reflection of Kamp and its activities. During these three days, we all got an insight of what mental health is and how much it is important to run a campaign in Estonia to raise mental health awareness, so people can openly talk about their fears and mental health issues. The good thing was that many participants registered themselves to be part of European Activist Factory campaign and assure to follow up on incoming activities.
Check the photo album here.
“Shokkin Kamp: Your Decision to Act!” is a long-term solidarity project funded by the #EuropeanSolidarityCorps through Noorteagentuur.