We shouldn’t be another brick in the wall. This is our main motivation in the things that we do. We are a group of young people, and we really care about our society and surroundings. Our values are empathy, civic engagement, raising awareness and critical thinking. We care about peace, equality, human rights and freedom. We want to make a change. We came to exist after the latest election when the extremist right political party started to apply the plan of Adolph Hitler in Slovakia. We see it as a potential danger. So we started to take actions to stop the radicalisation of young people. Our first event was an exhibition in our school addressing the solution of the Jewish question. We had a workshop followed by a discussion with the students. We shared facts and stories of survivors. Student contributed their own opinions, questions, and stories of their ancestors. We tried to prove that the movement of hate is wrong, and empathy is the way to heal the world. We continued to spread to the community level. We organised sports events, and standing protests – holding up facts confronting the political party in rule. We spread yellow cards throughout the city to encourage people to stand up against discrimination. We began an internet campaign. We are also continuing our workshops and non-formal education in schools where we can really change the opinion of students. Our aim is to raise awareness that youth need to be active; to be be more empathic; to think about things in a humane way, not like politicians. Our vision is to see less hate and more love in this world. Let’s plant our seeds so flowers can grow.

Veronika Kvietkova and Jakub Senesi, Flowers of Democracy, Slovakia

WFWP Europe Annual Conference:
November 18-20, 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia