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Again, it was both a duty and pure pleasure for Crossing Borders to mark the Nelson Mandela International Day in collaboration with the Embassy of South Africa in Denmark. Mandela Day was declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day launched on his birthday on 18th July 2010, to acknowledge Mandela’s 60 years of community service and fight for equal rights and justice for all. Born in the, then most unequal country on earth in an unequal world, Mandela paid a huge price for his struggle for freedom and equal rights to live in dignity, including 27 years behind apartheid bars and constant percussion and murder of members of his family and comrades. However, he emerged out of those nearly 3 decades of imprisonment in 1990 with his head high and his heart clean of bitterness and without the need for revenge. Mandela was subsequently elected the first president of democratic South Africa plus Nobel Peace Prize and over 800 international awards on his CV. After serving one term, Nelson Mandela retired into a global statesman, peacemaker, and icon of inspiration for the present and future generations. In line with Mandela’s tradition and this year’s campaign against poverty “EACH ONE FEED ONE”, our celebration of Mandela Day was active and constructive. While Crossing Borders volunteers made hundreds of fresh vegetarian spring rolls and collected hundreds of pieces of pastry from Meyer’s bakery (the best in town) in Copenhagen, the South African Embassy delivered loads of fruits and non-alcoholic drinks. Again, true to the ideals of Nelson Mandela of serving everybody including those we don’t know, we choose one of the busiest squares in Copenhagen, set up and decorate long tables as a street buffet for the passers-by. After short speeches by Her Excellency, the Ambassador of South Africa Ms. Fikile Magubane, and the Director of Crossing Borders Garba Diallo, we set out to serve the people. In addition to the organisers’ staff and volunteers, the ambassadors of Indonesia, Pakistan, and the deputy Ambassador of Ghana and South Africa took part in the action day. There were also several participants from the South American community in Denmark. In his welcome remarks, Crossing Borders Director Garba Diallo highlighted the role of Nelson Mandela in the liberation of both South Africa and the entire African continent. A continent that is still suffering from 500 hundred years of enslavement, colonisation, and post-colonial structural inequality. He added that the ideals of Nelson Mandela are grounded in the humanist principles of the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which the vision and mission of Crossing Borders resonate. Garba said he was happy to see colleagues from Ethiopian, Zambia, Ireland, South Africa, Viet Nam, Brazil, USA, just to mention a few, coming together to make this event a success. Nelson Mandela Day Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Fikile Magubane 18 July 2021 Garba Diallo – Crossing Borders DirectorMembers of the Diplomatic Corps Ladies and gentlemen, Distinguished guest,Fellow South Africans and Africans that are here with us today Let me welcome you to this day in celebrating the annual Nelson Mandela International Day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year internationally on 18 July, Mandela’s birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on 18 July 2010. Nelson Mandela’s birthday is on 18 July, and the call is out for people everywhere in the world to celebrate his birthday by acting on the idea that each person has the power to change the world. Making every day a Mandela Day to celebrate Madiba’s life. This gives everyone the opportunity to heed the call to action. It calls for people to recognise their respective individual’s potential to make an imprint and change the world around them for better.For Nelson Mandela International Day 2021, the focus will be on two critical intersecting challenges being faced by South Africa and many other countries – food insecurity and culture of lawlessness. Covid-19 has deepened patterns of poverty and inequality. The numbers of people going hungry are growing. Social cohesion is under severe strain.It is against this background that the Embassy partnered with Crossing Borders (CB), consistent with the Spirit of “Ubuntu” to give food to the homeless. I remain proud of the Embassy’s association with CB as their vision resonates with our Department of International Relations and Cooperation vision, which is championing an African continent, which is prosperous, peaceful, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist, and united and which aspires to a world that is just and equitable.Even after today’s Nelson Mandela Day, may we all continue to lend a hand and contribute to meeting the immediate needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.Let us kindly follow all Danish covid-19 regulations and protocols. Previous Next Written by Sarah Nkandu Media & Communications Specialist.

Crossing Borders together with our partners SIYOW Academy and GirlCult held an open day within our project Action Hub. The Action Hub open day aimed to spread information about the project and recruit participants that will be an active part of the Action Hub activities. With more than 80 guests, we kicked off the day with some very festive music by Dj Taf dollar followed by very inspiring speeches by Abdoulie Njie from Siyow, Aisha Tambajang from Crossing Borders and Kaddi Sawaneh from GirlCult. At the end of the day, Pops Diner made sure to fill our stomachs with their delicious burgers. There are some spots left on the project, hurry up and apply now!! Action Hub is a project that works to empower young people to become the drivers of change. Our vision is to support young people, by engaging them in meaningful work towards building an active, creative, and aware society. This project aims to recruit 40 young people between 16 – 24 years old who want to make a difference and who share a common vision and motivation. They will be located in a shared space, where they will work with others to turn their best ideas and passions into actions that create sustainable, and meaningful change in society. This project aims to recruit 40 young people between 16 – 24 years old who want to make a difference and who share a common vision and motivation. They will be located in a shared space, where they will work with others to turn their best ideas and passions into actions that create sustainable, and meaningful change in society. It is a three-month program, where they will be given the tools, support, and network to create and implement an Action Project. During the three months, Action Hub will host weekly training sessions that will provide a combination of lectures, workshops, mentorship, and networking. Interested participants are required to sign up for the course and will be assigned to groups. A 13,000 kroner grant will be provided for each team (3-5 people) to implement their Action Project. The project aims to recruit about 40 young participants. The purpose of the open/information day event is to mobilize young people to come and learn about the project, by talking to our partners and also to be in a space where community work is discussed to inspire them into being change-makers in their local communities across Copenhagen. The event will include having speakers talking about the importance of community work, a range of local entertainers and we will also be serving food. SIYOW – SIYOW Academy is a Copenhagen-based social environment for youths who strives to better themselves in their daily crafts as well as keeping them focused on their academic education. Our ambition is to expand our initiative in the Global South where young people can have spaces that they can feel empowered and put their ideas into reality. GirlCult – GirlCult DK is a Danish online platform that informs and teaches young people about sexual health. It is a safe space where everyone can participate. The platform’s purpose is to break the taboos around the female body and sex, especially because everyone doesn’t have access to reproductive and sexual health. This project is funded by TuborgFondet and coordinated by Crossing Borders. Be a change maker! Apply Now! Purchase now

Silkeborg Højskole is situated in the heart of Jutland right in the middle of the Det midtjyske Søhøjland district. The school is a modern Danish folk high school, where they consider international participation to be an important aspect, and each term they welcome students from various geographical and cultural backgrounds. A Danish folk high school is an adult boarding school, and it is a place where you involve yourself strongly in a social fellowship and encounter committed and highly skilled teachers. The Change Makers Change Makers is Silkeborg Højskole’s international main subject, focusing on leadership, international cooperation, conflict resolution, and in general being able to make a change in both local areas and the global community. They are an international line so the class this semester has students from Denmark, Japan, the USA, Australia, Luxembourg, and Belgium. They are all like-minded individuals in the sense that they want to learn skills to be able to make a change, but they all bring different perspectives to the class, both from their different cultures, but also different personalities, which they can all learn from. Their names are Niamh De Burca (Lux), Ariane Orban (Bel), Daijiro Skaki (Japan), Emma Sofia Jansen (Dk), Lilly Smith (Aus), Maeve Balavender (USA), Nanna Clemmesen (Dk), Rapaël Victor Dewitte (Bel), Søren Bjerg (Dk). The idea behind the Auction Change Maker group recently fundraised 21.888 DKK for Crossing Borders through one of their activities. They held an auction in which they wanted to both raise money for an organization of their choice, but also create an opportunity for their group to learn about project management and teamwork, as well as improve their skills in these areas. It was both an individual and group learning experience for all of them. They chose Crossing Borders because they felt the values aligned with what they learn in their class and the whole point of their line. Their belief as a class is that young people are the way forward and that providing them with tools such as leadership skills, project management and just generally empowering them is the best way to make a change in society, all across the Globe. As Crossing Borders provides a platform for this it seemed like an obvious choice for them to support it. Because they have a shorter term due to the Covid-19, they aren’t able to do many more projects, but they hope to do one more before their term ends. However, their future plans are either to do a project at the school based on intercultural learning, with things such as food and games, or perhaps a few small projects around the school, focused on sustainability, e.g., food waste or water consumption. In terms of theory work their class will focus more on working as a group on how to be a good leader and a good group member. They also hope to spend some time getting to further explain niche parts of their cultures to the rest of their class and work on intercultural communication skills. Join our international community Become a member of Crossing Borders today Purchase now

Reflections by MAŠA ZUPČIĆ after being part of the climate summer camp back. Crossing Borders have first received an invitation from NOAH Friends of Earth Denmark to be a part of the organizing team for the Climate Summer Camp back in the autumn of 2020. As soon as I heard about it, I was immediately more than willing to participate in it. I felt that this could be an opportunity to be a part of something truly meaningful, as the theme was the Climate Justice approached from different perspectives such as social justice and gender issues. And I was right; it was very meaningful and it helped me to realize how many people are willing to change things for better in this world. Even though we were organizing the event in a very uncertain period, that didn’t stop us. We readily “jumped” into the meetings with the NOAH team with one goal – to help make this Camp possible. After a lot of planning, the circumstances allowed us to meet in person after all; around 20 participants and facilitators gathered for four days from June 30th until July 4th in Makvärket, home to a cultural and environmental collective that almost feels like a magical place full of history. We arrived ready to share the space, conversations and knowledge for the next few days, and what other way is better to connect than working in a team? That is why we played an Escape Game created by the NOAH team called System: reclaim after which we had an active listening workshop. These activities gave us a chance to work together and talk to each other in a bit unconventional way, which eased the introduction part and made it enjoyable so I quickly connected to my fellow participants. The next day, the official program of the Camp started. We had a chance to listen about topics such as Degrowth in the lecture facilitated by NOAH, Doughnut Economics facilitated by SPIRE organization from Norway, and Norway’s Green Transition with Natur & Ungdom. On the same day, Crossing Borders had a chance to present and facilitate playing the board game Last Chance which is teaching young people about SDGs and the importance of teamwork and partnership. We concluded the day with a movie night, watching an Icelandic movie called Woman at War, which I would warmly recommend to everyone reading this, as it is tackling some important topics in a very impactful way. The second day of the camp started with an introduction to the EU Green Deal and continued with a workshop on Environmental Racism by the Collective Against Environmental Racism. We spend our afternoon with the team from RAPOLITICS that introduced their project Pieces for Palestine. Both of these topics are very important, and the presentations were very intense, but both teams of facilitators made sure not to overwhelm us with information and made us feel safe and comfortable at all times by including a lot of interactive activities in their workshops. Saturday started with the Dancing Class held by the Crossing Borders team, in which we introduced different ways to connect with nature through dancing and body movements. We spent the rest of the morning preparing for the debate with two MEPs: Molin Björk from the Swedish Left Party and Marie Toussaint, a member of the Group of the Greens and European Free Alliance. We asked them questions about perspectives of Economic, Social-Racial and Gender Justice and discussed about the process of writing and implementing the EU Green Deal and what it will mean for the future of the EU. In the second half of the day, we learned about Ecofeminism through the lecture and a discussion facilitated by NOAH. We spent the last day of the camp reflecting on everything we have heard, learned, shared, and experienced. We mostly focused on the element of hope that these kinds of experiences provide. Thinking and talking about environmental issues and different kinds of injustice that we are surrounded by sometimes can cause anxiety and feeling of hopelessness. That is why I am beyond grateful to the NOAH team and everyone else who organized and participated in this Camp. It disconnected me for a short time from the daily responsibilities and “real life” and connected me to the wonderful group of people, to nature and to myself. It also gave me a chance to feel more comfortable sharing my personal feelings, positive energy and concerns, with the group of people I just met. The camp provided us with a safe space and gently encouraged us to speak, reflect and support each other. The biggest lesson I took with me from this Camp is that we are not alone; we are all part of a closely interconnected community. We are all part of nature. Everyone should play their role in protecting each other and our environment. That is why our job is not over – it has just started. Education is the key, and I encourage everyone to join events like these whenever they have a chance. Only by learning, we can take care of ourselves, others and the world. MAŠA ZUPČIĆ European Solidarity Corps volunteer at Crossing Borders

Reflections by Margrethe Tougaard Møller Being a part of the bio construction course on Ibiza with Crossing Borders was such a beautiful and nourishing experience in so many ways. It was an experience filled with growth, diversity, and love surrounded by nature. We were about 15 young people living one week outside in tents with mud on our skin and stars in our eyes. The bio construction course took place on a permaculture farm in between tree-covered mountains with a glimpse of the sea. The farm owners made us feel at the home right of the batch. Likewise, everyone so quickly connected almost as we had been friends for a long time. By the end of the week, it felt like we were a well-established community, almost like a little tribe. The instructors also made a great environment for learning with their inclusive teaching approach. Overall, the course taught us how to build a house from natural materials with traditional Mediterranean methods. Every morning started out with the theoretical basis to understand the building tasks of the day. This included knowledge about various wall constructions, measurements of the different quantities of soil, sand, mud, and straw – and the different assets of the materials. The rest of the day we would mix the materials and build walls. The embodied knowledge approach made it both easy to understand and super fun to have our bodies covered in mud while the sun was burning. In the evening we went to the beautiful beaches nearby and lighted a bonfire in the camp under the stars at night.The course was after all about cultural exchange and connections between humans and nature. I learned a lot about the basic and beautiful human experiences we all share while being in a group with people from France, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Italy, and Denmark. I’m grateful for all the energy that went into arranging this training in a time of the corona pandemic where everyone needed community and adventure more than ever!

“The essence of participation is not just in asking people what they want. It’s about people’s desire to make changes themselves.” Does the modern world need a leader? Like other participants, this is a question Bohdan asked himself during the Democracy Hub training. A few months before the project started, this young 17 years-old Ukrainian with a creative and ambitious mindset tried to introduce a waste sorting system on his porch and motivate waste sorting habits in his neighbourhood. His initiative did not encounter the success he hoped for, but when a friend told him about the Democracy Hub project, Bohdan seized this opportunity to learn about how to involve the community to solve problems and create change. For Bohdan, democracy was simply a regime where people were valued, respected, and listened to by a single leading person. The several lectures and discussions with 40 other teenagers enhanced his critical thinking and led him to rethink citizens’ role in a democratic system. Indeed, he realized that as a citizen, everything was in his hand. Not only his life but also the development of his country and of the world he lives in. Loaded with energy and confidence, Bohdan decided to take the role of a changemaker. Bursting with ideas and a desire to deepen his knowledge of active citizenship and responsible leadership, Bohdan is now prepared to share what he learned in the Democracy Hub project. As a survey revealed a dangerous lack of interest among young people of Ukraine in political and social activities, Bohdan and his inspiration represent the possibility to reverse that tendency. A more active, politically, and socially involved Ukrainian youth is certainly on the way. Explore our project Know more about the Kyiv Democracy Hub Know more

Sarah at the airport in Zambia Sarah in the plane en route to Denmark. The trip and before Travelling to another country is always exciting for me and better off going to Europe is something I look forward to. I always look forward to the transition even if it lasts for only a short time, the tall buildings, the beautiful sceneries, the Food and the culture experience. I enjoy taking pictures and posting on my social media pages. As an African with all visa barriers and travel regulations, you take extra precautions to plan your trip and ensure all documentations are in place before you embark on the trip. This time around I had to wait for confirmation from the school as to when I can travel. When I was cleared to travel, I embarked on my journey via Dubai and I had to take about 3 covid-19 tests, 2 before travelling and one final one at the airport in Copenhagen. It was not the best time to travel due to the many restrictions that came with the pandemic. The ‘almost’ empty airports greeted me with a cold elbow and this is when it dawned on me that my danish experience this time around will not be the same. It should be noted that I have travelled to Denmark more than twice before this and this time around things were different. My biggest shock was the many restrictions that came with the Covid-19 pandemic; the malls where closed, restaurants only served on takeaway basis, not many people in the streets. I was so looking forward to meeting friends and taking some outdoor chills, but I did not think this it was going to be possible this time around at least not at the moment or the very nearest future. Sarah in quarantine. During quarantine: I had to spend four days in quarantine and take the test on the fourth day and wait one or 2 two days for the results before getting out to meet with other people. This was my first time to be in quarantine or rather being in a place where I cannot interact with other people. Coming from Africa, where we live in groups and families, we socialise a lot and share a lot of things amongst each other. Back at home I live with my mum, sister, cousin and my little dog so I always must talk to my family every day, this time was different, before I could adapt to the danish culture where people are more independent than where I come from, I had to go through the routine quarantine. Day one`s routine included, waking up and taking a bath, waiting for a knock at 7:30am for breakfast delivery by one of the students, Netflix and book reading, wait for 1pm for the lunch delivery and lastly the last knock at 6pm for supper delivery. In between I could video call my family and friends or stare at the construction activities going outside my window to kill the boredom and it went well the days. Day three I think I got depressed, I wanted to talk to someone or just have that one-to-one contact with someone and I could not. The teachers came through to check up on me but could not really chat with them for a long time as they must check on other students. It was a weird, crazy period. I yearned to the time when I will end the quarantine. Day four came and I was so excited because I was going to go and take a covid test, I was so excited I was all bathed up as early as 8 am with my little make up on. I noticed the student volunteer delivering the lunch staring at me longer, she was probably amazed at the makeover because the past three days she found me pyjamas. I took the test and went back to the school and waited a day before my results come out. That night I kept staring at my phone for a message from the testing centre that says “Negative”, but it did not come until the following day. In the afternoon I checked my email and there was nothing also then I logged on to the Covid-19 results.dk website and my results where there: NEGATIVE.I was declared Covid-19 free by the teacher on duty and allowed to mingle with others and what was even more exciting was the upcoming costume party that day, such a relief to come out. Sarah after finishing quarantine. My disposition during and post quarantine If I were to describe how I felt during this time, I would say lonely. I do not like to be confined to one place. As a person I like to do what makes me happy, eat what makes me happy and hangout with people so being in one place where I had no control of what I ate or who I talked to, was challenging. However, it made me see another side of me that I never knew, like the fact that I was able to accept what life threw at me during that time. Now that I am out of the quarantine, I can take walks around the school, make friends and sit at the dinner table with everyone. I know that the pandemic has changed most of our lives and I believe we must find a way to keep on keeping on as individuals. My only wish is for a time to come where my friends from Copenhagen can come to my school so I can show them around and hopefully that it happens soon. About Sarah Nkandu. Sarah Nkandu is a communication specialist working in the NGO sector to help improve communications efforts for different causes. Sarah has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and pursuing her masters in the same field (thesis level). She is a Zambian national aged 28 and is deeply passionate about community mobilisation as she

A Student Research and Crossing Borders Collab We are all aware of the increasing impact climate change is having on our lives, from the direct effects of natural disasters and increasing temperatures to the other sometimes more long-lasting effects on health and well-being – but it’s time to recognise that these impacts are felt differently amongst different social groups! Women are at higher risk of suffering from the negative effects of climate change and are therefore more vulnerable to climate change. Knowing how they are vulnerable and what we can do to address it are some important questions that we hope to answer with the help of Crossing Borders in our research project. Our research group is made up of three students from Roskilde University studying International Studies. Jessica has roots in Liberia and Denmark while Ringisai and Raramai have lived experiences in Indonesia, Australia and southern Africa, our combined experiences mean we’ve seen how climate change can affect women differently globally. So, this topic is both important and personal to us as a group. Our research aims to understand ideas of resilience, risk and vulnerability in the context of climate change and gender. We are very excited to collaborate with Crossing Borders as a partner for our research project, not only because they have insights into how organisations respond to gendered climate vulnerability, but also because like us they believe in empowering youth to be the change they want to see in the world. This topic is increasingly relevant as international climate change initiatives become more critical of their actions and have started to look at the additional vulnerabilities that women face to climate change. Organisations such as Crossing Boarders are great case studies because of their emphasis on youth, inclusion and diversity. For more information on the impact of climate change, and what forms of gendered climate action that exist Click here Feel free to contact us if you’d like more information on our project! Ringisai Susara Campbell Jessica Petersen Raramai Campbell

  Conflicts are part of our life, and we need to learn how to deal with them. This course’s clear message is that one does not have to avoid conflicts to have meaningful and deep relationships. Do conflicts have benefits for our life? This course argues that they have, and the argument is taken even further by highlighting how disputes have the ability for personal growth and development. According to Margaret Heffernan, by stepping into the conflict, we allow ourselves to analyse our beliefs and perspectives by reflecting on opposing beliefs and views. In this way, personal knowledge is broadened with the very unique sense of someone else’s experience. This process allows creating a shared experience which could be beneficial for all parties involved. According to Heffernan, it is essential to build the ability to detach self and one’s own perception, thus creating the initial willingness to understand the opinions of others. We can call it open-mindedness or the ability to understand what might initially seem unfamiliar, or even strange. Heffernan invites us to be accepting of such strangeness and even consider it valuable, as something that can enrich our thoughts. To see conflicts from another angle, Unit 3 of this Conflict and Communication course sees Crossing Borders’ chair Vibeke Quaade offer her perception of a particular form of communication that can prove problematic. Vibeke describes the tendency of humanitarian organisations to present Africa as a place in need through distressing imagery, feeding into Western media and encouraging support to what is made to seem a simply needy continent. While drawing interesting connections of this modern-day problem to its colonial roots, Vibeke encourages humanitarian communications workers to fight against this tendency and not be overly simplistic and damaging in their work. This course then offers and describes the practice of Nonviolent Communication, which is presented as a working tool to effectively manage conflict situations. Nonviolent communication is an analytical tool in the form of reflection on possible emotional manifestation and in this sense, emotional and rational attributes are balanced and cooperative. Therefore, by doing this course, we are encouraged to be fully present when engaged in a conflict. The course nicely incorporates the need for personal openness to facing conflicts, while on the other hand it encourages students to listen and learn from disagreements. Students are invited to step out of their comfort zone to see and understand different perspectives, and above all, to grow.   Take the course now! Click here By Lucia Trubenova Crossing Borders Intern

This interactive, online course is divided into three sections, with each segment bringing a unique perception of The Nordic Welfare Model. The first unit introduces the welfare model and reflects on current affairs, while the second part offers a critical analysis of the model from the perception of environmental issues. The third discusses social protection as a crucial element of the Nordic Welfare Model, relating to the example of Finland. Reflecting on current geopolitical affairs, the global pandemic and climate change crises, one naturally thinks about the long-term sustainability of the Nordic Welfare Model. This kind of sustainability is placed in the context of international development, social structures and environmental issues. This course reflects on each Nordic country individually, and by such an analysis, students have the opportunity to understand the model as such, as well as its various aspects and how each country was able to reflect on the crisis. This section allows students to see damages done by the crisis situation but also possible solutions. The second part of the lecture analyses the model from an environmental perspective, drawing from the knowledge of experts like Dr Jason Hickle, who offers a critical analysis of Scandinavian politics in terms of environmental practices. The reader is allowed to broaden their perception of attitudes to sustainability in the Nordics and take a more critical approach, asking, how can they and thus other countries do better? The third section focused on social protection with a specific example from Finland. By understanding and analysing social politics, one can appreciate the Finnish historical narrative of social politics and its impact on Finland’s development. This case study serves as a functional model and a possible solution for various countries concepts. The lecture offers a comprehensive analysis from different pespectives and a fantastic opportunity for students to critically reflect on the Nordic Welfare Model.