We’re halfway through 2024 so we’d like to give you an update on what we have done so far. It has been a challenging but productive time full of changes and incorporating new solutions. We’ve organised many events and provided you with current news from all over the world. Are you interested in what’s in store for us? Let’s take a look!
Changes in the Association’s Board
The most important update regarding the Board is the change in its composition. The current members are:
- Nina Wójtowicz is a social activist and a certified educator with many years of experience working in diverse and multicultural environments. She has been involved with the association since 2021, focusing primarily on educational, supportive and inclusive activities. Her main interest is creating and leading workshops on anti-discrimination and the global education system. She also has carried out educational activities on the Polish-Belarusian border. Before joining the Association’s Board, she coordinated the Help Center at Radziwiłłowska 3 in Kraków and later the “Skills Matter” internship program for refugees, implemented at IKEA Kraków.
- Sylwia Jankowska is a master’s student in Interdisciplinary Studies on Social Change, the Mediterranean, and European Borders at the University of Warsaw. She completed her studies in Contemporary International Migrations at the same university and earned a bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Event Management from the University of Westminster in London. She has gained professional experience in marketing agencies and non-governmental organisations. Her interests include migration, identity, diversity, equality, and social inclusion. Since 2021, she has been involved in the Education Department of the association, where she conducts workshops on anti-discrimination, global education, and migration.
- Monika Toporek is a graduate of the University of Economics in Kraków and currently a student of Balkan Studies and Serbian Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. She has several years of corporate and managerial experience, having served as a member of the Board of the Independent Student Association at UEK, where she was active for five years. She has been connected with Salam Lab since 2021, starting as a volunteer supporting the Education Department. From September 2021 to January 2022, she was involved in educational and aid activities on the Polish-Belarusian border as part of the Border Group. For the past eight years, she has been travelling independently, exploring and experiencing different cultures, which allows her to have a better understanding of the processes occurring in today’s world. You might come across her articles in Salam News.
As you may remember, we moved out from the Radziwłłowska 3 office last year and moved into the new one at Sołtysa Dytmara 3 at the end of April. The Help Center and Social Active Space hosted and supported thousands of asylum seekers. We want to thank our volunteers and team members, whose tremendous dedication helped us cater for those facing exclusion and the refugee crisis.
In the first half of this year, we concluded various support and inclusion projects, including short-term accommodation programs, the Re:Match relocation project, the long-term integration project “Live in Krakow”, the employment activation program “Confident Step: Unlocking Potential” and the project “Protection of Forcibly Displaced Persons through Community Centers in Poland”. We would like to thank our Partner Organisations for their trust and joint effort in providing support to refugees.
We keep on educating ourselves! At the beginning of this year, we participated in the Capacity Strengthening mini-grant organised by Mercy Corps, which allowed us to continue coaching sessions with an expert from the company Fluent. The sessions’ outcome was a final workshop and the development of a strategy for our organisation for the next 12 months. The project concluded with an integration trip with the organiser and other non-governmental organisations.
In April, we were invited to participate in the “Active Sector School” (Szkoła Aktywnego Sektora) project, which focused on image support. Thanks to this project, we were able to use new marketing tools, such as roll-ups, banners, business cards, and company stamps. We also had a photo session for our team, which results you can see in this article.
What are we working on now?
Currently, we are implementing two long-term grant projects:
- The “Promoting Social Unity and Tolerance” (Promowanie jedności społecznej i tolerancji) project, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, is an educational initiative that allows us to expand our educational programs for students and organise cultural events, discussion panels and workshops.
- The “Rebuilding the Lives of Refugees and Supporting Their Integration into the Local Community” (Odbudowa życia osób z doświadczeniem uchodźczym i wsparcie ich w staniu się aktywnymi członkami lokalnej społeczności) project, supported by Global Giving, has enabled us to settle outstanding payments in the “Live in Krakow” project, from which one of the main sponsors withdrew in 2023. A key component of this project is the continuation of our unique Ukrainian Library (Biblioteka Ukraińska).
Currently, our only open entry space is the Ukrainian Library, which we run in cooperation with the “Kocham Dębniki” Foundation. Our collection is constantly growing. See for yourselves by visiting Ms. Tetiana at our new location at Konfederacka 4/5, in the Foundation’s headquarters!
As a Board, we continually develop our competencies by participating in various events and trainings: coaching sessions with an expert from Fluent, meetings with Mercy Corps to summarise our joint efforts in the field of humanitarian aid, and six-month BRIDGE program (building resilience in digital growth and engagement) which supports NGOs in developing the digital skills and raising funds online. We also had a chance to consult our fundraising strategy within Active Citizens Fund.
Another important part of our work is advocacy, which consists of sharing our experiences and expertise in supporting people experiencing exclusion, migration and refugee crisis. We participated in the radio show “Building Respect for Diversity” (Budować szacunek do różnorodności) on Off Radio Kraków, which you can listen to here. Additionally, our organisation joined the Malopolska Partnership for Integration and Multiculturalism (Małopolskiego Partnerstwa na rzecz Integracji i Wielokulturowości), which is an initiative by Malopolska Voivodeship Labour Office in Krakow under the strategic project “Live and Work in Malopolska (Phase 1),” backed by European Union funding.
What’s New in the Education Department?
We’ve completed seven months of educational work focused on building respect for diversity and countering discrimination. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
School Activities
We continue implementing the educational program “Unity in Diversity” created last year to support schools in fulfilling their School Educational and Preventive Program. This program includes comprehensive actions in schools, such as training for teachers, series of anti-discrimination workshops for grades IV-VIII, one-time workshops for grades I-III, and evaluation meetings with the school’s psychological and pedagogical team. Comprehensive school activities are our priority and we focus on supporting institutions in preventing discrimination and exclusion. Several classes in a few schools near Krakow already benefited from it.
In the first half of the year, we visited six primary schools. We conducted a series of anti-discrimination workshops for five groups as part of the “Unity in Diversity” program. We also held one-time workshops on migration, intercultural communication and anti-discrimination, benefiting ten classes.
Extracurricular Activities
We extend our educational activities beyond school walls. In the last six months, we conducted training for the staff of the Galicja Jewish Museum in Krakow, the “Empathy in Action” training for students from the University of Silesia in Katowice as part of the International Conference “Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in Communities,” and for students from the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. In collaboration with the Teach for Poland Foundation, we conducted anti-discrimination workshops and workshops on inclusive language as part of a project supporting educators, intercultural assistants, and teachers from across Poland in working with multicultural classes. During the annual scouting camp of the ZHP (The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association) at the ZHP Nowinki Base in Piaseczno, we had the opportunity to conduct workshops for a group of youth and adult scouts. We also held workshops in cooperation with cultural institutions and companies.
Cooperation with Cultural Institutions
Following the success of the “Discover Multicultural Wawel” project, a series of family workshops we conducted in 2023 at the Wawel Royal Castle, we are focusing on collaborative efforts with cultural institutions to promote the incorporation of anti-discrimination and global education into museum education and cultural institution activities.
At the beginning of the year, we established a partnership with the Malopolska Institute of Culture in Krakow. It has resulted in several joint events. As part of MIK’s “Culture Laboratory” project, we organised a meeting dedicated to Turkish culture, led by Huseyin Celik, who is a journalist and expert on Turkey, Islam and the Middle East. During the event, Huseyin discussed the diversity of Turkish society. The participants had an opportunity to prepare the famous Turkish salad kisir and learn the secrets of brewing Turkish coffee and tea. Additionally, during the 26th Malopolska Cultural Heritage Days, we conducted family workshops titled “Migrating Gardens – How Nature Co-Creates Multicultural Heritage” in the gardens of the Bernardine Monastery in Krakow. These workshops provided an opportunity to discuss whether plants can migrate and what a monastery garden can teach us about diversity and cooperation. In June, as part of the Multiculturalism Forum, we held the “Imagined Identity” (Wyobrażona tożsamość) workshop for a group of employees from various Krakow cultural institutions, who during the meeting played our educational game “the Successor”.
In collaboration with the National Museum in Krakow, we organised family workshops as part of the MNK Family Sunday series, which accompanied the Georgian Weekend. We prepared activities, tasks, and puzzles centred around the theme of wealth.
Salam Lab at festivals
As every year we participated in summer festivals. In July, we set up a stand in the Social Zone during the Festival of Freedom and Civil Rights in Gdansk. We were also present at July Slot Art Festival, one of the biggest festivals of alternative culture in Poland. We conducted a workshop “Lessons on Neo-Colonialism” there. Among various activities, our workshop drew the attention of numerous participants, engaged them in discussions and allowed them to share their personal experience. Apart from that, we organised the “Imagined Identity” workshop at Wianki Festival in Posada Rybotycka including our board game “Successor”.
New educational programs
In the past six months we’ve worked on new educational programs and workshops:
“Empathy in action” is a six-hour workshop for adult participants. Its goal is to deepen the understanding of multicultural societies’ dynamic and bring their attention to causes and effects of discrimination.
“Lessons on Neo-Colonialism” is a series of 6 workshops increasing knowledge on topics such as the impact of colonialism on our worldview, global dependencies and dominant narratives. During the workshops, we adopt various perspectives: geographical, historical, literary, as well as those of art and new media.
“Imagined Identity” is a workshop using the game ‘Successor’. This workshop addresses migration, the Ukrainian minority in Poland, and the complexities of human identities. It features the detective game ‘Successor,’ based on a ‘mobile escape room’ mechanism. During the game, participants learn about Polish history and the Ukrainian minority in the Przemyśl region, providing context for contemporary Ukrainian migration to Poland. This workshop is part of the educational program ‘Minorities, Migration, Unity,’ which has been in development since 2023 and will include two more educational games focusing on different national or ethnic minorities. Recently, the workshop won the Best Workshop award at the 2024 International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA) conference, where it was conducted by Weronika Szatkowska and Dr. Małgorzata Ćwil from Kozminski University, with whom we collaborated on the game.
Promotion of Our Activities in the Academic Environment
The Education Department at Salam Lab is active in academia. Blanka Błaszczak-Rozenbaum, Education Specialist, presented our work at three conferences.
On April 19, she spoke at the national student-expert conference “Changing Realities: Living in a Post- and Neo-Colonial World,” organised by the African-Middle Eastern Scientific Circle and the Orientalists’ Circle at Jagiellonian University. She discussed our new program, “Lessons on Neo-Colonialism,” in her talk titled “Changing Education: How to Address Postcolonialism in a Neo-Colonial Context Based on SALAM LAB’s Educational Initiatives.”
On April 20, she presented “The Game ‘Successor’: How a Mobile Escape Room Can Teach Borderland History” at the national student-doctoral conference “Playing History: The Role of Games in Historiography,” organised by the Historical Games Section and Public Space History Section at Jagiellonian University. She covered the educational game “Successor” and related workshops.
Blanka also discussed the development of the educational game “Successor” at the Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference “New Migrations, New Narratives” on June 27-28, organised by the Institute of Sociology at the National Education Commission University in Kraków and the Humanities Faculty of AGH. Her talk was titled “Playing for Engagement and Collaboration: An Educational Game about Ukrainians in Poland from a Diasporic Perspective.”
Focus on Development
In the past six months, we have also engaged in valuable trips to expand our knowledge and skills.
In April, Monika Zielińska, Head of the Education Department, participated in a week-long study visit to Norway titled “Building Equality in a Diverse Society: How to Prevent and Respond to Discrimination.” Organised by the Education for Democracy Foundation, the visit explored anti-discrimination efforts and challenges faced by Norwegian society, as well as potential areas for collaboration with Polish entities.
In June, Blanka Błaszczak-Rozenbaum took part in a study visit to the Utøya Learning Center in Norway, focusing on dialogue, counter-radicalization, and commemoration. This visit, organised with Utøya – Et sted som engasjerer and the 22. juli-senteret, continued last year’s focus on dialogue across divides and addressed radicalization, preventive actions, and commemoration in education.
Educational Activities in 2024 by the Numbers
While we value reflective and critical perspectives beyond mere statistics, we still track our work. Here are our 2024 educational results:
6 schools used our educational programs
35 workshops conducted in schools
292 students participated in these workshops
2 trainings for student groups on “Empathy in Action”
32 students attended these trainings
11 workshops for out-of-school groups
128 participants in these workshops
Events, Changes, and Patronite: Six Months at Salam Lab
The first half of 2024 at Salam Lab focused on “changes.” January was our final month of full activity before we had to scale back due to financial difficulties from February to May. Consequently, we reduced our publication frequency, and since February, our Peace Press Review has been biweekly instead of weekly. To support a return to weekly newsletters with curated global news, consider backing us on Patronite! We will provide more details on our Patronite update in the next summary. In January, we published Human Stories (e.g., Emil al-Khawaldeh’s story), news, and positive global updates, while also covering the situation in Gaza. In February, we reflected on how Salam Lab welcomed Ukrainian refugees.
PALESTINE CINEMA DAYS
March was highlighted by our co-organization and patronage of Palestine Cinema Days. The film festival, held at the Warsaw Kinoteka from March 19-23, showcased a range of Palestinian films, from classic cinema to award-winning documentaries and shorts. Our journalists led discussions after the screenings. Katarzyna Makarowicz moderated a session on “Tantura” by Alon Schwarz. A debate on the Nakba included Przemysław Wielgosz, Nina Michnik and Adam Hadi. Ewelina Kaczmarczyk led a discussion on “Personal Affairs” by Maha Haj. Additionally, discussions on daily life under occupation in the West Bank featured Salah Abu Laban, Joanna Rajkowska and Patrycja Król. The festival was a success with full houses and engaging post-screening discussions, reinforcing our belief in the value of our work.
At the same time, editor Ewelina Kaczmarczyk also attended an iftar dinner organised by our friends at the Dunaj Institute of Dialogue. The evening was accompanied by delicious dishes, engaging conversations, and Turkish music.
Ramadan and Nakba
During this year’s Ramadan, we highlighted texts about iftar dinners, Islamic prayer, and our collaborator Huseyin created a reel for Eid al-Fitr. In April, we also launched our first reel, where Katarzyna Makarowicz discussed the biggest elections in world history. Special thanks to our intern Michał Połowniak for his support and excellent collaboration on these reels.
In May, to mark the Nakba anniversary, we, in collaboration with the Initiative East, organised a special event titled “Keys to Homes, Keys to Memories: Commemorating the Nakba.” This event provided a space to discuss the former Palestinian villages displaced in 1948. We were joined by Nidal Hamadeh (writer and Palestinian activist born in a refugee camp in Lebanon), Ala Qandil (reporter and former PAP correspondent in Palestine), and Emil al-Khawaldeh (a Polish-Palestinian activist from Initiative East), who co-hosted the event with Ewelina Kaczmarczyk. The turnout exceeded our expectations with over 50 attendees, and we are very grateful for your support! On May 15, the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, we published articles on the Nakba itself, including a review of the film “Over Their Dead Bodies,” which presents the Tantura village massacre from a Palestinian perspective.
In June, our editor Ewelina Kaczmarczyk, along with Blanka Błaszczak-Rozenbaum, participated in a study visit to Utøya, the site of Norway’s worst tragedy since World War II. Thirteen years ago, 69 people were killed in a terrorist attack by Anders Breivik, who posed as a police officer to gain access to the island and shoot the youth attending a Norwegian Labour Party camp. During our visit, we attended anti-discrimination workshops, learning how to combat radicalism and hate speech. Utøya teaches that memory is a process. The fact that youth continue to visit the island shows that the terrorist did not win. The island lives on, educating and spreading its anti-discrimination message. We left Utøya filled with hope and inspiration for our educational and media work. You can watch a short recap of our visit in our reel.
Team Expansion
June also marked a new addition to our Media Department. We welcomed Marta Burza, a journalist, indologist, turkologist, and graduate of the Postgraduate Studies in Humanitarian Assistance, to our team. You can now read her articles on our website. Welcome aboard, Marta! In addition to her editorial duties, Marta also supports our fundraising efforts.
At the end of June, a month of positive changes and travels, our journalist Ewelina Kaczmarczyk became the Editor-in-Chief of Salam Lab, taking over from Katarzyna Makarowicz. Ewelina also participated in the NON Fiction report festival, where she led the debate “By the Mediterranean Sea: Genocide Called War” with Przemysław Wielgosz, photographer Anne Paq, and Alicja Qandil. The discussion was deeply moving, and we had the chance to speak with our readers afterward. Thank you for your kind words. If you missed the debate, you can still watch it here.
We started July with a live stream discussing the current situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. Katarzyna Makarowicz spoke on our Instagram with Bartosz Rumieńczyk, an activist from Grupa Granica and former journalist with a focus on migration. Recent weeks have brought troubling news from the border: an increase in pushbacks, illegal deportations organised by the Polish border guards, more violence, and growing desperation among the Polish forces. Despite promises, the new Polish government’s policy towards refugees hasn’t changed. The narrative of dangerous migrants breaching our border and widespread disinformation continues to dominate the media. We wanted to discuss with Bartek the current and future consequences of such policies. You can listen to the conversation here.
In recent weeks, we’ve also covered the impact of the migration pact, the reinstatement of the zone at the Polish-Belarusian border, the war in Sudan, and animated stories about Afghanistan, along with book reviews.
We are working on more events and live streams, and are actively planning our fundraising strategy. If you want us to continue creating content and challenging black-and-white narratives, please support us on Patronite. Thank you for every contribution and for your help!
Edu and Media Together: Salam Lab Events
In addition to our educational and media activities, as part of the Bridging the Gap: Minority Perspective Forum project, we organise events focused on multiculturalism. These include not just cultural evenings but also expert talks, debates, and live streams. In the first half of 2024, we organised three events aimed at expanding the knowledge of Krakow residents about the history and culture of Palestine and Turkey. The first of these was the Nakba commemoration on May 15.
AFTERNOON WITH PALESTINIAN CULTURE – 22.06.2024
During this Palestinian cultural afternoon, Salahuddin Abulaban, a guide in Palestine and Jordan and a poet, shared insights about his country’s culture. In the first, educational part of the event, Salah discussed cultural differences and historical figures that connect Polish and Palestinian cultures. The topic of Nakba and its impact on contemporary Palestinian life was also addressed.
In the second, interactive part of the event, participants learned the basic steps of the traditional Palestinian dance, Dabke. Along with dancing, we explored the significance of Dabke, which has become a symbol of protest and cultural resistance. The event concluded with a culinary workshop where we prepared traditional hummus. The gathering ended with informal discussions about Palestinian culture and history. The entire event was conducted in Polish and was attended by 28 people from Poland, Palestine, and Ukraine, ranging in age from 18 to 60.
Turkish Culture Evening – 24.06.2024
During the evening, Huseyin Celik, a journalist and expert on Turkey, Islam, and the Middle East, shared insights into Turkish culture and Islam. Huseyin discussed Turkish history, the main principles of Islam, and the countries where Islam is a predominant religion. He also shared his perspective on daily life as a Muslim in Poland, sparking many questions from participants about cultural differences and the challenges faced by Turks in Poland. Later, attendees learned about traditional methods of brewing Turkish coffee and tea, followed by a tasting of traditional drinks and desserts. The event was conducted in Polish and attended by 22 people from Poland and Ukraine, aged 18 to 70. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you at future events!
Join Us in Supporting and Expanding Our Work
As you can see, even with a smaller team, we’re not slowing down. We’re planning more activities in schools and institutions, along with new articles, events, and cultural evenings. All of this is made possible by our grantors and your support. Your donations enable us to do more and better. We invite you to support our work financially through siepomaga and to contribute to our Media Department via Patronite.pl. We also welcome collaboration with business entities—at Salam Lab, we’re open to commercial partnerships.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to each of you who contribute to building an open and multicultural society. See you in our next, now quarterly, summary!
Editing: Ewelina Kaczmarczyk
Translation: Marcin Adamczuk
