When the world needs us to sit together, listen and connect
Activities 2020
Online Youth Circle • We have the choice
>>> Uplifting each other in lockDOWN <<<
When Wednesday 16 December from 8 till 9.30 pm CET
There are 3 youth circles planned, you can participate in one or more of them.
These will take place on Wednesday 2, 16 and 30 December from 8 p.m. to 9.30 pm CET.
Where Online
What The 2nd lockdown demands a lot from students and young people. Everyone’s experience is different. Some students rightly sound the alarm. We invite you to stand still together with other young people and give words to how you experience this period and how you feel. Do you suffer as a result of isolation? Enjoying the peace and quiet? Lying awake about finances? Missing a loved one? Doubts about studies? Having fun online? You can share your story in the Circle and get to know the power of listening and being listened to. Giving attention to each other brings peace and strengthens everyone’s courage. This creates a space to stand up for your own choices. Because although we do not always have control over what we experience, we always have a choice in how we deal with it. Students and young people from the age of 16 are welcome! A Circle is a moment of connection and offers space to share and listen from heart to heart. A Circle is not a back-and-forth conversation, not a discussion, everyone can speak, but there is no need to speak. Your presence is enough. The online circle lasts an hour and a half, and is guided by circle facilitators of the non profit organization We have the choice. The online Youth Circles are made possible with the support of high schools, universities and youth welfare organisations: VVS, VUB, KDG, AP, Thomas More, PXL, Tejo, Joker, Cachet, Ideekids and Homaar.
Theme How are you REALLY doing in these corona times? How difficult or easy is it for you now? What do YOU choose?
Registration Free participation. Registration is required via this eventbrite. You will receive the link for the zoom call by mail.
Responses from Youngsters: Connected * Mildness (for myself & others) * Am so glad I was here! * Support and recognition * Heartwarming * Touching * Gratitude from my heart * We will never walk alone * Our shared humanity * So loving, sincere * Warm goosebumps * It is sometimes so alone in my room, happy to REALLY make contact with others
Online Youth Circle • We have the choice
>>> Uplifting each other in lockDOWN <<<
When Wednesday 2 December from 8 till 9.30 pm CET
There are 3 youth circles planned, you can participate in one or more of them.
These will take place on Wednesday 2, 16 and 30 December from 8 p.m. to 9.30 pm CET.
Where Online
What The 2nd lockdown demands a lot from students and young people. Everyone’s experience is different. Some students rightly sound the alarm. We invite you to stand still together with other young people and give words to how you experience this period and how you feel. Do you suffer as a result of isolation? Enjoying the peace and quiet? Lying awake about finances? Missing a loved one? Doubts about studies? Having fun online? You can share your story in the Circle and get to know the power of listening and being listened to. Giving attention to each other brings peace and strengthens everyone’s courage. This creates a space to stand up for your own choices. Because although we do not always have control over what we experience, we always have a choice in how we deal with it. Students and young people from the age of 16 are welcome! A Circle is a moment of connection and offers space to share and listen from heart to heart. A Circle is not a back-and-forth conversation, not a discussion, everyone can speak, but there is no need to speak. Your presence is enough. The online circle lasts an hour and a half, and is guided by circle facilitators of the non profit organization We have the choice. Online youth circles are made possible with the support of high schools, universities and youth welfare organisations: VVS, VUB, KDG, AP, Thomas More, PXL, Tejo, Joker, Cachet, Ideekids and Homaar.
Theme How are you REALLY doing in these corona times? How difficult or easy is it for you now? What do YOU choose?
Registration Free participation. Registration is required via this eventbrite. You will receive the link for the zoom call by mail.
Responses from Youngsters: Connected * Mildness (for myself & others) * Am so glad I was here! * Support and recognition * Heartwarming * Touching * Gratitude from my heart * We will never walk alone * Our shared humanity * So loving, sincere * Warm goosebumps * It is sometimes so alone in my room, happy to REALLY make contact with others
Circle ritual • Time to Connect • theme ‘returning inside’
When Sunday 22 November from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where Online
What We have the choice and Bond zonder Naam and Human Online invite you to a monthly online moment of connection. You can experience authentic human-to-human contact and recharge your battery. Make sure you have a good WiFi connection, best via computer or laptop with camera. At 4:30 pm We have the choice will guide you in an online Circle Ritual. A Circle offers you the space to stand still, and express which is unprocessed and unspoken. In this way you will find new meaning and resilience to keep on standing and to go for authentic choices. We have the choice. Whatever happens to us, we can always choose how we deal with it. A Circle is no ordinary dialogue, it’s about sharing and listening from heart to heart. Anyone can speak, but there is no obligation to speak. Your presence is enough.
Theme In this Circle we reflect on the invitation of the darkening days to make a movement of retreating and returning inside. In the midst of this second corona wave and all the turbulence, how is it to reconnect with our essence?
Register Free participation. Registration is required via eventbrite. You will receive the link for the zoom call by mail. Login is possible from 16h15 to test the connection. Start Circle at 16h30.
Circle ritual • Time to Connect • theme ‘Contact’
When Sunday 11 October from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where Online
What We have the choice and Bond zonder Naam and Human Online invite you to a monthly online moment of connection. You can experience authentic human-to-human contact and recharge your battery. Make sure you have a good WiFi connection, best via computer or laptop with camera. At 4:30 pm We have the choice will guide you in an online Circle Ritual. A Circle offers you the space to stand still, and express which is unprocessed and unspoken. In this way you will find new meaning and resilience to keep on standing and to go for authentic choices. We have the choice. Whatever happens to us, we can always choose how we deal with it. A Circle is no ordinary dialogue, it’s about sharing and listening from heart to heart. Anyone can speak, but there is no obligation to speak. Your presence is enough.
Theme The theme of the circle ritual during ‘Time to Connect’ on Sunday 11 October is ‘contact’. How different or difficult is contact now and how do we experience it? What is the impact of keeping a distance, only seeing half of each other’s faces, living closer together with the same people for longer, wearing mouth masks, dividing people into bubbles, eroding privacy, avoiding physical contact and cuddles, skin hunger… on our lives and our relationship with others? How do we deal with it, how do we remain faithful to ourselves and present to others?
Register Free participation. Registration is required via eventbrite. You will receive the link for the zoom call by mail. Login is possible from 16h15 to test the connection. Start Circle at 16h30.
Circle at meeting of signatories ‘Declaration 30 November 2019’
- When Saturday September 26th
- Where Broechem
- What Prison director Hans Claus took the initiative to formulate the ‘declaration of 30 November 2019’ together with people active in various social domains. The Declaration brings cohesion and strengthens people’s commitment. Through the outlines they know they are connected in the pursuit of a common goal, in writing a new collective story, which, as always, rests on the shoulders of older stories. We have the choice accompanies a circle ritual at the meeting of the first signatories of this Declaration.
- Participation By invitation only
Time to connect • Online Circle Ritual • Theme: loss and mourning
When Sunday 30 August from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where Online
What We have the choice and Bond zonder Naam and Human Online invite you to a monthly online moment of connection. You can experience authentic human-to-human contact and recharge your battery. Make sure you have a good WiFi connection, best via computer or laptop with camera. At 4:30 pm We have the choice will guide you in an online Circle Ritual. A Circle offers you the space to stand still, and express which is unprocessed and unspoken. In this way you will find new meaning and resilience to keep on standing and to go for authentic choices. We have the choice. Whatever happens to us, we can always choose how we deal with it. A Circle is no ordinary dialogue, it’s about sharing and listening from heart to heart. Anyone can speak, but there is no obligation to speak. Your presence is enough.
Theme of this Circle Ritual is loss and mourning. Who and what have we had to let go of in the past period? What wants to be felt and seen. How do we keep standing when life shows its raw side? What choice do we make from this place?
Register Free participation. Registration is required via eventbrite. You will receive the link for the zoom call by mail. Login is possible from 16h15 to test the connection. Start Circle at 16h30.
Circles at youth camp of Cachet
- When 25 and 28 August 2020
- Where Destelheide-Hanenbos, Dworp
- What At the start and end of the youth camp of Cachet we guide a circle. The central theme is ‘I have the choice’, for which choice do I want to stand. For these young people this camp is the start of a guided living trajectory.
- Participation Only for the younsters involved.
Online ritual of commemoration and connection • 22 March 2020
- IMPORTANT CHANGE: THE RITUAL ON SUNDAY MARCH 22ND WILL TAKE PLACE ONLINE DUE TO CORONA PREVENTION.
- When Sunday 22 March 2020
2 pm – 4 pm: ONLINE Eye Gazing Experiment: You can participate via this link: www.human.online. You can easily create an account.
4:30 pm – 6 pm: ONLINE Circle ritual of We have the choice. You can participate via this link: https://zoom.us/j/519436079. You can login online from 16h15 so you can test the connection. Start Circle at 16h30.
Make sure you have a good wifi connection, preferably via a computer or laptop with camera. - What Four years after the attacks in Brussels and in the midst of corona prevention actions, we are nurturing trust in each other. We have the Choice and Bond zonder Naam invite you to a special ONLINE ritual of connection. Welcome between 14h and 16h to participate in the ONLINE Eye Contact Experiment. Where is the connection between people? Look 1 minute into the eyes of a stranger to find out. One minute eye contact means making real contact with someone else. Without (preliminary) judgements and expectations. Beyond the words. By being in silence with each other in this way, we can experience our shared humanity. Every year people in more than 300 cities worldwide participate in The Eye Gazing Experiment. Bond Zonder Naam joins this international movement as a statement for the importance of deeper human connection in times of polarization. Afterwards you can participate in an ONLINE circle ritual from 16h30 to 18h. The Circle offers you a ritual space to find and share words on your personal experience. The circle helps to stand still, connect with others, become conscious about what is important for you, and to find the force to make authentic choices. Whatever happens, we always have the choice to choose love instead of falling into fear and hardening. The Circle is not a usual dialogue, it is about sharing and listening from heart to heart. Everyone can speak, but there is no need to speak. The quality of your presence is enough. The Circles of the voluntary initiative We have the choice create since the attacks of 2016 spaces for standing still and connecting in various intercultural contexts, to promote a sense of community and to prevent further radicalization and violence.
Circle with pupils of Sint Victor in Beersel
- When 9 March 2020
- Where Saint Victor School, Beersel
- What Circle among the pupils of the 4th secondary school on the occasion of the theatre performance a Jihad of Love.
- Participation Only for the pupils involved
Circle with pupils of Lyceum Aalst
- When 6 March 2020
- Where Lyceum Aalst
- What Circle with the pupils of the sixth grade in the context of the theme of interfaith dialogue.
- Participation Only for the pupils involved
Lecture Kristin Verellen in Beersel Library
- When Thursday 5 March 20h
- Where Beersel Library, Brusselsesteenweg 77, 1652 Alsemberg
- What As part of the ‘Encounters’ project, Kristin Verellen tells her personal story using photographs by Johan Van Steen that were published posthumously, combined with poems by herself. March 22, 2016: a day that many will not soon forget. 31 dead, many wounded and a country in mourning. Kristin lost her partner Johan Van Steen in the attacks and experienced how sitting together in vulnerability and trust after a shocking event leads to new resilience. ‘Encounters’ is an initiative of Library Beersel, Davidsfonds departments Alsemberg, Beersel, Lot, 11.11.11. Committee, with the cooperation of the Beersel Culture Department, the Beersel Culture Council and with the support of the city council Beersel.
- Entrance Tickets (8€ + 1 drink) can be bought in Bib Beersel.
- More info can be found here
Expo Standing still/ Still standing at KDG Antwerp Campus South
- When 4 February – 30 September 2020
- Where KDG Campus South, Brusselsestraat 45, 2018 Antwerp
- What An expo as a space for meeting yourself and the other. On 22 March 2016, the dream of photographer Johan Van Steen to come out with his work was abruptly broken by the attacks in Brussels. The sadness, but above all the proximity of friends and family at the time, gave life partner Kristin Verellen the courage to continue to share her/his story and to inspire others to find their own voice and make it heard. From this motivation she created the recent book “Waar blijf ik met dat licht van mij” with photos of Johan and poems by Kristin. Kristin Verellen is also the inspirational force behind the connecting circles of We have the choice, a citizens’ initiative that builds inclusive togetherness to prevent further hardening. The exhibition Standing still / Still standing offers a total experience of Johan Van Steen’s photographs, Kristin Verellen’s poems and the testimonies of participants in the circle rituals. This is done in collaboration with the artistic work of students from the KDG teacher training college as part of Project KunstVakken and Beeldende Vorming PO.
- Visit During the opening hours of KDG Campus Zuid
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Participating in a Circle is free of charge.
Register:
You are registered when you have received a confirmation by e-mail. If you are coming with more than one person, please register each person individually.
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Good to know:
In a Circle you can speak your own language. The facilitators speak Dutch, French and/or English depending on the people present. Even if you do not understand everything everybody says, we see time after time that listening in a Circle takes place on many levels. The language of silence and connection is universal.
Principles in a Circle:
- What is shared in a Circle is confidential.
- Each participant agrees to participate authentically and respectfully, and treats the others as equivalent.
- We speak from human being to human being. This means that nobody speaks in the capacity of a role, function or rank.
- No press, no pictures, unless all participants have expressed their agreement explicitly.