Darpan Raj Gautam and Barwaqo Jama Hussein participated in the project Part of the Community, organised by ActionAid Denmark, a Danish non-governmental organisation (NGO). The project began in 2014 as a collaboration between ActionAid and a youth club (Kantorparken's Youth Club) in the neighbourhood of Bispebjerg, Copenhagen. The aim was to establish a forum for young people in the club to help them gain influence and democratic experiences. Since then, working in collaboration with local agents, Action Aid has launched various kinds of youth communities in five neighbourhoods of Greater Copenhagen. The project also included a series of public events dedicated to themes of inequality and activities such as participation in the annual People's Meeting in Denmark (a four-day political event on the island of Bornholm).

Darpan and Barwaqo's stories are based on interviews with two researchers (Maria Bruselius-Jensen and Anne Mette W. Nielsen) centring on a journey map. As a method, journey mapping aims to create a map of the elements interview subjects find to be the most significant in a project or process they have been part of (see also Chapter 14 in this book). In this case, Darpan and Barwaqo chose different formats (a timeline and a sketch) for their maps, but both used their maps to connect their participation in the project with previous events and experiences in other arenas, as well as with their current lives. Through their maps and narrations, they tell us about their personal experiences and visions of being engaged in change processes and political activities.

Barwaqo's participatory journey

My name is Barwaqo and I am going to talk about my experiences of being part of Tingbjerg Youth Community and what that has meant to me.

When society is organised in such a way that intangible factors like gender and cultural background limit you, that's inequality. By that I mean the fact that those who gave birth to us, where we live (suburbs or countryside), and the genes we are born with are all things outside of our control. These are choices we do not make ourselves, but they contribute to putting you at a disadvantage compared with others.