The Newsletter of Federation EIL - Worldwide Network of the Experiment in International Living - April 2010
Federation EIL Members Set to Meet in Paris
The Federation EIL General Assembly Meeting is slated for April 18 to April 22 in Paris. A heartfelt "Merci beaucoup" to Guillaume Dufresne, Jose Luis Ponti, Joelle Lamouroux and all of our colleagues at CEI - Centres D'Echanges Internationaux - for their efforts to host this event.
Members from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, UK, and the US will attend. They will be joined by Shanghai Xu Bo Culture and Art, China; EIL India; IDEX, India; EducaCentre, Russia; Wellington Business School, New Zealand; Weltweitblick Experiment Switzerland; and ERDT/Share, US. Our French hosts have planned a presentation by Jean Marc Mignon on “Europe and youth exchanges programmes”; a tour of the city; a welcome dinner at the Eifel Tower and other cultural events.
Following the lead of the WYSTC initiatives to minimize the environmental impact of their conference, The Federation and CEI:
- Have initiated on line "paperless" registration
- Are encouraging public transportation to and from the airport whenever possible
- Are providing all meeting documents online
- Are minimizing printing and copying
- Will provide recycle bins throughout the conference venue
- Will recycle plastic badge holders at the end of the meeting
These are small first steps, but we encourage everyone who attends to participate in these initiatives and 'green up' the GA. We will work to expand upon these initiative for future conferences.
David Murdoch, Member of Experiment e.V. and World Learning Chair Emeritus, Receives Germany's Highest Civilian Award
On February 22, 2010,
David Murdoch received the Cross of the Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz), the highest tribute the Federal Republic of Germany can pay to an individual, for his work in strengthening German-American relations.
Murdoch, a partner at K&L Gates, chairman of the board of directors of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and Honorary Consul for Germany in Pittsburgh since 2002, received the honor at a luncheon in Pittsburgh for his work in strengthening German-American relations. The award was presented by Dr. Horst Freitag, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York.
"If you have one great take-away from this event, let it be that you witnessed and learned how private citizens make a difference in international and intercultural matters without becoming professional diplomats or government employees," Murdoch told the audience of several hundred people. "Engagement and service in community activities and organizations, which have been so essential in my life, will become even more important in this century."
As an Experimenter to Germany in 1961 in the weeks after the building of the Berlin Wall, Murdoch experienced first hand the devastation and shock of Berlin residents. "Berliners were shocked that the East German government was building a Wall to restrain their own citizens from leaving. As a 19-year-old, I learned, in a dramatic way, the importance of our freedoms of speech, travel and assembly -- all of which were being denied to East Berliners and East Germans." The experience made a great impression on him and would influence the course of his life.
The staff at Experiment e.V. took the opportunity to speak with Mr. Murdoch and congratulate him on receiving the award. He reminisced about time spent in Germany throughout his life, and spoke fondly of the experiences with his host family, and the years of friendship that followed his Experiment in '61. "The Experiment experience in Germany... changed the course and direction of my life, both professionally and personally."
For the full transcript of the interview and for a link to the video of the presentation in Pittsburgh, click here.
Volunteer & Cultural Exchange in “Las Altas Cumbres” Argentina - Jean Wittman, EIL Argentina
During the last summer holidays, EXPERIMENT Argentina organized an exciting and unforgettable Volunteer & Cultural Exchange experience between Argentinean secondary students and a group of our German participants of our High School Program in Argentina. The idea came up during one of our regular meetings. Our students wanted to get a closer look into the social contrasts of the Argentine society. On the other side, we thought Argentinean students from isolated and impoverished areas could profit and learn very much from our current European High School students.
It wasn’t hard to find a place for this: Founded in 1968, “Ceferino Namuncurá” is one of the most important of all rural schools in Argentina. The school building is situated at an altitude of 2500 meters, between the highest peaks of the Córdoba Mountains, all within an isolated sector called the “Altas Cumbres” – meaning “the highest peaks”.
This center offers primary and secondary education for children and youngsters arriving from their family ranches located miles away. Students can only reach the school by foot or by horse. Therefore, the school provides food and accommodation to them so that students may live there while having classes. After every 3 weeks, there is one week free for students to come back to their families, and so on.
Students Henrike Boll, Theresa Kopietz, Lukas Egbert, Philipp Kroh, and Lorena Sturm, together with our coordinators Sergio Parodi and Eduardo Mendoza, packed their backpacks to start an 8- hour journey hiking up the Córdoba Mountains. They were so amazed and impressed by this unique landscape that they could just stop once in a while and stare at each saying no words. But this was just the beginning of the adventure..
Arriving to the school they were greeted and welcomed by the 82 current Argentinean students and the school teachers in one of the most emotional and touching experiences of their lives. Since then, four unforgettable days helping at the school, exchanging experiences and information about Germany, Europe, and learning about Argentinean customs and life of the inhabitants of this isolated area.
The program was a big success and, from now on, we will organize it every year for our future students. As all our students agreed and said.. “You can’t live in Argentina only to go to High School. This proves there’s so much more to learn and see.”
A Weltwaerts Volunteer writes about her stay in Turkey - Nevin Sabuncu, EIL Turkey
Our fourth Welwaerts Volunteer from Germany has returned home. She was teaching English in a Turkish village, Deydinler, in Inegol near the city of Bursa. In her report she said;
“My stay in Deydinler was marked by two strong emotions: On the one hand, I got quite used to the village, it’s inhabitants and the Turkish life style. I felt at home as I had adapted to the culture and as my host mother and my students had got very dear to me. But on the hand I experiencec a strong feeling of loneliness.
But there were also those moments when I understood the importance of my work, those moments when I realised that the English of my students had improved, when they showed me their affection, and for the moments I had after a good lesson.
I was the only teacher for grade 4 and 5, are there was always a good motivation for me as the students followed my lessons very enthusiastically. The students begged me everday to make the lessons a little bit longer. I learned a lot of things during my stay there. Turkish language and Turkish culture but also about myself and about those things which are the most important to me in life.”
Weltwaerts Mid Term Seminar in Mexico City
"From the 19th to the 27th of February we attended to our mid term evaluation seminar in Mexico City. There we took part in several activities considering the ecological and creative aspect of the project as well as the evaluation of our work and experiences. We visited the Chapultepec Castle and the Reforma Avenue to learn more from the past of Mexico, and watched the movie "Los que se quedan" (The ones who stay) to know about its present. The film talks about the Mexican migration to the United States focusing on the family members who were left behind. Even though this phenomena is not as common in Guerrero as it is in the northern states it helped us to get a deeper understanding of Mexican realities. We also had the chance to visit the International Book Fair of Mexico 
City, not only looking at books but also listening to several presentations about books and the youth like "storytelling", "preschooler reading" or "how to understand a text".
Apart from these cultural aspects we went to an ecological park where we could watch how kindergarten children are taught about trash separation, nutrition and solar energy. Moreover we learned how to build recycled toys out of plastic bottles and trash. Later we will pass on this knowledge to the children and adults of la Barra de Potosi. However this was not the only thing that was taught to us in terms of handcrafts. All week long we learned and worked on knitting stylish bags using can closures and sewing bags out of the packaging of chips and cookies.
One day we visited the Papalote children's museum which is only on Thursdays opened for adults. There we learned how to make drums and other toys using mainly old carton or paper. The museum is truly unique, trying to make science accessible to children by fun activities and games.
During our stay in Mexico City we also visited Amecameca for one day in order to realize the first project to project donation. We brought 100 colouring books from the children's library in la Barra de Potosi to the Frida Kahlo School, which is a school for children with special needs. It was an emotional time. So few books were so enthusiastically welcome.we need to bring more next time!"
Sophie Arana and Wiebke Herr, Barra de Potosi, Guerrero in Mexico
Experiment e.V. and EIL Intercultural Learning Collaborate on Scholarship Program - Fiona O'Leary and Maja Lutterbei
For the second time, Experiment e.V. Germany offered a scholarship for a volunteer program and a homestay in Ireland to six students of the Werner-Stephan-Oberschule in Berlin, a secondary general school in Germany. There were two girls and four boys, aged 14 to 15 years, who took part in the 4 weeks program in Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland from January 30th to February 27th, 2010. The group was accompanied by two group leaders, Claudia and Oliver, two volunteers and former participants of a VIP program to Ghana and an AYP program to the US.
With this scholarship program, Experiment e.V. intends to offer the opportunity of taking part in an exchange program to students who would not normally have the opportunity to do so. Students from German “Haupt- and Realschulen” generally do not have the same access to intercultural exchange programs as students from German “Gymnasium”. In addition to that, three of the young people are from an immigrant community, and this demographic is still under-represented in exchange programs. 
Before leaving for Ireland the group took part in a one day pre-departure orientation in Berlin. Here the group discussed questions like “Who am I?”, “Where are we coming from?” and “Where are we going to?”. They learned Experiment mottos like “Be quick to observe, but slow to judge” or “Be curious” and took part in a cultural simulation excercise. It was a full day, where the group learned a lot in a fun way and they started to look forward to their program even more.
In Ireland the young people stayed with host families in Clonmel, county Tipperary. They settled in well in their host families and started on their volunteer placement the morning after they arrived. Our colleagues in EIL Ireland tell us that the Irish host families really enjoyed hosting the students and the local volunteer co-ordinators in Clonmel fond that they integrated very well. Indeed, during their time in Clonmel, they were met by the Member of Parliament (TD) for the area, Mattie McGrath, who had heard about the voluntary work they were doing in the community and wanted to meet them.
The volunteer service was spilt in two parts of two weeks each. During the first two weeks they volunteered with an environmental project, the Glenbawn Wood project . This is part of a wider heritage project and one which many local, community as well as artists groups are working towards making this into a local amenity in this part of Clonmel. The next two weeks were spent at a local youth project in the town. Here the group worked on a wall mural in the youth club with a local artist and spent time with local young people of all ages. One of the host fathers organized a trip to a local school where they participated in a German class and this was thoroughly enjoyed by all!!
However It was not all work and no play! The group also did various activities in the evening and did lots of local sightseeing. They also took part in a day’s outdoor adventure at an activity centre in the pretty seaside town of Dunmore East, and visited Blarney castle and Dublin city.
We are very glad that this program took place for the second time this year and plan to continue in 2011, especially as it is a great cooperation between the two Federation offices.
Jack Wallace Memorial Scholarship for 2010
EIL Argentina has announced the revival of a scholarship honoring the memory of John A. Wallace, the former Secretary General of Federation EIL, Executive Vice President of The US Experiment in International Living and founder of the School for International Training. The program is a three month volunteer program in the schools in Chicoana, Salta, Argentina.
It includes:
· Pick up at airport and transfer to host family
· Arrival orientation
· Homestay in Buenos Aires for 10 to 12 days
· 30 hours one-on-one language training in Spanish survival skills
· Sleeper bus to and from host community
· Homestay with full board in host community
· Emergency support system
· Transfer to airport on departure at end of program
What’s not included:
· Air fare
· Transportation during homestays in Buenos Aires and during the volunteer project
· Mandatory Health & Liability Insurance
· Lunch during the Buenos Aires portion of the program
· Personal expenses
Requirements to participate:
· Participant must be 20 years old or older
· Candidate should possess expected qualities of a VIP participant
· Basic to low intermediate Spanish minimum
Click here for a description of the volunteer host project and community. If you are interested in more information and / or applying for the scholarship, please contact Ilene Todd at Federation EIL.
Evaluation of the EIL Ireland and Foroige Intercultural Learning programme in South Africa
An independent external evaluation of a South Africa based VIP volunteer programme for four Irish disadvantaged young people has found that the experience had a huge impact on the young people involved. The Programme was a joint venture involving EIL Ireland, SASTS and Foroige- a youth development organisation in Ireland. The intention was to target young people from s
ocio-economic backgrounds that would be 'hard to reach' and who would be unlikely to have intercultural learning opportunities in the future.
The actual travel portion of the programme was three weeks in duration and involved several elements including: cultural awareness, working with children, physical labor, living with a host family, living in a township, and working as a team.
Over the 16 months since the group returned from South Africa the impressions, thoughts and reflections of the participants, their parents, and the youth workers have been tracked through a series of interviews at three different intervals to determine if any of the impacts had lasted.
The overall findings were that in a number of criteria, such as self confidence, awareness of others, self-sufficiency, communication, and the ability to focus on the future, the participants rated themselves as much improved as a result of the programme. They returned home with a renewed appreciation of their own families and what they have at home. Their own personal confidence and coping skills were greatly improved as was their ability to work together as a team and to get a task done. This again reinforces Foroige's and EIL's concept of how working for the community can bring valuable personal development benefits. To read the entire evaluation, comments by the participants and their families, and to see some great photos of the group and their activities, click here.
Update from Community Service Project: "La Casita del Quirquincho”
The project "La Casita del Quirquincho" was created in 2008 by 2 German volunteers who came to Argentina thanks to the weltwaerts program. The mission: “Let’s help make children happier” by collaborating with parents and teachers to obtain a better life for the children in the village of San Miguel (about 40, aged 3 to 9). Money is always lacking since the projects depends almost wholly on donations and voluntary work. However the kids are offered not only a warm meal, but also a lot of free time activities and homework support. A recent volunteer 
returned home to Germany and found that continued dedication to the project could pay off!
"Half a year of my volunteer service in Argentina I passed helping in this wonderful project “Casita del Quirquincho” where we offer children a place to feel cared and loved. But when I returned to Germany I was a bit afraid whether this program will stay alive. I knew that soon there would come new volunteers to work and play with the kids but I didn’t feel certain about the financial situation.
A friend of my parents, Mr. Venner, is working in a social organisation in my town called „Diakonie Bad Kreuznach“ . He had heard about my volunteer service and the project “Casita del Quirquincho”. One day he told me about the possiblity to attend a challenge for a charitable donation. I was enthusiastic and sent him a description of our work and ideas to apply for this donation.
After months of waiting for news, Mr. Venner reported to me that they had chosen the “Casita del Quirquincho” and that the amount would be 1000 €. This was a big surprise and such a happy moment to know that in Chilecito the people could continue our work without financial problems. I informed the agencies in Germany and Argentina about this success and first of all I wanted to tell it to my person in support, Betty Aguilera, who cares for the project and volunteers in Chilecito. I want to say: “Thank you” to all that people who are interested in keeping this fantastic project alive and are supporting this volunteer work."
Pictured above is the community center which has benefited from volunteer contributions of time and money, and is much improved with a new floor, new furnishings, and other upgrades.
http://social.un.org/youthyear/ - United Nations International Year of Youth - 12 August 2010 - 11 August 2011
http://www.unesco.org/en/rapprochement-of-cultures/ - 2010 - International Year for the rapprochement of Cultures
Travelling Naturally and Green Earth Guides
UN Economic and Social Council
Every Human Has Rights Campaign
NAFSA Resources for Study Abroad offices
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