efilife december 2009 - d22dvihj4pfop3.cloudfront.net · ectp brussels camp students at the...

EFILife NEWSLETTER Edition 77, December 2009

EFIL is the Federation of AFS Organisations in Europe Avenue Emile Max 150, 1030 Brussels, Belgium tel +32 2 5145250 fax +32 2 5142929

INDEX

EFIL tra in ings and projects • Brussels Camp of the European

Cit izenship Trimester Programme • Steering Group for Afr ica project

meets in Lisbon • EVS coordinators meet in Leuven • EFIL Volunteer Summer Summit

2010 – preparatory work in progress

• Study Sess ion in February • Publicat ion Educational Conference

Berl in now avai lable

Europe • A new era in the Balkans

Partner news • Partner News • Focus on AFS TUR • Coping with hol idays whi le abroad

( from AFS Intercultural Link)

General • Goodbye to Tat iana • Welcome to Sarah

ECTP Brus se l s Camp s tudent s a t t he Eu ropean Pa r l i amen t (pho to : EF IL )

BRUSSELS CAMP OF THE EUROPEAN

CITIZENSHIP TRIMESTER PROGRAMME On 26 November, t ired but with big smi les on their faces, a l l 107 part ic ipants - age 15 to 18 - of the EFIL Brussels Camp of the new European Cit izenship Trimester Programme (ECTP), returned to their homes in Austr ia , Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, I taly, Russia , Germany, Croat ia , Hungary, Portugal , Switzerland, Czech Republ ic and Belgium. From Sunday 22 unt i l Thursday 26 November, they had gathered in Europe’s capita l c ity for three intense days of sharing and learning at this unique end-of-stay camp. In spite of the stormy weather condit ions that hit Belg ium during the camp days, the spir it was high!

A t the Eu ropean Pa r l i amen t (pho to : EF IL )

EFILife Newsletter, Edition 77


The part icipants had the opportunity to share their experience with their peers from various other European countries . In workshops and sessions they ref lected on their stay abroad and on issues l ike European cit izenship and integrat ion.

A t the Eu ropean Pa r l i amen t (pho to : Dav ide Modo lo ) Included were vis its to both the European Parl iament and the European Commission in the heart of the capita l of Europe, where the students were g iven a presentat ion on the European Union inst itut ions. They learned about the legis lat ive and executive roles , members, presidency, meetings and working of the European Parl iament, the Counci l of Ministers, and the European Commission.

A t the Eu ropean Commis s ion (pho to : EF IL ) After they v is i ted the impressive hemi-circular auditorium where the Parl iament holds its Brussels sess ions and committee meetings, they had lunch in the European Parl iament’s v is i tors restaurant. The drizz l ing rain didn’t stop them from continuing the day’s programme with a strol l through Brussels ’ c ity centre to see the royal Palace, the Grand Place and other major landmarks of Brussels . Back in

the youth centre, a quiz to test their knowledge about Europe added a fun ending to another hect ic day at their end-of-stay camp.

Camp pa r t i c ipan t s (pho to : EF IL ) This new idea of bringing a l l part ic ipants together in the capita l of Europe at the end of their tr imester stay, has proved to bring a substant ia l added value to the AFS experience for a l l students involved.

In f ron t o f the Roya l Pa l ace in B rus se l s (pho to : Dav ide Modolo ) With the great support of the volunteers of the preparatory team, the support team and the trainers, coming from EFIL’s Member Organisat ions of a l l corners of Europe, EFIL’s f irst ECTP Camp went very wel l . We’re a lready looking forward to next year’s edit ion. Detai ls for next year’s ECTP Camp wi l l be disc losed soon after a thorough evaluat ion process of this year’s camp.



STEERING GROUP FOR AFRICA PROJECT MEETS

IN LISBON The Steering Group for the EFIL project “EURAFRICAN PARTNERSHIP FOR CHANGE” has met for the f irst meeting in Lisbon, Portugal . Steering Group members are Luis Arnaut (POR), Tiz iana Savasta ( ITA), Kathy Otto (RSA), Paul Claes and Frini Ezunkpe (EFIL) . Addit ional ly , Bert Vercamer from AFS INT contributes to the Steering Group meetings and gives his advice.

S tee r ing g roup Eu rA f r i can Pa r tne rsh ip fo r change (pho to : EF IL ) The project , sponsored by the European Commission for 95.484 Euro, a ims at empowering our African network partners, and perfectly f i ts in with the AFS network’s increased focus on Afr ica as seen in the AFS Vis ion 2020 and the discussions on network priorit ies at the World Congress in Kuala Lumpur last October. E ighteen experienced youth workers from twelve European AFS organisat ions (AUT, BFL, BFR, DEN, ESP, FIN, GER, HUN, ISL, ITA, LAT, POR) wi l l travel to Afr ica in the f irst hal f of 2010, where they wi l l be involved in feas ib i l i ty studies and trainings a imed at AFS volunteers and staf f in the three part ic ipat ing Afr ican countries Ghana, South Afr ica and Kenya. In a week-long closing seminar in Vienna, Austr ia , in August 2010, al l part ic ipants wi l l get together to share their experiences. At the meeting in Lisbon, the Steering Group members discussed in depth the various project mi lestones and components ( feas ibi l i ty studies, tra inings, c losing seminar) , the desired

project outcomes, publ ic relat ions and vis ib i l i ty aspects , project evaluat ion, budget issues and f inancia l matters . A detai led work plan and a calendar of act iv it ies was worked out. Project preparat ions are ongoing and Partners are in the process of select ing the part icipants . We are looking forward to an excit ing but chal lenging t ime with the EurAfrican Partnership for Change project .

EVS COORDINATORS MEET IN LEUVEN From 3 – 6 December partic ipants from 9 EFIL member organisat ions joined an EVS coordinators meeting. The event took place in Leuven in the new and very welcoming youth hostel “De Blauwput” and gathered AFS staf f and volunteers to discuss the chal lenges connected to EVS and improve the procedures appl ied when running this programme.

Par t ic ipants EVS meet ing (photo : EF IL ) The Group EVS project idea EFIL launched in February 2009 eventual ly steered the discuss ion of who’s running EVS programmes in the AFS network. It turned out the dimensions, s ize and tradit ions of the EVS scheme vary largely within the di f ferent AFS organisat ions, which cal led for an overview and synchronizat ion of pract ices. During the 3 working days in Leuven, part ic ipants got the chance to share their experience and best pract ices. EFIL had invited Ms Inge Stuer from the Flemish National Agency (J INT) who presented EVS in detai l and part ic ipants could address



their quest ions to her and received valuable input for their work in the future. The group was a healthy mix of EVS-experienced and less experienced partners which created a comfortable learning and sharing atmosphere. For the AFS partners who have just started with EVS, the meeting was an inspirat ional experience and they are ready to submit their appl icat ion for accreditat ion at the next deadl ine. Among else, topics such as f inding host projects , f inancia l management of the grant, volunteer support and f inding host fami l ies have been touched upon. One of the hot topics was how to make best use of AFS expertise in intercultural exchange programmes to improve the qual i ty of EVS and how to ensure part ic ipants ’ needs and expectat ions are met through adequate support and counsel ing on the spot. A fol low-up action from the meeting wi l l be the creat ion of a mai l ing group that wi l l fac i l i tate the exchange of best pract ices and wi l l help relevant AFS staf f to stay in contact and of fer their advice and expert ise. In case you need any support or are wondering how to start with EVS in your own organisat ion, don’t hesitate to contact I lyana Panteleeva at the EFIL of f ice.

S interk laas and I zabe la Jurcz ik (photo : EF IL ) As the meeting was taking place at a ‘special ’ t ime of the year in Flanders – Sinterklaas on the 6th December – it

created a good opportunity for the AFS EVS coordinators to experience this great tradit ion, when Sinterklaas opened his big book to reveal some rather ‘personal ’ facts about each s ingle one of the part ic ipants… ☺

EFIL VOLUNTEER SUMMER SUMMIT 2010 –

PREPARATORY WORK IN PROGRESS Almost eight months remain to the 2010 event but things are happening every week. The preparatory team is currently discussing the v isual ident ity of the project , so the new website banner and logo are about to be announced! The near future should a lso bring the f irst edit ion of the VSS Herald – the periodical event newsletter which is known to many from the previous years.

Meanwhi le we got some mixed news on the fund-rais ing s ide. We are happy to f ind out that the Training for Trainers on Intergenerat ional Learning, which wi l l be attached to the VSS, got the support of the Youth in Action Programme. On the other hand, the grant from the European Youth Foundation which we hoped to receive for the VSS itsel f was not approved this year. This wil l def in itely make the budget planning harder and the preparatory team wil l need to put double ef forts into sett ing the part ic ipat ion fee at a reasonable level . F inal ly , what we want to share with a l l those who are st i l l not sure about coming to Hungary this summer, is a l i tt le appetizer information about the country itsel f . We hope you wi l l get convinced that i t is worth joining the Summit in 2010!



Hungary is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe. I ts capita l is Budapest . The of f ic ia l language is Hungarian, which is part of the Finno-Ugric fami ly , thus one of the four off ic ia l languages of the European Union that are not of Indo-European orig in. The foundat ion of Hungary was la id in the late 9th century by the Hungarian ruler Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I of Hungary was crowned with a crown sent from Rome by the Pope in 1000. After being recognised as a kingdom, Hungary remained a monarchy for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world. A s igni f icant power unt i l the end of World War I , Hungary lost over 70% of i ts terr itory, a long with 3.3 mi l l ion people of Hungarian ethnic ity , under the Treaty of Trianon. The kingdom was succeeded by a Communist era (1947–1989) during which Hungary gained widespread internat ional attent ion for the Revolut ion of 1956 and the seminal move of opening its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerat ing the col lapse of the Eastern Bloc. The present form of government is a parl iamentary republ ic (s ince 1989). Today, Hungary is a high-income economy, and a regional leader regarding certain markers. I ts current goal is to become a developed country by IMF standards. In the past decade, Hungary was l isted as one of the 15 most popular tourist dest inat ions in the world. The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system and

the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz) , the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grass lands in Europe (Hortobágy).

STUDY SESSION IN FEBRUARY By Eva Ví tková, Czech Republ ic Training year 2009 is s lowly gett ing to its end and EFIL is a lready gett ing ready for the 2010 train ing events. One of the f irst ones next year wi l l be the study sesion „Responsib le cit izens of intercultural Europe – exploring the l ink between intercultural competence and cit izenship“.

(pho to : Eva V i t kova ) The preparatory meeting for this event took place 21-23 November at the study centre in Strasbourg. The prep-team arriv ing from al l corners of Europe consists of : Anne Hitzegrad (course director, AFS Germany), Eva Vítková (AFS Czech Republ ic) , Nuno Guerreiro (AFS Portugal) , Edoardo Laurenti (AFS Ita ly) , Pablo Cast iñeiras (YMCA Spain) and Darek Grzemny (Counci l of Europe).



The European Youth Center - which wi l l a lso host us and 30 study sess ion part ic ipants in February - provided us with a l l we needed for a fruit fu l and intensive preparat ion. During the 3 preparatory days we have managed to set up object ives for the study session, draft the programme, div ide the tasks for the upcoming months and cover a l l wal ls of the meeting room with f l ipcharts . The cal l for the study session has been sent to the nat ional of f ices in November and we are await ing your appl icat ions unti l 17 December. The team is very motivated and we are looking forward to welcome al l volunteers interested in l inking AFS work with European Cit izenship in Strasbourg at the end of January 2010.

PUBLICATION EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE BERLIN NOW AVAILABLE

In October 2008 EFIL, AFS Germany, IDRI Europa and AFS Internat ional organized a two-day Educat ional Conference “Moving Beyond Mobi l ity: Intercultural Learning Through Youth Exchange” which was held in Berl in and preceded the annual AFS World Congress. In a specia l double edit ion of the Internat ional Journal of Intercultural Educat ion selected papers from the Berl in Conference “Moving beyond Mobi l i ty” were publ ished in November 2009.

J án F i ge l , ’ member o f the European Commiss ion respons ib le for Educat ion , Tra in ing , Cul ture and Youth and patron o f the conference , Roberto Ru f f ino , Cha i r o f EF IL and Secretary Genera l o f AFS Intercu l tura I ta ly , Tach i Caza l , Pres ident and CEO o f AFS Internat iona l (photo : EF IL)

The issue contains s ix research art ic les and s ix best pract ice papers covering topics related to intercultural learning in exchange programmes for di f ferent target groups. To f ind out more about the art ic les v is i t : http: / /movingbeyondmobi l ity .org/ The publ icat ion can be ordered at EFIL: info@efi l .be . There’s only a l imited stock avai lable . Those who have already ordered the publ icat ion at the conference in Berl in have been contacted by EFIL to reconf irm their order to receive their copy.

A NEW ERA IN THE BALKANS On Tuesday 8 December, EFIL’s Secretary General attended a high level European Pol icy Summit “A new Era for the Balkans”, organised by Friends of Europe, the Konrad Adenauer St i ftung, the Constant inos Karamanl is Inst itute for Democracy and the OECD Investment Compact for South East Europe. The summit took place in Brussels , and among the panel guests were the Prime Ministers of Montenegro, S lovenia and the former Yugoslav Republ ic of Macedonia , the European Commission Director General for Enlargement, Members of the European Parl iament, Ministers of Kosovo, Serbia , L ithuania and Slovakia , as wel l as Members of European Parl iament Delegat ions and Committees. “Making 2010-2020 the Decade of the Balkans” was the topic of an interest ing panel discussion. The Balkans are currently on the edge of a breakthrough that could transform the region economical ly and socia l ly , but today’s early s igns of a new democrat ic maturity have yet to be turned into moderate and construct ive pol it ica l processes that reject a l l forms of nat ional ism. Quite some attent ion went to the role of Brussels to maintain the pace of reform in the Balkan countries , in the l ight of the European Union’s mood of enlargement fat igue.



Other topics on the agenda included the strengthening of ownership by the Balkan states of the stabi l isat ion process, by promoting regional cooperat ion and enhancing local capacit ies ; the s lowdown of foreign direct investment, export and tourism earnings in most Balkan countries, requir ing tough market reforms crucia l for future competit iveness; and the chal lenges of infrastructure and the prospects of Balkan states sharing projects .

PARTNER NEWS In each ed i t ion o f EF IL i f e , we ded icate some space to partner news , inc lud ing personne l changes as we l l a s re levant events that have taken p lace over the pas t month . AFS Sweden is organizing a Scandinavian tra ining/meeting for sending and host ing coordinators in Stockholm, on 15 and 16 December. AFS Norway, AFS Denmark and AFS Finland have delegated staf f to attend. The training is a iming at an exchange of knowledge and an update on successes and chal lenges to bui ld a stronger network and cooperat ion within the Nordic region. From AFS Russia comes the good news that a government grant of 25.000 USD wil l come their way. A great Christmas present! AFS Internat ional has announced that eight AFS Internat ional Diversity Scholarship Grants for 2010-11 have been awarded to the Partners in support of their 18+ Diversity Projects . Among them three EFIL Member Organisat ions, each receiv ing 7000 USD. Belg ium French wi l l receive a grant to in it iate a sending teacher ass istant programme to Thai land. BFR wi l l recruit in local teachers ' col leges for young teachers of French as a foreign language. The grant for Czech Republ ic wi l l go to two young Czech part ic ipants to go to Bataypora. The project wi l l a l low AFS Czech Republ ic

to establ ish a community service programme in the area, support demand for Brazi l among Czech AFS part ic ipants and help to preserve the culture of the unique Czech community l iv ing in the city . The scholarship for AFS France wi l l be used to al low two 18+ part icipants from a French vocat ional school to attend a Community Service programme in Tunis ia and/or Brazi l . The choice of Tunis ia is meant to promote sending to Afr ica and the choice of Brazi l is meant to enlarge an a lready exist ing two-month programme that is administered by a French vocat ional school with an establ ished relat ionship with AFS in France. AFS Turkey has made a number of organisat ional changes ef fect ive as of 1 December 2009. Two new staf f members have joined our Turkish Member Organisat ion: Hazar Yi ldlr im as Volunteer Development and Communicat ion Coordinator, and Ozlem Buyukakin as Regional Coordinator in the Ankare of f ice. Hazar is a lso member of EFIL’s European Pool of Trainers (EPOT), and he was the leading coordinator in EFIL’s Volunteer Summer Summit 2009 in Turkey. Three staf f members have been promoted: Duygu Kutluay is the new Organisat ional Development Director, Derya Komitoglu has become Programme Director responsible for a l l host ing and sending act iv it ies , and Cem Cemci wi l l be responsible for sending programme act iv it ies as the new Sending Coordinator. That ’s i t for this month. Do let us know what’s happening in your of f ices!

FOCUS ON AFS TUR In every i s sue o f EF IL i fe , we wi l l put the spot l i ght on one o f EF IL ’ s Member Organ isat ions . With the l imi ted space ava i l ab le , focus wi l l be on the organ isa t iona l s t ructure . Th i s month we g ive the f loor to AFS Turkey .



AFS Turkey recently adapted a new working structure that resulted from an impact

assessment of internal and external factors. The new organisat ional structure a ims at innovat ions in programmes, improvement of work processes, key stakeholder needs and demands, and achievement of organisat ional strategies and the AFS Vis ion 2020.

AFS Turkey a ims at developing and implementing new organisat ional development strategies and high qual i ty project designs. The organisat ion intends to focus on grant writ ing and executing fundrais ing plans to bui ld and expand the strength and continuity of i ts programmes. They want to ensure consistency of external relat ions ( internal and external stakeholders) , promote qual i ty achievement and performance improvement, and priorit ize ef forts and resources towards development and training act iv it ies that are crit ica l to the miss ion, v is ion, culture, values and strategic priorit ies . Meanwhi le , the organisat ion wants to provide a plat form to ensure meaningful feedback and dia logue about performance and development plans among its volunteers and staf f . AFS Turkey is committed to its stakeholders such as high school students, teachers, university students and other part ies , by creat ing new development tools and continual ly revis ing design and variety of the trainings and programmes. The organisat ion makes efforts to develop new training methods, support the trainer pool , and develop, maintain and improve communicat ion methods.

Trainings for staf f and volunteers are included, and the Organisat ional Development Team wil l continue to lead the implementat ion of total qual i ty management, including the monitoring of the f inancia l health of the organisat ion and its programmes. Turk Kultur Vakf ı / AFS Turkey aims at developing creat ive intercultural programmes including 18+ programmes that attract nat ional and internat ional part ic ipants in order to meet the sending and host ing part ic ipat ion goals and priorit ies of the organisat ion, including compl iance with AFS, government regulat ions and standards.

COPING WITH HOLIDAYS WHILE ABROAD (FROM AFS INTERCULTURAL LINK)

By L i sa Cohen , Sen ior Internat iona l Consu l tant , AFS In ternat iona l .

The fo l lowing ar t i c le i s t aken f rom the second i s sue o f « In tercu l tura l L ink » , a news le t ter about In tercu l tura l Learn ing in format ion across the AFS network . The news le t ter i s a product ion o f the recent l y formed Intercu l tura l Learn ing Work ing Group and a ims to make th i s essent ia l top ic more access ib le w i th in AFS . I t he lps AFS vo lunteers and s ta f f to breathe intercu l tura l learn ing in everyth ing they do wi th in AFS . You have probably heard about the "adjustment curve" for exchange part ic ipants . The tradit ional "u-shaped" curve, as wel l as the more recent modif icat ion of th is mapping of the exchange adjustment cycle, has been used to help part icipants and their natural and host fami l ies to understand the inevitable "ups and downs" associated with cultural adjustment and being far from home.

The class ic u-curve includes some highs related to early excitement, st imulat ion from the new culture, and achievement in terms of language acquis it ion and integrat ion into the host culture. The lows in this paradigm are l inked to disappointment fol lowing the early excitement, frustrat ion at not acquir ing language



or cultural integrat ion quickly enough for comfort , and suf fer ing from being away from home during major hol idays.

When it 's hol iday t ime back home, the exchange part ic ipant is acutely aware that s/he is miss ing specia l act iv it ies , fami ly bonding, and culture-specif ic r ituals that may not exist in the host culture. Even part icipants who have managed to l imit contact with those back home are l ikely to increase texting/smsing, skyping, and other modes of e lectronic communicat ion at hol iday t ime in an ef fort to minimize feel ings of miss ing out. So, what can be done to ease the chal lenge of being far from home at specia l t imes? This is a good moment for local AFS volunteers and fr iends to check in with part ic ipants and invite them for outings. Whether invit ing a part ic ipant for a s imple home-cooked meal or tr ip to a local place of interest , gett ing involved in what 's happening around him or her is a useful way to keep the hosted part ic ipant from gett ing too homesick. I t 's a lso a prime opportunity for the host fami ly and new fr iends to learn about culture and rel ig ion-specif ic

r ituals and celebrat ions in the part ic ipant 's home culture. The important thing is to ask: Which are the main hol idays that you celebrate back home? When are they? Would you l ike to do something special here at that t ime?

(Pho to : AFS INT ) I f the host fami ly , local volunteers, and fr iends of the part ic ipant are aware that a specia l hol iday t ime is approaching, they can be mindful that this is l ikely to be a low point in the adjustment cycle. The part ic ipant is l ikely to spend more t ime thinking about and communicat ing with people back home and may have trouble focusing on school , fami ly , and other act iv it ies in the host community. Most part ic ipants wi l l appreciate interest being taken in their customs back home and having the opportunity to share a bit of that with their hosts. This can take the form of Hindu part ic ipants sharing Diwal i sweets and decorat ions, US students cooking Thanksgiv ing dinners abroad, Musl im students sharing an I f tar feast to break the Ramadan fast , or Christ ian part ic ipants sharing culture-speci f ic Christmas customs. Christmas is especia l ly relevant this t ime of year and, s ince so many AFS part ic ipants come from Christ ian backgrounds and fami l ies , a large port ion of AFSers are feel ing part icularly homesick during December. Keep in mind that even i f a Christ ian part ic ipant has a Christ ian host family, hol iday customs vary from country to country and fami ly to fami ly . Be sure to inquire about what your hosted part ic ipant usual ly does



to celebrate the hol iday back home, and what his or her natural family wi l l be doing during this season. While this sort of homesickness, nostalg ia , or saudades is quite normal , whether on rel ig ious or nat ional hol idays or on birthdays, you can help exchange part ic ipants in your l i fe to l imit their down period by encouraging them to keep busy, inquir ing about their celebrat ions back home, and reminding them of the local hol idays and fest iv it ies that they would not be enjoying i f they hadn't come to their host community . Having taken the opportunity to l ive abroad on an intercultural exchange, chances are that today's hosted exchange part ic ipants wi l l be miss ing their host country hol idays when they are back home, this t ime next year.

GOODBYE TO TATIANA

30 November was Tat iana Damarad’s last working day in the EFIL of f ice in Brussels . For 3,5 years (s ince June 2006), Tatiana has been with us as the EFIL Director of

Partnerships and Resources Development. In the f ie ld of fundrais ing, Tat iana booked much appreciated successes with funding appl icat ions for large pan-European projects , including the appl icat ion that won the open publ ic tender for the Comenius Indiv idual Pupi l Mobi l i ty project , a large European wide project , launched by the European Commission and ran by EFIL 2006-2008. Other major successes include the funding appl icat ions for the “Worldoscope – Strength through Diversity” project , and for the Internat ional Educat ional Conference in Berl in (where she was a member of the Steering Group), both l isted as major act iv it ies in the

European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. Tat iana was the driv ing force behind the product ion of the EFIL DVD “Snapshots – When Cultures Interact” (2008). In 2007 she took the lead in a network tra in ing on fundrais ing, target ing AFS organisat ions worldwide. Tat iana a lso played an important role in representing EFIL in a number of internat ional events and forums, including the Civi l Society Plat form on Intercultural Dialogue (Rainbow Paper) . Thank you, Tat iana, for your commitment to EFIL over the past 3,5 years . We wish you the very best with your future plans!

WELCOME TO SARAH Hi everyone!

My name is Sarah and I started working as an intern for EFIL on 1s t December 2009! I am very excited about this internship and am real ly looking forward to the next two months. I am from Germany and I have been l iv ing

and studying in the Netherlands for the last two years. I am studying Internat ional Communicat ion and am now in the third year of the Bachelor programme which includes an internship period of 5 months and a semester abroad. In February, I wi l l start to study one semester in Bei j ing, which is a lso why my internship period at EFIL wi l l only be two months. During my high school t ime, I took part in youth exchange programmes with France and Poland and worked in a YMCA camp in the USA for a couple of months. I a lways loved exploring other countries and cultures, as wel l as learning other languages and mixing with fr iends from other countries , which has shaped my att i tude towards



intercultural learning and understanding di f ferent values, att i tudes and behavioral patterns. My university courses gave me the opportunity to learn about cultural theories but a lso how to do real- l i fe projects in mult i -cultural teams. Recently , I worked in an advert is ing agency in Germany and in the communicat ions department of the NGO Avocats Sans Frontieres in Brussels , which gave me the opportunity to learn about di f ferent facets of communicat ions. At EFIL, I wi l l mainly be doing the fol low-up of the Intercultural Dialogue Day 2009. I wi l l a lso ass ist in the evaluat ion of the end-of-stay Camp of the European Cit izenship Trimester Programme that has taken place in Brussels about a week ago. I ’m looking forward to an excit ing internship and an enriching experience with EFIL and its AFS Member Organisat ions! Editor: Paul Claes Layout: Alexander Müller Contributions: Paul Claes, Izabela Jurczik, Ilyana Panteleeva, Sarah Spilker

Many thanks to all those who have contributed

to this issue of EFILife. Please do not hesitate to share with us your

comments and suggestions. We welcome your contributions!

If you would like to subscribe to (or

unsubscribe from) this Newsletter, please contact the EFIL Secretariat at: [email protected].

Reproduction of texts and pictures is

authorised provided, the sources are quoted. ---

To receive further information about EFIL, please check our website http://efil.afs.org or

contact [email protected].

CALENDAR 2009/10 21-24 January Preparatory team

meeting Volunteer Summer Summit , Hungary

31 January - Study Session, 6 February Strasbourg, France 12-14 February EFIL Board meeting,

Rome, Ita ly 1-5 March Programme Directors

meeting, Sarajevo,Bosnia-Herzegovina

11-12 Apri l Training Advisory

Body meeting, Switzerland

10-16 May Intercultural Learning

Seminar, Strasbourg, France

4-6 June EFIL Board meeting,

Nice, France 6-9 June HOO Retreat and EFIL

Extra-ordinary General Assembly, Sernhac, France

31 Ju ly-7 Aug. Training for tra iners, Hungary 4-9 August EFIL Volunteer

Summer Summit , Hungary

23-27 August Closing Seminar

“EurAfrican Partnership for Change”, Vienna, Austr ia

30 September Intercultural

Dialogue Day 8-10 October EFIL Board meeting,

Belg ium



EFIL is sponsored by

The European Commission

The Council of

Europe

The Belgian Federal

Government

efilife december 2009 - d22dvihj4pfop3.cloudfront.net · ectp brussels camp students at the...

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