vss herald 5th trainers edition

The VSS HERALD, Trainers Edition 1 June, 2012

THE VSS HERALD

Trainers EDITION

VSS 2012


Let’s make a WayEDITOby Joshua Fitoussi

For the first time in the VSS HERALD history, the prep team has decided to give an entire issue to the Trainers. It was never done before. The only way to know them was either to read the Herald or to come to the VSS. The only way to learn about the workshops was to read the description on the website when you had to regsiter...So basicaly, no space was left to trainers, and you did not even know who will be training what !That is why, this year, you’re invited to this special issue of the VSS Herald. What will it be about? What the trainers will tell you about their workshop? Well, it’s not my role to answer, what I can tell you is that we won’t talk about Latvia, about travel details, about information before you get to Turbas...We keep that for the final issue of the VSS HERALD !Enough talking, let’s make a way for the trainers

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12Trainers EDITION

What’s in it?Edito........................................................2

Balazs Lato’s Edito................................3

Global Learning.....................................4

The Trainers Workshop.........................9

Andre.....................................................10

Annika...................................................11

Dulio......................................................12

Hazar.....................................................13

Liza........................................................14

Viviana..................................................15

Charlotte...............................................16

Niels......................................................17

Pop........................................................18

Simon’s Workshop...............................19

3 trainers intro......................................20

What’s Next...........................................21

This was the homepage of the 2012’s Volunteer Summer Summit on May 16th


Edito by Balazs LatoPrep team member in charge of Trainers

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What does it mean to be a trainer at the VSS?

All organizing teams are absolutely essential to the VSS. Without any of them, it couldn't be born every year and stay alive. Prep team is the mind. Support team is the body. Trainers are the heart and soul - they fill the event with content, give it real meaning.T h i s y e a r , i n s t e a d o f presenting trainers with the opportunity to select topics from a previously assembled list, they had to propose workshops fitting in the theme of the VSS. I don't know about you, but this tells me that workshops are going to be absolutely superb, interesting, high quality and attractive because their topics exactly match the individual trainers' c o m p e t e n c i e s a n d preferences, these topics are what they love and know the best. Looking at the contents of the workshops couldn't confirm this feeling more! :)So what does it mean to be a trainer at the VSS?Loads of fun, trainers' t-shirts, and of course most important of all, lots of tasks and responsibilities. Before the e v e n t - d u r i n g t h e i r preparation phase of about 4 months - they have to fill out the trainer application form, propose workshop topics, prepare t raining session outlines and plan all their w o r k s h o p c o n t e n t , communicate with the prep team and other t ra iners

through hundreds of emails, participate in skype meetings, coordinate thematic track content, arrange travels to the venue, assemble the list of required training materials, prepare additional material related to workshops such as the content this VSS Herald. During the VSS they have to participate in the on-site preparation, deliver workshops to 200 participants every day, support other training activities (e.g. plenaries, community project, sharing outcomes), take part in daily meetings, d e a l w i t h u n e x p e c t e d conditions and be creative in solving problems, and of course party at night with participants. After the VSS, t h e y h a v e t o t a k e responsibility for reporting and evaluation of workshops, prepare recommendations for next year and fill out expense reports.Me, as part of the prep team, I am there for them to help with all these tasks, coordinate their efforts and make sure they have everything needed to deliver the highest quality workshops. It's no easy task with 10 trainers but I can tell you it 's a delight and a pleasure to work with them. So far they have done a truly excellent job and they've already dedicated a lot of their v a l u a b l e t i m e t o t h e preparations. In this special edition of the VSS Herald they give you a sneak peak into what they are cooking for you, as the heart and soul of the EFIL Vo lun teer Summer Summit 2012. Enjoy!

From Top to Bottom : Balazs & VSS1) Prep Team 20122) Trainer 20113) Prep Team 20104) Participant 20095) T4T 2008

The VSS HERALD, 4th Edition May, 2012

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION

SOLIDARITY & INCLUSION

InterculturalLearning Sustainable

Development

Peace Education

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GLOBAL LEARNINGThe VSS THEME by André Galvao


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"I AM A CITIZEN, NOT OF ATHENS OR GREECE, BUT OF THE WORLD” (SOCRATES)

AN INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL LEARNING

The field of Global Learning (or Education) emerged on the last century, specially with the growing of international relations and globalization after the Second World War. However, its key goal of educating individuals to be actors on the global community has been present throughout the ages and has been its importance was stated on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which mentions on article 26th:

“Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups[...]”

The objectives underlined above are familiar to AFS volunteers since they are the ones most visible in our activities and they also represent key ideas of Intercultural Learning (ICL). But Intercultural Learning is merely a part of Global Learning since the latter deals with a myriad of topics, ranging from Racism and Xenophobia, Gender Equality, Citizenship, Development, Inclusion, Human Rights and other related topics and attitudes that AFS volunteers, staff, families and participants all develop and apply throughout their participation and involvement on AFS.

“Global Education is Education that opens people' eyes and minds to the realities of the globalised world and awakens them to bring about a world of greater justice, equity and Human Rights for all. Global Education is understood to encompass Development Education, Human Rights Education, Education for Sustainability, Education for Peace and Conflict Prevention and Intercultural Education; being the global dimension of Education for Citizenship.” North-South Centre of the Council of Europe definition in the Maastricht Global Education Declaration

GLOBAL LEARNING, what is it?

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“IF YOU WERE IN ROME, LIVE IN THE ROMAN WAY; IF YOU ARE ELSEWHERE, LIVE AS THEY DO THERE” (SAINT AMBROSE)

GLOBAL EDUCATION AND AFS

Through participation on AFS our participants, families and volunteers gain the following learning objectives

1. A deep interest and concern about world affairs, showed by a sustained commitment to seek information from multiple sources with respect to global issues.

2. An awareness of world linkages, expressed by a willingness and ability to change our personal choices in certain ways because of their effect on people in our communities throughout the world.

A commitment to the search for answers for global problems, demonstrated by the giving of one's personal resources (time, skills, energy and money), whether in a professional or voluntary capacity, to look for culturally sensitive and technologically feasible solutions.Throughout the decades, AFS volunteers have felt the need to have a 'bigger impact' than just Intercultural Learning through exchanges. So in 1993 AFS published the 'Global Education Framework' to help conceptualize and focus all of our activities under the theme. The document defines Global Education as:

“Global Education addresses the whole range of concerns that people of the world share, the issues that divide us, and the problems that we face. It is mission-driven education that promotes a common commitment to the world and its people. It encourages people to be aware of their actions and how these affect others. It promotes respect, tolerance, and justice. It demands that we look for ways to change the world when it does not meet these standards, when resources are unfairly allocated, when conflicts between people erupt in violence, when human rights are abused. It demands that we constantly reassess our efforts and the solutions we have tried.” (A Global Education Framework for AFS, 1993)

“AFS ENABLES PEOPLE TO ACT AS RESPONSIBLE, GLOBAL CITIZENS WORKING FOR PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING IN A DIVERSE WORLD. IT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT PEACE IS A DYNAMIC CONCEPT THREATENED BY INJUSTICE, INEQUITY,

AND INTOLERANCE.” (AFS CORE VALUES)

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ion AFS GLOBAL EDUCATION FRAMEWORKThe Framework considers five interlinked pillars for a unified Global Education approach on AFS, all being interconnected in order to achieve its learning objectives.

A short description of each pillar follows:

• Service and commitment, through volunteering, which is central to AFS.• Intercultural Learning – a shift in perspective by experiencing a new reality

which is used to build knowledge.• Community – to our impact we need to be active at a local level, an act as

multipliers or facilitators for those who have not participate on an exchange experience.

• Integration – and readaptation for the participants when they return to their communities, to continue developing their skills for the benefit of the community..

• Action – or a change in behaviour, reflecting the gained global knowledge.

The application of the Framework is varied amongst AFS organizations, depending on a lot of factors. There are several ways to achieve these objectives, such as:

• AFS school clubs and links• AFS participants• Intensive programs and volunteer exchanges• Community connections (other NGOs, etc.)• Teacher programs•

Materials and curriculum sources

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REFERENCESA Global Education Framework for AFSExperiential Learning in AFS... for AFSersUniversal Declaration of Human RightsCouncil of Europe – Global Education Guidelines


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ion THE VSS AND GLOBAL LEARNING Since Global Learning covers a wide range of topics, the tracks of this year's VSS workshops will picture part of its variety of fields and subjects. Here's a list of the tracks and the topics they maycover.

Sustainable Development

Peace Education

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION

SOLIDARITY & INCLUSION

InterculturalLearning

Leadership

Climatic Changes, Globalization, Interdependence, Environment, Green, Water Access, Poverty, Millennium

Conflict Prevention and Resolution, Liberation and Empowerment, Social Justice, Disarmament and Development

Respect, Solidarity, Social Inclusion, non-discrimination, North-South Dialogue,

Roles and Responsibilities of Leadership, Active Citizenship, Volunteer Management,

Legal Framework, Legal and Economic Justice, Development Work, Participation and Democracy

Communication, Values, Interaction, Cultures, Stereotypes, Empathy, Exchanges

The VSS HERALD, 4th Edition 9 May 15th, 2012

2011-Portugal

The Trainers presentTHEIR WORKSHOPS


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Who or what is MAGE??What has my coffee to do with world peace??

Is AFS exchange creating racism??How can I get my participants to be more inclusive??

***“DIVERSITY – why do we like it in our supermarkets but not in our streets?”

“I love my country – I like to share it!”“boxes – good for things not for people”“bananas – travel even more than I do”“my yoghurt lasts longer than my visa”

***Hello VSS fans !

We love to travel, have friend all over the world, enjoy to taste new food with strange names & dance to music we can’t sing or understand!

***So what do we need Global Education for?!

***Global Education means not only to enjoy cultural globalization but also to understand global

relations and how the whole world is connected to our daily life.Global education means to understand the relation of privileges & resposibility and to turn that

awareness into responsible, creative and respectful action!So let’s go together for GLOBAL EDUCATION at the VSS!I’m very much looking forward to meeting you all in Latvia

Annika

Need help with your workshop choice?

If you want to see how you can create awareness on the topic among your participants you should come to get to know and try yourself the “activities on solidarity & inclusion”!

If you want to know how to creative action can look and feel like you should definitely get to know “MAGE”! We will see how MAGE & AFS can connect and have action(s) at the VSS!

Find out how AFS exchange is connected to racism or the opposite and how we can face the challenges and opportunities of our programs to support our participants to be aware &

responsible global citizens!

You love all kinds of different food? Then you’re just right in the food workshop! Find out about global “food” relations and see how you can use food as a tool in your workshops & camps!

Taste iT!

ANNIKA, GERMANY


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First of all allow me to start by saying that it’s going to be a huge pleasure to be a trainer at this VSS.

I’ve been a volunteer for AFS since 2007 and ever since I started to develop and deepen a huge passion for its mission. I describe AFS as this consuming bug that lives inside us and

doesn’t quite settle in one’s stomach. It just keeps on growing and growing. Eventually, some of the side effects are addiction to anything AFS related, such as t-shirts, pins or a mere blue balloon. On worse cases, it’ll ultimately change your life. Let me simplify it, and present you some of the - as seen on the Herald – consequences: Me before and after AFS.

I still haven’t discovered the antidote, but I’m really not interested in doing so,

as apparently our genetically inherited bug, allows our family to grow bigger and bigger, spreading the word further and further.This will be my 3rd VSS, and my first as a trainer. I’ll be delivering 4 workshops, all, more or less, with different focus, yet, all quite related to this year’s VSS topic.

“The ABC of Team Building and Motivation” is a basic skills track workshop. I can guarantee you a few hours of fun, entertainment and learning. It won’t, necessarily have a theoretical or deepen approach; rather, we’ll use games to explore this reality so close to our AFS work. From trust-buildings, to team-buildings and celebrating failure, we’ll be doing a bit of everything regarding the works of a team!

In “The Great Paradigm of Sustainable Development” we’ll literally take a short journey to our past, our present and, perhaps, our future. In this workshop we’ll be faced with some fundamental questions regarding the term S.D. Join me in this excursion, let’s understand why it is so hard to change the current stream of events, what’s been done so far and what can WE - as AFS responsible volunteers - still do.

“Revealing Poverty in Europe” will be a very practical workshop where we’ll experiment what it is to be poor or…rich; understand the struggles of people to change their current life status, and what’s it like to be socially excluded. Furthermore we’ll look at our reality in Europe as our so-called “developed” countries still have much to face, in order to tackle this issue; here…right here, under our own nose.

Last but not least, the workshop “Challenges and Opportunities in Intergenerational Teams” it comes as a “souvenir” from me to the VSS itself. 3 years ago I participated in T4T in Hungary exactly with the topic of Intergenerational Learning. 3 years later, on the European Year for Active Aging and Solidarity Between Generations, I’ll be reattributing the courtesy and the gained knowledge by giving this matter further “doorways”, that is, more conscious and motivated volunteers willing to explore the wonders of IG teams. We’re all well used, in our AFS reality, to work with people of different ages and sometimes it isn’t always the easiest task. Well then, in this fun workshop, we’ll learn, share and dramatize new ways of dealing with people in multi-generational teams.

This is all from my side. Best regards and I hope to meet you soon!

DULIO, PORTUGAL


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I am Hazar from Turkey and my VSS story started 5 years ago, back in 2007 as a prep team member of the very first EFIL Volunteer Summer Summit in France. I remember how excited we were coming up with different ideas for the VSS duration, date, theme, program structure, workshops, leisure activities, t-shirt colors, etc. during our prep meeting in Vigy, France and how excited we were to welcome our first participants in VSS 2008. I had the privilege of being part of every VSS since than and have always had a great time! Now 5 years later it is amazing to see how VSS evolved into this unbelievable event providing AFS volunteers with top quality workshops, networking opportunities and surely lots of fun! As a member of the Trainers Team for VSS12 in Latvia, I have already been amazed by the incredible preparation work going on for this years event (both by the trainers and the prep team) and I can already tell you that no matter which workshops you choose a great learning environment and lots of fun will be waiting for you. I am also delighted to offer four workshops during which I hope to both share my experience/ideas/knowledge with you but also create an environment where we can all learn from each other. Here is a sneak peak at what is waiting for you if you decide to join us for the below workshops:

Intercultural Learning Activities for Different Audiences: During this workshop we will first briefly look into the intercultural learning theories but focus more on how people learn to start exploring creative methods of reaching out to different audiences (AFSers, volunteers, students, teachers, public, etc.) and learning styles to provide meaningful intercultural learning opportunities.

Effective Counselling for Exchange Students In this workshop we will discuss the most effective methods and theory behind counselling, work on case studies, discuss common challenges at different stages of the exchange year in different cultures and learn from each other.

Public Speaking “There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” - Dale Carnegie. During this workshop we will have a look at dos, don’ts and expert tricks from experts and great public speakers. We will also get a chance to practice our skills in a safe and fun environment.

Fulfilling the AFS Mission without exchange programs…AFS is committed to providing intercultural learning opportunities to

help people develop knowledge, skills and understanding to become agents of positive change in the world. AFS exchange programs supported by volunteers around the world are surely a great way to achieve these goals, but is exchange programs the only way to achieve these goals? In this workshop we will discuss alternative answers to above and similar questions, share best practices and work on creating new ideas.

I hope many of you will join us for the above workshops as I very much look forward to meeting and learning from you all.

See you soon!

HAZAR, TURKEY


Which workshop to choose at the Latvian VSS?Hi, this is Liza calling! I am super-duper excited already for this year’s summer summit. This time I am challenging myself: I am putting on my trainer’s boots and see what comes out of that. To make the choice between the workshops a little bit easier for you, I created these indicators. If your answer to all those questions are YES!, then you should definitely join the appointed workshop. Can’t wait to meet you all this summer, to see all those familiar smiles, and to meet new people whose smile I will never forget. Let’s bring magic to this world once again!

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The VSS HERALD, 4th Edition 15 May 15th, 2012

Time is running fast and in less than three months we will all meet in beautiful Latvia!I am very excited about this year’s summer summit for many many reasons, but in particular, as a trainer for this year’s topic.I am a strong believer in the mission of AFS and in our aim of contributing to the creation of a more peaceful world. But we cannot do that without engaging ourselves and empowering AFS participants to become responsible active citizens!I tried in the last years to engage and empower others and this brought me to experience a lot of different things, talk to many interesting people and see youngsters acting as real global citizens.

During the VSS I will run 4 different workshops, all differently related to the topic of Human Rights.

Human rights now and then explores the historical developments of human rights, but don’t worry, it will not be all dates and boring numbers!

To vote or not to vote! deals with youth rights and youth participation and we will discuss issues close to AFS participants and how volunteers can facilitate civic developments of youngsters!

Education for All?is it a dream? How can we make it comes true? The workshops digs into social inclusion and the right to education, relating it as well to the inclusiveness of AFS at all different levels.

Dignityland is a beautiful country and you are the one who can take decisions about it: come and create your perfect world! AFS volunteers are powerful actors of change: let’s see what we can do!

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The summer is drawing closer and soon we’ll all meet in Latvia, even though it seems like yesterday we said goodbye in Portugal. Are you as excited as I am? Good!The VSS this year will have a lot of great workshop topics and I know it is going to be hard to choose, so I’m sorry for making it more difficult by now introducing mine:

Chocolate - a sustainable enjoyment?One of my interests outside of AFS involves chocolate. I have worked for a chocolate company for a long time in different capac i t ies and I l i ke to fo l low the developments in this industry. But just to be clear: I don’t eat a lot of chocolate - I eat the right chocolate. The question on my mind is however; Will we always be able to? Will we have to settle for artificial chocolate when the real thing disappears? Yes, I said disappears. Chocolate being a commodity that is cheaply available to all is not sustainable in the long run due to the cost of

raw materials, crop complexity and scarcity and increased demand. Not to mention the ethical implications of producing chocolate that range from child labor to environmental policies. So what can we do about it - as consumers, as AFSers? This workshop will address all these issues and provide a look into the world of chocolate flavors as we conduct our very own chocolate tasting session.

Chapter EmpowermentWhy is this workshop called chapter empowerment? I’m glad you asked!Because I believe the word “Chapter Development” is being used too much and is now saturated. I don’t think we need to develop them; we need to empower chapters so they can develop themselves. I realized this when doing chapter development work in Kenya - it didn’t matter what I did during this one-day workshop, because in the end they just needed to get the tools to continue themselves, since they can’t be dependent on someone from the outside coming in once in a while to develop it for them.

We need to apply the same thinking. We are all part of AFS chapters in different shapes and sizes. We all agree that chapters do a great job, but also that they can need be in need of a push every once in a while. The problem is that since all countries have different ways of structuring themselves there doesn’t seem to be any universal model to evaluate chapters by and thereby help them - but let’s say we try and create one! This workshop will have many sharing opportunities as we try to find ways to empower our chapters and an interactive management game for children of all ages.

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Hello participant! Niels here! I am glad to be provided with some space here to give a foretaste and better idea of why to select my workshop:

• Human Rights Dilemmas• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The human rights dilemmas workshop can give you a basic introduction to human rights and, in particular, you will get a better feeling of how dilemmas may arise within this area. A fundamental document is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – through our common inter-cultural perspective, however, we can question their ‘universality’. We will use different approaches to this topic, meaning that you will get the chance to be creative, engage in an interesting discussion and play games.

Intriguing appetizer questions: Are countries respecting the human rights documents – and are human rights documents respecting countries? Are the universal rights a Western imposition? Do people have rights as a group - and are the individual rights of the group members then compromised? If a family is starving everyday, should it care that the children go to school instead of working? If you managed a local factory, would you hire them?

In the CSR workshop you can explore concepts that might seem alien to you, but we will boil it down to the basics, and if you are already familiar with the concepts, you will get the chance to apply it in new contexts! How is CSR linked to sustainability? It is linked in the sense that CSR is concerned with the voluntary efforts of the private sector to contribute to a more “sustainable” world by doing good and avoiding doing harm.

One of the keys to understanding CSR is the management of stakeholders: anyone who has a stake (interest) in the enterprise. While some enterprises a mostly focused on the interests of the shareholders (short term profit), others focus on a broader range of stakeholders.

These concepts are mostly applied to businesses, but I believe that they offer useful perspectives for AFS: How do AFS organizations contribute to society and avoid doing harm, and how do we manage our stakeholders?

Pre-workshop exercise: Who are our most important “stakeholders” in AFS?

Stakeholders: anyone who has a stake (interest) in the enterprise – should not be confused with “steak holders” =) (right picture)

NIELS, DENMARK


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Instant Asian noodle Why are Asians very shy and are obsessed in taking photos everywhere they go? Or why do Thais smile all the time even to those they do not like?If you are one of those who are interested in Asian cultures or find Asian people strange and wild because they eat dogs and insects, then you are welcome to my workshop In this workshop we will mostly discuss about the stereotypes and myth of Asian people, mostly focused on Thai because I am from Thailand although I was raised in Chino-Thai family. You will see that most of stereotypes and myths are not true and if yes then there are reasons behind it (most of them). You will also find out the stereotypes and myth of Europeans from the Asians points of view. The conflicts and problems between Europe and Asian culture in the AFS context will also be discussed and we might find some solutions together so those who have been a year as an exchange student in Asia are very welcome!I, personally, have been a year in the Czech Republic in 2004 and since 2008 in Slovakia as a university student working both for AFS Czech Republic and AFS Slovakia in counseling matters related to Asian cultural issue.I decided to do this workshop because I believe that in the intercultural learning it is not enough just to think that some people act differently because of their cultural differences and that’s it. Rather, we should ask ourselves the reasons why they behave like that and appreciate the differencesSo are you now ready to “eat” the instant Asian noodle which makes

Migration problems or problems with migration When you hear the word “migration” or “migrants”, what come to your mind? How do most migrants look like? And why do they migrate? Because they like to travel or like to get to know the different cultures? Well, mostly no … In this workshop, you will learn the basic facts about migration and challenge yourselves with controversial issues related to migration through various activities – Are they too many migrants in Europe? Do they really take away the jobs? How migration shaped our world and will define our future? M ig ra t ion has a lways been the key phenomenon since the beginning of human history. In the intercultural and globalized world, this phenomenon becomes more and more important in media and our lives. Some consider it as the enrichment of society; some don’t and even exploit it for their own benefit. That is why migration plays a crucial role in world peace and global education which is the main theme of VSS this year. I personally decided to do this workshop because apart from volunteering with AFS, I also work as a volunteer and consultant in the International Organization for Migration. I currently work as a terrain mediator for a research about the violation towards migrants from third world country in Slovakia.


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Organizing a venue, designing a camp program, leading a camp, doing the finances, writing invitations, share experiences, coordinating volunteers and doing trainings… all on your own? … Need help?

Since 2008 I’m doing the 18plus camp coordination job in Switzerland. So I am basically in charge of organising all the camps for AFS programs other then the classic school program. The community service is by far the biggest, but still very small compared to the school program. Additionally I’m also member of the Swiss pool of trainers, who is organising each year two big national volunteer trainings. So it’s quite a lot of work that needs to be done.

AFS is people! So I’m very glad to have Iris alongside sharing the coordination job with me, and a big group of different people supporting us for various tasks. Without them we couldn’t do a single camp. They are leading the camps to get new participants prepared for their adventure. We also try to find fresh returnees to talk about their experiences. This is sometimes very difficult and time consuming, especially because of the small participant numbers per year in the 18plus area.

So having a good network of volunteers to share the work and to delegate tasks is very important for a good leader. The always returning question is, how to best look after your network and how to keep everyone happy including yourself!

So come and join me to find out “how to get others to do your work”! What would you work for? How about a nice dinner together with your fellow AFS friends? Together we will share a lot of useful tips and tricks and try to work out some best practice strategies.

“How to get others to do your work”

SIMON’s WORKSHOP PRESENTATION


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Hi! My name is Marín and I’m from Iceland. I went on my AFS exchange to Domodossola, Italy 2003-2004 and had great times. After returning to Iceland, I started volunteering right away in my local chapter of Akureyri. I was the chapter president there from 2005-2008. After moving to Reykjavík in 2008 I got involved with the international AFS scene, starting by going to Chapter Exchange in Prague (2010) and Antwerp (2010). I was in the prep-team for both of these events and had really great experience. I went to Training for Trainers in Zanka, Hungary in 2010. Arriving super enthusiastic from all of these events, me and other Icelandic volunteers founded IPOT (Icelandic Pool of Trainers). I joined the EPOT in 2011 and was a full trainer at VSS 2011 in Portugal. I’m currently in the prep team for a Chapter Exchange between Iceland, Latvia, Belgium and Turkey; first one will take place in September in Iceland! Also, I’m participating in the VSS in Latvia and I plan on giving you two fine workshop! I <3 AFS

Note: I'm trying to get people to stop pretending that acting like an adult is more meaningful than playing games.From: Belgium, (South) AntwerpAge: 26Current role: Aching to get started again after finishing my Masters abroadAFS Career: Exchange student in Tromsoe, Norway 2003/2004Orientation team member 2004 - 2009member on several Chapter ExchangesRight now: studying Game Analysis and Design at IT University of Copenhagen

Hello everybody! I’m Simon, and I’m living and studying civil engineering in beautiful Zurich. In 2006 I was in Australia on a community service program with AFS where I was working on sheep farms and in the local hospital. Soon after I have returned to Switzerland I started volunteering for AFS and one year later I took over the coordination of the 18plus camps. Since then I have been also a trainer for our national volunteer trainings. Now I’m really excited to not only take part in my first VSS but also about doing my own session. Looking forward to meeting all of you in Latvia!

MARIN,

ICELAND

JOON,

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SIMON,

SWIZTERLAND


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The VSS HERALD, 2nd Edition 22 February 15th, 2012

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Design : Joshua Fitoussi/ Text : Joshua Fitoussi, Balazs Lato, André Galvao, the trainers/ Pictures : provided by trainers, and participants

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