Do other countries, cultures, and languages interest you? Do you love traveling and building global communications? If you do, I have the program for you! It's called Children's International Summer Villages, or CISV for short. This is a program that is all about promoting global friendships and learning all about other countries and their culture.
CISV's Village is a program for kids age 11(possibly 10 or 12 depending on when your birthday is). You go to another country for a month with a delegation of 5 which consists of two girls, two boys, and a leader over the age of 21. When you get to your country, in my case Brazil, you will stay with the kids in your delegation at a host family's house for the weekend. Meanwhile, your leader will go to the camp to get it ready for the kids.
When you get to camp, that's when the fun happens! You meet up with your delegation and put your luggage away. Then you get to meet the other kids. During the camp, you will learn a lot about the other kids' countries and clusters. You will do lots of fun activities that teach you to be more globally minded. You will also learn a lot about the problems all across the world and how you can help solve them. One example of an activity we did was a refugee activity. You were assigned a “family,” a country you were fleeing from, and a reason why you were leaving. Then you had to go the entire day acting as a refugee: eating like a refugee, getting a passport like a refugee, and even working in a refugee camp. The goal was to make it to the “safe haven.” And after everyone was done, we watched two videos about what refugees had to go through. It was a very emotional experience that made me cry.
Although all I have talked about is Village, that is not the only program CISV offers. That is just the longest. The rest of the camps are just 3-4 week(s) long. The other camps are Interchange, Step Up, Seminar Camp, and Youth Meeting. I strongly recommend you look into the programs. If you or you parent are weary of participating in an international camp, there is a mini camp held yearly in the Washington, D.C. area. Mini Camp is like a smaller version of any CISV camp. If you are new to CISV, I recommend that you go to mini camp. If you are too old for any of the programs offered, don’t fret. You can still be active in CISV.
Check out the CISV website for volunteer opportunities. Missed your chance to go to Village? Look into becoming a JC (junior counselor) for Village. There are tons of other programs you can join. Some people join CISV when they are eleven and stay active in the program for life. I know once you start, you can't stop!
Article By: Mollie Donovan
CISV website: http://www.cisvdc.org/