CISV
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- CISV redirects here. For other meanings of CISV, see CISV (disambiguation).
CISV International (formerly Children's International Summer Villages [1]) is an international youth organization, founded on the aim of achieving world peace through cross-cultural understanding and friendship. The organization operates international programs on an annual basis to bring together participants from member countries.
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[edit] History
CISV was founded in 1951 by Dr. Doris Twitchell Allen. Since then, the organization has expanded into 80 countries, and over 150,000 delegates have participated in more than four thousand international CISV activities that delegates have made up over the course of these years.[1]
For Dr. Allen and the CISV organization, children and youth were seen as the ideal starting point for peace education. Programmes were developed which offered young people opportunities to meet their peers from other countries and to form intercultural friendships. Locally, programmes give people the chance to learn about the cultures in their own communities and explore important themes related to peace and understanding.
[edit] CISV Programmes
The CISV International experience is based on the six travel programmes:
- Village: A four week long programme for 11-year-old participants. Delegations from 10-12 countries come together and participate in activities promoting peace and understanding. Each delegation consists of two boys, two girls, and an adult leader. About half of the villages in the summer of 2006 were 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks as an experiment in the interest of preserving finances.
- Summer Camp: A three-week programme for participants 13-15 years of age. Delegations include 4-6 participants and an adult leader. In summer camps participants can think of new rules for the camp, these will be discussed and voted upon in a so called 'camp meeting'. Some summer camps are single-gender.
- Interchange: Involving only two countries, this programme spans two summers (occasionally winters). A delegation of 6-12 youth, aged 12-15, is selected from each participating country. In the first year, one delegation will travel to visit for one month with the other. The next year, the delegations reciprocate. Each delegation has one adult leader, and may also have a Junior Leader.
- Seminar Camp: A three-week programme for youth 17-18 in which there is one or more (but not more than four) delegates from each participating country. Seminar Camps have a more direct educational approach, and youth are encouraged to form opinions on various world issues. Usually youth-directed, this program has only thirty participants in total.
- National Youth Meeting (NYM): A short regional theme camp that is organized to provide an opportunity for young people to explore important intercultural issues.
- International People's Project: CISV's newest international programme is open to persons 19+ and is three weeks long. Participants participate in hands-on work contributing to a community project.
- Mini Camp: A weekend long camp within the local chapter. It is planned and run by local Juniors and leaders, often the older members of the chapter. It is a chance for participants to have a camp like experience locally and allows potential delegates and JCs to have a taste what a few days at camp may be like. Often delegate, leader and JC selection takes place at Mini Camps and activities can range from sports, to simulation activities to guest speakers and much more.
The CISV International programmes page provides more detailed information.
As well, CISV have chapters hold local programmes that aim to share the CISV experience within the smaller community.
- Mosaic: MOSAIC is a program that consists of projects with educational content, developed by local chapters worldwide. These projects empower individuals to be agents of change, reach out, and involve as many people as possible.
- Junior Branch (JB): Junior Branch is an integral, but self-governing youth-based part of the structure of CISV. Junior Branch develops intercultural skills and attitude through educational and administrative activities consistent with CISV Goals.
CISV also has other things you can do, such as a leader, more commonly meant for the Village, Summer Camp, and Interchange (Also for NYM). They are the ones who take the delegations of four to the Camp/Village. There is also about 12 Junior Counselors (JC's) picked from chapters around the world, one per chapter, that help out in Villages from age 16-18, and Staff for the Village, Summer Camps, and Seminar Camps, which are from the country/state in which the camp/village is being hosted. They are incharge of all the doings of the camp with the help of the JC's and the Leaders. And finally you can be a host family for the Village and Summer Camp for the first few days. In Village, under normal circumstances it's four weeks, meaning there will be two times to host, one at the beginning of the Village and one two weeks into the Village on Opening Day, when the host family comes to the Village to learn about all the different cultures and pick up the kid(s) they are hosting.
[edit] Chapters and the CISV Organization
The International Office of CISV is located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. While critical administration for international programmes takes place at the Office, the vast majority of organizational work is done at the local "chapter" level.
Each of CISV's 62 countries has a national association, which oversees and supports municipal chapters. Besides the Executive Boards, local chapters have Junior Branches, youth-based groups that has the goals of building community among its members, developing skills and attitude that are relevant to accomplish the goals of CISV. Aside from the International Office staff, CISV is entirely volunteer-run.
CISV currently has participatory status with the Council of Europe, and the organisation has once again been approved to be a sub-organisation under UNESCO.
