CISV International

CISV redirects here. For other meanings of CISV, see CISV (disambiguation).

CISV International, Ltd.

Type	Non-governmental organization
Founded	1951 Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Doris Twitchell Allen
Location	Newcastle upon Tyne, England (International Office) [1]
Focus	Peace Education[2]
Website	[1]

CISV International (formerly Children's International Summer Villages) is an international organization, founded on the aim of achieving world peace through cross-cultural understanding.

The organization operates international programs on an annual basis to bring together participants from member countries. CISV also operates in smaller communities with local chapters.

CISV currently holds participatory status with the INGOs Conference of the Council of Europe, and the organisation has once again been approved to be a sub-organisation under UNESCO.

History

CISV was founded in 1951 by 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.^[3]

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.

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 based around simple activities that indirectly promote peace and understanding of each other. 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 14-15 years of age. Delegations include 4 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'. Also, the delegates are largely responsible for putting together activities to promote leadership skills.
• Interchange: Involving only two countries, this programme spans two Summers (occasionally Winters or one Summer). 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. Alternatively both parts of the interchange can be in the same year, comprising a two week stay in each country. 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.
• 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.

• National Youth Meeting (NYM): An 8 or 15 day regional theme camp for youth 12-19+ that is organized to provide an opportunity for young people to explore important intercultural issues.
• 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 being a leader, more commonly meant for the Village, Summer Camp, and Interchange (Also for NYM). They are the ones who take the delegations to the Camp/Village. There are also usually 6 Junior Counselors (JC's) on a Village picked from chapters around the world who provide a link between children and adults on Villages. They are age 16-17 and it is common for there to be 2 JCs from the country the camp is being held in. On every programme there is a Staff team, usually from the hosting country although there are sometimes international staff. They are incharge of all the doings of the camp with the help of the JC's and the Leaders. When a camp is being run there is always a need for Host Families. These are families who have participants to stay at their houses when the camp has either not begun yet, has ended and participants have some time to wait before their flights leave or, in the case of a Village, when the leaders weekend off is underway. Another thing which is important is Junior Branch. There are many roles to be taken on throughout your local and national Junior Branch, these vary from country to country and national junior branch roles are usually taken on by Juniors aged 16+, however, you can contribute in many ways; from helping to plan your Junior Branch meetings to helping to raise money to host programmes.

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 USA

CISV USA was the first National Association of CISV when CISV international came around. It includes local chapters in: Atlanta Area, Brandywine Valley, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Jacksonville, Gulf Coast, Maine, Miami County, Michigan City, New York, Northwest Ohio, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain/Denver, San Francisco, Smoky Mountain, Springfield, Washington, DC, and Youngstown-Cleveland.

References

1. ^ CISV Passport, 2009, Infofile T-03
2. ^ CISV Passport, 2009, Infofile T-03
3. ^ CISV Annual Review, 2005

CISV Annual Review 2009

External links

• CISV International Website
• CISV Norwegian Website
• CISV Brazil Website
• CISV Argentina Website
• CISV Canadian Website
• CISV Estonia Website
• CISV Guatemala Website
• CISV Sweden Website
• CISV Denmark Website
• CISV Belgium Website
• CISV Vancouver Website
• CISV Resources
• JBpedia
• CISV International Community at Livejournal
• National CISV associations (member countries)
• International Junior Branch
• Mosaic Stories