AFS India Newsletter | October 2021

India

THE

Changemakers NEWSLETTER Your source to stay up yo date with AFS Intercultural Programs India’s activities, events and opportunities

Inside this issue 2. Explore Blast From The Past and explore the time of the year spent during Diwali times across the country.

3. In Impact Stories from AFS Staffs, learn about the journey of Vibhooti Maldhari, Coordinator Effect+ & ICL Training 4. The Educator’s Desk section brings you thoughts on How Can Non - Formal Education Improve 21st Century Education for Young People Worldwide? By Mrs Roopalee, Educator, Yadavindra Public School, Patiala 5. In School Stories read about the wonderful Virtual Class Exchanges and Quiz competitions

7. In Hosting Stories, take a look at the Hosting Cycle 2021-22 updates 7. In Sending Stories, explore the amazing departures of our Asia Kakehashi Project 2021 8. With "Alumni Achievements", take a look at our wonderful projects that successfully concluded recently.

9. Read the Volunteers In Action to know how the AFS Bangalore volunteers took a virtual dive into the Slovakian culture.

10. Learn more about the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival in Special AFS Programs for You

Page 01| September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

O C T O B E R

2 0 2 1

Blast from the past October 2009 Quality Guaranteed: AFS Intercultural Programs India becomes ISO 9001: 2008 certified organisation

October 2010 Partnership for the Goals: Thanigai Adhvan, our returnee from the Chennai chapter initiates a partnership between the Indian Federation of United Nations Association (IFUNA) and AFS India. This partnership provides AFS Chennai volunteers with community projects from IFUNA to participate in.

October 2012 AFS Asia and the Pacific Meet: AFS India hosts the annual meeting of the AFS Asia and the Pacific Initiative partners at New Delhi. AAI is a cluster organization of 11 AFS partner organizations in the region that includes Australia, China, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and New Zealand.

October 2011 Garba Away the Nights: AFS Ahmedabad hosts a three-day garba event for all the exchange students hosted in the country and the volunteers. The participants dance the nights away with fun, laughter, and garba.

October 2013 AFS Effect: AFS India proudly showcases the magnificent achievements of the alumni, the host students as well as the sending students in the newsletter.

October 2014 AFS Youth Workshop and Symposium: To commemorate the 100 centennial of AFS, The 100 Years Young project begins the first phase, reflecting on what global citizenship means for us.

October 2016

October 2015 Alumni achievements: Arun Sharma YES’10, Vyom Raisurana YES’10, and Syed Maaz Hasan YES’13 attend the “First India Youth Forum” conducted by Colombo Plan (Drug Advisory Plan) in collaboration with the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses to spread awareness about substance abuse. The 3-day conference takes place in New Delhi.

Visiting the Countryside - Host Students Volunteer: The host students of the Pune Chapter spend four days in a rural area as a part of the Chapter’s Community Service Project and learn about the village life in India.

October 2018

October 2017 AFS Effect: Our Host Students, Sending Students, and the lovely Host Families share their wonderful experiences of their exchange programs. AFS India proudly showcases their magnificent achievements in the newsletters.

Insights of AFS Global Conference 2018: AFS India shares the insights of the inaugural AFS Global Conference held in Budapest that sets an agenda for global competence education worldwide

October 2020 Helping the Needy: The volunteers of the Anand Chapter gather around 35 kg of clothes and donate to the poor and needy people. Along with that, the volunteers distribute sandwiches, ice cream and biscuits at an old age home.

October 2019 A Trip to the Southern Neighbour: AFS India and Sputnik International facilitate an International Volunteers Exchange Program under which 4 volunteers visit the beautiful country of Sri Lanka with full enthusiasm and excitement.MasterChef.

O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall...that brings our lovely sending and hosting students conforming to their respective cultures. It also brings AFS India family immersed in the celebrations of Navratri and Diwali

Page 02| September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

AFS India provides leadership, coordination, support, quality control, and development to all its employees. Hear from our committed staff members about their journey of advancing the mission of AFS.

Impact Story from AFS Staff

MY AFS JOURNEY

By Vibhooti Maldhari, Effect+ & ICL Training Coordinator Let me first explain why this has been a journey. It’s a journey because one reaches from point A to Point B. Well, the same is in my case. I have reached from being a 9th standard school girl going for an exchange year to Italy to currently being a staff member at AFS India.

It all began in 2012 with my wish to go on an exchange, apply for the scholarship program and opportunely get selected to go to Italy! I met Divya ma’am for the first time at my pre-departure orientation and she left me feeling so inspired and ready to take on the year that lay ahead of me.

Once back from the exchange, I became a volunteer at my local chapter, Rajkot. The amazing volunteers of the chapter were a strong point for me to stay connected with AFS. Ajay Sir, the then chapter president, was super helpful, always available for advice and guidance.

During my college, I did two programs with AFS - Community service to the Dominican Republic for 3 months and Training for Trainers at Jacobs University, Germany. I was also fortunate to attend the Youth Volunteer’s Forum 2015 in Argentina which really kicked off my inquisitiveness for Intercultural trainings. I started to actively look for opportunities and conduct arrival and departure orientations too for AFS India.

And today, I’m writing this as a staff member of AFS India and I can confidently say that my journey has been full of growth, learning new things and of course, with its challenges. But those challenges have made me reach my full potential and set the bar high for things in life.

Being an AFSer changes you in ways permanently and brings out the better in you. You see the world as your global family and you coincidentally meet a German friend after 6 years of meeting them in Argentina and they turn out to be your neighbour in Italy.

The world is a small place that has people with big dreams. And I am one of those people with the big dream to make an impact for Intercultural Awareness and Global Peace.

Page 03 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Educator’s Desk

Educator’s Desk is all about the thoughts and perspectives from the AFS Member School Educators discussing various relevant themes related to education

How Can Non - Formal Education Improve 21st Century Education for Young People Worldwide?

By Mrs Roopalee, Educator, Yadavindra Public School, Patiala

Non- Formal education includes various structured learning situations and programmes designed to improve a range of skills and competencies of the participants in order to make them future-ready. It is not bound by curriculum or syllabus and does not require any certification or accreditation. Student exchange programmes, life skill/soft skill development courses, social or cultural development forums, webinars, workshops, Round Square conferences etc. are a few examples of non-formal education.

Formal education takes care of the qualifications needed to pursue a career. However, Non –Formal education is a necessary addendum to knowledge acquired through formal classroom learning and enhances a person’s confidence and adds finesse to basic instructions gained.

If we have to compete at global platforms, we need to make sure that our awareness does not remain confined to local and basic levels.

In today’s world that has shrivelled into one giant cocoon, wherein we are likely to rub shoulders with people of diverse ethnicities, if you want to carve a niche for yourself, having mere knowledge of your subject or job is not sufficient. Global and cultural awareness, teamwork, leadership skills, communication skills, critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, flexibility, and creativity are some of the core skills required to be a game-changer.

Recognising the importance of non-formal education in the global arena, YPS, Patiala is going all out to give it due to weightage in the curriculum despite the time constraints. AFS India and its myriad intercultural student/teacher exchange programmes, competitions, webinars, workshops that deal with confidence building, cultural awareness, honing of leadership, sharing skills, etc. are a regular feature in our school. It has resulted in a wholesome and multidimensional growth of students and has been instrumental in boosting their confidence levels and focus. The exposure to different cultures has widened their horizons, broadened their outlook, given a direction to their endeavours and changed their perspectives. Our students feel ready to take on the world!

Page 04 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

The exposure to different cultures has widened their horizons, broadened their outlook, given a direction to their endeavours and changed their perspectives.

School Engagement >> School Engagements is all about how AFS India through its activities, events, programs, etc. is educating educators and students to make a real difference.

Virtual Class Exchange Programs Building Bridges between Argentina and India

By Adwitiya Saxena, Student, RKKGPS Jodhpur The AFS Virtual Class Exchange built a new bridge on 28th September when Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur, India and Instituto Nuestra Señora de Fátima, Argentina under the aegis of AFS rendezvoused to provide a cross-cultural exposure.

It was an incredible journey since the commencement of the conference witnessed an engrossing, fulfilling and blazing evening of bright minds sharing their cultures and experiences. The conference proved to be very informative and enriching for both the students as well as the educators and representatives from AFS Argentina and AFS India.

The event provided yet another wonderful opportunity to the students of RKKGPS to represent their school on a global platform, thereby expanding their knowledge, helping them to explore new skills and seek opportunities to excel beyond academics.

With support and guidance from our respected Principal, Ms Sapna Gupta, and Ms Aashna Jain, our team presented India successfully. We, the students of RKK, take this opportunity to thank you all for continuously providing us with these opportunities and motivating us to strive for success daily.

Theory of Tribes - Collaborative Research Project between Malaysia & India Elpro International School, Pune blazed a new trail of virtual intercultural exchange by collaborating with SK Seksyen, 13 in Selangar, Malaysia in association with AFS India and AFS Malaysia.

As a part of the International Dimension in Schools (IDS) project, on 27th August, students of grade 5 from EIS and SK Seksyen 13 collaboratively demonstrated a formal presentation on ‘Theory of Tribes’. Students learnt about four different types of tribes from around the world; namely Gond tribe from India, Semang tribe from Malaysia, Innuit Tribe from Alaska and Zulu tribe from Africa.

It was an enlightening session as students provided insights related to their social and cultural practices. Students raised awareness regarding the vital roles of the tribes towards environmental conservation and the many challenges faced by them.

“This was a great learning opportunity and I hope that this collaboration has equipped all our participants with sophisticated skills and given them new insights into collaboration and networking; which remain the most important virtues for a future-ready school. I extend my gratitude to AFS India and AFS Malaysia for such a wonderful platform and interaction that truly became a cultural melting pot” adds Dr Vohra, Principal, Elpro International School.

Page 05 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Sahitya Manjari - Hindi Quiz In collaboration with AFS India, Sunbeam School Varuna, Varanasi organised “Sahitya Manjari - The Hindi Quiz” for AFS India Member Schools, North Zone (class IX) on 10 September 2021. The competition consisted of both individual as well as team events for class 9 students. There were five rounds in the event.

The following 12 AFS India Member Schools from the North Region who participated in this event: S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

School

The preliminary commenced at 10:00 am and was open for 7 mins. Out of 15 teams, 4 teams qualified for the final round.

ASN Sr.Sec. School, Delhi Delhi International School, Delhi Him Academy Public School, Hiranagar, Hamirpur Jodhamal Public School, Jammu Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Raiwala, Dehradun Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Delhi SelaQui International School, Dehradun Sunbeam School, Lahartara, Varanasi Sunbeam School, Varuna, Varanasi Sunbeam School, Suncity, Varanasi The Punjab Public School, Nabha The Wisdom Global School, Haridwar

Congratulations to the winning schools and participants.

Our gratitude to the North Zone Member schools, especially Sunbeam Varuna for organizing this insightful quiz such that the students also stay rooted to our rich cultural heritage and literature.

Position

School

1st Position

Sunbeam Lahartara, Varanasi

Rishita Singh Ojasvi Tandon Devyansh

2nd Position

Sunbeam Varuna, Varanasi

Vanshika Singh Devansh Singh Suyashi

3rd Position

Maharaja Agrasen Public School, Delhi

English Debate Competition Pathways World School, Aravali, Gurgaon, under the aegis of AFS India, conducted an English Debate competition for the AFS Member Schools of North Zone from 21 to 24 September. The event followed the Modified Cambridge format of debate. The event started its first preliminary round after a vibrant opening ceremony consisting of various dance and vocal performances by the PWS students.

Students

Both the Director and the Senior School Principal inaugurated the debate for the 18 participating schools and wished them luck for 30+ debates ahead. The second preliminary round paved the way for the Quarter Finals where a myriad panel of judges from military, law, history, and academic backgrounds provided a birds-eye view on contentious social issues.

The debate culminated in finals where Pathways World School was pitted against Jodhamal Public School, Jammu. After a series of intense rebuttals, Pathways World School emerged as the winner of the debate.

AFS India shares gratitude to the host school and the participating schools.

Page 06 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Priyanka Tiwari Shrishti Singhal Khyati Kapoor

This segment brings you details of significant updates on our Sending and Hosting department.

Learn more about events, impact stories, activities or programs related to hosting and sending.

Hosting Stories The Hosting Cycle Continues We are extremely delighted to share that our Hosting Cycle for 2021-22 has started as we welcome 4 exchange students to India in October 2021. Two students from France, one student from Belgium, and one from Chile have been placed in Kolkata, Dehradun, Bhopal, and Vadodara respectively.

The virtual Arrival Orientations of the students had been conducted by the AFS India Staff on topics like Communication Styles, School in India, Importance of Language Learning, Travel guidelines and processes, Taboos in India, Risk Management, How to Help in your Host Family / Host School, etc to enhance their knowledge about the host culture. The students are very active and were glad to have connected with AFS India virtually as they actively participated in every session facilitated.

Our sincerest gratitude to all the hosting chapters, volunteers, schools and university for their constant support in the new hosting cycle!

Sponsored Stories Departure of Asia Kakehashi students I 2021 AFS Intercultural Programs India successfully completed the first departure of 37 students of the Asia Kakehashi batch from India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal 2021-22 on 15th October 2021.

Prior to the departure, the Virtual Gateway Orientation for the students was conducted on 11th August by the AFS India staff and alumni. From the Embassy of Japan in India, we had Mr. Koji Yoshida, First Secretary, Director of Japan Information Center to interact and share their insights with the students.

Various sessions such as Risk Management, Airport Briefing, documentations etc. were discussed. We wish our brilliant students all the very best for their stay in Japan!

Page 07 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Alumni Achievements is all about how AFS India alumni through its activities, events, programs, etc. are making a difference in the world

Alumni

Achievements Concluding Projects

Throughout the year 2021, AFS India launch 4 alumni projects, each focusing on a different community subject.

Below are the stories of two of the projects that have been magnificently concluded until now.

YOUTH FOR GLOBAL EMPATHY The project Youth for Global Empathy started in March 2021 with an aim to empower 1000 children between the age group of 13-16 years on how they can contribute and can take charge of social action in the new normal scenario. Led by YES Alumna & Intern, Sweta Sadhu ’16, was successfully concluded on 3rd September 2021.

This was the first virtual alumni initiative of the year that came to end after a wonderful, resourceful, and impactful journey by the 20 AFS India alumni. Through this project, we were able to conduct 20+ online workshops and impacted more than 1500 youth across India, spreading the message of Global Empathy and Intercultural Learning.

We are thankful to several of our member schools who collaborated with our alumni and provided with a platform to conduct their workshops. We are very thankful to the cohort’s GCC facilitator Ms Sarita Badhwar for guiding the team and facilitating their dialogue sessions.

DO YOUR BIT 2.0 The Do Your Bit 2.0 started in April 2021, as the second instalment of the June 2020 project, Do Your Bit. This project comprised 5 alumni who efficiently worked with 28 high school students pan India, to prepare a wonderful set of climate change project proposals.

Led by YES alumna, Mrunali Desai ‘15, the project concluded with the Mega Consortium Event on 23rd August 2021 highlighting the 28 wonderful projects, acknowledging the efforts of our young minds and encouraging them to keep acting on the climate cause in future. The event witnessed an amazing audience of 60+ participants.

We thank the UNESCO New Delhi Office, selection committee members, expert trainers, the schools and the students for bringing the project to a triumphant conclusion.

Page 08 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

We extend our deepest gratitude to AFS USA who helped us receive generous grants so that we could organise these amazing projects. We thank all of our brilliant alumni for giving their all to these projects.

In Volunteers in Action read about how our volunteers are helping people and communities learn to live together

Volunteers in Action India and Slovakia - A Cultural Deep Dive

By Madhusudan Rao, President, AFS Bengaluru Chapter Culture is not just the way people live; it is beyond that, making our lives more meaningful, interesting and adding on to the very essence of our existence itself.

This virtual exchange with AFS Slovakia encapsulated these elements for the cross-cultural enthusiasts of AFS Bengaluru chapter.

On 17th Oct, a group of energetic volunteers portrayed the progressive India with its massive cultural and historical aspects including Festivities and Art forms to the vibrant audience of AFS Slovakia.

A one-minute kathak performance by a graceful dancer and a volunteer set the tone for the session and it all began with a beautiful metaphor of India being compared to a thali by Shashi Tharoor in The Great Indian Novel and ended on a note of how Indian society is evolving in terms of perceiving race and gender. A brief amount of light was also thrown on the education system of India and how Bangalore, as a city, has so much to offer for people from all walks of life. A small folk dance piece by everyone was the icing on the cake.

This exchange was indeed a platform for discussing and interpreting various similar and dissimilar elements of both Slovakian and Indian cultures. Thanks to AFS INT, AFS India, AFS Bangalore Chapter and AFS Slovakia for connecting the plurality of two cultures on one stage to understand each other!

Page 09 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR YOU As a proud Content Partner of the IC3 Movement, AFS India is pleased to invite you to a two day virtual conference in celebration of career & college counseling at the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival (02 & 03 Dec).

Expected to bring together 1200+ delegates from high schools, universities and industry from 75+ countries, and held on a unique virtual platform, the festival features several events with opportunities to build global connections, as well as events designed to promote learning and knowledge-sharing.

The theme for the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival is “Onward”, bringing a refreshing outlook of acknowledgment and acceptance of the reality of the pandemic, and moving forward towards a solution-oriented approach.

For Schools Benefits for high school delegates at the festival: 2 days of learning and open networking opportunities with an expected 1200+ delegates from 75+ countries.

Keynote address by Mr. Fred Swaniker, Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of African Leadership Academy featured by TIME, TEDx talks and Forbes magazine.

Thought-provoking breakout sessions with global speakers on topics critical to the field Intensive workshops on best practices of career and college counseling and admissions processes.

Engagement with global universities, ask questions and gain valuable insights at the Virtual University Exhibits Exclusive virtual platform and an interactive mobile app for all attendees Celebration of extraordinary work in the field of career and college counseling globally.

Registration for the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival is open and available at no cost to full-time high school employees.

For Universities & Colleges Some featured opportunities for universities at the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival are: VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY EXHIBITS OPEN NETWORKING ANNUAL IC3 FESTIVAL MOBILE APP OTHER EVENTS AT THE 2021 ANNUAL IC3 FESTIVAL 2021 Annual IC3 Global Awards Curated breakout sessions Innovation Spotlights Cultural Performances Virtual Workshop for Counselors

Click here to see the full event schedule. https://ic3live.com/ic3-festival/#festival-schedule

Registration for the 2021 Annual IC3 Festival is open.

Click here to know more and to register. https://ic3live.com/ic3-festival/ For any questions, please email info@ic3movement.com.

Ready to know about AFS Programs? We offer life-changing opportunities in many countries.

Explore this page to know more about new programs.

Page 10 | September 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

AFS Mission AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non- govermental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people devlop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

AFS Values AFS enables people to act as responsible global citizens working for peace and understanding in a diverse world it acknowledfes that peace is a dynamic concept threatened by injustice, inequity, and tolerance AFS seeks to affirm faith in the dignity and worth of every human being and of all nations and cultures. it encourages respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms witout distinction as to race, sex, language, religion or social status.

AFS activities are based on our core values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and tolrance.

For any Suggestions, or sharing stories or experiences, please write at india@afs.org Learn more about AFS at india.afs.org Be inspired by our History at india.afs.org/afs-timeline/ Connect with us at: facebook./afsindia youtube.com/afsindiaofficial twitter.com/IndiaAFS instagram.com/afs_india

AFS Intercultural Programs 163, Ground Floor, Jasola Vihar, Pocket 2 New Delhi , 11025, Indiia www.india.afs.org | india@afs.org