Newsletter | December 2020

Inside this issue

D E C E M B E R

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Message from the Na onal Director EduResource Star Ra ng 2020 Sending Stories Hos ng Stories 18+ Programs Stories Alumni Stories Schools Stories Volunteer Development Stories December Stories

2020, what a year it was! It started on a very high note when AFS India was awarded Experien al Educa on Award by the Educa on World magazine. In February we organized our Na onal Community Service Project in Gandhinagar and was met with amazing success. Our students on the Kakehashi program came back a er comple ng their year with astounding achievements.

And then the unprecedented COVID-19 situa on changed everything for us.

When we started working from home from 18th March, we thought it would be for a month maximum and we will be back to the normal rou ne, but that didn't happen. It is January 2021 and we are s ll con nuing to work from home.

COVID-19 has thrown a curveball like never before. In the beginning, none of us knew what we had to do and how to tackle it. Everyone came with their theory on how to beat the virus, and in the end, almost all failed. We were brought to our knees and we had to accept that we have to make changes and adapt if we needed to survive. We had to admit that things cannot be normal so soon and we have to be flexible and change our course if we wanted to con nue living in the current situa on.

Even during the challenging 2020, I'm delighted to share that AFS India did excellently. We collaborated. We partnered. We were hopeful. We adapted. And, we delivered. We adjusted to the “new normal” and gave our best. We proved that we can work together to create a be er tomorrow if we join our hands and worked towards the shared vision of crea ng a more just and peaceful world through AFS. The amazing team at the Na onal Office never gave up. We fought, disagreed, lost some great team members but we kept moving forward. We carried on and made sure that we were flexible to change our course as and when needed. With the tremendous and con nued support of volunteers pan-India, AFS India was able to pull off a well-coordinated and consolidated evacua on plan of the students hosted in India. We worked round the clock to bring our Indian Students back from various Countries. Throughout each step, we kept the Indian Students, Natural Families and the Schools in India in the loop so that they were aware of the process and the developments.

We con nued to keep our volunteers and member schools engaged. Although due to COVID-19, we weren't able to send students on in-person exchanges, we didn't stop to pursue our mission. We created new programs to ascertain that our “young students” did not miss the opportunity to become “Global ci zens”. We involved our educators to impart knowledge and their learnings through exclusive programs. We collaborated with schools to develop amazing engagement.

This newsle er is all about our achievements and accomplishments of 2020. It underscores and showcases the hard work, love, and energy put in by our volunteers, member schools, partners, and supporters in 2020. We moved forward while keeping this saying in mind – “think…there must be a be er way”.

We have achieved amazing success in 2020 and we have now entered 2021 with new posi ve energy and a new mindset. We will con nue to be an organiza on that provides intercultural learning opportuni es to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. We look forward to your support in making 2021 successful.

Last but not least, I want to end with the famous song line that has kept me mo vated: रोते हुये आते ह सब, हँसता हुआ जो जायेगा वो मुक र का िसकंदर, जान-ए-मन कहलायेगा Everyone comes crying, laughing who will go He will be called Alexander of Muqaddar, oh loved one

- By Divya Arora Na onal Director, AFS India Page 02 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

EduResource Star Ra ng 2020 Adding one more feather to our cap!

AFS Intercultural Programs India was awarded the inaugural India EduResource Star Ra ng Award 2020 in the category of Experien al Educa on.

The award, introduced by Educa onWorld, was based on a maximum 7 star ra ng under the parameters of content, program design & quality and impact assessment.

AFS India extends warm gra tude to Educa onWorld, India's #1 website and news magazine on educa on, for this honour.

Celebra ng 15 years of enriching educa on experiences of our member schools, students & educators.

Inside Sending Sec on 1 2 3 4 5

MARCH | Asia Kakehashi Re-Entry Orienta on MAY | Virtual Re-Entry Orienta on - Seeing with New Eyes JULY | YES 2019-20 Re-Entry Orienta on NOVEMBER | BP Global STEM Academies DECEMBER | YES Virtual Engagement Plan 2021-22 Page 03 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

MARCH | Asia Kakehashi Re-Entry Orienta on AFS India conducted the second reentry orienta on for Asia Kakehashi project students of the 2019 batch in Delhi for the Indian students. The orienta on was conducted in Delhi for 16 students from 9th to 11th March 2020.

Our hear elt gra tude to the Ministry of Educa on, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for this wonderful scholarship and opportunity to the students. It was indeed another year of amazing experience to recruit students not only from India but also from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

We also want to thank AFS Japan for their con nuous support and guidance round the clock.

The orienta on was conducted by the staff helping them ease their adjustment process by providing them with a suppor ve environment, ideas and intercultural awareness.

The students shared their thoughts about the impact of their program on them while reflec ng on the various changes and adapta ons in the Re-Entry process. A special sec on was kept to discuss challenges with regards to their abrupt home coming and to provide support to students to process the sudden change. Read what some students shared with us via their assignment "Seeing with New Eyes".

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

JULY | YES 2019-20 Re-Entry Orienta on Group of 39 Kennedy-Lugar YES Batch 2019-20 students arrived in India in the month of June in different batches from the US. AFS India successfully conducted virtual re-entry orienta on in the month of July once the students se led down in the normal rou ne and the quaran ne period was over for the students.

The highlight of the re entry orienta on was the YES yearbook 2019-20-A Time to Remember.

The en re AFS India staff congratulated them on their journey to becoming global ci zens and shared different opportuni es available for them.

Asia Kakehashi Re-Entry Orienta on

MAY | Virtual Re-Entry Orienta on - Seeing with New Eyes AFS India hosted its very first Virtual Re-Entry Orienta on for 11 AFS Program students who returned from their host countries due to the COVID-19 crisis. The orienta on was a full package of insights and reflec ons with many pre, post and during assignments given to students to keep them engaged through the week. The live sessions were held on Zoom call for students on May 4th and May 8th, 2020 respec vely.

YES 2019-20 Re-Entry Orienta on

Virtual Re-Entry Orienta on - Seeing with New Eyes Page 04 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

We Develop Ac ve Global Ci zens

NOVEMBER | BP Global STEM Academies BP Global STEM Academies is a full scholarship study abroad Program program for students and ac ve global ci zens who are energized to help solve some of today's biggest global challenges. The program culminates with team projects and presenta ons that offer poten al solu ons to real world challenges, with an emphasis on climate change and the energy transi on. In the month of November, AFS India along with Indian families and Indian schools conducted Meet & Greet with the BP program finalists.

Sponsored

BP Global STEM Academies | 6th & 7th Nov 2020 (Interac on with Host Families)

The par cipants had a chance to interact with Indian “host” families, learn about the tradi onal dress, dance, and cuisine of Indian culture. Sincerest gra tude to Bhamare family from Nashik, Kundu family from Delhi, Maheshwari family from Kolkata & Gupta family from Ahmedabad.

They also could experience a tour of Indian school and interact with experts from the school about STEM techniques. Hear elt gra tude to Valistus Interna onal School, Bengaluru and The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet for the enriching experience to the par cipants.

BP Global STEM Academies | 18th & 19th Nov 2020 (Interac on with Valistus Interna onal School, Benguluru & The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, Hyderabad)

DECEMBER | YES Virtual Engagement Plan 2021-22

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

The session conducted on 7th December aimed to give guidance to the current batch of YES 2021-22 students and build a rapport with the program alumni. The project focused on providing guidance and ps to the students about American lifestyle, family life, school system in America, cultural differences between countries, understanding American holidays, etc.

YES Virtual Engagement Plan 2021-22 Page 05 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Hosting Stories Inside Hos ng Sec on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Page 06 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

JANUARY | Anna Keyzar, First Prize in Marathon MARCH | NSLI-Y Varanasi Excursion JUNE - AUGUST | NSLI-Y Virtual Summer Intensive Program 2020 AUGUST | Host Family & Counselor Orienta on SEPTEMBER | Overview on Diversity in India SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER | Welcome to India- A Precursor to InPerson Hos ng Program OCTOBER | Garba Dance Session for YES Abroad Students NOVEMBER | YES Abroad Students Virtual Session on How to Make Sweet Dish DECEMBER | Welcome Virtual Call with France Students DECEMBER | YES Abroad Students Virtual Farewell Session

NSLI-Y is a Program of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educa onal and Cultural Affairs

MARCH | NSLI-Y Varanasi Excursión

We are proud to share that Anna Keyzar, YES Abroad student from USA won the First Prize in BRC Tata Structura Marathon 2020. Anna was hosted in Kolkata at Lakshmipat Singhania Academy.

The NSLI-Y Academic Year Program went to Varanasi for their annual excursion and were graciously hosted by Sunbeam School, Lahartara, Varanasi. The trip was an amazing opportunity for the students to dive deeper into the culture and put their language learning to good use. The students worked on various projects including themes like Muk Bhawan and Interac on with the inmates; Temples of Banaras and the story behind it; Understanding Varanasi through its food culture; Music & Instruments in Banaras. They also had an opportunity to interact live on FM at Radio Mirchi Banaras and impress the audience with their language competencies.

The marathon was conducted on 19th January 2020 at Bengal Rowing club, Kolkata. She won first prize in the 5 KM race in the 14-20 years group in the female category (as a guest).

We would like to thank the NSLI-Y students and the management & students of Sunbeam School for being very suppor ve throughout the trip and making it a great pla orm of learning by experiencing.

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

JANUARY | Anna Keyzar, First Prize in Marathon

JUNE - AUGUST | NSLI-Y Virtual Summer Intensive Program 2020 The NSLI-Y Virtual Summer Intensive Program 2020 organized on June to August 2020 in which eight students were enrolled and learnt Hindi Language and par cipated in many ac vi es like Yoga, Dance, Art class and learnt the beauty of Indian Culture during the Program.

NSLI-Y Virtual Summer Intensive Program 2020 Page 07 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

AUGUST | Host Family & Counselor Orienta ons With most of our ac vi es shi ing to the digital space, we conducted the host family and counselor orienta on for several chapters virtually. The orienta ons were led by senior and experienced volunteers themselves, which gave them an opportunity to train/orient the host families.

1st Row: Le to Right: Nabha & Kolhapur Chapter | Gandhinagar Chapter | Nashik Chapter 2nd Row: Le to Right: Indore Chapter | Ahmedabad & Rajkot Chapter | Kolkata Chapter | Vadodara Chapter 3rd Row: Le to Right: Pune Chapter | Dehradun Chapter | Delhi Chapter

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

SEPTEMBER | Overview on Diversity in India India is a land of vibrant differences and varied cultures. The first virtual session with YES Abroad students in India was held on 28th September 2020, wherein the students were given an overview on the diversity in India. It was an interac ve session and kickstarted the colorful journey of our YES Abroad students with India.

Overview on Diversity in India Page 08 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER | Welcome to India- A Precursor to In-person Hos ng Program The virtual engagement with the Italian and French students started from September to October 2020, the sessions were conducted on Formally Welcome and Introduc ons (facilitated by Gul Mehra from Delhi and Nishita Mehta, Staff), an overview introduc on in India (Facilitated by Gul Mehra from Delhi and Ajay Mehta from Rajkot), An Introduc on with Host family (Facilitated by Shah Family from Indore, Gohel Family from Vadodara and Kundu Family from Delhi) , Expecta on on Language Learning & Yoga Wellness session (Neha Sharma from Delhi and Nishita Mehta), School academic and Fes vals in India (Aditya Choudhary from Varanasi, Zahra Ramish and Pri Ohja from Delhi) and communica on style (Facilitated by Deepak Solanki from Indore, Simone Kundu from Delhi and Aadil Fahim, Staff), the sessions aimed to give them the knowledge about Indian cultural diversity.

Yoga Session Facilitated by Neha Sharma

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

OCTOBER | Garba Dance Session for YES Abroad Students Navratri fes val celebrates the nine forms of the Devi (Goddess) across India. Through this fes val, we showed YES Abroad students one of the beauty of Indian culture which was Garba Folk Dance. The Garba dance session facilitated by Dhiyana Chandrani (Ahmedabad) on 21st October. Dhiyana taught them some Garba dance steps and the students enjoyed the session a lot.

Welcome Virtual Call with French Students

Sponsored by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educa onal & Cultural Affairs (ECA)

DECEMBER | YES Abroad Students Virtual Farewell Session

Garba Dance Session for YES Abroad Students

NOVEMBER | YES Abroad Students Virtual Session on How to Make Sweet Dish

Just before we bid adieu to 2020, we conducted a virtual farwell session with the YES Abroad students. The students reflected on their experiences and presented their exchange learnings beau fully through presenta ons.

They talked on different topics like Indian polity, mehendi, yoga, Bollywood etc. and highlighted their understanding on salient features of Indian culture and society.

Diwali, the 'fes val of lights', can also be called 'the fes val of flavours'! The fes val of Diwali is incomplete without sweets. One of the famous sweet dish named "Magaz" was taught by Pri Gohel, volunteer from Vadodara during the YES Abroad student's virtual session on 11th November 2020. All the students were well prepared with the ingredients and made the sweet dish with full of enthusiasm.

YES Abroad Students Virtual Farewell Session

YES Abroad Students Virtual Session on How to Make Sweet Dish

DECEMBER | Welcome Virtual Call with France Students AFS India cheerfully welcomed host students from France via a virtual welcome call on 18th December 2020. We are delighted to have Amaury Bouchez placed in the Gandhinagar chapter and Clara Parret hosted in Nabha chapter.

Our staff members tried to create a comfortable environment on the call and helped the host students talk confidently about their experiences. In the post lockdown resump on of offline exchanges in 2020, these students from France are our first arrivals.

HOST AN AFSer Experience your world through the eyes of a young person from another country.

Page 09 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

GCC

Global Competence Certificate

Inside GCC | Global Competence Cer ficate Sec on 1 2 3 4 5 6 Page 10 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

MAY | GCC Champions Program Training JUNE | GCC Special Edi on JULY | GCC 2.0 at Home for University Students & Educa on SEPTEMBER | GCC Teens (Training) OCTOBER | Discussing Opera on Excellence in GCC DECEMBER | Educa on Next

MAY | GCC Champions Program Training

SEPTEMBER | GCC Teens (Training)

Leveraging support from the vast AFS India network of volunteers, Alumni and Educators from member schools, AFS India was able to create a group of select 18 Champions to support AFS India Na onal Office to enhance awareness round our GCC program with a coverage PAN India.

The GCC Teens is a teen friendly version of AFS's award-winning Global Competence Cer ficate. It features a closed, minors-only (14-18 years) pla orm for connec ng and sharing with other young AFSers around the world. It is a combina on of online learning (self paced) and Live facilitated dialogue sessions run by specially trained AFS Qualified Facilitators. The first cohort of GCC Teens took place on 5th September.

The GCC Champions were empowered for their role with the help of virtual training in series of two. The Training was conducted in 2 phases, the first being “The curtain raiser” on 23rd May and the second one being “Skills Up” on 30th May.

There have been 2 more cohorts in 2020 under the GCC Teens program.

GCC Teens (Training) The Curtain Raiser for GCC Champions

JUNE | GCC Special Edi on We are happy to share with you AFS India's engagement with AFS GCC Special Edi on. This Special Edi on GCC has been modified from the GCC Study Abroad version used by the AFS network to enhance the learning of 18+ par cipants before, during and a er the program. It has been adapted to meet the specific needs of the high school par cipants at this me whose program was affected due to COVID-19 crisis. This tool provided our AFSers with a safe, private pla orm that helped them process their experience, come together and con nue the intercultural learning journey that was cut short so unexpectedly. AFS India is proud to have enrolled 80 par cipants sent by AFS India on various programs with the modules.

OCTOBER | Discussing Opera onal Innova on & Excellence in GCC To further the spread of Global Competence and 21st century skills, AFS India has dedicated a por on of it's me and resources to promote our award winning GCC- Global Competence Cer ficate.

The call on October 3rd, 2020 witnessed AFS India Qualified Trainers coming together with Na onal office team members to discuss Opera onal Innova on and Excellence in GCC The delibera on held importance for being a pla orm where the QFs dedicated themselves for idea on around how to take Global Competence Programs by AFS India to next heights and bigger success.

Alongside, we are extremely proud of our 7 Qualified Facilitators, Aditya Chowdhury, Ajay Mehta, Angela Roy, Arvind Agrawal, Bhavya Arora, Sapna Simi Sukul and Sarita Badhwar who volunteered their me and effort to help facilitate sessions for their assigned par cipants. AFS India Qualified Facilitators were assigned 500+ par cipants from India, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Argen na & Uruguay, Indonesia and Russia.

Discussing Opera onal Innova on & Excellence in GCC

The AFS Global Competence Cer ficate (GCC) is a blended learning program that develops tangible global skills essen al to live, work, and make a real social impact around the world.

Page 11 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Alumni Impact

Inside Alumni Sec on 1 MAY | Reunion of Kakehashi Alumni 2018-19 2 JUNE | Do your Bit 1.0 Page 12 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

MAY | Reunion of Kakehashi Alumni 2018-19 The alumni of Asia Kakehashi Project 2018 and 2019 par cipated in the Virtual Reunion from India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh & Nepal on 4th May 2020.

There were two guest speakers Ankur Dhoot, Alumnus from Japan 2008 batch & Kalpana Ramsharma Alumna from USA batch 2014-15 who is currently studying in Japan. The call was to interact with the students and see how they wanted to take the associa ons and learnings of their exchange year in future.

JUNE | Do your Bit 1.0 Climate change has affected every individual on this planet in some form and curbing further damage to the planet will require ac on from every single person. The point that we as AFS Alumni wanted to make was very simple- to make climate ac on everybody's priority; this could only be a reality with the democra c power of all alumni and by engaging in conversa on and crea ng discourse.

Governments, not-for-profit and social welfare organiza ons are doing their bit, evidently that is not enough. We have collec vely damaged the environment, and we must collec vely work to repair it. This thought led to the incep on of the project 'Do Your Bit' (DYB) - by giving every individual the power to be part of Sustainable Development Goal 13 #ClimateAc on.

Reunion of Kakehashi Alumni 2018-19

Project- “Do Your Bit” started as an ac on oriented project, by empowering young leaders to take up crucial roles in their community, by redefining what it means to be a environment leader and how they can be role models to everyone in their community to take it up as a uniform cause- barring race, caste, creed, religion or sex. The project received enthusias c and overwhelming par cipa on from exchange alumni from India, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mongolia, etc.

The dialogue was conducted over a spread of 3 virtual workshops, each a ended by over 30 young changemakers across the globe.

The design of the ini a ve was not only to theore cally provide awareness about climate change but at the end of 3 workshops, have projects in pipeline for climate ac on on the ground. In the end, we had 22 climate ac on projects that were submi ed and discussed that the par cipants came up with a er research of their own communi es.

Do Your Bit 1.0

AFS Alumni: A Community of Active Global

Ci zens Page 13 03 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Schools Inside Schools Sec on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13

Page 14 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

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JANUARY | ICL & Effect + Workshops JANUARY | Domes c Class Exchange - North Meets South FEBRUARY | ICL and Effect+ Workshops FEBRUARY | AFS Regional Schools Meet - West Zone FEBRUARY | Intercultural Educator Exchange Program MARCH | Building Lifelong Rela ons with France MAY | Celebra ng Indian Cultural Diversity JUNE | Share a Collage Compe on JUNE | Virtual Class Exchange Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School (RKKGPS), Jodhpur & Sanjay Ghodawat Interna onal School (SGIS), Kolhapur JULY | Future of Our Schools: Can They Be The Same?

AUGUST | Virtual Class Exchange – Brazil AUGUST | AFS Essay Wri ng & Poster Making Compe on SEPTEMBER | AFS India MasterChef Compe on Exchanging Cultures and Cuisines OCTOBER | AFS India Quiz Compe on OCTOBER | School Regional Meet OCTOBER | Virtual Career Guidance Fair

JANUARY | ICL & Effect + workshops Intercultural learnings at AFS India con nues as more and more educators and students opt up for ICL & Effect + workshops.

Ms. Sarita Bhadwar from Indore, duly facilitated over 40 students and 25 teachers for the Effect + workshop organized at Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Indore, in January'20.

The ICL training helped teachers to understand the concept of 'culture' and how to effec vely address cultural differences while teaching. With audio-visual learning aids, the students enjoyed Effect + workshops with great zeal.

FEBRUARY | AFS Regional Schools Meet - West Zone AFS India organized the West India Regional Schools Meet on 7th & 8th February'20 in Mumbai. The goal of the meet was to connect and collaborate towards the bigger goal of crea ng ac ve global ci zens by sharing and discussing opportuni es provided by AFS India to schools, educators and students.

The meet brought together the school leaders, the coordinators and the students from 14 AFS member schools of West India Region.

The keynote speaker of the event was Nandkumar, Principal Secretary, General Administra on Department and Chief Protocol Officer, Mantralaya, Mumbai. The meet was also a ended by Jayant Lal, AFS India Board Member, Divya Arora, AFS India Na onal Director and two AFS India staff members.

JANUARY | Domes c Class Exchange - North Meets South As a part of the reciprocal domes c class exchange, students from the Bri sh Co-ed High School were hosted at The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet School from 6th to 11th January 2020. Apart from knowing the similari es and differences between the cultures of North India and South India the students also learned how the two schools func on. They learned many life skills at a deeper level and returned enriched. Students visited several places of historical and cultural significance. They par cipated in various sessions like art, cra , theatre, music and English Listening Comprehension. The escort teacher of The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet organised a doll making workshop for the girls in the community school run by Bri sh Co-ed High School.

The students departed with las ng bonds. Many could go beyond their limita ons and overcome their complexes by adjus ng to stay with host families.

FEBRUARY | Intercultural Educator Exchange Program Silvana Vota, an Educator from Argen na was at Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India from the 11th January to the 8th February 2020 as a part of an Intercultural Educator Exchange Programme. The programme helped her experience the cultural diversity of India as well as to know more about the educa on system here. She took ac ve part in teachers training, presenta ons, workshops, teaching and school trips to ci es like Sirohi, Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra to tes fy the magnificence of all the Indian architecture and history.

FEBRUARY | ICL and Effect+ Workshops We are very proud to share that we have reached 40 students and 30 educators from overall 5 schools in the Mumbai region as we con nue our journey of ICL and Effect+ Workshops in February. The workshops support the global movement to advance intercultural learning and global ci zenship educa on in AFS's mission to create CHANGEMAKERS! The workshop was duly facilitated by Bhavya Arora.

Page 15 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

MARCH | Building Lifelong Rela ons with France

JUNE | Share a Collage Compe

Yadavindra Public School in Pa ala hosted a teacher and her husband from Lycee Clos Maire School, France. Their short yet adventurous trip gave them an amazing insight into Indian culture which they expressed as follows: “Describing India in a few lines is not an easy task. What strikes us the most is the fusion of colours: the clothes, fruits, flowers, the green fields of Punjab, the ochre of the dry lands in Rajasthan, the impeccable white of the Taj Mahal, the pink city of Jaipur, the blue and white hues of the city of Jodhpur, the golden temple in Amritsar...and the list goes on; not to men on the mul coloured costumes of the dancers and the sounds of tradi onal music at Pa ala's The Fes val Heritage. What is also so heartening is the warm welcome extended by the Indian people: smiles and songs sung by children at the school, welcome gi s made by the pupils, the love showered by the teachers and the staff...”

To celebrate the Day of Parents (1 June), AFS India conducted a compe on to share photo collages of students with their families doing quaran ne ac vi es. This compe on was a gesture to le ng the parents and grandparents know how thankful the students are for their love and commitment.

on

Both schools had an enriching me learning more about their country's respec ve cultures and spreading the AFS effect.

Virtual Class Exchange Crea ng culture of Collabora ve Intercultural Learning

MAY | Celebra ng Indian Cultural Diversity In an ini a ve to keep students, educators and schools engaged during the lockdown period, AFS India convened a 5-series virtual program to commemorate May 21 as the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue & Development. The program integrated aspects of intercultural learning and was a carnival of showcasing mul farious diversity present in India. 5 sessions were held virtually between 8th May to 21st May 2020. The final session was concluded expressly on May 21st to mark the day. The selected students from seventeen schools across the country collaborated and presented the city or state of their choice.

The virtual cultural exchange program between Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School (RKKGPS), Jodhpur & Sanjay Ghodawat Interna onal School (SGIS), Kolhapur was conducted on June 3, 2020. An amazing pla orm in this pandemic situa on where everyone is restrained indoors, the students and the teachers of these two schools collaborated for engaging learning experiences.

The session began with the girls from RKKGPS presen ng the culture of Jodhpur & Rajasthan. Showing us various aspects of culture - music, dance, architecture, monuments, forts, clothes & jewelry, food & spices, people etc - they took us to Rajasthan with their presenta on. In a similar fashion, we visited Kolhapur and Maharashtra with the help of the students from SGIS Kolhapur. They presented live singing, live cooking, live dance and live local art presenta on. One of the girls taught us Marathi. The audience gladly learnt and repeated a er our young teenage teacher.

The par cipa ng schools shared costumes & jewellery, presenta ons, created videos, singing, dancing, self-cooking videos, dance workshop, monologue, facial expression, art workshop, ta oo workshop, yoga workshop, amazing quizzing, Kahoot, beau ful anima on and interview of locals. They also highlighted the projects undertaken by the local government or their school with respect to Sustainable Developments Goals.

AFS India would like to express hear elt gra tude to both the schools (including students) for taking the ini a ve to prepare the students and engage them in this collabora ve intercultural learning.

Celebra ng Indian Cultural Diversity

Virtual Class Exchange

Page 16 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

JULY | Future of Our Schools: Can They Be The Same?

The global school closures in response to the Pandemic has presented an unprecedented risk to Children's educa on and their well being. To throw light on the future of schools and their new educa on model is no doubt the need of the hour. With this no on, a Panel Discussion on the topic “Future of our Schools: Can they be the same (in view of the Pandemic)? was conducted as part of AFS India's Monday Magic ini a ve, on the 6th of July 2020. The Panel consisted of the Moderator Mr. Madhusudan Rao, President, AFS Bengaluru and dis nguished School leaders from four different zones of India, namely Ms. Punita Nehru, Principal, Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar, Indore, Mrs. Zahra Ramish Rizvi, Principal, Tulips Interna onal School, Delhi, Mrs. Nellie Ahmed Tanweer, Founder, Maria's Public School, Guwaha , and Mr. Venkata Suresh Lolla from Valistus Interna onal School, Bangalore.

virtual student exchange program with Brazil. The exchange was held on 27th August 2020 between Flores da Cunha, Brazil and Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata, India. Everyone had worked hard to present a wonderful presenta on on India with a live cooking session, tradi onal art presenta on by our teacher in charge and a tradi onal Indian Dance performance by one of the students'.

All the par cipants involved put up a great show for the Brazilians on the day of the event with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. During the virtual exchange, the other side had prepared videos which gave us an insight on the kind of learning and educa on pa ern followed in Brazil, along with a very fun and interac ve Quiz session and a ques onnaire.

The discussion was based on UNESCO's research based model that emphasized on four areas of reinterpreta on of School educa on, which are, Learning, Safe opera ons, Well being & protec on and Handling the marginalized. A set of key ques ons were addressed and several percep ons, experiences, ac vi es and ps were part of the insights shared by the panelists. The Panel discussion ended with a note on how, in the light of the three zones: Unse led zone, learning zone and the growth zone, the schools con nue to provide quality educa on. The goal of our efforts is happy children and wonderful, rigorous learning.

Virtual Class Exchange – Brazil

AFS Essay Wri ng & Poster Making Compe

on

To mark the World Youth Skills Day 2020, the teenagers of AFS India Member Schools par cipated in the Essay Wri ng & Poster Making compe ons.

The young par cipants in crea ve ways presented their perspec ves on the need to be equipped with the skills to successfully manage evolving challenges and the resilience to adapt to future disrup ons especially in the context of effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

Future of Our Schools: Can They Be The Same?

AUGUST | Virtual Class Exchange – Brazil Amidst these uncertain mes of turmoil across the world, students and teachers have been struggling to deal with the pandemic while handling their academic responsibili es as well. Everyone is yearning for a return to the mes when we interacted in classrooms, discussing, and deba ng on various topics. At such a point, our school Lakshmipat Singhania Academy had given us an opportunity to indulge in an exci ng,enriching and unique experience of having a Page 17 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

SEPTEMBER | AFS India MasterChef Compe Exchanging Cultures and Cuisines

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AFS India MasterChef was designed to promote intercultural learning through cuisines. Through this ini a ve we brought the world a li le closer by teaming up with AFS Paraguay. AFS Volunteers from Paraguay were invited as guests to share the local recipes through Zoom during the two-day finale of AFS India MasterChef on 10th and 11th September 2020. 1000+ students shared their recipes as entries for the first round and 6 selected students par cipated live in a tough compe on in Finale Round for the winning posi ons.

OCTOBER | AFS India Quiz Compe

School Regional Meet AFS Regional Meets for all the five zones - North, South, East, West & Central - were organised in Oct - Nov 2020. The school leaders of the AFS Member schools gathered online to discuss the way forward to add the component of Global Competence in their schools. AFS India presented details around the current offerings & opportuni es with an appeal for more par cipa on in the AFS Programs.

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South Zone Meet - 10th October 2020 Central Zone Meet - 16th October 2020 West Zone Meet - 18th October 2020 North Zone Meet - 21st October 2020 East Zone Meet - 6th November 2020

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AFS believes that peace begins with global ci zens who are curious and informed about the world.

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injus ce, and tackle climate change by 2030. SDGs are a natural entry to bringing global awareness to the classroom. Connec ng the SDGs to exis ng learning objec ves engages students with realworld issues that makes learning more meaningful.

In an effort to increase awareness around the UN SDGs, AFS India organised the Regional Quiz Compe on for its member schools in which 49 schools par cipated and 6 schools collaborated to organize and host the Quiz. The quiz compe on was en rely virtual, where in, the organising schools used pla orms like Google Meet and Zoom Call. They used online quiz tools such as Kahoot, Quizizz, Google Quiz or the real quiz where the Quiz Master asked ques ons and par cipants responded. Special men on to the East Zone & one of the Central Zone Quizzes, as they were en rely conducted by the students with the support of their teachers.

School Regional Meet-Central Zone

Virtual Career Guidance Fair We understand the challenges students face when they start to think about their future and the choice of career they'd pursue, and we wanted to design a program to help them make informed decisions by knowing their own interests and poten al. Without adequate direc on, they may land up at the wrong workplace not suitable as per their interest and skills, and this is where AFS India worked towards enabling students to see the bigger picture and supported them in excelling in their career with informa ve webinars as part of 2020 the VCG Fair. The VCG Fair was conducted in OctoberNovember where various speakers took an hour long sessions with the students respec vely.

During this pandemic, technology acted as a facilitator by bringing innova on to quizzes and ensuring ac ve par cipa on among students.

Virtual Career Guidance Fair

Educa ng

Ac ve Global Ci zens To Make AFS India Quiz Compe Page 18 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

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a Real Difference

Inside Volunteer Development Sec on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

JANUARY | Interna onal Volunteer Exchange, Chennai 2020 Regional Volunteer Exchange to Delhi FEBRUARY | W Level Training at Rajkot Chapter Na onal Community Service Trip 2020 to Gandhinagar MARCH | AFS India Open House - An Update So Far APRIL | GYSD Ac vi es APRIL - SEPTEMBER | Virtual Regional Volunteer Exchange MAY - DECEMBER | Cultural Grip Over Virtual Trip NOVEMBER | Interna onal Volunteer's Day #SaturdaySurprise | #MondayMagic Page 19 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

JANUARY | Interna onal Volunteer Exchange, Chennai 2020 2020's Interna onal Volunteer Exchange started when Fikar and Yono touched down on the southern fer le lands of Chennai.

Indonesian Volunteers enjoyed a week-long experience of cultural exchange. Right from visi ng famous historical sites to touring around the popular food joints in the city, they made every second of their visit to India count. They could also celebrate Pongal with volunteers from Chennai. They took on the Indian avatar as they draped themselves in tradi onal saree and Lungi.

Many thanks to AFS Chennai for taking the me to host the Indonesian volunteers. A week's togetherness ended with lifelong connec ons, further spreading the AFS Eect.

JANUARY | Regional Volunteer Exchange to Delhi The Delhi chapter proudly hosted 6 volunteers from 4 dierent chapters during the regional volunteer exchange to Delhi, which happened from 21st to 27th Jan '20. The week-long exchange ensured a great exchange of cultural diversity of India. Volunteers had a great intercultural experience.

AFS India con nues giving various opportuni es to our volunteers who are part of our journey to create ac ve global ci zens. We at AFS strongly believe that our community of global ci zens is determined to build bridges between cultures.

FEBRUARY | W Level Training at Rajkot Chapter On 09th February 2020 Ajay Mehta duly facilitated the ICL Level W Training in Rajkot Chapter.

Level W training is an essen al tool for volunteers to be familiarized with the history of AFS, the fundamentals of AFS, intercultural approach, models of culture, cultural adapta ons, cultural styles, communica on values and dimensions and the AFS educa onal methodology. The one day training was well received and appreciated by chapter volunteers stepping into the roles of responsibili es within chapter.

FEBRUARY | Na onal Community Service Trip 2020 to Gandhinagar The Na onal Community Service Trip 2020 was successfully conducted with the help of our wonderful volunteers in Gandhinagar from 22nd 27th February 2020.

The Service was built on the idea of crea ng social impact where AFS volunteers from Pan-India were invited to join together to address the local challenges and bring diverse communi es together by using their skills, knowledge and understanding to execute various projects & ac vi es at a local community. The project was implemented in the Schools that were selected last year, but also added 3 new schools to increase the impact. The week-long service was fun, interac ve and enriching. We also had support of more than 15 doctors and medical experts during the medical camp.

Page 20 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

MARCH | AFS India Open House - An Update So Far AFS India conducted Open House sessions on 28th and 31st March 2020 to address the prevailing situa on and talk about the changes that have and would bring in the func oning of AFS India. The Open House received 75+ par cipants on both days.

AFS India (Indore Chapter and Guwaha Chapter)

MAY - DECEMBER | Cultural Grip Over Virtual Trip AFS India's Virtual Interna onal Volunteer Exchange Program named as Cultural Grip over Virtual Trip is a program designed to engage volunteers with a great opportunity to connect with volunteers around the world. This program bestows volunteers with a pla orm to learn aspects of culture and gain in-depth knowledge and understanding of a par cular culture or prac ce through virtual knowledge transfer executed in a crea ve and innova ve manner.

This Virtual engagement program promotes and encourages cultural learning covering various detailed themes supported with live virtual sessions like cooking, dance, singing, wearing tradi onal, having fun games, etc. Here are a list of virtual regional volunteer exchange that took place in 2020:

AFS India Open House - An Update So Far

APRIL | GYSD Ac vi es

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Egypt and India (May & September 2020) Indonesia and Chennai (June & July 2020) Mumbai and Malaysia (August & September 2020) Karaikudi and Sri Lanka (October 2020) Latvia and Delhi (November 2020) Philippines and Gandhinagar (December 2020)

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and increase in the widespread of the virus, AFS India volunteers commi ed to taking preven on and precau ons as per the direc ves shared by the Indian Government and health agencies.

Volunteers joined together virtually and contributed towards the celebra on of Global Youth Service Day 2020 to show their support in COVID-19 Awareness Campaign as well as Appreciate the Health Workers and other Frontline warriors.

APRIL - SEPTEMBER | Virtual Regional Volunteer Exchange AFS India's Regional Volunteer Exchange Program aims to give cultural learning to the volunteers with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of values of Indian cultural diversity. The program facilitates exchanges between dierent chapters, allowing them the opportunity to learn about dierent cultures, tradi ons, languages, lifestyles that exist in ci es by engaging the volunteers in various extra curricular ac vi es and other learning processes such as art, cra , music, dance, calligraphy, etc.

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Nashik Chapter - Bangalore Chapter (April & July 2020) Rajkot Chapter - Kolkata Chapter (June 2020) Indore Chapter - Guwaha Chapter (June 2020) Pune Chapter - Hyderabad Chapter (September 2020)

AFS India (Nashik Chapter) and AFS Egypt

Volunteer to create change Join a movement of ac ve ci zens helping people and communi es learn to live together.

Page 21 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

NOVEMBER | Interna onal Volunteer's Day

the #afseffect and #changemaking. Here's to wishing a happy, healthy and safe Interna onal Day to all AFS volunteers!

Volunteers are the bedrock of an organiza on as vibrant as AFS Intercultural Programs. With over 800+ volunteers hailing from different parts of the country, AFS India is proud to have changemakers and global ci zens who are ready to make a posi ve difference in the society.

COVID19 hit no differently to AFS India than it did to AFS Interna onal. Despite the offline exchanges i.e. sending and hos ng ac vi es coming to an unfortunate halt, our volunteers con nued to remain ac ve, throughout the pandemic and the lockdown.

We commend the zeal and enthusiasm of our volunteers. Over 100 volunteers from pan India a ended the AFS India Open House, organized on 28th November 2020. The town hall was nothing short of a Virtual Reunion for the en re AFS India family. To make the event more engaging, we had requested each chapter to present a 3-minute brief on their year-round AFS ac vi es and achievements.

It was overwhelming to see the volunteers present their stories with pride. As chapter heads con nued to speak for their ci es, praises, applauds and congratulatory messages kept swamping the chatbox. AFS India Director, Divya Arora, extended her personal gra tude to each chapter for their amazing work and volunteering.

Be it the community service for the COVID19 frontline warriors or the Saturday Surprises, volunteers across India have ac vely par cipated and made each event a soaring success. A greater number of volunteers taking up orienta ons, workshops and training reflected ac ve volunteer development. The Navratri and the Masterchef compe on became a huge hit and it's all thanks to our dear volunteers.

The meet may have been virtual but the energy was real. It was heartwarming to see volunteers from all walks of life contribu ng to

Interna onal Volunteer's Day

#SaturdaySurprise | By the Volunteers, For the Volunteers #SaturdaySurprise, earlier called #MondayMagic is a day of engagement which is facilitated by the volunteer, for the volunteer. Every Saturday of the week, AFS India family have had a 30-45 minutes engagement ac vity facilitated by any or one of the volunteers on themes such as cooking, do-it-yourself ac vi es, Yoga, language teaching, medita on, health, mental health awareness, etc. We are thankful to everyone for commi ng themselves to crea ng a learning environment for everyone.

Virtual PanelSummer Discussion

by Madhusudan Rao NSLI-Y Virtual Intensive Program 2020

VOLUNTEER + ACTION = IMPACT Page 22 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Supported by

DECEMBER | Educa on Next At the preface of another decade following the 2020 global pandemic, it is emphasized that Educa on demands a paradigm shi commi ed to educa ng students who can successfully live and work in our globally connected world and change it for the be er.

The virtual event of 'Educa on Next; Reposi oning the Role of Higher Educa on in Building Back Be er' was organised by AFS India on 4th December in partnership with UNESCO New Delhi Office and with the support of AFS Interna onal..

The consor um acted as a pla orm for dialogue and discourse for the “Enablers of change; the educa on leaders and young minds” in India to be Inspired and build collec ve content as we need fresh thinking and innova ve ideas to revitalise higher educa on system for a radical transforma on to address global competencies suppor ng sustainable developments.

#AFSEffect for a Be er World is a year-long campaign by AFS India to call for engagement and support by everyone either associated with the AFS network or from outside to help us raise funds with the objec ves to - expand access to intercultural educa on with scholarships and outreach and by developing a corpus that can be u lized towards par al scholarships for AFS Intercultural Programs in India.

GCC for One and All Ini a ve AFS mission is to foster transforma onal experiences that last a life me and be an inclusive organiza on crea ng opportuni es of scholarships for the underserved. As part of the GCC for one and All ini a ve, AFS India aims to award scholarships to develop Global Competence skills through AFS Global Competence Cer ficate (GCC) to underserved teenagers in India. Through this ini a ve, AFS India plans to support wide accessibility and inclusivity of the learning pla orms that could help the learners create a be er tomorrow.

Volunteers, educators and supporters of AFS India came together and donated amount to ensure future opportuni es to the young promising lives who are passionate by receiving guided and reflec ve learning on global competencies and help them globalize their CV. We are in the recruitment phase where the students will be ge ng selected from Pan-India so that they can be enrolled in GCC Cer ficate Course. All the applica ons will undergo rigorous screening for the informa on provided in order to be able to par cipate in the scoring and evalua on process. The finalists will be selected a er review from the selec on commi ee.

Dance for Change Ini a ve

Webinar: Educa on Next; Reposi oning the Role of Higher Educa on in Building Back Be er

#AFSEffect for a Be er world We at AFS India are ever-evolving and innova ng. We have been able to offer diverse programs to our stakeholders which has made us a vibrant and inclusive organisa on. Our successes in fundraising have led us to believe that it is me to notch up our efforts to and integrate fundraising into our core programs. We have created a plan on how we will raise funds to promote our programs and try to reach more par cipants by giving them scholarships, thereby standing true to our mission and vision high to make intercultural learning more accessible and inclusive.

Dance for Change ini a ve u lized art as a medium to connect to people who love learning or performing a dance for the cause to raise funds to provide scholarships to children for their life me opportunity towards transforma onal impact through par cipa on in the AFS Programs.We are proud to share that we have had amazing par cipa on of students from all over India to learn dance from dance experts from Turkey, Sri Lanka, Egypt and India. Each dance cohort was executed in 90 minutes with the support of our amazing and suppor ve partners AFS Turkey from Turkey, Sputnik Interna onal Educa on Centre from Sri Lanka, AFS Egypt from Egypt and our wonderful alumni Choreographer, Virali Parekh and Dance Expert, Jeet Dave from India. We are thankful and proud to have collaborated with all our Partners in this ini a ve.

Page 23 | December 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Shashwat Gupta from Pa ala