Newsletter | March 2021

2021 MARCH

Changemakers The

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

Inside this issue 2 3 4 5

In Volunteers Are Changemakers, read about the impact story of Ajay Mehta Educator’s Desk section brings you thoughts on “How can schools provide a holistic approach towards future development of a child?”

In Impact Stories from AFS Staffs, learn about the journey of Nishita Mehta Explore Blast From The Past and learn about amazing activities, events, etc. that took place in the past

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Experience Hosting Stories and read more about the Uttarayan Celebration in Gandhinagar In Sponsored Sending Stories, learn more about the return of Asia Kakehashi Program Participants School Stories, section brings you virtual exchanges done by our member school.

Alumni Engagement is all about the launch of new projects: Youth for Global Empathy and Do Your Bit 2.0! Explore more!

Learn more about AFS Global You Changeamakers Program in our Special AFS Programs for You

VOLUNTEERS ARE CHANGEMAKERS

Volunteers are Changemakers section is all about how volunteers of AFS India are helping people and communities learn to live together. Experience stories of impact directly from our volunteers and learn how AFS empowered them to become global citizens.

“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.”

By Ajay Mehta, AFS Rajkot Chapter “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.” This quote from Aristotle epitomises the spirit of volunteering with AFS Intercultural Programs.

A chance meeting with Ms. Sonal Mehta, an AFS Volunteer from Vadodara in 2010 introduced me to a wonderful volunteering opportunity with AFS. As a teacher of English language and multicultural communication skills, I got interested in improving upon my intercultural competence. I got actively involved in sending, hosting, volunteer development and counseling activities at chapter as well as national level. In 2011, I got an opportunity to be a part of AFS Indo-German volunteer exchange program funded by Robert Bosch Foundation. The objective of this program was to encourage student exchanges between two countries. That was my first exposure to AFS Intercultural learning. Thereafter I got interested in honing my skills as a trainer of intercultural learning. I attended ICL Level 1 and NQT workshops to become a qualified trainer of intercultural learning. I have learnt a lot by attending several TOT (Training of Trainers) workshops and facilitating training sessions for volunteers, students, host families, counselors and teachers. I have conducted arrival, mid stay and end of stay orientation of hosted students at chapter and national levels. I have been a qualified facilitator for Intercultural Link Learning Program, Global Competence Certificate and Global You Adventurer Program. It is on the Wish-list of every interculturalist of the world to attend the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication organised at Portland, Oregon. The Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication has a history of more than four decades of providing educational and professional development on intercultural theory, training and facilitation. I was lucky to attend a workshop on Training Design for Intercultural Learning, facilitated by Dr. Janet Bennett and Dr. Michael Paige at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication in July 2016. I got an opportunity to conduct country specific orientation In Italy in 2019 for Italian students who were supposed to come to India for AFS Exchange programs. As a teacher I have always felt that AFS offers wonderful learning opportunities to people of any age and educational background. The work of AFS is driven by the voluntary commitment of so many people.

Volunteering with AFS Intercultural Programs has not only changed my life but my family members as well. My son was selected for the KL-YES Program to the U.S. in 2012. It was a life changing experience for him. My wife is a teacher of drawing and painting. It was her dream to showcase paintings on Indian culture. This dream got converted into reality when an AFS Germany volunteer arranged an exhibition of Paintings on Indian culture titled ‘Colours of India’ in Idstein Germany in 2014. My wife has conducted a couple of online workshops for AFS exchange students in the last couple of months.

Volunteering with AFS Intercultural Programs India has been a transformative experience. It has helped me connect with volunteers, staff members and students from different countries. It has helped me imbibe qualities necessary to be a global citizen. I consider myself very lucky to be a part of the organisation that was created as a volunteer ambulance drivers corps in 1915. This global organisation builds intercultural understanding among people from diverse cultural backgrounds in order to create a more just and peaceful world.

Page 02 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Volunteering with AFS Intercultural Programs India has been a transformative experience. It has helped me connect with volunteers, staff members and students from different countries. It has helped me imbibe qualities necessary to be a global citizen.

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

EDUCATOR’S DESK

How can schools provide a holistic approach towards future development of a child?

By Capt. AJ Singh | Executive Director, Pinegrove School, Distt Solan, HP Since the time man came into his physical existence, he has lived through eons to achieve the divine goal of “Moksha” or Salvation. Under the aegis of spiritual teachers/Gurus, he has exposed himself to innumerable ways of gaining wisdom to find a way towards his actual divine abode the “Sachkhand” – literally, a place where Paramatma himself is believed to be residing (it is believed that the Atma or Soul is a fragment of the supreme Paramatma). Gradually the idea of a structured system of imparting education came into existence with the aim of equipping a child with sufficient knowledge as a perquisite for his economic sustenance, social adaptability, and moral growth. However over the time the idea of conceptualizing knowledge into the ultimate goal of attaining a berth in the Sachkhand gradually modified into an easily attainable and a realistic goal of becoming “A Good Human Being”.

...the Soul of a child must take precedence over the Mind and the Body. By this principle, there is an urgent need to realize that we, the stakeholders, must start nurturing children’s hearts/souls by investing our attention in his/her formative years. Instead of keeping a child cuddled in an over-protective environment, he must be allowed to blossom through a perfectly designed regimen where his academic, physical, emotional, social, and moral requirements are thoughtfully attended.

Therefore, today, a greater emphasis is laid on the wholesome development of a child in order to lay a strong foundation for his life and in particular his career ahead. Although multiple strategies and innovative ideas have made a way into the curricula of various educational institutions along with the unprecedented infrastructural changes with an aim to enhance academic efficiency and physical endurance of the students yet the core remains devoid of a much required overhaul with only the façade of the educational structure having been minimally touched. However, the Soul of a child must take precedence over the Mind and the Body. By this principle, there is an urgent need to realize that we, the stakeholders, must start nurturing children’s hearts/souls by investing our attention in his/her formative years. Instead of keeping a child cuddled in an over-protective environment, he must be allowed to blossom through a perfectly designed regimen where his academic, physical, emotional, social, and moral requirements are thoughtfully attended. Along with the participative role of parents, the schools must mindfully engage young minds in activities ranging from their role in the school garden to as far as taking on the challenge of organizing a school event.

From a young child’s initial years, he should be allowed to stumble and persevere through the series of challenges for a transformation right from his stem to stern! Hence, the onus rests upon each stakeholder’s shoulders with the schools to play certainly a more important role in this regard.

Page 03 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

IMPACT STORIES FROM AFS STAFFS We Have Grown Together

By Nishita Mehta, Manager- Programs, Alumni & Fundraising, AFS India It has been more than a decade that I try explaining people what happens at AFS and yet nobody seems to get it fully right and I don’t blame them. It’s overwhelming to accept that a single organization has an impact at so many different levels: -- I create more empathetic and peaceful future -- I develop young adults who are ready to take-on their careers and equip them with life skills to sustain a future -- I give parents a chance to really provide holistic experiential learning for their children -- I amplify school’s mission of imparting education – not just literacy -- I empower educators to pursue self-development I went on an AFS Program to Italy and it was indeed life-transforming. In 2019, I completed a decade and penned down my learning, in my blog ‘The Italian Dream- A Decade Already’.

Upon return, my AFS path included being a volunteer in Vadodara where the maximum learning happened thanks to my mentors in the chapter. One thing led to the other and after a lot of hard work, training by AFS, support from chapter, I got a milestone achievement of representing AFS Alumni on the Board of Directors of AFS India (2014 – 2017). This experience humbled me further because AFS India Board is a very involved board acting as a north-star. I can proudly say that having ground reality volunteer engagement discussions in the boardroom agenda is a credit to the heads of the organization.

In 2018 I joined as a staff. I want to thank the volunteers for recognizing that staffers are 30% volunteers too, with the kind of human-related work we do. This really deepens the relationship.

In the last few years, I’ve been an integral part of the growth of AFS India working with teams, international partners, embassies and more. I affirm that the resilience I have seen in the volunteers, students, schools and staffers of AFS India, prove that we are on the right track of making a difference.

Finally, I would like to leave by circling back to 2009; it was my birthday and I asked my parents a gift- to send me on an AFS Program. They fulfilled it against all odds and rest you know. If you are a student and reading this, I urge, ask your parents (and yourself) for new experiences – it is worth the shot.

Page 04 | March 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.

2011

Blast from The PAST

Getting hold of Hindi Hannah Schwartz, a NSLI-Y student from USA performed exceptionally well at the mid program ACTFL OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview) conducted by LTI (Language Training International). She answered all questions in Hindi, fluently, promptly, easily and confidently.

2012 Civic Education Workshop Debutants Drashti Wani, Surbhi Kaul, Prashant Mishra and Madhu Purushotham, YES students to the USA were selected for the first ever Civic Education Workshop organized by American Councils & American Civic Centre. The 1 week long workshop included sessions on leadership, understanding the political structure of the US & how to effectively carry out community services.

2013 Russians performing Raas As a part of the class exchange program between India & Russia, 11 students from Russia performed a raas dance at an event held by Daly College in Indore. It was an eccentric

2014 Representing India in the ECA workshop Divya Arora and Angela Roye attended an ECA workshop in the USA, an annual event where all AFS partners working on YES program come together to meet and discuss the achievements of the program.

2015 AFS Indore on World Autism Day AFS Indore celebrated the World Autism Awareness Day by organizing a drawing and painting competition for children above 6 years of age. Organized in support with Daly Junior college and Arunabh, a school for children with special needs, the theme of the awareness day was blue. Ms. Nidhi Bhan delivered a small presentation on autism.

2016 Alumni in Action In what was Alumni Association of India’s (AAI) first ever training, the Local Alumni Coordinators training intended to make the local alumni coordinators aware of their roles and responsibilities, to help them chart out an action plan for the year and to prepare strategies and goals for alumni re-engagement.

2017 Hitting a sixer AFS India Cricket League saw participation of 13 teams from 14 chapters pan India. 4 hosts of the League included Gandhinagar, Chennai, Varanasi and Mumbai chapters. In one of its kind initiatives of volunteer engagement, the League saw fun-filled and competitive participation of chapters Rajkot team bagged the trophy!

This year, as we celebrate 15 years of AFS India, we are delighted to share with you a page full of memories, smiles, successes and stories.

Every month, Blast from the Past will take you back in time and highlight one event/story/experien ce each from the respective month of the last 10 years.

Bringing some special but dormant memories alive.

Happy reading!

2018 Funkyard made from Junkyard In a Paint for Change initiative led by Shubham Kumar, an AFS India alumni studying in BITS, a group of students renovated a small tea & maggie stall to a proper hangout place using only scrap material.

2019 Intercultural Competence Training for non AFS organization AFS India was invited to conduct a training on Intercultural competence by AKG India Pvt. Ltd., an external institute in Tamil Nadu. A one day workshop facilitated by Aadil Fahim gave tools and resources to navigate a new cultural setting while taking the first step towards becoming an interculturally competent individual.

2019 Alumni spreading awareness Ayush Shankar, YES alumni 2018, conceptualised 1st expansive international relations conference for school students titled ‘Understanding Secessionist Movements around the world’. The Chief Guest for the event was Shri Krishanan Srivastav, former Foreign Secretary, Government of India.

Page 05 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

HOSTING STORIES

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.

Uttarayan Celebration in Gandhinagar Amaury Bouchez, an AFS exchange student from France hosted in Gandhinagar, Gujarat shares his experience of the Indian festival, Uttarayan. Amaury has worked hard on his English language skills during his time in India and that shows his enthusiasm and zeal to learn new things.

“During the kite festival which started on January 14th, I woke up at 07:00 am, in the morning we flew kites with friends. At noon I ate Indian street food dishes.

Then in a short time in the late afternoon, I went to see other friends. That evening was beautiful. The next day I also got up at 07:00 am, I spent the day with my friends; we also flew kites all there. I really liked the festival which does not exist in France and which I had never heard of. I loved flying kites, the feeling is something that I had never really done before. Also during the kite fight which is very funny when it is the winners. I really liked the atmosphere in the city. I loved bursting rockets in the night. The people are screaming, there is music, people are dancing. Typical festival food.

This celebration is a beautiful and interesting moment of sharing between friends and families. I hope to return to India and be able to attend the festival again.

The fun of flying kites was a novel experience and something which would augment my life memories.”

SPONSORED SENDING STORIES

Asia Kakehashi Program Participants 2020-21 returns safely

28 students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have safely reached their hometowns after a successful return from the exchange program in Japan. The 1st call of virtual re-entry orientation for the students was conducted on 26th March 2021. The re-entry orientation (virtual) for parents was also held on 16th March where various topics such as reverse culture shock, re-adjustments, opportunities for the alumni, etc. were discussed in depth.

We wish to highlight that the students from India got an opportunity to visit and meet the Ambassador of India in Japan, Shri Sanjay Verma. He congratulated all the students and conveyed, “The opportunity to interact with Indian students, who may become a bridge for expanding and deepening Indian Japan bilateral relations, was invaluable.

The degree of enthusiasm in asking relevant questions evidenced their commitment. Global citizenship is an obvious outcome of our ageless philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. May these students live the philosophy”.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science &Technology (MEXT), Japan for giving this wonderful opportunity to our students.

Many thanks to AFS Japan for their continuous support.

Page 06 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

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

SCHOOL

ACTIVITIES Virtual Cultural Conferences AFS India facilitated a series of Virtual Cultural Conferences between Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur and Pragnya Bodhini High School, Mumbai. The entire program spanned over 4 months with 1 session of 1.5 hours each month.

-- 22nd Dec 2020 | Topics: Introductions, briefs on respective cities & states, fun activity-games -- 12th Jan 2021 | Topics: Discussion on girl power, famous cuisines of both cities (including a live demonstration on cooking) & festivals.

-- 20th Feb 2021 | Topics: Showcased arts of both cities, music & dances -- 20th Mar 2021 | Topics: Talk on world renowned personalities of Mumbai & Jodhpur

It was a truly fruitful session and we learned many aspects of culture of Mumbai, at the same time got a clear understanding of our own city’s culture Representative, Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls' Public School, Jodhpur

ALUMNI

ENGAGEMENT Youth for Global Empathy and the Do Your Bit 2.0

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

We are pleased to share the successful roll out of 2 YES alumni led projects namely the Youth for Global Empathy and the Do Your Bit 2.0.

Youth for Global Empathy - Social Action in the New Normal is an initiative towards empowering 1000 young children of 13-16 years age group by 21 AFS India alumni (including YES alumni) on how they can contribute and take charge of the social action in New Normal Scenario. The Phase 1 i.e.

Training of Trainers is complete, wherein all the selected alumni undertook the GCC (Global Competency Certificate) course, under expert facilitation from Ms. Sarita Bhadwar, Educator and AFS volunteer from Mumbai. The project now looks forward to Interfaith Harmony Session in April followed by a brainstorming session on preparing modules by the alumni.

The Do Your Bit 2.0 is a YES alumni led climate action project initiated by AFS India in partnership with UNESCO New Delhi Office. It aims to engage and empower youth by seeking active leadership support from selected AFS alumni.

The project will engage 5 alumni (preferably YES alumni and participants from DYB 1.0) who are acquainted with writing project proposals, who have a keen interest in climate action, and who are willing to lead, guide, and work with the younger children in creating and implementing individual Climate Action projects of their own. The entire project will include 2 guided training sessions with UNESCO New Delhi Office followed by one Mega Consortium on Climate Action.

Page 07 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Ready to know about AFS Programs? We offer life-changing opportunities in many countries. Explore this page to know more about new programs.

SPECIAL AFS

PROGRAMS FOR YOU AFS Global You Changemaker Program Program by AFS International & University of Pennsylvania This is a 12-week interactive 100% online certificate program for teenagers (age 15-17 years) anywhere in the world, to develop global competence skills, create innovative social impact projects, and earn certification from the AFS & University of Pennsylvania - The Center for Social Impact Strategy.

The program is apt for students who are curious about global issues; want to create positive social change in the community; interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, design, sustainable development, or social justice.

Participants can complete this online program at your own speed modules with 5 live sessions with international experts and It does not hinder the daily academic schedules.

Program Benefits: -- Earn a Certificate issued by AFS and University of Pennsylvania after successfully completing the program -- Understand the fundamentals of global citizenship, social impact, social innovation, design thinking and creative tools for innovation -- Learn how to develop your own Social Impact Project -- Interact in open dialogue with peers from around the world Program Dates: -- June 1, 2021 -- September 7, 2021 -- November 2, 2021 Program Fees: USD 490 (INR 36,500 INR approximately) (Note: As it is a fully internationally run program, fees must be paid in USD to AFS International. It can be made ONLY through credit card (internationally accepted)/PayPal at a secured international payment gateway.)

Have queries, reach out to us at: Shradha Roy (shradha.roy@afs.org, +91-9873-119-541 ); Manjula Devi (manjula.devi@afs.org, +91-8586-925-038) OR Nishita Mehta (nishita.mehta@afs.org, +91-8586-925-131).

Page 08 | March 2021 | Newsletter | AFS India

Is the AFS Global You Changemaker Program for you?

This is a global program and it is 100% online. It’s designed for students from 15 to 17 years old, who are looking to change their community and the world.

If you: are creative, curious and committed would like to create a positive change in the world want to develop your own social impact project want to make connections with global peers around the world have an advanced written and verbal understanding of English language

ENROLL TODAY

AFS Mission AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop 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 acknowledges that peace is a dynamic concept threatened by injustice, inequity, and intolerance.

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 without 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 tolerance.

Cover Photo: Aastha Gajjar For any suggestions, or sharing stories or experiences, please write at aadil.fahim@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.com/afsindia youtube.com/afsindiaofficial twitter.com/IndiaAFS instagram.com/afs_india/

AFS Intercultural Programs India

908 9th Floor Arunachal Building 19 Barakhamba Road New Delhi - 110001 www.india.afs.org | india@afs.org