Scan Magazine | Education Feature | YFU
An intercultural experience for life Understanding different cultures of the world is an important aspect of today’s society. That is why the organisation Youth for Understanding (YFU) over the years has helped more than half a million people broaden their horizons through various exchange programmes.
tribute to developing it,” says Juma, adding that the experience of an exchange programme lasts for much longer than just the time spent abroad.
By Nicolai Lisberg | Photos: YFU
“The students really learn something about themselves, and they often create friendships for a lifetime and go back to visit their host families. The programme is also a stepping-stone to becoming a volunteer to help other people gain the same experience. We have so many young people in our organisation, and we hope to create more YFU volunteers – not just customers, but young people with the same mindset as ours.”
If you want an experience that will change the way you see the world, help you become more independent, and create friendships for a lifetime, you might want to learn more about YFU. The organisation was founded in 1951 as a non-profit organisation based on the work of volunteers. “The fact that everything is done by volunteers separates us from other organisations. We make a virtue out of helping with everything from A-Z. We don’t want to make money on the trips – we only think about the quality. We take care of tickets and insurance; we prepare the young people before going abroad; we have delegated contacts communicating with them during their stay, and we arrange homecomings when they return, where we talk about everything they have 58 | Issue 111 | April 2018
experienced,” explains Roy Juma, chairman of YFU Denmark. The organisation has around 30 partner countries, and last year they sent just over 120 young people abroad and welcomed 60 people from other countries.
The need for world citizens Since the first YFU student from Denmark was sent abroad in 1961, many things have changed, but the mission for YFU remains the same. “It’s still about creating intercultural understanding. We aim to promote peace in the world, and young people are best fit to do so, as they tend to be more open-minded towards new cultures. The European migrant crisis and Brexit have only shown that intercultural understanding is more important than ever, and we want to con-
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