Nicky's CISV journey

Well, where to begin?  My journey with CISV probably started back in the late 1960s when my parents were forward-thinking enough to sign up to (what was then) a relatively new organisation in Leeds. From that time to this, we have been involved at various levels and what an experience it has been! 

I was lucky enough to be selected to go on Village in 1973. I often think how radical it was for my parents to embrace the idea of sending off their 11-year-old daughter to a camp for four weeks with none of today’s technology and contact only by letter.  My goodness, I appreciate all their hard work and support for CISV over many, many years. 

Being on Village was a life-changing experience to be sure – international travel was not as commonplace as it is today. It opened my eyes in so many ways to the world and I struck up friendships that have endured the test of time.  I would like to think I came back a more independent, self-confident and humble person, and my memories of that time are as strong today as they were then – lullabies, trips out, National Evenings, flag time (I could go on!). 

Meeting so many people from far-flung places was extraordinary and, whilst maybe not appreciative of it at the time, it has equipped me with skills that have stayed with me to this day – I have learned to listen, appreciate difference, consider others and always to contribute wholeheartedly to whatever I am involved in. 

My participation continued after Village – as a member of Junior Branch (the local group meetings), a Junior Counsellor (a special role for 16-17 year olds on Village camps), a leader (twice), Staff, committee member (I could go on).  I stepped down from the committee 4–5 years ago when my children were in their twenties. 

So struck was I by the experience that I was delighted when my own children were able to go on Village – one has since been a leader twice too and now helps out with CISV London where she lives. We have loved being a host family when CISV Leeds and West Yorkshire has hosted Village and enjoyed many fundraising events. 

I watch with interest as CISV continues to make a wonderful impact in young people’s lives, morphing to ensure that activities focus on today’s issues, without losing sight of Doris Allen’s vision. 

It is a struggle in the busy lives we lead today to take on more responsibility, but we owe it to our children to support them and CISV Leeds in helping its work continue into the future.  Please offer all the support you can. It is not just for the kids – we can all learn from its goals and, you never know, you may have the best fun you’ve had in years!

Junior Branch goes virtual!

As a parent of two committed CISVers I have often wondered what the ‘activities’ that the young people do might be, and this month I really got a chance to find out, as I was the designated over 21 on the Zoom call for CISV Junior Branch.  Due to Covid the Junior Branch (JB) meetings have not been able to happen for nearly a year now, but this has not deterred the Leeds and Hull participants who have got together to have a monthly meeting by Zoom, and if the January event was anything to go by then our young people are to be commended by their determination, inventiveness but also commitment to the meaning of CISV. And of course they have had plenty of fun along the way.

This year the focus of CISV is Human Rights, and so with that in mind the leaders, a group of 5 LJRs (Local Junior Representatives) and older JB participants arranged a Zoom activity to look at how this is affected by natural disasters around the world.  They designed a game that split the group into 3 countries using zoom breakout rooms, each of which was suffering from a natural disaster and each of which had a budget to deal with humanitarian aid.  But of course neither the disasters nor the budgets are equal.  The groups had to decide how much aid to offer other countries and how much to keep for their own people as the situation changed throughout the game.  The groups all got stuck in and of course the game ended with a CISV debrief where everyone discussed how Human Rights are affected by natural disasters.

The zoom call also had lots of fun with a Let’s Dance energiser and a Kahoot quiz on 2020 to round off the meeting. The young people who joined and particularly those who organised the session were impressive and had great fun. 

There will be another meeting next month so anyone who is interested in joining should get in touch with the branch.

Laura talks about Hamburg 2019

Over the summer of 2019 I travelled with four eleven-year olds to Hamburg, Germany for four weeks. We were one of 13 delegations from all over the world who came together to be part of Light Up the World Village. While there the children participated in lots activities, from getting to know you and communication games to ones about understanding each other’s different communities and cultures. The children learnt through a learning by doing method, so got as much from the organised activities as they did from the day to day, by learning how to live together, work as a team and resolve conflicts. My favourite educational activity was having the children act out stereotyped scenarios such as ‘run like a girl’. It was a fun activity which engaged them but also lead to some in depth reflection on why we have such stereotypes and how they can be hurtful. During our time the participants got the opportunity to have two host families and some trips into Hamburg. There they got a chance to see some German culture and language and learn a bit more about the city they were in. As a leader I have great pride in my village and the children there, they learn a great deal about themselves and others in a short amount of time and can I see it shaping them for the future.

Orla's CISV story

Hi. My name is Orla and I have been a part of CISV for around 6 years now and am currently and LJR ( local junior representative) for the Leeds branch. CISV has become a huge part of my life over the past years and has given me some incredible opportunities that I will never forget.

I have been on many camps over my time in CISV starting with a village to South Korea (aged 11), then a youth meeting to Japan (aged 13), and then a step up to London (aged 15), along with many other national camps, minicamps and training weekends. I have learnt so much about myself and other people through this!

My time in CISV has enabled me to learn so much about different countries/ cultures and differences along with similarities within them. As well as topics such as diversity, human rights, conflict and resolution, sustainable development!

One of the main things I love about CISV is all the amazing friends I have made across the world!

To find more information about the camps I have been on take a look at the rest of this site, and the CISV international websites! There are also some pictures of CISV activities on the gallery page.