by Ardeana Hamlin
of The Weekly Staff
It’s January and the snow is flying, but now it the time for young people to think about summer travels in service to peace in the world.
Maine CISV (formerly Children’s International Summer Village) currently has openings in two of its travel programs. Applications are being accepted for the Interchange program with the Czech Republic which is open to delegates who will be age 12 or 13 this summer. A leader slot for a person at least 23 years old also is open.
The Step Up Camp program in Norway has a spot for a boy delegate who will be 15 this summer.
The Interchange program, according to information provided by Claire Donovan, a Maine CISV board member, is a two-way family exchange which “encourages a deeper encounter between two cultures by placing young people within families.” The Interchange takes place in two phases. The child from Maine visits a family in the Czech Republic, and later on, the Maine family hosts a child from the Czech Republic. One of the advantages of the Interchange is that two families get to experience another culture and make new friends, according to information at the CISV website.
Step Up is a camp-based program that spans 23 days. Young people who take part in Step Up plan and organize activities utilizing CISV’s peace education curriculum around which they plan activities. Delegations attending Step Up come from nine countries and consist of four young people — two girls and two boys — and an adult leader.
Young people from Maine who take part in CISV can boast of a special connection to the origins of the organization. CISV was founded in 1951 by psychologist Doris Twitchell Allen, a native of Old Town who was educated at the University of Maine, receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1923 and a master’s degree in biology in 1926. She earned a doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1930 and did graduate study in Berlin in 1932, on the eve of what was to become World War II. She founded Children’s International Summer Villages in order to foster peace in the world. In 1979, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize because of her work for world peace. Though she did not win it, she was in good company. The peace prize that year went to Mother Teresa, founder of Missionaries of Charity, an organization active in 133 countries that came to the aid of the hopelessly ill and severely disadvantaged.
To access applications for the CISV Interchange program or the Step Up program, visit http://maine.cisvusa.org/, or contact Kathryn Walker at 356-8996 or kathryn.walker@maine.edu.