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Dear Friends,
Welcome to the 15th issue of the ICYE Federation's Newsletter, focusing on"Youth volunteering in rural/isolated areas" -which is being published with delaydue to difficulties in receiving volunteer's contributions on this theme.
The wait was worthwhile! The testimonials of young volunteers from industrialisedand developing countries give remarkable insights into the predicaments andadvantages of living and volunteering in isolated rural areas. It is interesting tonote that living in remote areas, whether in so called predominantly rich or poorcountries, presents the same challenges and benefits - i.e. mobility, close-knitsociety, difficulties in making friends, scarce educational and communicationresources, beautiful nature, genuine local culture, etc.
Or as the ICYE volunteers experienced and put it: "There are only 10 or 20 peopleliving in a range of 5 kms"; "You get to know the people very well, but there is acertain lack of secrets" ; "Getting around is a big problem" ; "We learned to makethe most out of the opportunities available ..and to listen to the locals"; "Therhythm is very slow but there are no worries" ; "I feel isolated also because I canconnect to the internet"; "Because we're very isolated we sometimes feeldepressed "; "No electricity or water"; "The isolation is made up for by thebeautiful scenery"; "I did not expect that there is hardly any public transport "; "Ilearned to fish and where and which berries to pick" ; "I worked in a farm for thefirst time"; "I day dream of being on another planet"; "The teacher only comesone day per week"; and "Great way to learn very quickly Spanish and to discoverthe (local) culture" .
Contrary to the common belief that life in rural areas can be boring and does notoffer learning experiences, as the Kenyan volunteer in Finland wrote: "The list ofthe exciting things is so long ! Thanks to ICYE!" Complementing and closing thissection are the articles on the Rural Program of Foro Juvenil in Uruguay and of"Rural Voices of Youth" in Nigeria.
News from International Organisations features, amongst others: UN Newsletteron Human Security; The UN International Year of Languages; and the UNVOnline Volunteering Service.
NGOs News reports on the: Civicus and IAVE Open Forum on Volunteerism,Activisim and the MDGs; AVSO's "Invisible Heroes Campaign"; and the EarthPortal.
ICYE news include, amongst others: the 2007 ICYE General Assembly in Taiwan:the celebrations of the IVD in Kenya; the new German Volunteering Programme"Weltwärts"; 3 major EVS volunteer exchanges between Europe, Africa, Asia andLatin America; Peace Lanterns in Iceland; and the EU supported CapacityBuilding and Training project involving European, African and Asian yourorganisations and voluntary service community organisations.
Enjoy the reading !
Please note that the next issue of "Worlds of Experience", to be published at theend of June 2008, will focus on "Youth Volunteering and EnvironmentalProtection". Please email your contributions, in form of articles/pictures, toicye@icye.org before 31 May 2008.
Warmest regards!
ICYE International Office
This and previous issues of "Worlds of Experience" can be viewed and downloaded as a
PDF
file.
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