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Archive -Seychelles

AIESEC in Seychelles – Global Volunteers at the President’s Village |30 September 2017

 

 

Between July and September 2017, AIESEC in Seychelles in partnership with the President’s Village welcomed four young international volunteers to help deliver a project called ‘President’s Village’ with the goal of mentally and physically preparing the children to help adapt into society by developing and implementing psychological sessions and team bonding classes for them and enhancing their understanding of the world around them.

The four volunteers aged 18-25, each had different backgrounds in social studies, philosophy, human resource management and business. They came from France (Alice Gregoire), Germany (Elena Braune), Kenya (Miriam Soloman) and Spain (Josep Folch), and are all part of the AIESEC network in their home countries. Establishing a presence in Seychelles in 2015, AIESEC was founded in 1948 after the end of the Second World War, and is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership capacity with the vision of peace and the fulfillment of humankind’s potential. Present in over 126 countries worldwide, AIESEC is a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are passionate about world issues, leadership development, cultural understanding and experiential learning through shared experiences.

One way AIESEC chooses to develop socially conscious, entrepreneurial young thinkers is through their Global Volunteer Programme. This is an opportunity for a young person to develop leadership qualities by living in a cross-cultural environment and being involved in an international volunteer experience while facilitating community development in the societies they volunteer with.

The AIESEC in Seychelles team, led by the member committee president, Raymus Laurence, partnered with Brigitte Balette, manager at the President’s Village, with the help of Jules Hoareau, chief executive of the Seychelles Children’s Foundation and chairperson of AIESEC in Seychelles Board of Advisors, to design and deliver a project with social impact targeting Sustainable Goal 4 (Quality Education) to contribute to the achievement of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

After thoroughly observing the lifestyles, interests and personal development of the children, the four international AIESEC volunteers developed an extensive afterschool and holiday programme for the children based on five key areas: physical wellness, intellectual empowerment, sexuality comprehension, emotional empowerment and social independence.

The four volunteers noticed that the children were not lacking anything material, but instead demonstrated a lack of confidence, self-esteem, emotional conscience and the desire to be social change makers.

The volunteers designed and executed workshops, activities and peer-to-peer learning sessions for six weeks. For example, they held reading and art workshops, cooking classes, language sessions, interpretation of songs, sharing personal aspirations and goals, comparing different cultures worldwide and sexuality seminars.

The volunteers hoped to instill the values of a daily life among the children, teaching them the importance of leading as role models, being patient, respectful, taking care of others, listening to others’ problems and devising constructive solutions, and above all teaching them to take responsibility.

Despite facing initial language barriers and having to interact with new people, the children adapted well to the situation and the volunteers were able to form a good personal relation with the children who respected and trusted them and were eager to see them everyday.  

“The children are so full of warmth and so dynamic; I felt a really strong connection to them and looked forward to each day with them,” said one volunteer, Miriam.

“Despite the language barrier between me and the younger kids who did not understand English, we eventually got to understand each other through activities that never needed me to talk much but instead teach and learn through performance.”

The children also greatly benefitted from having volunteers who were there with them day-in-and-day-out, rather than having someone volunteer with them once every week. The impact of this continuous volunteer presence and support was definitely felt as the children’s excitement to see the volunteers and have sessions with them every day was very apparent.

“I think after six weeks in the President’s Village we can go thinking we placed the first stone, we

started something positive inside these kids, and I only take comfort in hoping they will continue the way we began together as a team,” said Alice.

“I finish this project grown by this experience, by these kids and by all the people I met. The work was rewarding, a great cultural experience and lots of great memories and it also helped me advance my leadership and management skills.”

AIESEC in Seychelles would like to thank the President’s Village for enabling this project to take place and promises to continue designing and implementing projects within the local community. AIESEC in Seychelles also encourages Seychellois youth who are passionate about social change and are interested in partaking in such volunteer experiences both locally in Seychelles and abroad in 126 countries within the AIESEC network to get in touch via email - aiesecseychelles@gmail.com- so that our team can help you plan your experience and assist in the process of helping you get involved.

 

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