Article by Jasmína Henniová
I love training and I love training abroad. I always wanted to represent EFIL as a travelling trainer* but I never really found time for it. Until a couple of months ago, when I noticed an opportunity to go to train the ICL level W training in Austria and I decided to apply.
The level W training concept comes from AFS International. The intention is to unify the knowledge all the AFS volunteers around the world have about ICL. The idea is to have the same information when we communicate it further to our students, families and schools. It’s an interactive training, which can last up to two days, full of interesting activities and examples.
I first got to know this concept when I was on EVS in Belgium (European Voluntary Service), I was trained myself and since then I was involved as trainer in Belgium, the Czech Republic and now also Austria. It’s a great idea and I love the training session outline.
In Austria this training was part of an annual weekend training event called Megaworkshop. Volunteers from around the country gather together to learn new things needed for their volunteer work and to share their stories and experience. The event is full of training opportunities, sharing sessions, games and fun.
I loved it. It was well organised, the people were nice, as were the venue and the food. The training session went also really well. I got very interesting feedback for my future level W sessions. The one thing that put me a bit out of my comfort zone was the language, as I don’t speak German and sometimes I was a bit lost 
I encourage other members of EFIL’s Pool of Trainers (EPOT) to take up the challenge and become a travelling trainer, I loved every minute of it!
* “Travelling trainers” is a scheme funded by EFIL, to support national training activities of AFS Partners. Every EFIL Member Organisation can once per year request a trainer from the European Pool of Trainers (EPOT), with specific competence needed for a national event. The trainer is recruited through an open call to the EPOT, and EFIL covers his/her travel costs to the event.
For more information, please contact izabela.jurczik-arnold@afs.org
