The PEACE project has come to an end. After 2 years in the making, we believe that we have a content-rich programme that offers more diversity and options to our participants and goes in line with the AFS Network Strategy. The programme has been developed by 15 AFS partner organisations in Europe and Asia, EFIL and AAI. The pilots of the programme were successful but also gave opportunities to learn and improve. In the year of 2019 all EFIL and AAI partners are invited to send on the programme and we are excited for the future.
PEACE Programme
The PEACE Programme is a trimester secondary school exchange between countries in Europe and Asia which is centered on the themes of global and active citizenship education.
In the three-month exchange programme, students (15-18 years) live with host families, attend school and engage in local community activities while enhancing their knowledge and understanding to become active global citizens. As global citizens, PEACE programme participants advocate peace through independent projects with the theme “Global Citizenship in You” (GC in You). Participants also take on Active Projects which involve a minimum of 10 hours of community service of their choice during their exchange.
PEACE project milestones
It all started with the first steering group meeting on 20-23 March 2017 in Manila, Philippines, where the steering group started putting the goals, timeline and action plan in place. In summer 2017 the project partners, 8 partner organisations in Europe and 7 partner organisations in Asia were paired up. Each European partner conducted a visit in the respective country of the Asian partner and then they met all in Delhi, India, where they started working on the first steps of developing a new programme. The result was the PEACE programme, Peace in Europe and Asia through Global Citizenship Education. After the seminar in Delhi the partners took the first steps towards implementing the programme back in their organisations. In December 2017 they met again in Brussels at the ECTP camp, to experience the ECTP which is in many ways similar to the PEACE Programme, and to come up with the content of the final camp of the PEACE programme.
In January 2018 the first PEACE cycle was launched with the arrival of nine students from Indonesia, India and Thailand who were hosted in Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. The students ended their experience at the final camp in Brussels. In parallel, the training of the European PEACE multipliers took place and it is safe to say that both events were highly successful, with the participants and the multiplier volunteers leaving happy, motivated and empowered to make a change in their communities and multiply the idea in their AFS organisations.
The second PEACE cycle started in September 2018 with 11 participants from Germany, Hungary, Iceland and Italy, hosted in the China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Thailand, and ended with the final camp that took place in Kuala Lumpur in November. As in the first cycle, the training of the Asian multipliers took place at the same time. The participants and the multipliers left again happy and inspired after the 2 events, despite some obstacles that resulted in opportunities to learn from and improve. It all ended with the last steering group meeting in Kuala Lumpur where the group reflected on learnings from the pilot and decided on the next steps to ensure the quality and success of the programme in the future.
Important information
Do you want to send on the programme?
The upcoming cycles are:
- SH19
Asian partners send to Europe, with final camp in Brussels.
Programme dates: 7 January – 31 March
Final camp: 31 March-4 April - Summer19
European partner send to Asia, with final camp in Kuala Lumpur
Programme dates: 1 July – 16 September
Final camp: 16-20 September - NH19
Asian and European partners send to Europe, with final camp in Brussels
Programme dates: 8 September – 1 December
Final camp: 1-5 December - SH20
Asian and European partners send to Europe, with final camp in Brussels
Programme dates: 6 January – 29 March
Final camp: 29 March – 2 April
You can find promotional material here.
Thank you!
We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the PEACE programme!
Thank you AFS project partners! AFS Austria, AFS Germany, AFS Hungary, AFS Italy, AFS Iceland, AFS Poland, AFS Portugal, AFS Slovakia, AFS China, AFS India, AFS Indonesia, AFS Japan, AFS Malaysia, AFS Philippines and AFS Thailand. Thank you PEACE Multipliers! Thank you PEACE Participants! And special thanks to AFS Malaysia for hosting the final camp in Kuala Lumpur!
It has been amazing watching all these people work together towards the same goal. Starting from our core mission and going on the journey towards creating a programme that responds to it. Without all of your work and contributions we would not have the PEACE programme as it is today. The future of PEACE is exciting and we welcome all Asian and European partners to send on the programme.
Do you want to send students on PEACE programme? Please contact us at peace@afs.org
