CISV's Springfield chapter offering summer exchange program

Date: 3/28/2011

SPRINGFIELD — The Greater Springfield Chapter of The Children's International Summer Villages (CISV) is offering an exchange program for local youth during the month of July.

The program is available to six 12 to 13 year-olds from Hampden County, and will be with a group of youths and an adult leader from Forli, Italy.

The group exchange trip, which is called an Interchange, takes place in two phases, with the U.S. and Italian groups of six children and one adult leader each, spending two weeks in each country, with a four-week-long total program time.

The leader of the Interchange helps bring the group together by organizing and arranging group activities that focus on at least one content areas including conflict and resolution, human rights and diversity, and sustainable development in a context of fun and friendship.

Leaders are carefully selected and comprehensively trained adults older than the age of 21. The Interchange program includes each U.S. participant being paired with a participant from Forli, Italy, and home-stays in each country.

This family-centered program allows for total immersion in the local culture, and allows participants to gain new insight into human similarities and interdependence.

Interested families should contact CISV as soon as possible for application details.

CISV was founded on its belief that peace is possible through friendship — and that the real difference can be made by starting with children.

To learn more about CISV, visit www.cisvspringfield.org or contact Laurel Grow at 567-6871.