Imagine spending three weeks alone outside the country and living with 20 international students, sharing meals with them, and living under one roof. Junior Clare O’Donnell and senior Elle Farabaugh did just that. As participants of Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV), O’Donnell and Farabaugh spent their summers abroad in Guatemala and Vienna, Austria, respectively.
CISV is a global nonprofit peace organization founded after World War II with a mission to educate and inspire action for a more just and peaceful world. During the summer, CISV hosts national and international camps for students ages 11 to 17. O’Donnell joined the organization in 2019 after learning about it from family friends, while Farabaugh joined in 2021 after a close friend told her about the organization. As members, they take part in monthly local chapter meetings at Brandywine throughout the year, organizing fundraisers, volunteering with local organizations and planning discussions ranging from global issues to current events.
“I had never really heard of an opportunity like this, especially for children as young as 11 to travel internationally and expose themselves to more perspectives,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell and Farabaugh both enrolled in the seminar program offered by CISV, a camp-based program for 16 to 17 year olds, where they travel to a specific location for three weeks with 24 to 30 international students. During the program, participants cannot use their phones and have to plan out each day by themselves by selecting morning, afternoon and evening activities.
“I learned a lot about myself while not having my phone,” O’Donnell said. “I learned what it feels like to truly relax, because I couldn’t remember the last time I was just in bed relaxing without my phone, and I learned I liked to journal when I have free time.”
Attendees participated in various activities throughout the program, such as discussions on global issues, school systems and cultural stereotypes, learning how to cook foods from different cultures, and singing together while playing guitars in the night. They also worked in teams, from planning and leading group activities to volunteering in local communities.
“I gained a broader sense of cultural awareness (from the activities),” Farabaugh said. “You’re put in a situation where you’re living with kids that are the same age, and you’re all (similar), just from all different walks of life, so learning that even though people are from different places around the world, we’re all the same. There’s a lot more similarities than there are differences.”
The program’s goal is to bring people from different backgrounds together, share different perspectives, learn about other cultures and foster a sense of leadership through self-scheduling and autonomy. For Farabaugh, these goals are what make CISV special.
“It’s (CISV) my favorite thing that I’ve done in my life,” Farabaugh said. “I feel I’ve created deeper friendships with people that I was at a three-week camp with some of my friends that are from here, which I feel speaks to the CISV community because everybody that’s in CISV loves it – there’s not a bad thing about it. You are creating so many connections with people from so many different places that I would not even know anything about or have thought to go to.”
Rajan Saha can be reached at [email protected].
