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Posted On : 02-Jun-2022
Cocurricular - AFS

AFS VIRTUAL RECONNECT WITH NASHIK CHAPTER


On 29th May 2022, Sunday at 8:30pm, ‘AFS Virtual Reconnect with Nashik Chapter’ was conducted. The two-hour long meeting started with an opening speech where all the volunteers were warmly welcomed for the meeting. The meeting proceeded further with other AFS volunteers and alumni sharing their experiences of travelling to other countries, hosting the volunteers from other places as well. The AFS volunteers shared that it was a great learning experience for them, they learnt a lot about the other cultures and also made sure to sprinkle the rich culture, heritage and beauty of our culture as well. One of the alumni shared his experience of being in Japan that he saw snow for the first time over there, he even taught yoga and got to know about Japanese wildlife. He also observed that he became more self-reliant during this time, gained a lot of discipline and went on to become more confident, even his eating habits improved a lot. He also learnt a lot from the fellow batchmates, from different parts of India.

For another AFS volunteer, the experience was all about ‘creation adaption and dedication’. One of the volunteers also shared her experience of hosting a girl from Japan. Over a period of time, she became very close to the student, they did many things together from cooking and trying out different recipes to hosting a fashion show for children below poverty line. The student even shared her perspectives, aims and goals with the host family. ‘Global Competence Certificate’ (GCC) was also touched upon by one of the volunteers. It was discussed in the meeting that Global Citizenship helps people to build their own understanding of world events, think about their values and what’s important to them, take learning into the real world, challenge ignorance and intolerance, get involved in their local, national and global communities, develop an argument and voice their opinions, see that they have the power to act and influence the world around them.

These Exchange Programmes have surely provided a very different perspective to all the AFS volunteers, it has also helped in shattering the stereotypes and biases of another culture and created more positivity and a close bond among the two cultures, among the two different countries and among the people belonging to different cultures and different countries. According to the AFS volunteers, the change in thinking is due to the AFS and they are very thankful to it. They even mentioned that they are still in touch with their host families and students and they have cultivated a bond for the lifetime. The meeting ended with a note of gratitude and with the zeal to look forward to more such experiences.

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