Name
AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V.
Logo
Kurzer Beschreibungstext
AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. is one of Germanys biggest youth exchange organizations in the fields of high-school exhcanges and volunteer exchanges. Goals of AFS are to support intercultural understanding, tolerance and world peace, which shall be achieved by the youth exchange programs in cooperation with independent AFS partners in more than 50 countries.
Ausführliche Beschreibung
AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V.is a charitable association for yourth exchange and intercultural lerning. 2016/17, the organization sended 610 volunteers to 31 different countries, 907 high shool students to 48 countries and recieved 523 high schoolstudents from 50 countries as well as 36 volunteers from 10 countries around the globe. AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V, is part of a bigger network of more than 50 independent AFS partners and builds on the work of more tha 40.000 volunteers from all around the world. AFS Intercultural Programs, the network of which AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen is the independent country organization for Germany, began as the American Ambulance Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps created in April 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew. Based on the experience during the two wold wars the members and founders of AFS decided that the would not want a world war three to happen again and thus created AFS intercultural programs, in order to promote intercultural understanding, tolerance and thus a more peaceful world. Apart from the high-school students and volunteer exchange programs AFS is also offering intercultural trainings for private companies, teachers and schools. In 1989, the United Nations awarded the organization with the award for committed youth work for the programs developed and implemented. Around 100 employees are working for AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. both in the main office in Hamburg as well as in three regional offices spread throughout Germany. One important idea of AFS is that, since AFS is based on voluntary committment, the volunteers have the power to decide on conceptional and operational issues during two general assemblys in the spring and in the fall, as well as on a general assembly of the association also in the Spring. AFS is open for everybody, also people that did not went with AFS on an exchange are very welcome to become active. With the new incoming program, AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. made a focus-shift from a merely sending focused organization to an organization that is facilitating a real exchange program including both the sending of youth and the hosting of youth from and to Germany. Furthermore, AFS is active in the program Bundesfreiwilligendienst für Flüchtlinge/Gefflüchtete, the German national voluntary service for refugees, AFS is becoming a facilitator for integration. For all exchange programs, AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. is facilitating the exchange through preparation, onarrival, mid-stay, end-of-stay and post-program camps, focussing on topics such as development cooperation, practical issues for the stay, intercultural learning and communication. With the interest group “Queertausch” AFS interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V. is furthermore supporting LGBTQI* during their exchange program.
Kontaktdaten
Infotelefon: 040 399 222-0
fb: AFS Interkulturelle Begegnungen e.V.
(https://www.facebook.com/AFSgermany/?fref=ts)
https://www.afs.de/kontakt.html