Voluntary work
I am currently thinking of doing an exchange to Japan through ICYE (International Cultural Youth Exchange) for 12 months after I finish the Gymnasium in 2014. It is not a typical school exchange, but an exchange for voluntary work, which I really like. You get to either live in a housing with other volunteers or with a host family, and the organization will provide you with lessons to introduce you to the language for the first 3 months.
I've been dreaming of going to Japan for years, and sometimes I regret not going on exchange to Japan instead of the US, when I had the chance. So when I came across this organization, it was like love at first sight. I've kinda toyed with the idea of voluntary work, and this would be an amazing opportunity. I want to save up money for this during my 3 years at the Gymnasium, especially since it's a lot cheaper than a regular school exchange.
Dansk ICYE (Danish International Cultural Youth Exchange) is an international cultural organisation, managing exchange programmes for Danish and foreign volunteers together with member and partner organisations.Read more...
Dansk ICYE is an independent member of the worldwide ICYE umbrella, and is annually sending approximately 100 and receiving 20 young people aged 16 to 30 years. In addition, Dansk ICYE is a partner of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) programme, with a steadily growing number of incoming and outgoing volunteers.
The purpose of our work is to promote cultural understanding across borders and traditions. We believe this can be facilitated by effect of our youth exchange programme, which is, living in a foreign country and doing local community-based voluntary work. This enables the exchange student to integrate in the hosting culture and to exchange view-points and ideas.Dansk ICYE, founded 1974, is a non-profit NGO, and is primarily based on voluntary work by returned exchange students and past or present host families.
At present the worldwide ICYE foundation has national committees in 34 countries across Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Ocenania, of which Dansk ICYE does exchange programmes with 18 countries.
