Youth For Understanding

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Youth For Understanding (YFU) is an international youth exchange organisation. I suggest you check out the home pages of Youth For Understanding Schweiz or Youth For Understanding International.

My involvment with YFU started with my exchange year in Adelaide, Australia in 1988 where I stayed with a host family and went to a local school. After coming back I have been involved with YFU as a volunteer in various positions and participated in many activities.

	2001-2006	Chair of Board	As of January 2001 I have been elected to chair the board which in addition to the normal board work means organising the board meetings, being in close contact with the National Office and representing YFU towards the outside.
	2000-2006	Board Member	After being elected into the board I have been a member of the Finance Committee and the Nomination Committee for the succession of our National Director. During our board meetings we take care of matters regarding finances, new programs and strategy.
	1997-2005	Trainer	As a member of the Trainer Team I am involved in creating training materials, training modules, preparing trainings on national, regional and international level and also being a trainer at such trainings events. Our training involves practical matters such as Basic YFU Skills and advanced topics such as Intercultural Learning and other educational topics.
	1997-2000	Coach	As a coach I was a contact person for young Regional Directors and District Coordinators in my District to be consulted where they lacked the experience in a certain situation and wanted the support of an experienced, former RD or DC.
	1985-1997	District Coordinator	As a District Coordinator (DC) I was a service supplier to the Regional Directors of Central Switzerland, Zürich, Glarus, Graubünden and Eastern Switzerland taking care of finances, budgeting, editing the newsletter, mailing newsletters, invitations and other material and organising the logistics of district events.
	1991-1995	Regional Director	As Regional Director (RD) I was responsible for the region of Central Switzerland where I took care of such things as organising campaigns, selection interviews, preparing and selecting host families, placing year and summer students with families, counselling students and families, attending preparation events for families and students, keeping an active and motivated staff base in the region and many more things.
	1989-1991	School Representative	As a school rep I participated in campaign meetings at schools and at evening orientations, I attended and lead selection interviews, attended orientation events for outgoing students, was contact person for incoming exchange students, helped to visit families prior to the arrival of their students.
	1988	Exchange Student	Being an exchange student in Adelaide, Australia

During my work in my various positions in YFU I attended a multitude of different events, the most important ones listed here.

	1989-2006	Orientation Weekends (OW) Gwatt, Lenk, Weggis, Kiental, Bern	At the OWs our outgoing students receive training on what leaving for an exchange year can bring with it and how to best cope with whatever they will experience and how to learn the most during their year. They also get the chance to talk to people who have spent a year in the respective countries and to get answers to many of their questions.
	September 2005	European Training of Trainers Richterswil, Switzerland	At this training event we used the topic of Adolescent as Sojourner to train various modules and on which feedback was then give.
	March 2005	European Conference (EC) Helsinki, Finland	The European Conference is used to coordinate Intra-European exchange and to hold the membership meeting of EEE our European umbrella organisation.
	2000-2005	Board Strategy Workshops Gwatt, Aarburg, Schönenberg	At the Strategy Workshop the Board, office staff and selected field members discuss strategic issues and plan for the years ahead.
	1989-2005	Spring and Fall Workshops (SWS & FWS) Staffelalp, Gwatt, Rigi Klösterli, Montbary, La Roche, Kiental, Schüpfheim, Prèles	At the Workshops we train our volunteers on topics relevant to their work - either the so called Basic Volunteer Kit or on advanced training topics relevant to intercultural education.
	1994-2005	Pre Return Orientation (PRO) Moléson, Nennigkofen, Grenchen	The PRO is the third event for the year students in Switzerland, looking back at the expectations of the exchange year, the actual year and what going back home means to them and how to best handle returning home after an intensive year.
	1991-2004	Re-Entry Orientation Les Paccots, Moléson	At the Re-entry our Swiss students get a chance to take a look at their year abroad and the few months since returning, to look at their expectactions for the year and the time beyond it, to think about how to cope with challenges and maybe... to get hooked on YFU ;-)
	March 2003	European Conference (EC) Budapest, Hungary	The European Conference is used to coordinate Intra-European exchange and to hold the membership meeting of EEE our European umbrella organisation.
	March 2002	European Conference (EC) Uppsala, Sweden	The European Conference is used to coordinate Intra-European exchange and to hold the membership meeting of EEE our European umbrella organisation.
	1991-2002	Time Management & Structure Meetings (TMS) Appenberg, Läufelfingen	The TMS trainings are aimed at RDs and DCs to give them the skills to manage their regions and districts professionally and efficiently.
	April 2001	International Conference (IC) Alexandria, USA	The International Conference is the supervisory body of the International Advisory Council (IAC) and the International Secretariat (IS) and agreed on the International Agreement on Co-operation and Consensus Building (AICCB)
	December 1999	European Training of Trainers (ETOT II) Tommerup, Denmark	This event was a follow up to the first ETOT and used the topic of Xxxx.
	November 1999	European Training of Trainers (ETOT I) Richterswil, Switzerland	The ETOTs are aimed at improving the training skills of trainers in European YFU organisations. At the first ETOT we used the topic of Xxxx to work on training methods.
	1994-1999	Joint Board & Swiss Committee Meetings W..., Appenberg, Läufelfingen	At the Joint Meetings the Board and the Swiss Committee work on topics that are relevant to YFUs future be it mid-term or long-term. They are a great opportunity for both bodies to get to know each others positions on important topics and to get to know each other.
	September 1996	International Returnee Seminar (IRS) Trysil, Norway	At the IRS we worked with volunteers from all over Europe on the topic of Mediation in Intercultural Conflicts and its applications in the world of YFU.
	1993-1995	Skicamp Meiringen-Hasliberg	The ski camp is both fun and a great possibility to hold some follow up sessions with our year students to see what has developed since the PAO.
	1992-1995	Post Arrival Orientation (PAO) Rigi Klösterli, Moléson	At the PAO we work with our year students discussing the process of intercultural learning they are going through during their year in Switzerland and all the great and difficult things this brings with it, giving them tools to cope with difficult situations and allowing them to make the most of their experience.