Camp teaches worldly lessons

Monday, August 21, 2006 CISV is set up to give kids an opportunity to meet peers from other countries. By SEAN BARRON VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT CANFIELD — One of Dylan Seybert's activities at camp this summer was to draw a picture of people and things that mean a lot to him. The next step was for another youngster to intentionally scribble on and destroy his picture, and for him to do the same to a depiction made by someone in another group. No animosity or quests for retribution were part of the process, however. The exercise was set up to give Dylan, 11, of Canfield, and the other youngsters a feeling of what it's like to fight in a war instead of finding peaceful solutions to conflict. That was one of the eye-opening lessons Dylan said he brought home after spending a few weeks at a camp in Knoxville, Tenn., run by Children's International Summer Villages, a Cincinnati-based youth exchange organization set up to give kids an opportunity to meet peers from other countries and form intercultural friendships. CISV also encourages youngsters to learn themes related to world peace as well as international cooperation and understanding. Quotable "I got to meet new people and learn how they spoke different languages," Dylan said. "I came back a lot more mature." Dylan and his 10-year-old sister, Emma, also are members of CISV's Youngstown-Cleveland Northeast Ohio chapter. Emma, who accompanied her brother to Knoxville, said she appreciated meeting people from other countries and "understanding their points of view." At the beginning of the experience, Emma said, she felt frightened to talk to the other kids. Three weeks later, though, she felt sad to come home. "I've always wanted to learn about different countries; it was cool to learn about places in different countries and their lifestyles, and how they do things with their families," Emma explained. Also hesitant to go but happy she did was Karlina Estephan, 10, another member of the Youngstown-Cleveland chapter who spent four weeks at an international camp in Gorizia, Italy. What began as homesickness and trepidation for Karlina turned into excitement, as her activities included singing lullabies pertaining to other nations from song books. Aly Saleh, 11, of Canfield, also went to Italy and said he enjoyed activities that promoted teamwork. He had to talk slower because the family he stayed with had difficulty understanding English "at a normal pace," he said. Emma and Dylan's older brother, 16-year-old Joe Bobby, has served as a junior counselor in CISV. His travels in the organization have taken him to Norway as well as Knoxville, he said. Joe said his duties have included helping leaders plan and coordinate activities, while working directly with the youngsters. He was on hand, for example, for kids who suffered from homesickness or other problems, he said. Heightened awareness Joe added that his experiences have heightened his awareness and sensitivity to world events such as the continuing tensions in the Middle East as well as the war in Iraq. All of the kids said they plan to stay in the program, with some saying they hope to become junior counselors. Since CISV began in the early 1950s, an increasing number of countries have been represented in the organization, with 62 in it now. Key program components are encouraging participants to work toward peaceful solutions to problems and breaking down stereotypes of kids from other countries, noted Heidi Saleh, who recruits youngsters for the local chapter. Saleh, who's also Aly's mother, said she started in the program at 11 when she attended an international camp in Washington, D.C. Additional travels in the organization have taken her to Portugal, Finland and Brazil, she said. CISV is broken into several parts such as villages, in which a "delegation," as members call it, of two boys and two girls with an adult leader take part in various activities. Each village has 12 delegations, each of which represents one of a dozen countries, she explained. The Youngstown chapter also takes part in several community projects, one of the biggest being a "Cookie-a-Thon," where members receive pledges and donate the treats they bake to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, Saleh continued. Education emphasis Saleh said CISV offers fun activities for its participants but also strongly emphasizes educational ones. Most activities also tend to focus on cooperation instead of competition, she said. "Kids learn to see countries as people instead of governments or a place on the map," Saleh noted. "There's more similarities than differences between peoples of the world." CISV also has group leaders who have to be 21 or older and are legally responsible for their youngsters. They, along with volunteers, are subjected to background checks, she added. For more information, contact Saleh at (330) 533-3939 or go to CISV's Web site, www.cisvusa.org.