Dear members,
Here is the October newsletter, an opportunity to share with you the latest news, and to look back on the many CISV Switzerland events.
Summer 2024 camps
With the arrival of autumn, the CISV 2023-2024 year comes to an end.
A total of 18 children, 5 leaders, 1 Junior Counsellor and 3 seminar participants left with CISV Switzerland. We hope your children had a wonderful time at camp, and came back with lots of memories and new friends from all over the world!
As for our Step Up, we welcomed ten delegations from (almost) every continent! USA, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, Philippines, China, Austria, Italy, Spain and of course Switzerland! They spent three weeks together in Satigny, with excursions to Geneva and Prangins. Huge thanks to all those who volunteered to help us, whether as host families or in the kitchen!
bardusch - Thank you
The leading Swiss company in textile services, bardusch, donated bedding supplies for CISV Switzerland’s Step Up Summer Camp.
This donation enabled delegations to travel light without packing unnecessary bed linens in their luggage while contributing to more sustainable travel and reducing costs for our association.
The contribution from bardusch shows a deep support for the CISV mission: “Building global friendship” and inspires others to join the community, volunteer and donate.
We also thank all our volunteers who have contributed to the collective effort and logistics: Marine, President of CISV Switzerland; Charlotte, sponsoring and development at CISV Switzerland; Jeanne Pélégry, Affiliate, Strategic Marketing and Communications Partner for bardusch ; and Cristina Aniceto, Head of Corporate Marketing and communication at bardusch Switzerland.
Family day 2024
As per our yearly tradition, “veteran” and new CISV families gathered for a fun and cozy Family Day in Borex (VD) on 22 September. This was an opportunity to present CISV and exchange about the 2024 camps around a yummy Canadian buffet.
Everybody enjoyed the joyful pictures and videos from the camps and many jumped on the opportunity to stock up on those CISV goodies from the Shop. And for those who didn’t make it…don’t worry, there will still be an opportunity at the time of our General Assembly closing off the November minicamp on 3 November (see our Save the Date Section below).
During the family day, we played an interactive and highly engaging CISV quiz with some fun CISV goodies as prizes, including some coveted vintage t-shirts!! Adults and kids played in different groups, with some fun and playfully competitive interactions. This allowed getting to know each other and exchanging in a more informal way.
We all look forward to getting together again as a CISV family in November!
Focus : The role of Volunteer Coordinator
As you know the functioning of our CISV association is fully based on volunteer engagement. Our small Committee is comprised of a handful of dedicated members who choose to dedicate a larger portion of their free time to the smooth functioning of CISV Switzerland, which includes all the work behind the scenes for making it happen. This includes Hosting (i.e. the camps we organize in Swizterland – in 2025 it will be a Youth Meeting), Sending (i.e. setting up and guiding delegations for all camps), annual gatherings and minicamps, liaising with CISV International, managing treasury, general administration, Risk Management etc…it literally takes a village and we are always looking for motivated CISV members to join us!
Today we want to showcase one of the open opportunities within the Committee and namely the Volunteer Coordinator. This is a crucial role for us as this is the person in charge of organizing volunteer support for specific occasions. It is about making sure we have individual members smoothly signing up as additional hands to abily support our minicamps and annual gatherings for kitchen or cleaning duties, as well as the camps we organize for all sort of support that may be needed (e.g. groceries, cooking etc).
If you believe you can help us rallying people together (think Doodle forms and Whatsapp groups) please do consider joining us as Volunteer Coordinator!
Save the Date
Mini camp 1-2-3 November 2024 & General Assembly 3 November
Sign up for 2025 camps: from 4 November to 10 January
Bern Winter gathering: 15 December
End of January: delegations are announced and Parents Q&A (online)
Our traditional minicamp will take place on the first weekend of November in Arzier. Young people aged 15 and over will be invited to join us for a Canadian buffet on the evening of November 1, starting at 7:30 p.m. Younger children are welcome to join us on Saturday November 2, starting at 10 a.m.
All children who will be old enough to go to camp next summer, i.e. those born before 31st August 2014, are welcome to take part. This is an ideal opportunity for new participants and their families to discover the world of CISV.
The general assembly, during which camp invitations begin, will take place on Sunday, 3 November late morning, followed by a Canadian meal for all parents while the children finish their activities. The mini-camp ends at 2 p.m.
You will be able to sign up for 2025 camps from 4 November to 10 January. Delegations will be announced at the end of January and an online Q&A with parents will take place then.
Further information will be sent by e-mail shortly, but you can already register your children by clicking here. We need volunteers for cooking Saturday and Sunday and for clearing up on Sunday. You can volunteer through the Google Form.
A winter gathering is also planned in Bern on Sunday, 15 December. This will be an opportunity to get to know each other while strolling around the Christmas market and playing snowballs!
Follow us on Facebook/Instagram
Do not hesitate to follow CISV Switzerland and share our news on social networks to help us spread the news and widen our membership:
Instagram: cisv_switzerland
Facebook: CISV Switzerland
thanks !
Last but not least, a special word to thank Alice, François and Sima for their invaluable help to the staff of our Step-up camp last summer!
