Guiding Principles

 

 

 

Exchange Means
- to Share Experiences, Adventures and Emotions.

ICJA realises that each individual is unique and has a method in place to bring out the best in each volunteer! It organises volunteering services for German citizens of different ages over the world. ICJA simultaneously accompanies and supports volunteers from across the globe working in social, political or ecological projects in Germany. Our volunteers work with disabled people in Berlin or Taipei, in kindergardens in Oldenburg or Accra, with Bolivian street children or in a German “One-World-Shop”.
Our projects result in intercultural encounters between German and foreign volunteers, their hosts and the people in accommodating projects.  The ICJA staff encourage this intercultural encounter as we are of the opinion that this could lead to a new generation of open-minded and sensitive individuals. At ICJA workshops, future volunteers are well prepared for their stay abroad. The volunteers on the return home share their adventures and engage in active communication with new volunteers. These seminars and personal encounters are part of the learning process initiated by ICJA, a process beginning long before the actual exchange takes place and one that continues long after the volunteer year is over!

The Origins
- Reconciliation Through Christian Faith

ICJA originated back in 1949 when the US American priest John Eberly founded the International Christian Youth Exchange. His aim was to offer and facilitate personal encounters between young people from the United States and West Germany. John Eberly and like-minded people from other churches contributed to the reconciliation process between different peoples- individuals whose home countries had been involved in a terrible war shortly before. Those persons’ Christian faith presented the basis for their work. Since its origins in the beginning, the primary focus of ICJA was to overcome differences between cultures, religions, nations, peoples and ethnicities. In its roots, the organisation ICJA has been part of the ecumenical and the peace movement. Its basic idea to strengthen peace by exchange, collaboration and shared moments in life, spread in the 1950s throughout Western Europe. In the course of the following decades, this view was carried to most parts of the world.
Despite its Christian background, ICJA in the 21st century is an association of people with a diverse set of worldviews. ICJA collaborates with independent organisations in over 34 countries. They come together to form the international federation of the International Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE).

Volunteers Work for Volunteers

- Learn from Each Other, Live with Each Other!

The volunteers are the backbone of ICJA. They guarantee the continuous and on-going exchange. At present, many people that work for ICJA on a voluntary basis have been part of the ICLJA volunteer program. Through their experiences abroad in one of the many ICJA programs, they have gained broad insights into a different society. They are keen to share their knowledge and expertise with future generations of volunteers and, at the same time, they make sure that ICJA stays the way it is! They design the contents of their work, guide workshops and seminars and take over responsibilities on all different levels of the organisation. The volunteers’ work is supported by a team of qualified full-time staff. ICJA also promotes training measurements to allow former volunteers to put their acquired knowledge into practical usage in real-life situations.

The ICJA furthermore contributes a team of hosts in Germany who support young foreign volunteers in Germany. Many people support our aims with dedication or sponsorship.

On a local level, ICJA is organised regionally, in manageable groups in which volunteers find contact persons to master everyday life and possible queries. Be it seminars, regional meetings or advanced training activities- they are all characterised by vitality, variation, joy and curiosity about new living environments!

Respect and Solidarity
- For a Different World!

War is prevalent in many regions of the world. Economical and political interests are enforced, regardless of social consequences and communities’ livelihoods. The price is paid by the majority of the people in the communities. The ICJA’s exchange programs counter with practical peace work. In everyday life and the shared social, political or ecological work, the participants’ perceptions are streamlined. Personal relations between people from different parts of the world are formed. Understanding increases and lays the steps for mutual respect and open-mindedness for other cultures and religions in the future.

We at ICJA are convinced that own values and traditions need to undergo critical reflection and consequent adjustment. These experiences are discussed and reflected upon in our seminars. By this means, ICJA wants to encourage people to active solidarity!