PETERSFIELD, Westmoreland:
OLAYINKA JACOBS-Bonnick, partner/director of American Field Service (AFS) intercultural programmes Jamaica, carried out an induction training for volunteers at the Westmoreland Chapter at the Petersfield Community Centre, recently.
Speaking at the induction, she noted that AFS is the world's largest youth exchange organisation, with branches in 55 countries worldwide and some 100,000 volunteers who run these offices.
Ms. Bonnick said the non-profit organisation is committed to youth exchange, intercultural education and learning that caters to youth between the ages of 18 and 30.
As it relates to the opportunities that AFS Jamaica has to offer, the partner/director said these must be available to everyone, irrespective of their financial/social background, religion or race. And the only way, she said, that these could be achieved was through a volunteer body.
Turning to the English-speaking Caribbean, "AFS Jamaica is the only one of its kind in this region to offer the scope and kind of programmes that we do," she said.
"Our mission at AFS Jamaica is to provide global opportunities for our youth, with the knowledge, skills and understanding necessary to create a more just and peaceful world. We can only achieve these missions through our youth exchange programme," added Jacobs-Bonnick.
To date, she said, 10,000 Jamaicans have benefited from the youth exchange programme in the 21-year existence of the Jamaican chapter.
Ms. Bonnick outlined some of the programmes in which AFS Jamaica is involved. The High School Exchange Programme is geared towards students 16- to 18-years-old who go overseas, live with a host family and go to school for one year. The Community Service Programme is for youth between the ages of 18 and 30 who are expected to volunteer in an organisation of their choice in areas of education, social issues, environment and health. Participants in the Language Internship Programme, of all age groups, enter a six-week programme which includes five weeks language course and one week cultural emulsion, and in the Voluntary Teacher Exchange Programme, teachers are sent to Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Latin American countries for three weeks or up to one year.
On the matter of funding for participants, Bonnick said AFS Jamaica does not provide sponsorship, but assists participants in finding sponsorship. Most participants, she said, go away on a sixty per cent sponsorship.
"We are a non-government organisation and we are self sufficient through fundraising. So we can help participants to go away. As it relates to the formation of the Westmoreland Chapter," Bonnick said.
"I am very pleased and impressed with the turn out of volunteers here today. I am very excited about this chapter as they are too. There is a sense of commitment, understanding, as well as the importance and relevance of this programme to the youths of this community and this region. I hope and believe that the other chapters we will be opening up around the island will show the same qualities as this one," she said.
New chapters are slated to be opened in six parishes across the island namely Portland, St. Mary, St. Ann, St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon.
