IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 12, 2008
Beth DeGraff, CRWRC-US Media Contact, 616-648-7821 Mary Dykstra, CRWRC Service Learning Coordinator, 616 241-1691
New Youth Exchange Program Includes Surprise Destination
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org) is inviting North American youth, ages 16 to 18, to apply for an international exchange experience with a matching group of Ugandan youth. The two groups -- one from the developed world, the other from the third world - will embark together on a service-learning experience to an undisclosed location in Africa in July, 2009.
"The Youth to Youth Exchange Program (Y2Y) will help teens on both continents better understand poverty and development," says Ruth Majawa, CRWRC-US Service Learning Manager. "They'll learn practical ways to respond to each other and their circumstances that can change the rest of their lives and the lives of the people around them."
Once accepted into the Y2Y Program, approved participants learn their destination -- defined at this time only as "on the African continent."
"Mystery is part of what makes the whole experience exciting," Majawa says. "CRWRC has nearly fifty years of relief and development expertise among the least developed countries in the world. We can assure our participants that they will be engaged where ever their location."
Both North American and African participants commit to a year of orientation beginning July, 2008, that will prepare them to appropriately encounter and respond to issues of poverty and development on the field. Then, in July, 2009, the groups merge together for eight weeks to discover what it means to live, learn and serve cross-culturally.
"The Y2Y Program is a year-long commitment that we find many motivated young people are willing to make," says Mary Dykstra, CRWRC's Service Learning Program Coordinator. "Participants spend twelve months in distance learning, basic language skills development, cultural awareness training, fund development to help cover their costs, and in Biblical studies on poverty and development principles."
"African and North America participants go through distance learning and training separately, and then meet for a week-long orientation together before spending six weeks serving in Africa. It's an experience that will challenge and inspire them," Dykstra says.
Program details and an online application form are available at www.crwrc.org, by emailing an inquiry to youthtoyouth@crcna.org, by calling 616-241-1691 or tollfree 1-800-55-CRWRC.
"By participating in Y2Y," Ruth Majawa says, "young people will have the opportunity to intentionally focus on learning and serving so that they come away with a newfound depth of comprehension about our broader world and how to effectively live out their place in it."
The application period for the July 2009 Y2Y mystery trip closes on April 30, 2008. Applications and program materials are available in English, Spanish and Korean.
For more information about CRWRC, the Youth-to-Youth Exchange Program, or other Service Learning and internship opportunities, call 1-800-55-CRWRC or visit www.crwrc.org. For interview, call Service Learning Program Coordinator Mary Dykstra at 616-241-1691 or Beth DeGraff, CRWRC Media Contact, at 616-648-7821.
CRWRC is a Christian, non-profit organization of the Christian Reformed Church in North America with a ministry of development, relief, and justice education to people in need around the world. Visit us online at www.crwrc.org, call 1-800-55-CRWRC or email crwrc@crcna.org.
-30-
Beth DeGraff US Media and Justice Contact 2850 Kalamazoo SE Grand Rapids, MI 49560 degraffb@crcna.org ph: 616-241-1691 x4191 fax: 616-724-0806