Testimonies
Sophie Watson - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
The Mon Voisin project was an incredible experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed working with children. I have found this experience to be very eye - opening. I was unaware that people lived like this in Switzerland. I felt as though I really left my bubble - wrapped world and went into the real world. I hope to pass on this awareness...
Mina Wildhaber - student at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland
...After one year of involvement with these children, I do not feel like I am doing voluntary work anymore. It has become more than that. I feel real tenderness for them and these children know very well how to give it back. Coming to Moudon has now become the pleasure of the week...
Khanyisile Thatshelwe - NGC Training officer, Zimbabwe
...I joined the NGC Zimbabwe family on the 1st of February 2010 where I am employed as a training officer. My job entails training people on conflict resolution, the benefits of conflict transformation, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping, human rights recognition and the relevance of reconciliation...
Daniel Sanchez - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
...this was a great experience, which helped me to grow and to see how people from different backgrounds (Albania, Irak, Syria) could work and live together improving all of our lives in the process.
William Kavanagh - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
I would like to thank Sydney and Ruth (NGC Program Leaders), for giving us a chance to come and work at Neighbours Global Connections. It's truly inspiring to see how they have come together and set up this Mon Voisin program in this centre, that help so many people from all over the world who have been driven out from their own countries...
JoAnne Baldwin - Student Service Coordinator at Pepperdine University, Switzerland
...What an eye-opening experience to see another side of Switzerland, and be a part of encouraging these kids, who are eager to interact and speak with us, despite our limited knowledge of French. The kids were aged 4-14, all were very gracious, and included us in their activities...
Read more at JoAnne's Lausanne Volunteering blog.
Jessi Howkins - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
Going to Moudon refugee centre was definitely an eye - opener for me. I didn't know that there were places like that in Switzerland. One of the highlights while I was there was seeing the joy with which the children welcomed, played games with, or just talked with us. Although it was hard for me...
Full stories:
Student Team experiences in the NGC "Mon Voisin" project
by Sophie Watson - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
The Mon Voisin project was an incredible experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed working with children. I have found this experience to be very eye - opening. I was unaware that people lived like this in Switzerland. I felt as though I really left my bubble - wrapped world and went into the real world. I hope to pass on this awareness when we start back school via assembly and display in school.
I feel I can learn a lot from the children even though they are as young as 4 years old. I was so shocked at how the children were open and welcoming. They had no problem engaging with strangers. I think this is an amazing skill to have, to be able to strike up a conversation with new people. I know that I can find it challenging to talk to new people sometimes but these children seem to find it easy. I have been comparing myself at a young age to these children and I was so much more reserved than them. Their enthusiasm is admirable.
I was happy to discover that the children were willing to start building a relationship with me. I was worried that I would have a hard time talking to them but it was effortless. On the second day I was greeted cheerfully by all the children and one of them even drew me a picture. I was really touched by her kindness. When I walked one of the boys back to his house, he expressed concern to me; he was worried that I would be cold with no jacket. It seems like a minor thing, but I was moved by his caring nature.
I felt respected by the children as they addressed me in proper respectful manners. This overall experience gave me the incentive to want to participate and run a similar activity without adult supervision now after seeing how it works. I felt I gained a sense of responsibility, both by coordinating our group and by working with the children. In all, it was a very valuable experience and I would definitely love to come back and do another event.
My experience in the NGC
by Mina Wildhaber - student at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland
Since very young, I have been involved in voluntary work. I guess that comes from my education. Indeed my parents always pushed me to be altruistic. I have been involved in several project, raised money for different causes and worked in different NGO.
However as I entered the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, I stopped all my external activities due to the heavy workload. Nevertheless, I felt very quickly that something was lacking in me.
EHL is an amazing school; we learn how to become successful manager, how to make the profit and the best revenues. These studies gave me another approach to life but I really felt I had lost my human side: the feeling of being useful and of contributing positively to this world. This is how my search of the right NGO started for me.
A friend introduced me to Sydney Moyo. Sydney is the founder of an NGO whose aim is to promote peacemaking, dialogue, and reconciliation between individuals, communities, and nations in conflict. Sydney and I immediately clicked and the next week I had already joined the Moudon community program ("Mon Voisin").
The Moudon community program takes place every Wednesday afternoon with refugee children and teenager from the age of 3 to 14 years old. In order to create cohesion between these children and acceptance and understanding of themselves, the program uses the mean of crafts, games, and other creative tools.
I had to admit that I was quite scared the first time I came to Moudon and finally meet these children. I would ask myself questions: Would they accept me? Will they be friendly? How will our first contact be? My head was full of cliché: will these children be devastated and violent? But as I saw them for the first time, all my concerns flew. These children were very open-minded, caring and kind. They just had one desire: to be loved and taken care of. The children immediately accepted me as their new friend and confident.
After several weeks, the children began to know me better. Indeed we had created strong links together and real trust.
After one year of involvement with these children, I do not feel like I am doing voluntary work anymore. It has become more than that. I feel real tenderness for them and these children know very well how to give it back. Coming to Moudon has now become the pleasure of the week.
I would like to the take the opportunity to thank Sydney and his wife Ruth who are both two very dedicated person. They really enlighten the days of these children who sometimes really need it.
My new job at NGC Zimbabwe
by Khanyisile Thatshelwe - NGC Training officer, Zimbabwe
My name is Khanyisile Thatshelwe Gabellah. I joined the NGC Zimbabwe family on the 1st of February 2010 where I am employed as a training officer. My job entails training people on conflict resolution, the benefits of conflict transformation, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping, human rights recognition and the relevance of reconciliation especially in the Zimbabwean case. Due to my affiliation to women and children I work more with them as I seek to empower them through psychosocial support and counseling where need arises. I believe in the power and potential of women to change the world thus I feel the need to conscietise the girl child on the importance of self esteem from a tender age. This means eliminating discrimination due to partriachy or tradition that hinders the girl child's empowerment. I also advocate for affirmative action at all levels of education with gender sensitization being a mandatory concept in all schools.
This has led to the development of a new programme named the Benevolent Instruments of Peace which is aimed at empowering women and children and capacitating them with the ability to solve conflicts constructively and non violently. This programme seeks to help women and children to discover their potential in playing a critical role in nation building and reconciliation. It will train the woman and leave a mandate for them to form active action groups that will promote peace, mediate, negotiate and transform conflicts to bring positive change in Zimbabwe. The reason why I have called it the Benevolent Instruments of peace is my desire to train women who are well wishers, drivers and catalysts of peace. The word Benevolent has been used as an acronym to depict the character of the women which are Believers in Christ and themselves, Empowered, Nurturers of peace, Efficient, Violence free, Oppression free, Leaders, Edifiers, Noble and Trainers.
In the past two weeks we developed a partnership with the Global change makers, a facet of the British Council, which will enable us to facilitate conflict resolution and peace promoting activities at different schools. This will create a platform for us to start peace clubs in the schools through Shalom Generation Club, an initiative by NGC Zimbabwe. We have visited one school and are yet to visit more schools this month and probably in March as well. I managed to attend a workshop for women that was mainly focusing on the constitution making process and how women should play a major role in it. This created a platform for me to network with other organizations that do similar work and therefore we are looking forward to working with them and even more organizations. My recent experiences have revealed the need for constructive conflict resolution and peacebuilding training to take place as people are ignorant when it comes to conflicts which may be very destructive and thus impede development in the country. It is our hope that our work will bring positive change in women and children and simultaneously bring reconciliation among the citizens of Zimbabwe.
Student Team experiences in the NGC "Mon Voisin" project
by Daniel Sanchez - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
At the beginning I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I knew we would be working with children in Moudon so I thought we would have problems starting activities with them and with them opening up to us and following the program we had designed for them. However since the moment I arrived I saw that the children didn’t have any problems opening up to us and trusting us they followed all the activities we had planned for them.
I noticed that they were very affectionate and they did an effort to learn our names and trying to include us in their worlds. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk and spend with them realising the great human beings they were since at the beginning they didn’t know us but they were willing to accept us and to be with us regardless of who we were. The children were happy and confident regardless of everything.
In conclusion this was a great experience, which helped me to grow and to see how people from different backgrounds (Albania, Irak, Syria) could work and live together improving all of our lives in the process.
Student Team experiences in the NGC "Mon Voisin" project
by William Kavanagh - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
I would like to thank Sydney and Ruth (NGC Program Leaders), for giving us a chance to come and work at Neighbours Global Connections. It's truly inspiring to see how they have come together and set up this Mon Voisin program in this centre, that help so many people from all over the world who have been driven out from their own countries. It was so satisfying to see the children having fun with something we organized as a team under the coordination Sophie (our fellow student). It was great to observe that, though the children come from diverse backgrounds and cultures and yet had become such good friends with each other that they were almost like family. I was also touched by the way the kids felt comfortable with me after only a day working there, as I don't usually get on with children very well, but I think, having put in the effort I really got something out of it. I would love to come back next holiday, or even at a weekend and help with more games and activities for the children in the future.
Thank you again for the opportunity of being able to work with you during our Easter holiday breaks and I look forward to coming again.
Student Team experiences in the NGC "Mon Voisin" project
by Jessi Howkins - student at St George's School, Montreux, Switzerland
Going to Moudon refugee centre was definitely an eye - opener for me. I didn't know that there were places like that in Switzerland. One of the highlights while I was there was seeing the joy with which the children welcomed, played games with, or just talked with us. Although it was hard for me to get to know the children that well because I don't speak French, it was fun playing games like soccer or Frisbee or tag with them. I very much enjoyed being with the children and I look forward to seeing them again.