UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION. 19 Avenue Kléber, Paris 16e

Transcription

1 ImlEsco/MPR/13 PARIS, UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION 19 Avenue Kléber, Paris 16e INTERVIEW OF MISS SUSAN FLEISIR Secretary-General of. "The - Experiment in. International Living",, on International Voluntary Work Camps Duration 3 minutes, 35 seconds. Miss Fleisher was a delegate at the Second Conference of Organizers of International Voluntary Work Camps which,as held recently at Unesco House. NOTES This talk was recorded by Miss Fleisher at Unesco House. The record will be sent free of charge on request. Please apply for record No. 45B..

2 MPR/13 page 3 INTRODUCTION (not recorded) Unesco has just held a Conference of Organizers of International Voluntary Work Camps here in Paris. One of the delegates, an Anrican girl, Susan Fleisher, representing "The Experiment in International Living" was interviewed by a member of Unesco's radio unit and we are now going to play you a recording of the interview :

3 LI un/13 page L. SPEA1R Miss Fleisher, I believe you represent an organization called "The Experiment in International Living?". MISS FLEISHERt Yes, that is right. SPEAKERS Well, I wonder if you could just explain in a few sentences just what your Organization does? MISS FLEISHER g "The Experiment in International Living" brings young Americans to live as members of families in other countries and conversely finds homes, during vacation periods, for foreign students in the United States. (We believe that world understanding is best achieved on an individual personal basis in small family units.) The Experiment believes that people of the world can learn to live together by living together. Each member lives in a home abroad for five weeks, sharing the everyday life of his adopted family; afterwards he takes his companion, that is, his adopted brother or sister from the family in which he lives, on a three weeks' camping trip with the rest of his group and his qualified leader. SPEAKER Who pays for all this? MISS FLEISHERa The students themselves, or sometimes the community from which they come. SPEAKERS Yes, I see. But vuhy have you come to Paris? MISS FLEISIR To take part in a Conference of International Voluntary Work Camps at Unesco House.

4 ipi/13 page 5 SPEAKER Just how does the Exper ixnent' a Programme fit into this Conference? MISS FLEISHERs During and since the war, experimenters have felt that they wanted to do more than "just live" in countries where reconstruction is so important although "Just living" and making lasting friendships in a foreign family calls for all the intelligence, energy and tact that the best of us possess. Some of our groups, especially in Europe, have a work experience in either agriculture, social work or reconstruction, In Germany, for example, our students have helped to reconstruct university buildings in Munich and Freiburg, working and living with their German friends in German families, This Unesco Conference, which emphasizes the educational aspects of work camps, provides an opportunity for all of us who participate in work camps to exchange ideas and information, SPEAKERS Perhaps you could tell ne what a work camp is exactly? MISS FLEISHER g A work camp is a group of young people, students and young workers of many nations, who volunteer their vacation time and energy in physical labour towards the construction or reconstruction of public buildings, like schools, hospitals, railways. Particularly in countries devastated by the war, such as Germany, Greece, Finland. By working, living and learning together they hope to build for peace,

5 MPR/13 page 6 SPEAKERS Then all these people attending the Conference at Unesco House in Paris are from many different countries? MISS FLEISHER g Yes, the people who are attending this Conference are young people who themselves organize and carry out work camps all over the world. They represent national and international organizations, such as The American Friends Service Committee,, Jugend Am Werk from Vienna, Denmarks International Students9 Committee, and, of course, "The Experiment in International Living". SPEAKER-. Why yes. We musnt leave that out0 Well what has the Conference been doing? MISS FLEISHERs This Conference of International Voluntary Work Camp organizers has given all of us an opportunity to meet one another, to exchange ideas about our programmes, and especially to profit from one anothers experience. We are finding ways in which we can help each other through the exchange of inforimtion and through the exchange of persons. We are hoping that, with the help of Unesco9 we will be able to organize a study camp for work camp leaders somewhere in Europe, as well as post-camp conferences to discuss the results of our work and experiences while they are fresh in our minds. What we would most like to do, sometime in the

6 MPR/13 pate 7 28 March 194 future, is a project we have been discussing this morning. It is called a "Pilot Project."Each organization would set up, in a selected area, its own work camp as part of an enormous work camp project. In this way, we could all contribute to a common project and yet retain our own particular methods of work and organization, SPEAKER: That sounds a worth while project. MISS FLEISHER3 I think that this Conference of many groups working through different methods towards the same idea is an excellent example of people of the world working together, and I personally find it very exciting. SPEAKER: Yes, I can see that. Well9 thank you very mach Miss Fleisher.