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SERVAS YOUTH POLICY


1. Why we need young people in Servas? What is their place in Servas?


The only way to keep Servas alive is to put new blood in its veins and to benefit from the energy of young people.

Youth is not a question of age: every Servas traveler is young by definition (© Pablo Chufeni).

Youth means the courage to make visits, to open our heart to others, to keep our door always open for others and maybe to make changes in our life.

Servas Youth can be a bridge between different Servas groups as well as between Servas and other organizations with similar goals.

Servas Youth can also be a possibility to create bridges for peace and open up dialogue in conflict areas.

Servas needs to count on young energy to put projects for peace into action.

2. What can Servas offer to young people? Why should they choose Servas?


Discovering new cultures and meeting people of all nations and all ages (As the security in Servas is very high, thanks to the interview process, it is possible for everyone to open doors to Servas travelers).

Finding people who share the same interests, no matter how unusual they may seem, and making new friends around the world.

Servas can offer special experiences – SYLE, hosts who may open up relevant opportunities in their communities, other activities shared with young people at local level and in other countries.

Servas offers an opportunity for young people to express themselves – participating in national and international events and activities or organizing them themselves.
Servas can be more than a host and traveler organization with rigid rules, but an organization where there is a place for everyone who is interested in meeting other people, sharing with them and promoting peace through that human experience.

Servas can promote creative possibilities for the young people already in the organization in order to show what we can do for the “people from outside”.

Through Servas, young people can feel themselves useful and important to society as they contribute to develop peaceful activities at local and international levels.
Focusing on Servas principles – work/ study/ travel –, young travelers may join communitary, artistic or social activities during longer stays with hosts, properly prepared for in advance as an example of “Practical Peace” (©Ann Greenough).

3. How can we make Servas more accessible to young people?


Find a way to listen to young people and try to understand their way of thinking, ideas and expectations.

Try to make things less formal, less complicated, less bureaucratic.
Look for new members in universities, volunteer groups, social networks.
Incorporate into Servas Youth groups that already exist and could share the Servas values (YMCA, NGOs related to United Nations, Esperantists, artistic or sporting groups, young musicians, Rotary Club etc.)
Promote SYLE and other activities.

Establish Servas online as a virtual social network open only to those who have been successfully interviewed. It could be a kind of “Servas Facebook” where it would be easy to make a search for shared interests, see photos and exchange direct messages.

If it is possible, try to find physical space for Servas youth groups – some room (hall, palace, cave, hut) that could serve as a gathering place and center of activities.

4. Some practical ideas.



Try to activate our collaboration with the UN, specially through UN Volunteer groups, Unicef and Unesco.
Collaborate with volunteer organizations and NGOs, establishing an active partnership.


Establish “welcome groups” formed by young day hosts in different towns around the world, so they can feel useful. This would be a concrete possibility of participation for young members and, as a consequence, for them to promote their home cities as well.


Establish a link between older hosts and young day hosts, putting together experience and ability to speak a foreign language.


Encourage local, national and cross-border activities (these can be anything useful or interesting to do together – from picking mushrooms, aiding a Servas member to paint the house to international artistic groups or festivals).


Servas is a family-friendly organization. Children could provide one more link for Servas families. And young people can also organize educational activities to integrate them into the first steps of Servas spirit.


Promote, when possible, the link between Servas Youth and traditional communities at local and international levels (e.g. Turkish project “Live with us, share with us” run by Mehmet Ates in Antakya during 2009; possibility to know the Arhuaca community in Valledupar surroundings with Colombian Arhuaco Javier Solís, an indigenous member of Servas Colombia).


Develop “Practical Peace” projects as a tangible way in which hosts and travelers can make small but positive contributions to peace in their communities.


Capture the courageous and energetic spirit of young group to run sustainable peaceful projects in conflict zones where Servas is present, such as Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, Colombia and Ecuador, as “seeds of peace”.


Establish a “Talent Bank” based on abilities, interests and backgrounds in order to put together young people with similar skills, e.g. videomakers, doctors, singers and musicians, lawyers… Those groups would be able to develop projects at local and international level.

“Servas professionals without borders”,
©Maria Fernanda Vomero

hanno contribuito a questa pagina: Matteo Pedani .
pagina modificata il Tuesday 26 di Aprile, 2011 20:12:43 CEST da Matteo Pedani.

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