N E W S L E T T E R

Editorial

www.afs.org.in

February 2 0 1 2

If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It, Walt Disney (1901-66)

One among the biggest entrepreneurs of the world! Walt Disney was a struggling cartoonist in California,

USA, and lived in a small rented room, which was frequented by a quiet and shy mouse! Over time, he developed a liking for it and started cartooning comics around it for a church for which he was paid 10 cents per cartoon! With his imagination, vision and passion he kept at it over the decades. He became an iconic figure of the world through his creating Disneyland, (1955) in Anaheim, California; Disney Movies and allied products around the Mickey Mouse (1928). Today the brand name Micy Mouse gives his company $7 billion a year in royalties alone. He created Disney World (1977) in Orlando, Florida and his greatest contribution to the entertainment world was EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) in 1982. It is reported that when he was surveying the huge piece of land from a hill top he started talking to himself: there I will do this; there I will do this and so on! His VP finance remarked, Walt where the money will come from Walt angrily cut him down to size: look, when I am dreaming, let me do so because I firmly believe that what the mind of man conceives, it can achieve! In my R&D of entrepreneurs from around the world, including 1000+ from India, I am very clear that when an entrepreneur starts to do something on his or her own, he has no idea where he or she will end up! But secretly he or she has dreams. He or she has to listen to her own mental drum beats. During the entrepreneurial journey, there is no destination! The entrepreneurial journey is like an endless road and at some point; good management takes it over like in the case of Disney World. It is still going strong around the Mickey Mouse and its brand value is $18.5 billion, 20th largest brand in the world. Apple is $57 billion and Toyota is $24 billion (Forbes, September 10, 2010). Nearer home, our Sunil Mittal with a mobile has done wonders and there are so many others who are chasing their dreams. Now, how about you? What are your dreams? Remember a journey even to the moon also starts with a single step. Take that step-even if you are in a job. You can start dreaming about your dreams in the years to come. Good Luck. Divya Arora

U R 2012 The month of the most important F BR A Y E announcements, happenings and activities.
Francisco Medina (AFS Panama Board) & Amelia Caceres (AFS Paraguay Board) Visit AFS India

Re-entry of Jenesys Semester program participants from Japan Another feather in cap - AFS Board chairperson announces AFS India becomes full partner in AFS Network (Presidents and Board meet18 Feb, 2012) AFS German Volunteers Visit AFS (India) National Office

BIG THANKS to Sujatha Shyamsundar & Ameet Gohel for wonderful Training Sessions. (Presidents Training 19 & 20 Feb )

BIG THANKS to Our volunteers for their unconditional support

Thanks to Ebbe Always Valuable advice & Energetic Training Sessions.

Hosting Experiences
halak Desai, host sister of Chaiara Kohler, shares her experience : Dear everyone,AFS has been a huge part of my life since the last 3 years and I am happy to be a part of it.I have been an exchange student,a volunteer and now a host family. We have been hosting Chiara Kohler since the last 8months and I cant be more happy to share how the experience has been so great. I have grown as a person. Not only did I made -my younger sister now- Chiara- learn the Indian values but also she made me learn to be patient, mature and an elder sister. She also made me aware of her Native land Austria. :)It has been a learning experience and I am not scared to share that we did have some problems at first and I accepted them because even I had some problems when I was an exchannge student myself. It is impossible to have a year full of perfections and if it were perfect, no person would learn anything. I have learnt so much more from Chiara because she had many friction in her journey and she took them so positively. She is a tougher girl now. I mean, she is just 15! How could the program think she will be a very tolerant person! She cope so much and now I am glad we have come along so far here on this path. AFS is doing a wondeful job, yes, but I think there is so much to do. I am happy that AFS guided Chiara and now, shes just exceptional! She has grown so much! Last night we were talking and we bonded so well that I had to write this letter stating that how amazing she is!!! I LIVE WITH HER the most and I know her the most. Better than my mom, my dad and the whole AFS. And thus, I just wanted this word document she was making to be reached there! She is a person who does not believe in putting all her recent actvities on facebook or anything and thats why you might have not heard from her. And so, me being a person who loves to share, have shared some pictures. uzbeh Hodiwala , talks about his hosting experience I am Tomas from Germany--A tall bald man in his 50s introduced himself with lot of vigour and enthusiasm flowing within. A jovial person who knew it right how to keep people around smiling or rather push them into laughter through his funny sarcasm and incidents. Steak for a meal is his choice and prefers Jazz music for good times, but this time it turned out to be little different when he told me about toothsome Jain dinner (Jain food is cooked without potatoes and vegetables grown beneath earth) he enjoyed at Sukeshbhais house and how he admired those religious songs being played at Jain Temple next to the house he was hosted in. And much keen he was to buy a white Kurta for himself, but failed to get one matching his measurement.It was a great pleasure to be with Tomas , German volunteer who is in India with his team of 4 volunteers and was hosted in Ahmedabad for one week with a given task to promote Indo-German Exchange Program. I would describe him as a tolerarant and understanding person too due to the peculiar Indian experience he had while coming to India, when he met an Indian onboard who was half the size of Tomas but easily managed to keep Tomas at bay by not letting him use the arm rest throughout the journey ;) So Tomas , we apologize for our little Indians impolite behaviour on board flight but hope you had a real taste of Indian culture during your stay over here. Hope to see you soon ! hiara Kohler, Hosted in AFS Baroda from Austria, shares her experience: Every exchange student learns something new in their study abroad experience and out of their learning the majority of them spend time in Kitchen to find new dishes to cook for their host family or sometimes for themselves when they start missing their food. Like wise Chiara Koehler hosted Baroda has a small report about her experiences in India. She wanted to share some of her culture with her host family and what better way was there, than cooking some typical dish of her home country Austria!She prepared KAISERSCHMARRN.This dish was first prepared for the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I and his wife Sissi (Elisabeth of Bavaria).Obsessed with maintaining a minimal waistline, the Empress Elisabeth directed the royal chef to prepare only light desserts for her. Upon being presented with the chefs confection, she found it too rich and refused to eat it. The exasperated Francis Joseph quipped, Now let me see what Schmarrn (= nonsense in Austrian German) our chef has cooked up. It apparently met his approval as he finished his and even his wifes serving. Thereafter, the dessert was called Kaiserschmarrn (Kaiser= Emporer) across the Empire--giving us insight on the dish everyone loved it even though it was not spicy at all, but the taste was a bit dull my family liked it a lot. After all it can be served as a dessert and Gujaratis love sweets. Cooking has always been one thing that sometimes makes us feel like achievers. arinthon Rattana, Hosted in Chennai chapter, shares her experience: On 29th January I went with my friends sister to Mumbai. One month ago one of my friends, had invited me to go with her to her cousins wedding. It was a Maarwadi wedding, a different wedding style that I have never seen before. They have two days function. On the first day it is a night function. In that they call a D.J. and do some dances. I also did a dance to the popular number Sheila Ki Jawani. On the second day morning the groom rides on the horse and goes to the temple. During that small parade, the grooms cousins dance in front of the groom. After that they do some ritual in the temple. They go to the place where there is a reception. Before the reception, in the afternoon the couple do the pooja, and walk around the fire seven times. This means they will love each other forever and stand together in happiness and grief. Another thing what I was amazed about and liked was the big earring which the bride wore. It connects the nose and her ears. The groom and most of the men wore a Turban-Pagadi on the head. They looked so cool and I loved it. Although this wedding was an arranged one, the couple still love each other so much. Unlike my country where people have love marriages, in India people learn to love each other after marriage. This is something I find strange but still like it!!!This traditional Indian wedding I saw was very beautiful. I also enjoyed the vast spread of Indian food. This wedding gave me a glimpse of Indian culture and the experience was amazing.I respect Indian culture which is so diverse and everyday and every experience is unfolding something new for me. I am waiting for more things to come in these last few months!!!

Chosen for US Mission Youth Advisory Council -- Congratulations to YES 2009 alumnus Darshit Sa-

Alumni Achievements

gar from Chennai, India! Darshit was one of 11 young Indians selected as a member of the new US Mission Youth Advisory Council. Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, was present to help launch the Council in New Delhi on February 15. Darshit writes of his experience, the Councils mission is to bring the over 400 million youth in India together to bring about effective social change and civic engagement with the help of todays social media.Under Secretary Otero addressed the gathering and highlighted some challenges facing youth of the country such as, how can youth create a critical mass, how can social media be used for effective social and civil engagement, how can social media be integrated into the lives of youth especially those in rural areas? Do youth use social media in an effective way? How can this change be brought about?At our first meeting, the council came up with some good ideas such as social awareness can be interspersed with fun and this also does not mean that if you have fun you cannot work. Youth need to see beyond their immediate surroundings and envision realistic goals for social change.Participants decided to include more young people from rural India, make them part of the council, and identify the means of communication that would work best for each. Thank you to the US Consulate in Chennai for their support.Darshit was hosted in Pennsylvania during his YES year, and was also selected to participate in a 2011 YES Alumni Training of Trainers Workshop in Washington DC. Since the training workshop, he has implemented several local alumni trainings in Chennai and around India, and played a leading role in organizing and implementing the recent YES Alumni India Leadership Workshop.

Sending Stories
The Path to Understanding -- Varun Khanna
shares his experience A little more than 6 months ago on the 18 of August 2011 a dream was to be fulfilled. A dream of going to a foreign land for the first time, to a country so different to where I belong, a country whose language I do not understand and a country where people are assumed to be working as machines. A country where moderity blends with tradition , a country which is also called the LAND OF THE RISING SUN - Japan ! Now that I am back from my exchange and its the 1st of March 2012, and I feel to have fallen in love with Japan, the customs, the formal greetings, kindness and humbleness, the strength, the spirit, the food, landscape, its people who are - polite (and hypocritcal), respectful, industrious, obedient, childish (and naive), epicurian, sociable, anxious (easily worried), Persistant. In Japan I stayed with a family, and really enjoyed my time with them and was over whelmed by their kindness. I have 2 families now, and even got a grandfather. What could be better ? I tried everything I could in Japan. I had a wonderful time because my host mom told me to never say never and accept things as they come to me with an open heart, at the same time learning from every difficulty that comes to my path. It made me strong. I was asked to Sing on National TV- NHK - A Japanese song.I was told to eat raw squid and raw shells - I tried eating. To make speeches and dramas in Japanese - I gave my best.Teaching English to Students of class 12 in School and a making conversation in English with Japanese middle aged women in late evenings - The interetsing times. Bring it on, anything, everything ! That was my mantra to understanding and connecting.School was really important and the best time was the School Trip , the most important and awaited time of the year. This was the first time I could actually stay with Japanese Kids, know more about their lifestyle and travel alot of Japan and I visited Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo. At School, I tried to attend as many subjects as I can and did some new things like Japanese cooking, Judo and Chinese Calligraphy. It was always difficult to convey feelings to my Japanese friends owing to my poor Japanese Knowledge, but time took care of that and by the last month I was pera pera (fluent) so and so that I was able to give directions to a local about the nearest ATM. Seeing Sea and Snow for the first time and experiencing -20 C were some momentous times. Onsen (hot springs), Purikura (Personalized Stickers), Karaoke (Music Box) have to be my favourite pastime in Japan.The past 6 months were for me The path to Understanding myself and at the same time the Japanese people, their lifestyle and conduct. I feel I have grown as a person, accepting more things and always trying. The 6 months made me physically strong and mentally mature. Writing about this exchange experience in a few pages is difficult. It is a feeling that would remain with me for years to come and I would always embrace those endearing times. Thank you AFS for this gift of a lifetime. Can I have a replay button?

Chapter News

AFS Delhi chapter organized Picnic on February 26th at India Gate; it was attended by most of the hosted students including volunteers. There was kite flying and potluck lunch. Everyone brought different kinds of food and enjoyed kite flying in the windy afternoon. AFS Delhi chapter would like to thanks AFS Ahmedabad chapter for giving us AFS Kites. AFS Mumbai chapter organized a trip to Khardi, a village nearby Mumbai with host students of Nasik & Mumbai when German volunteer Ulrich Horenburg was there.

Naomi, Belgian Exchange student hosted in Nasik says

-- Our small trip to Khardi was really nice. I met new people, a volunteer from Germany, other AFS volunteers, and other exchange students. Khardi is a beautiful place, i had a good time and it was nice talking to each other, sharing cultures and experiences. Valeria Candelo, Italian Exchange student hosted in Mumbai says -- The weekend in Khardi has been amazing!The place is beautiful and quiet and surrounded by nature, the perfect place to take a break from the crowded Mumbai.It was a real pleasure to meet Ulrich, the German volunteer and naturally my friends hosted in Nashik.We spent the night together sharing our experiences so far, singing both Indian and Italian songs and dancing on the latest Bollywood hits.The next morning we visited a village near by while taking a walk in the morning. We also took some pictures with the inhabitants! Its been a lot of fun! AFS provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.

Click Here
Edited & Designed by:- Aadil Fahim (AFSReturnee) Information compiled by: Chapter and AFS India AFS Intercultural Programs India M-9 (2ndFloor), Lajpat Nagar II NewDelhi-110024, India Tele-+91-11-41004878/79 Fax-+91-11-29841426