Grab that life-changing opportunity to learn and share with people from all over!
Arrive as strangers, leave as friends…
This Summer, you could be flying to Cairo and Ismailia, Egypt, to meet with other young people to share, live and create an unforgettable experience about cultural differences and similarities.
In collaboration with our HI national associations, IOU Respect is offering a group of individuals from 6 partner countries, the USA, Egypt, France, Germany, Lebanon and Tunisia, to come together and travel to Egypt from July 24th – August 6th this year, to discover unique cultural differences and appreciate undeniable similarities among people from all over the world.
What is that? IOU Respect.
The programme 
involves 2 weeks (July 24th – August 6th) of non-formal learning through dialogue sessions, sightseeing excursions and social outings to foster mutual understanding, respect and tolerance. It is a rare opportunity to let go of prejudices and rediscover your own culture at the same time than others`, all of that in a friendly and blooming environment. The programme is designed to increase the participants’ knowledge of other cultures, help them develop skills for intercultural communication and foster attitudes that promote mutual understanding and tolerance. Participants from the 6 countries will engage in a mix of facilitated dialogue sessions (5+ sessions, 3-4 hours each), team-building project work and group outings and activities.
The story behind it….
IOU Respect was first founded in 2006 and is hosted by one of the participating Hostelling International associations on an annual rotating basis.
The programme was designed shortly after the events of the 11.09.2001. National Associations of our network expressed clearly the need to reaffirm our mission of building peace by bringing people together and building bridges for understanding between cultures. The answer to this need was a programme where young people from different horizons would spend time together, learning about the richness of various cultural flavours of the world through structured dialogue encouraging mutual respect and peace.
Please let me do this!
To apply, you need to meet the following criteria:
- 18-23 years old
- Fluent in English
- Citizens of the US, Egypt, France, Germany, Lebanon or Tunisia with a current passport at the time of the program
- Employees of HI USA and people who have previously participated in a Hostelling International exchange program are not eligible
- You are keen to learn from others about different cultures
Hurry up! You have until the 15th of May 2016 to submit your candidacy!
Not convinced yet? What else do you need? Ah, yeah, stories! Then have a look at incredibly inspiring testimonials from participants.
Now rush to the Facebook page of the programme, HI USA`s or FUAJ`s websites for more information and details about the application and criteria.
