Youth Exchange program work camp

Youth to Youth Exchange program is non­profit .non political. Non­governmental, voluntary
organization formed in 2005 registration no NA009/1005
YYEP is affiliated to several organizations including Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC),Zimbabwe
Volunteers Commission (ZVC) and international through Coordination Committee of International
Volunteers Services (CCIVS) a UNESCO board.  

Aims and objectives

❖ To encourage, enable and mobilize young people to participate voluntarily in national and

community development activities.

❖ To promote peace, international understanding and inter ­cultural learning through

volunteer exchange

❖ To create opportunities for acquiring understanding and concern for social, economic and

physical challenges facing their country

❖ To organize and use workcamps as a tool for local development T

❖ o encourage adults to take greater interest in affairs of the young people through

volunteer support and exchange.

Activities

Since its inception in 2005, YYEP is looking to carry out projects in various communities of

Zimbabwe in the following categories:

❖ Construction:Roads and foot ­bridges, low income housing, schools, clinics, churches

and community centre’s

❖ Renovation:Royal buildings, archeological and historical sites.

❖ Environmental:Soil and water conservation, tree planting

❖ Health:Water supply, pit latrines, HIV/AIDS awareness and mitigation

❖ Economic: Poultry, piggery and irrigation schemes, communal and home gardens and

other

❖ income generating enterprises.

❖ Social Services: These public services aim to create more effective organizations, build

stronger communities, and promote equity and opportunity e.g. Paying fees for orphans

cater for disabled and most disadvantaged families.

Volunteers An international workcamp consists of volunteers from different races, nationalities

and other backgrounds although local volunteers are usually in the majority; the latter are made

up of two groups namely YYEP members and local community members.

Workcamp seasons There are two main workcamp seasons as follows:

✓Summer: September .October and November ✓Winter: May , June , July and August

Certain workcamps are organized outside the main seasons as and when need arises.

What is a workcamp movement? We as YYEP summarized as building peace, confrontingmilitarism and prejudice, developing understanding and international friendship, helping

communities to help themselves, intervening to help during disasters, also encouraging

sustainable development.

What is a workcamp? In YYEP we define it as the tool which we use to achieve our aim of

progress, the following are the aims:

❖ To unite a group of individuals who have a desire to perform voluntary service and provide

them with a chance to work on project useful to the community.

❖ To provide assistance and support to local projects.

❖ To promote contact between people of different cultural and social backgrounds, breaking

down linguistic and cultural barriers and creating an understanding and appreciation of

others.

❖ To provide education through experience.

❖ To give people the experience of group life where all members are equal and permit them

to learn to accept responsibility both for the work done and for the functioning of the

group.

❖ To provide an intercultural learning experience and opportunities to explore a new country

and a new culture in a deeper and more respectful way than as a tourists

❖ To integrate participants into local community so as to learn and share with their hosts.

❖ To help develop small scale infrastructure or environmental improvement

❖ To promote a culture of peace and volunteering