American Field Service inducts 42 volunteers

AMERICAN Field Service (AFS), an American voluntary organisation, has inducted 42 new participants to partake in Intercultural Exchange Programmes (IEP), including voluntary services at orphanages and other learning centres.
At a reception to welcome the participants, who are volunteers from the United States of America, they expressed their eagerness and appreciation for the opportunity to be part of the programme.
An International Consultant for AFS, Mr Bert Vercamer, was presented with a certificate of recognition from the parent organisation for his 23 years service towards the success of the programme in Ghana.
The national director of the programme, Mr John Kwesi Sagoe, who took the participants on a tour of IEP’s new building said the organisation was one of the largest community-based volunteer organisations in the world, and was present in approximately 60 countries.
He disclosed that the programme was supported by over 100,000 volunteers world-wide and provided exchange programmes for close to 10,000 participants annually.
He pointed out that the programme enabled participants to act as responsible global citizens working for peace and understanding.
He added that the programme which started as a student exchange programme in Ghana in 1967 under the name of AFS Ghana, also encouraged respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language, religion or social status.
AFS is an international voluntary non-governemtnal non-profit making organisation which provides intercultural learning opportunities to especially young people by helping them to develop the knowledge, skill and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.
The organisation started in 1914 as a volunteer ambulance corps made up of volunteers from the American Field Service when they assisted wounded soldiers and civilians during World War 1 and 11.