Tag: global

Dancing our way to world peace

Martha Graham once said “Dance is the hidden language of the soul”. Agnes de Mille’s words were “The truest expression of a people is in its dances and its music…”  And Hans Bos said “When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance.” During a dance, joy and happiness bring up the best in people and differences are for a moment forgotten or embraced and cherished.

If you are not a part of AIESEC, but have met someone who is, you’ve probably wondered – So why do AIESECers dance? Why do they jump up at the sound of certain songs and start dancing enthusiastically, while you are in a complete shock as to what just happened?

At the beginning of every local, national and international conference we have the tradition of presenting each entity present and their culture by dancing roll calls. As decades go by, the tradition continues and AIESEC entities present their culture through different dances.

Imagine young people from over 124 countries and territories in one room, showcasing their culture and doing roll call by dancing, laughing and cheering for each other.  The barriers and borders disappear, bringing the world together at one place. Diversity, richness of cultures, the splash of colors and positive energy make the room come alive and connect people of fundamentally different backgrounds.

 

The beauty is not just in the moment, but in the fact that when the music stops and you hear the song again someplace else, you are reminded of the entity which danced it, of their colors, faces, smiles and culture.

AIESEC is unique precisely because it creates a global family of young people, who take time to get to know each other and learn each other’s dances, thus expressing respect and open-mindedness towards different cultures.

When was the last time you saw the world at one place?

We did today and that’s why we are passionate about cultural understanding and intercultural dialogue.

 If you believe cultural understanding is crucial in today’s globalized world, share in a comment your idea of how we can facilitate it!

dancing

 

Attending International Congress in Egypt – A young leader’s perspective

As we have indicated in our first blog post, this past August AIESEC hosted International Congress – a conference of 800 youth delegates – in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Hosting such a large event in a country going through an intense political situation proved to be challenging but rewarding for the organisation, giving us a renewed sense of purpose.

The Local Committee President of AIESEC Michigan, Domenic Smith, was lucky enough to attend International Congress in Egypt in August. He was able to share his experience on the AIESEC Unites States Alumni Association blog this week. Here are some of his thoughts:

“Flying into Cairo for AIESEC’s 65th International Congress is an experience that I will never forget. I did not go to the pyramids and I did not get to see the cradle of society like many who traveled to Egypt before me. Instead, I witnessed something far more profound.

I saw a country that was truly in chaos, a country that was starving for new leadership. AIESEC’s presence of over 800 delegates from 124 countries at IC, at such a volatile time in Egypt’s history, showed me the true passion and dedication that this organization and its members have toward developing globally minded leaders to try and make the world a better place. AIESEC did not give up on Egypt and cancel the conference, which would have been very easy to do. We did not boycott the conference because it endangered us or because our governments warned against it. Instead, as an international plenary, we demonstrated the support that we have for AIESEC Egypt and the belief that we, the AIESEC community, have that one day the members of AIESEC Egypt will become the leaders that their country needs to restore peace and prosperity.

The world came together at IC for the 65th time to show that we believe in the impact that young people can have on creating a brighter and more accepting future. Experiencing 124 countries, united by a mission, working together to fulfill AIESEC’s 2015 goals was an incredibly powerful experience. When do you ever have the chance to see 124 countries work together towards one common goal?”

To read more about Domenic’s experience, check out the rest of the post here.  

Did you attend International Congress 2013 in Egypt? What was your experience like?

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Going Global to Kenya

“As part of my internship, I visited schools in and around Kibera to talk to the adolescents about the problems they face, made proposals to fundraise for the sanitary napkins project and marketing for the Women Empowerment project.The schools we visited were mainly in the slums so the children from the schools got an opportunity to interact with us and discuss the problems they face in schools.

I also got to experience so much of the Kenyan culture, their food, their night life and how they generally live through the AIESECers from Nairobi who were again an amazing bunch of people. I travelled and saw almost all of Kenya and each place was better than the next. I had no idea that the country was that beautiful.

My internship experience helped me grow so much as a person. It led me to introspect and my future plans have taken a whole new turn. I also met some AMAZING people who really inspire me and changed the way I used to think. I can say that my time in Kenya was a mind blowing experience.  I had so many misconceptions and I realized how wrong I was about the country. I lived with 10 different nationalities in an intern house and the amount I’ve learnt from all of them is just incredible. All the interns worked for different NGO’s and through them I met more amazing people who redefined how I think.”

– As said by Lomarshini Anand – a student of Manipal University, an exchange participant who went global via an AIESEC internship to Kenya.

Read about Lomarshini’s internship experience via her impact report here.

If you too want to have such an experience, sign up now!

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