To ask 'what is CISV' and is it ok?

[Niminy]

DS2 wants to go on a three-week trip to Switzerland with CISV, at a cost of £1000+ travel. They have sent no information - in fact just got a text asking 'if I'm onboard with him going' and 'can they add him to the whatsapp group'. The answers to both are 'no' until I see the consent form and know that there's a safeguarding policy.

There is very very sketchy information on their website about their aims and programmes, I can't find any other information on the internet, and, frankly, I'm a bit suspicious. A MN search yielded no results. Has anyone ever heard of this organisation, or had any dealings with it?

My husband did these in the 90s as a teen! Literally buggered off to villages in Europe for weeks with an address written on a slip of paper..

They were brilliant though. He still looks back very fondly.

This page cisv.org/resources/programmes-resources/step-up/ has a link to a safeguarding policy for their 'step up' programme. What programme does your son want to do?

He's doing 'Seminar'. That's a helpful link to the resources. Maybe it's me, but I'm baffled by the internet silence about CISV -- I associate that kind of silence with organisations that have tight control over their public image and that kind of worries me.

They're on Instagram & Facebook- what do you mean by silence?

Well, I'd expect to see some discussion of their programmes somewhere - reviews, experiences -- there's really nothing except their own social media and websites. I think that's a bit strange.

Hello, are you still interested in knowing more about Cisv? My son has been going for a few years. Happy to chat further….

'Seminar' sounds like something Scientology would come up with. Not saying it's anything to do with them of course, just that I agree, bit odd with the no objective coverage op. Compassion the child charity are like that, only their own stuff out there.

Hmm seems more like Model UN to me now Ive read their wiki page. Might be alright, non political, non religous, depends what kind of leaders are there I suppose.

There is a charity that supports people leaving cults. You could always double check with them that it is not anything worrying?

I did these as a kid! They were set up by hippies to promote international understanding and an idyllic future where kids from different countries understood each other. You sing songs and build campfires. It's fun. I wouldn't worry about it being a cult (though the kids that did it very year certainly talked about it a lot!)

There is lots on wikipedia about them.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CISV_International

There are lots of reviews here.
www.facebook.com/cisvinternational/reviews/

Some stuff here
parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/23237/cisv-should-i-trust

It says that although they are trying to widen their participation, most people taking part are upper class. Maybe that is why you and I have never heard of them?

It may be if your DS is 16 or older that they have a more independent approach with those attending? I don't know.

The hippie feel makes sense as I read a critical blog by someone who attended who complained about the singsongs.

I did one of these to Australia back in 2011 or so when I was about 19. Two weeks of volunteering followed by two weeks of excursions and activities.

Was absolutely mind-blowing!

Think my one was just called ISV though so not sure how comparable they are.

My child has been doing our local Cisv chapter (yes they call it a chapter) for around 4 years now and he really enjoys it. I was sceptical as it’s difficult to even see on their website what CISV stands for. I have found their communication terrible, with really patchy coms via Facebook and no central means of communicating. Last year both my children were offered a ‘trip of a lifetime’ abroad on the CISV Step Up program. We thought this was a great opportunity and cancelled our family holiday, joined WhatsApp groups with other attendees and generally got excited. Throughout, the communication regarding fees, logistics etc was terrible. A few weeks before departure we were told that all attendees had to be fully vaccinated even though the country they’re entering had no such requirements. My children were not vaccinated at this time and whatever your views are on vaccines, a kids camp should not be discriminating over the vaccine status of young children, certainly not a few weeks before a ‘trip of a lifetime’. So they were not able to attend and although I challenged CISVs risk assessment policy, they wouldn’t budge and I was thought of as an anti-vaxer, which I’m definitely not. This year my child went on a UK CISV camp which also had the same vaccine requirements and also required a proof of a negative LFT upon entry. But they then let all parents enter the camp at drop off, so completely negating their risk assessment procedure. Having said all this, I’m trying to put the children first and they have made some great friends. The general gist of CISV organisation is to have kids attend the local chapter and then partake in camps and eventually go on to become leaders of the camps. One other thing I’d like to know people’s thoughts on is that they take away the kids phones upon entry to camps. There is no communication with children for the short 3/4 day camps and on the longer camps (21 days) all communication is done via the camp leaders on WhatsApp and not directly with your child. I wonder how children could communicate an issue and how this fits with safeguarding?

I did CISV as a kid and though we were quite normal most of the other kids were fantastically elevated. 😂Various children of diplomats and oil barons and chaebol and so on. I don't know why this is. It is not at all luxurious. It is a bit like Woodcraft Folk but with fewer CND marches.

It was actually great fun -- just living together in a sort of barracks and playing loads of cooperative games, learning about other children from other countries. So yes, a good experience and now I vaguely know a weirdly large number of MEPs. Hasn't benefited my career, alas!

Hi there, we are hoping to get a place for a CISV Village camp for 11 year olds next year. Can you please tell me more about your experience? Was it safe, did they do sports or was it just educational? Was the food and the premises alright? Thank you.