EIL Intercultural Learning

Imagine the excitement of telling somebody who has never been on an aeroplane that their first flight will be to Japan, Ecuador or Mexico.  Thanks to the EIL Travel Awards I have been able to do this a few times. Of course the 38 Travel Awards available from EIL in 2009 are not restricted to people who have never travelled before and it could be easier to spend your summer in  Argentina, South Africa, Hong Kong, USA, Mexico, Ecuador and Japan than you think. There are specific opportunities designed for secondary school and college students and fully funded volunteer opportunities in Mexico and Argentina which have no upper age limit.  The closing date of March 27th is now approaching.

We will have a very busy few weeks after applications close on March 27th (except the Global Awareness Programme and Hong Kong Exchange which have later closing dates). Each essay/project will be reviewed by a team of people and a short list will be drawn up of applicants who will be invited to a workshop and interview in Dublin on April 18th during which the final selections will be made. What are we looking for in the essays/projects? Well we want to learn about the applicant and how they could use the experience rather than test their their writing skills or geographical knowledge. We want to find out as much as possible about the applicants such as their interests, skills, hobbies, membership of clubs or associations and ability to integrate with the people they will meet or their ability to deal with culture shock or the unexpected during their travels. This is the kind of information which gets attention during the selection process.  Activities on April 19th will be run by previous travel award participants - so the final selections will be made by previous participants who have already been there, know exactly what is involved and are aware of the various challenges associated with each destination or project.

These are real opportunities which can be life changing for the right people. And sometimes it can be easier to get an award than you think. Remember it is much more about who you are and how you could benefit from the experience than your writing skills or how good you are at geography or researching details of the place you will visit on the internet. So tell us about you and why you should receive an EIL travel award.

As a not for profit organisation EIL uses any financial surplus to provide fully and partly funded travel opportunities for Irish people. It is a core part of our work and something we are very proud of. Indeed over the years we have helped over 500 people discover different parts of the world using this programme. While the Japan and Ecuador awards are the longest established and generate the most applications, interest in the volunteer opportunities in Mexico and Argentina is also growing. I would love to go on the Hong Kong / Ireland exchange myself, but am to old to qualify now. Some things are just not fair.  Every time I hear stories about the visits to schools and people's homes as well as the food in Hong Kong I feel really jealous. Of course I get to meet the young people from Hong Kong during their visit to Ireland and am always struck by their friendliness, curiosity and energy (and not to mention the zillion photos they take!).