IPP Stories Project
On this page you can find stories about individual
experiences and memories, IPP participants gathered at their IPP. If you would also have a story to
share, please don't hesitate to write it up and send it to Fe (f.gelsi@it.cisv.org).
Global Village IPP - 2003 USA, Detroit
"I went on the It takes a Global Village IPP in
Detroit in 2003, the project
was about homelessness, and was run in conjunction with the Howell
nature
centre. Our task was to build a Thai house in the style of
disadvantaged
people who lived in Thailand, but before we got down to the
building of the
house, weeding of the gardens, mudding a hut and building a goat
pen (boy
were we busy!) We had to camp out in different size groups with
differing
amounts of food, and in different shelters found all over the
world, the
nepalese hut, the Native American house, and I can't remember what
the last
one was (sorry guys!) we had to cook our own dinners using the
resources
provided as well look after our 'babies' which were water balloons
if they
'died' we had to go and sit in mourning for them for at least 15
minutes (I
think)
So we happilly split up into 3 seperate groups of 4, 6, and 9 the
biggest
group had the least food and they also had 'twins' we managed to
share our
food between us with the larger group doing tasks (such as washing
up) for
the smaller groups to trade for food, although I remember a panic
when
Mitizis corn rice hit the floor, who knew dirt and rice could
taste so good!
All of a sudden one of the twins sprang a leak - it was dying!
everything
was tried on this poor baby toothpaste, vaseline, sticking
plasters and just
when it looked like it was safe - the other one exploded in
sympathy, so we
had to sit in mourning in total silence, it was quite sad
really.
The rest of the night passed without incident (apart from kathys
snoring :-)
).
We managed to finish the house, and the garden, and the goat pen
and the
mudding of the hut and we all had an amazing experience which I'm
sure none
of us will forget in a hurry :-) "
Heather XX
"AIPPIN
- Roots in Development" IPP - 2002 BRAZIL
Novice
Patch Adams in South Bahia
"We were all excited that day. We had to go
to the hospital with the teens of the theatre
group of Itubera (the town where we were
doing the IPP) to do the clowns and make
the patients in the hospital smile. For the
teens it was not the first time they’d done
it, but we inexpert CISVers did not know
anything about how to make people who
are really sick smile and laugh – the only
thing we knew was the movie Patch Adams
and so we thought that maybe it was not so
difficult – for Robin Williams it was so
easy!!
We needed one hour to dress up: large
pants; coloured T- shirts; strange hats; big
shoes; red noses; big red smile and white
faces with big black eyebrows and then we
were ready to go. We were all trying
strange, funny faces – cross eyes, tongue
out, bottom up – something like Singing in
the Rain! We were sure that everybody
would have smiled!
We arrived at the hospital and started to
follow our young expert teachers. They were
really good, they were saying funny things in
Portuguese (well – I think they were funny,
but I really don’t know Portuguese very well)
and the patients were laughing and smiling.
At the beginning I was just following them
and trying to imitate them, but at one point
I saw a kid in a bed, he was alone and he
was really sad, so I thought “This is my
moment! I will make this kid laugh and
smile and he will be very happy and I will
feel so useful and proud!”
So I went close to him, I put my hand
close to my ears, I crossed my eyes, I put
my tongue out and I start to make a
strange noise with my mouth. The kid
looked at me very surprised and I thought
“now he will start laughing”, but after a
moment he started crying and there was no
way to make him stop. I looked around:
nobody was there. . . I needed somebody to
help me, but nobody was there – I tried
two other stupid faces, but the result was
even worse. I didn’t know what to do – and
I decided to run away! I spent the rest of
the day in the hospital hiding behind the
others: I didn’t feel proud, I didn’t feel
useful and I would have liked to take the
first plane to Italy and hide myself in my
bed for a month.
One of the teens saw me with that
depressed expression and he came to me
saying in Portuguese something like “It’s
not easy to be a clown for the first time”
and he was smiling.
I smiled too, thinking that I was learning
something really important. I came there
with the thought that I could give them
something, that I could teach them
something, and now they were teaching me
humility and patience, very simply, without
thinking they were better than I was.
We went into the hospital again, the next
week – I didn’t try to do a miracle, I was
just smiling and following my teachers. I
don’t know if I was good, but at least
nobody started crying.
It’s not easy making people smile when
they are sick, it’s something that you learn
little by little, with patience and humility."
Maria Dorigatti, Italy
"Children in care" IPP - Spain 1999
Looking back
"In the summer of 1999 I was part of the
Dutch delegation participating in an IPP in
Madrid, Spain on the topic “Children in
Care.”
During that IPP our group of CISV
volunteers worked in a children’s residence
at the outskirts of Madrid. Living
circumstances were poor for the children.
They had very caring educators and care
workers in the residence, but the staff of
the residence had little time to spend with
the children in a more socializing way
because they were understaffed and the
basic care took all of their time. Our group
of CISVers worked long and hard hours in
the burning heat of a Spanish summer to
make the summertime an enjoyable and
educational time for the children.
These times spent in Spain lie four years
behind me now. But when I close my eyes I
can still easily see the faces of those
children. Many of them were immigrant
children from Africa, some of them were
gypsies and some were disabled because
of a handicap. Most names I forgot, but it
is not hard to remember their smiles and to
recall their laughter!
This one particular boy comes into my
mind very vividly. He was about eight years
old and was in a wheelchair. When he was
younger he was mistreated in such an
aggressive way that it left him paralysed. I
remember carrying this little guy out of his
wheelchair every morning and into the
swimming pool. He was not able to swim
because of his disability and the staff of
the residence did not have time to walk
around with him in the water. It was up to
us CISVers to give the children this extra bit
of care. What most impressed me in this
child was his total confidence in me. He
was not able to understand me because we
spoke different languages and yet he gave
the total care of his life into my arms when
I held him tight and waded through the
water. If I had let go he would have gone
under and might have drowned. Most
mornings he and I would grasp each other
like little monkeys, him holding his arms
and legs tight around my waist, me
supporting him around his back. I would
then rock him through the waves and
splash him with tiny drops of water. He
would cry out loud with laughter and beg
me for “more, more, more!.”
When we ended our IPP at the residence,
one of the educators came to me and
explained to me that my favorite little guy in
the wheelchair had told him that he wanted
to learn English too when he grew up. The
educator had asked him why. The answer
he got in return still gives me goose
pimples: “because Caecilia speaks English
and she can talk to everybody here. I want
to be able to do that too!”
I am sure that I made a difference for at
least one child during that summer of 99!"
Caecilia van Peski, Netherlands
"Wattenmeer" IPP - 2005 GERMANY, Hallig
Hooge
(My memoirs as a Geisha)
"The ferry engine sounded like a swarm of giant bees going mad inside a tiny jar, once used
to keep honey but now empty. After we managed to get all our provisions from the car to the
ferry we finally left the golden shores of Germany. We embarked on our cruise to the mystery
island Hooge, the place that would be our location for the IPP. The tide was low and we could
see the birds following the waves the ferry made, providing them with some nutritious
breakfast.
Actually, Hooge is not an island but a hallig so it would be more appropriate to call it “the
mystery hallig Hooge”. Apparently, there is big difference between an island and a
hallig. What that difference actually is would take us some time to grasp, if at all we would
reach that enlightened point. The English translation of “hallig” in the Webster’s
German-English dictionary is “a thingy, west of North Friesland in Germany”. Anyhow, it was all
very exciting.
When we lost sight of the mainland it more or less just felt like floating on water so we
went ünter deck to the restaurant area. There we met a tiny German girl, who was quite
impressed that I was from Iceland, and she said she would name her horse after me and she also
asked for my autograph (
most likely to know how to spell the name of her horse)
. She waved to us relentlessly when we left the ferry at Hooge and then continued her trip
with her grandparents to some other mystery hallig.
Halligs don’t have trees or mountains; they do on the other hand have small hills (Warfts)
with houses on top of them. This hilltop-house-clustering is due to the fact that several
times each winter the high tide of the Waddensea swallows the flatlands of the hallig. All that can
be seen are just these houses on the very top of each hill, like they are swimming in the ocean,
this aggressive act of nature this is called Stormflood. Not many know that the song by Iron
Maiden “Run to The Hills”
(the original name of that song was “Laufen Sie zu den Warften”)
was in fact written about a particularly fast Stormflood in 1981 when several cows and a guy
working at the Bike rent were lost to the engulfing high tide, never to be seen again.
However, in the summer halligs are quite safe. Most of the time they are sunny, windy
and strangely enough, packed with tourists. Now, Germany is densely populated industrial
country, there is always a manmade structure to be seen unless there are trees in the way. So this
interest in halligs is well justified, it's only an hour ferry ride from the mainland and the
scenery is very different. Basically, they look just like small, very flat islands, with only
saltwater flora, hills and the occasional cow. They also offer a variety of recreational
activities, such as eating the local seafood, biking, extended beach walks (tide is so low that it
is possible to walk kilometres from the shore) and writing postcards home. On Hooge, in particular,
you also visit a nature centre named “Schutzstation Wattenmeer” (The Waddensea Preservation
Centre). This nature centre was to be our partner organisation. It had an interesting
exhibition about the nature on and around Hooge, educational programs for visitors, and much
more.
Upon arrival at Hooge and the sad departure with the girl who one
day will have horse named Hjörvar, we were greeted by Michael and Martin from the Schutzstation and
we started our taxing walk to our new home, 10-14 minutes later we were there.
Our home, Hanswarft, was one of Hooge’s 5 Warfts. It contained some old brick houses, a
cinema (only showing a film about the Stormfloods), some seafood restaurants, bars, kiosk, a SPAR,
and thingy shops. In fact it was almost magical, like it was an in a 50s Disney film about a
forgotten small village, on a hallig.
The participants would arrive later that day so we needed to work fast. However, when we
finished stacking away our provisions there was not much more to be done. The other staff
members had a meeting with the people from the Schutzstation and out of the kindness of my heart I
took a nap since didn’t want to slow down the meeting with constant translation and I had been
working hard the night before doing important PR work for CISV Germany.
The participants arrived, smiling, excited and exhausted after the enormous hike from the
pier to Hanswarft. The IPP could finally begin. During the day we helped the Schutzstation
with all our might. We repaired the bikes they used, we re-arranged their special garden with
salt water flora, we made Arts and Crafts giveaways for fundraising, we went on life threatening
missions to the Waddensea to collect seashells and almost getting caught by a the high tide and we
did some wildlife monitoring (an ongoing project of counting worms and other creatures of nature at
specific locations). Some day’s people had to get up at the crack of dawn to be able to catch the
low tide for the monitoring project. We re-arranged the partner organisation’s front entrance by a
lot of cleaning, brick lying and installation of a great welcoming sign.
Our main theme was Tourism and the role and importance of it in our modern society.
At night we’d have activities and lengthy discussions about theme related stuff and each
delegation presented something on tourism in their own country. Then we had lengthy parties in the
kitchen until the first batch of people had to catch the low tide.
Two weeks was a bit too short, we needed that extra week to really
sink our teeth in the theme. Everything was perfect; we had great co-operations with the
partner organisation across the nation. The people at the Schutzstation, some of the islanders, and
the participants were all extremely enthusiastic about the project, the theme and everything just
worked out. In the words of the master “there is no such thing as perfection” but this
came as close to it as is possible."
Colonel. Hjörvar “Hans” Warftmeister
"People with disabilities &
society" IPP - 2004 CANADA, Saskatoon
A Different Kind of Vacation
A report by Birgit Klier on the 2004 IPP in Canada
"My children have taken part in CSIV programs enthusiastically for many years and it has always
been my regret that I didn’t have an opportunity as a child to participate in the camps and exhange
programs. So I was excited when I learned about a program for those aged 19 and above, called „
International People’s Project“ (IPP), and that Germany would send a delegation to the project in
Canada in 2004.
I was at first uncertain whether I should apply. Maybe I’d be the only older person in a group
of young people, I thought. The topic, „People with Disabilities and Society“ had sparked my
interest. So, even though I was still uncertain whether I might be too old already (at 46), I
decided to go ahead and send off my application materials just before registration closed in
January.
I soon found out that I had been chosen for one of the slots and started preparing for the
trip. Anna and Felix from the IPP Committee met with us one weekend in March to tell us about what
we should expect at an IPP and what we should do to prepare for it. We needed to gather information
on the camp theme so that we could inform the other delegations about the situation facing the
handicapped in Germany – not by lecturing but by putting together an activity that all could
participate in.
The other two German participants, Sarah and Mareika, were considerably younger than me – they
easily could’ve passed for my children! Felix and Anna reassured me, however, that the
participants in the English delegation were in my age group. Unfortunately, Sarah had to cancel,
due to a conflict with her university studies, and no substitute could be found on such short
notice. Mareika and I got together in Munich to prepare our activity (a roll-playing game) and to
visit institutions for the handicapped, where we were provided with mountains of information to
study and absorb.
Once we finally arrived in Canada, we spent the first 5 days in Saskatoon. There we visited
several institutes for the handicapped, listened to a very interesting lecture given by a human
geneticist and another by an amateur constructor who adapts equipment and computers individually
for the handicapped.
Each of the delegations reported, by means of an activity, on the circumstances facing the
handicapped in their respective country. Discussion followed.
Our lodgings were spartan. We stayed in two empty apartments and slept on air mattresses. I
shared a room with three ladies from England, which worked out quite well. There were no tables, so
we ate sitting on the floor. The local chapter provided meals. Various families cooked for us and
were very helpful and hospitable. On several occasions we were invited to one of the families for
outdoor grilling. We also made two outings: a boat ride and a museum tour.
Following our stay in Saskatoon we spent the next 9 days at Camp Easterseal, a camp where the
mentally and physically disabled can take their vacations. During our stay there, a group of 14 –
16 year-olds were vacationing at the camp.
Our lodgings here were even more spartan. We stayed in two very small huts (which were
nevertheless very quiet and beautifully located), each with four bunk-beds. Since there were 9 per
hut, two of us had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. It was very cramped and there was only one
shower for 28 people. Luckily the weather was great, otherwise it could have been an awkward
situation.
In the mornings we worked in the campsite garden. We set up planting beds, weeded, planted
flowers and moved paving stones so that wheelchair-users could also access the garden. The work was
a lot of fun and brought the group closer together. Our group was really quite good. There were 18
of us in all (13 women and 5 men), ranging in age from 19 to 62. The participants were from
Canada, Columbia, England, Denmark, Italy and Germany. Gigi, from Italy, was the oldest and spoke
very little English. But everything worked out fine and the age differences were no problem. We „
old folks“ were always welcomed by the younger set: on canoe trips; in the bar; or in sleeping bags
along the lakeshore, where we watched the Northern Lights and shooting stars....
In the afternoons we were divided up among the handicapped children and took part in their
activities: boat rides, horseback riding, excursions, handcrafts, swimming. A few also went
camping. Angelika (from Italy) and I were placed with a group of severely handicapped girls. All
but one were unable to communicate and that one only through spelling. They were also incapable of
moving about on their own. This made matters somewhat difficult, especially since we were not
permitted to help (for insurance reasons). We weren’t even allowed to push their wheelchairs. Most
of the children in the other groups were not as profoundly handicapped. We also organized a
multicultural day for the kids and their counselors. Mareika and I made spaetzle (a German noodle
specialty), tried to teach everyone how to play the children’s tune, „Alle meine Entchen“ (All my
Little Ducklings), on the xylophone, played bobbing for pretzels and showed some pictures of
Germany. It was a lot of fun.
It was interesting to observe how the children became increasingly livelier over the course of
the nine days we were there. They obviously enjoyed the activities very much.
Sadly, it soon came time to return to Saskatoon. Our last few days were taken up with planning
Open Day; going to a lake, doing evaluations and saying sad good-byes. There was no shortage of
CSIV-games during the course of the camp.
Altogether I had a very nice, adventuresome and somewhat different sort of vacation, during
which I was able to meet many kind and interesting people. Since then, several camp participants
have had the opportunity to visit me in Munich and I hope to see the others sometime again
too."
Birgit Klier; Munich
