GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE ORGANISATION OF AN EYO EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

Luigi Maccione, July 1995

EAMDA is a registered charity, number 285412

SUMMARY

1. THE PREPARATORY WORK

1.1. The work group
1.2. Information: invitations, registration and further information
1.3. The participants
1.4. The accommodation
1.5. Medical and technical assistance

2. THE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

2.1. The organisation staff
2.2. The activity programme
2.3. Transport

3. COSTS AND SPONSORS

3.1. What should the organisation pay for ?
3.2. What should the participants pay for ?
3.3. How to raise the money

4. AFTER THE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

1. THE PREPARATORY WORK.

1.1. The work group

The organisation of an EYO exchange programme needs a lot of preparatory work. This preparatory work should start at least 9 months before the exchange programme starts. In order to achieve successful and rapid results, it is necessary to set up a good work group, which acts as a team. Each member of the team must have his own responsibility, which are to:

find a location with suitable accommodation
invite the participants and keep contact with them
find sponsorship
arrange transport
prepare an activity programme
stay in contact with EYO and national associations

To achieve success, we suggest that there is at least one person per duty. The work of the team should be conducted by 3 or 4 coordinators. The work group members should meet frequently to report on the situation of the work in order to follow the realisation of the project, step by step.

1.2. Information

Invitation:

I deally, you should give information about the exchange programme during the previous programme or EAMDA AGM. In this way participants and delegates go home and start spreading the news ahead of time. If this is not possible we suggest that you send invitations at least 6 months before the programme starts. The invitations should be sent to each NYG delegate, and should contain: the country, the location, the dates of the programme (2 weeks is usually the length) and the theme. The NYG delegates will have to find the person, or persons, within each NYG, to participate to the exchange programme. We suggest that you invite no more than 2 participants per country. Replies should be returned 4 months before the exchange programme starts.

Registration:

A fter receiving the replies from the delegates, the registration form has to be sent directly to the participants.

The registration form should be a sort of short questionnaire regarding all possible data about the participant and his helper. The questionnaire should be in as much detail as possible, in order to avoid problems or unpleasant surprises.

The registration form could be divided in three parts:

personal data
medical information
travel information

In appendix A an example of standard registration form can be found.
This information will provide clear ideas about participants and their needs, about accommodation arrangements, about medical needs and arrangement of effective assistance, when needed.
Participants should fill the registration form and return it at least 2 months before the exchange programme starts.

Further information

O ne month before the exchange programme starts, final information should be sent to the participants. It should contain:

All possible information about the exchange programme location: complete address, telephone number etc.

Directions on how to get to the place. If people are coming by plane or train you should inform them about taxis, and train and bus timetables. It is also possible to arrange buses to pick them up at the station or at the airport. In this case, make sure the bus's schedule is clear from the letter .

If people are using their own car, a map of the area and clear written descriptions of the way should be provided.

A draft of the activity programme. In order to avoid problems you must give all kind of information about fixed activities. In this way the participants will have, in advance, some idea about what they can expect from the exchange programme (see point 2.2.).

Miscellaneous:
Depending on the country where the exchange programme is going to be held it could be useful to add some practical advice such as: information about the weather; description or pictures of the place; possible extra expenses (see point 3); information about medical assistance; technical information about electricity, plugs etc.

1.3. The participants

H ow to contact them:

The participants have to be selected with the help of the NYG delegates. Delegate are the contact persons between the organisation and the National Association (see point 1.2.).

Who can participate:

EYO exchange programmes are designed for young people. The age of the participants and helpers should be between 15 and 25 years, trying to limit, as much as possible, the participation of helpers over 30. It is important to avoid parents from being assistants.

How many participants:

The recommended number of participants is around 50 people, including helpers.

General advice:

The official language of EYO exchange programmes is English, the EAMDA official language. Therefore it is necessary that every participant, or at least the helpers, speak English, in order to avoid isolation. Exceptions could be decided by the work group and the NYG delegate.

1.4. The accommodation

T he success of an exchange programme is partly dependent on choosing the right accommodation. A good place must be:

Accessible:
All the buildings should be suitable for wheelchair users and disabled people in general. Take special care on checking:

Bedrooms
bedrooms should be big enough to host at least one wheelchair. There should be enough room for a wheelchair to reach the bed and the furniture without any problem.

Bathrooms
bathrooms should have enough room for a wheelchair to reach the water closet, the shower, the wash basin, and to allow movement without any problem. In the building there should also be one bathroom with all kinds of technical aids that could help disabled people: toilet-chairs, shower-beds, lifters, etc.

Stairs, ramps and elevators
If rooms are not all on the ground floor, lifts are needed. The lifts must be big enough to carry at least one electric wheelchair (70 cm wide ´ 120 cm long approx.)

Stairs within the accommodation, dining room or other exchange programme areas, should be avoided, as far as possible. In the case of stairs it should be possible to put ramps over them. If it isn't possible to use ramps, accessibility must be assured with wheelchair elevators.

Doors:
the doors in all the areas should be wide enough to allow access to wheelchairs (at least 70 cm.)

Not isolated:
In order to avoid the creation of a modern ghetto, the programme should be located as near as possible to a city or town. In this way the participants could take part in the social life of the community. They also have the opportunity to go out on their own.

When choosing the place, check the opportunities on offer without leaving it. If it is coastal check how far the sea is from the buildings; find out if there are special areas or rooms (a games room, a sports hall, a computer room, a video room, a swimming pool, etc.) that could be used by the participants.
The accommodation should also be near to a medical centre to provide appropriate medical assistance (see point 1.5).
Also, a room where electric wheelchairs can be charged is needed.

1.5. Medical and technical assistance

From the results of the registration form you'll know exactly what the medical needs are of the participants. In order to arrange proper medical assistance we suggest you:

Stay in touch with the local medical centre. Check the centre, so you know what equipment is available in case of emergency. We also suggest that you arrange an informal discussion with the person responsible for neurology, well in advance of the programme.

Amongst the staff that will lead the exchange programme, there should be at least one doctor or nurse.

A car for emergency cases should be available.

Within the exchange programme accommodation, a designated sick bay should be arranged.

Check what facilities there are to have technical assistance for wheelchairs, respirators, or other technical aids that may need special expertise. Spare parts could be useful.

2. THE EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

The preparatory work is over, and people are coming to the exchange programme. What can we do to make them have the best time of their life ?
Here are some suggestions.

2.1. THE STAFF

T o lead an exchange programme is not a simple matter. The exchange programme should be lead by a work-team (about 6 people). At least half of this team should not be disabled (an exchange programme means a lot of practical and manual work). It could be better to have in the work team the same people who worked in the preparatory work group, because they already know the opportunities on offer, and the participants needs.
Each team member must have his own duty. If they already worked in the organisation, this work division should not be a problem.
The team should be led by an exchange programme leader. The leader is the contact person between participants and organisers. The leader must speak good English. In fact, all the work-team members should be able to speak English well. But since many people who come to the programme don't speak fluent English, it could be useful to have staff with other language skills.

2 .2. THE ACTIVITY PROGRAMME
In an exchange programme, a good activity programme is as important as good accommodation. The activity programme should be written according to the exchange programme theme. A good activity programme should consider the following points:

The activity programme should be as flexible as possible; the participants should be free to choose the activities they prefer.

Free time: we suggest that you plan activities with great care. A stressful timetable should be avoided (workshops should not start too early in the morning, and all activities cannot be put together). Free time should be given to the participants.

Alternative activities should be planned for those who don't want to, or cannot join the whole group.

The activities should not be compulsory.

An open programme is a good way to make people participate actively. For this, it could be very interesting to develop the programme day by day together with the participants. The organisers should give as much information as possible about activities.
But open programme doesn't mean improvisation. The organisers must plan a basic programme with fixed activities that need to be prepared in advance. Fixed activities could be:

Excursions: Considering that some of the participants can get tired, with having a lot of stress, outside excursions, lasting the whole day, should be planned with care. For a 15 day exchange programme, a maximum of 5 excursions could be enough and preferably not 5 full day excursions.

Workshops: a lot of practical activities could be done. In the past exchange programmes, workshops for practical activities were held with success. The workshops could be about different subjects; painting, computer art, theatre, video, music, etc.

EYO Workshop: in the last EYO exchange programmes, EYO workshops about different subjects (family, independent living, leisure time) were held. It is our intention to hold an EYO workshop (just one day long) during every EYO exchange programme. The subject must be decided by the organisers, together with the EYO committee contact person.

Activities within the exchange location: the participants should be able to take part in activities inside the accommodation place, especially if it is far from a city or town. It will depend on the opportunities the place offers to its guests (see point 1.4.).

Group activities: the main purpose of the exchange programme should be to improve communication and social exchange among the participants. For this, activities that make people work in group may be organised. For example, team games, sports, magazine etc.. We also suggest that you plan different group activities, each time in new groups, to avoid isolation. When mixing nationalities, smaller groups are suggested. Assistants can not be put in groups, they need to follow the participants or have time to rest.

Country shows give the opportunity to each participant to introduce his own country. This is a good way to start communication among the participants. It is important to stress creativity and imagination. Part of the show has to be prepared by the participants at home, but it is important to give them time to work this out during the camp. It often happens that participants from the same country are strangers to each other.

2.3. TRANSPORT

T he other ingredient in a good exchange programme is to have an effective transport system. The best solution is to have busses for everybody available all the time, in order to give people the chance to organise alternative activities. If this is not possible (and it usually is not) remember that you will have to arrange transport at least for the following cases:

Arrival and departure of the participants: All those people who are not travelling in their own car need to be picked up at the airport/station when they arrive, and brought back when they leave.

Excursions

Outside activities: for all those activities which are going to be held more than 3 km away transport is needed. Busses are usually time consuming. It always takes time to load and unload the bus, usually about 30 minutes.

Emergency cases: one vehicle, big enough to carry an electric wheelchair should be always available for emergency cases.

3. COSTS AND SPONSORS

A summer exchange programme is quite expensive. When the organisation starts, a detailed budget with all possible expenditures should be written. At the same time you should start to look for possible income. When planning the economical side of a exchange programme remember:

What should organisation pay for ?

Accommodation
Food
Transport from/to airport or station
Excursions

What should participants pay for ?

The travel expenses from their own countries to the place where the exchange programme is going to be held. When applying for money from EC youth for Europe programme, you put the travel costs at both an incoming and an outgoing expense.

Special excursions, dinners or participation fees to practical workshops could be paid by the participants. Extra activities, which the participants pay for, should not be obligatory.

PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BE INFORMED IN ADVANCE OF ANY EXTRA EXPENSE THEY MIGHT INCUR

How to raise the money ?

T he most difficult part of the organisation is to look for a sponsor. Possible sponsors for EYO exchange programmes could be:

EC (European Community) funds: every year the EC sponsors youth projects involving groups formed by people coming from different EC countries.

National and local funds: for this you should be very well informed about all those organisations that could support your work.

NMD associations.

Private sponsors - for example factories, shops, transport companies

4. AFTER THE PROGRAMME

As we said, the main purpose of an EYO exchange programme is to stimulate young people with NMD to break their own isolation and to make contact with people from other countries. The final object is to promote integration and stimulate people to be active to build their own life (it seems too much, but it is not). For this, an exchange programme should not be an isolated event without any consequence.

People should be motivated to maintain contacts with the new friends and to not fall back into passivity.

How to reach that ?

A simple tool is the address list. Preferably during the programme or at the most one month after the end of the programme, the address list of the participants must be sent to all of them. This allows participants to keep in touch.

An exchange programme report should be made and sent to the sponsors, to all the sources of funding, and to the EYO newsletter.

The organisers should also send to the participants as much material as possible: the magazine, group photos, videos, workshop reports etc. This motivates participants to plan new activities.

Does it seem too optimistic ? Maybe, but 90% of EYO events were thought of and created after participating in one of this social activities.