Swiss Review 4/2021

Swiss Review / August 2021 / No.4 34 A holistic approach to camp leadership The young leading the young – a normal sight at most Swiss children’s and youth holiday camps. And the reason why young people in Switzerland receive training specifically dedicated to preparing them for camp leadership. MIREI LLE GUGGENBÜHLER Hundreds of campfires are lit every evening across Switzerland be- tween July andAugust during the summer holiday camp season, when numerous children’s and youth organisations host tent, biking and hiking camps or organise group accommodation. One such camp pro- vider is the Youth Service of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), whose camps are geared to providing teenagers and young adults from the “Fifth Switzerland” aged 15 or older with an unforget- table holiday in their “other” home country and an opportunity to strengthen their ties to Switzerland. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Young Swiss Abroad (FYSA) runs nine camps each year for children aged eight to 14. The aim of these camps is to enable Swiss children living abroad to experience their native country for the first time or to get to know it better, offering them the chance to visit the sights, explore lakes, mountains, rivers and other scenery, go on short hikes, play games, take part in sport and do handicrafts and drawings. Thanks to the OSA Youth Service and the FYSA, around 400 chil- dren, teenagers and young adults are able to visit Switzerland each year. Holiday camps help to promote sport This holiday selection for young people from the “Fifth Switzerland” belongs to a whole array of Swiss holiday camps that are simultane- ously a part of Youth and Sport (Y+S) – the federal government’s big- gest national scheme to promote sport and physical exercise. Each year, some 80,000 sports courses and dedicated camps take placewith around 637,000 child and youth participants. The Confederation and cantons provide training to prospective Y+S leaders in various sports for the purpose of managing camps. Leaders in children’s and youth organisations such as the Swiss Guide and ScoutMovement receive leadership training in the “Camp Sports/ Trekking” category. FYSA and OSA Youth Service leaders have often done this training already, because they are involved in other such or- ganisations. The FYSA also offers a Y+S leadership training course every year to those who have not yet completed one, in collaboration with the OSA Youth Service. During their training, prospective camp leaders complete various stages inwhich they gradually take onmore responsibility. They learn how to plan and carry out activities, and how to interact with and in- struct children and young people to create memorable experiences for them. In particular, they are trained in how to conduct outdoor ac- tivities and taught about the relevant safety precautions. “When we train them, we teach them how to minimise risk and how to respondwhen even the best preparations go awry,” saysMarco Gyger, the “Camp Sports/Trekking” training course coordinator at the Federal Office of Sport. A special type of sport “Camp sports and trekking is a special type of sport of which I am proud. This is because sporting performance is not the priority. We followa holistic approach instead,” says Gyger. Intellectual, moral and physical well-being count equally. Incidentally, there is no shortage of new people wanting to teach this sport. Thanks toword of mouth, the FYSA and the OSAYouth Ser- vice find sufficient numbers of staff each year. These includemanywho are already actively involved in youth organisations as camp leaders and have therefore done the requisite training. To be camp leaders, they must be aged between 18 and 30 and go through an application process. Three quarters of those who are male do it as part of their ci- vilian service. Many camp leaders are students at teacher-training university who will later enter the education profession. educationsuisse Tel. +41 31 356 61 04 Fax +41 31 356 61 01 info@educationsuisse.ch www.educationsuisse.ch Organisation of the Swiss Abroad Alpenstrasse 26 CH-3006 Berne Tel. +41 31 356 61 00 Fax +41 31 356 61 01 info@s wisscommunity.org www.revue.ch www.swisscommunity.org Our partners: Foundation for Young Swiss Abroad Tel. +41 31 356 61 16 Fax +41 31 356 61 01 info@sjas www.sjas.ch