Mission
Each village focuses on immersion in both the language and the culture(s) of its target. Counselors speak the target language from waking up to going to sleep, with the help of many communicative techniques designed to reduce frustration on the part of the villagers; villagers are encouraged to use as much of the target language as they can produce. By the end of the summer, even villagers with no previous encounters with the language remark on how much they are able to understand.
CLV also aims to develop cultural awareness. Everything from the meals to the crafts to the games is tailored to the target culture(s). Village programs are designed to cast light on the cultures in question, as well as the diversity of cultures around the world, and can take on inter-village meaning in everything from "World Cup" soccer matches between nearby villages to simulating the European Union deliberating on an issue. Additionally, at CLV villagers are able to live with, play with, work with, and get to know foreign native speakers. CLV also sponsors a "International Day" twice yearly; it is free and open to the public and aims to foster further global awareness.
Strong environmental goals encompass all aspects of the program, from recycling, waste reduction, water management, encouragement for campers to bring biodegradable toiletries, alternative energy sources like solar and geothermal power are implemented on the permanent site. The new Waldsee "BioHaus", the first certified passive house in North America, is a testament to these goals. The villages also have a relatively high vegetarian and vegan ratio, to which they cater.
Read more about this topic: Sen Lin Hu
Famous quotes containing the word mission:
“We never can tell how our lives may work to the account of the general good, and we are not wise enough to know if we have fulfilled our mission or not.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“... [a] girl one day flared out and told the principal “the only mission opening before a girl in his school was to marry one of those candidates [for the ministry].” He said he didn’t know but it was. And when at last that same girl announced her desire and intention to go to college it was received with about the same incredulity and dismay as if a brass button on one of those candidate’s coats had propounded a new method for squaring the circle or trisecting the arc.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)
“Man is eminently a storyteller. His search for a purpose, a cause, an ideal, a mission and the like is largely a search for a plot and a pattern in the development of his life story—a story that is basically without meaning or pattern.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)