The Volunteer Summer Summit, which was held for the first time in France last year, was held this year at the Legend Hotel in İstanbul's Polonezköy village, a synthesis of Polish and Turkish cultures. The main theme of this year's summit, which began July 30 and ends today, was “The Role of Innovation and Creativity in Intercultural Exchanges.” Volunteers participated in various Turkish arts activities during the summit, which brought together a large number of volunteers to reflect upon the challenges and opportunities brought about by the changing needs of new generations of volunteers and youth exchange program participants.Volunteers had the chance to learn Turkish arts such as ebru, Turkish paper marbling; çini, the art of making glazed ceramic tile; and glassblowing. Participants who tried ebru said they will use the ebru works they created to decorate the cover of a book they will prepare based on their impressions of Polonezköy and interviews they conducted with locals.
Volunteers also donated toys they had brought from their home countries to Turkish orphanages.
Some volunteers took photos in Polonezköy accompanied by instructors from the İstanbul Amateur Photographers and Cinematographers Association (İFSAK). Speaking at a dinner organized on Sunday, TKV Chairman Sinan Çilesiz said he hopes the summit, which hosted 250 AFS volunteers this year, contributes to permanent peace in the world, which is the ultimate aim of AFS in enabling intercultural communication. The secretary-general of EFIL also attended the dinner and shared his experiences with the volunteers.
