Campfire Programs designed and implemented by Global Nomads Group (GNG) - connects students in classrooms from different parts of the world in an online virtual exchange experience that guides them to explore identity, challenge stereotypes, and create personal stories to share with their global peers. Global Nomads Group provides
- Online and in-person facilitator / educator training;
- Standards-aligned curricula;
- Access to a private secure online platform; and
- Dedicated staff support
Participating Youth generally spend between 12-15 hours over several weeks engaging in online virtual exchange activities - depending on how the facilitator/educator schedules the programming. Over half of the participating classrooms are in the MENA region including Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. Yassin, a GNG Campfire’s participant from Morocco recently shared his thoughts about participating in the Campfire program:
I learned about Global Nomads Group’s program from one of my favorite teachers at school, Mr. Mahfoud. We all sat together to tell stories and get to know one another. Once we got started, I had endless questions to ask my peers! I was connected with a girl named Rebecca living in New York. At first I asked about Halloween and Easter and she asked me about my religion and our music. We realized that the media had been giving us a bad and limited story about each other’s cultures and lives. I was expecting there to be a big difference between us — but in reality, we are more similar than not.
During the whole experience, we improved our learning, listening, and storytelling skills. I learned how to ask clarifying questions, how to listen to others, and how to tell stories, which is not easy. Sharing stories about myself made me feel grateful and happy. The idea that someone else might have benefited from hearing my story was really awesome! I started understanding more about others, too: about their feelings, what they wanted to express, and that each person has a special way you can connect with them.
I am very grateful to Global Nomads Group for giving me the space to get information and share it too. As a global citizen, you have your own rights and responsibilities: one of your rights is to tell others about your culture, and one of your responsibilities is to listen to others and respect their cultures.
Driven by a profound respect for young people and their power to change the world - a world that seems more factionalized and fractured than ever – Global Nomads Group will expand its reach to engage disconnected youth everywhere in meaningful dialogue across distance and lines of difference.
About Global Nomads
Global Nomads Group is an international nonprofit that fosters dialogue and understanding among the world’s youth. Bridging cultural gaps and shattering misconceptions, Global Nomads Group works at the intersection of education, cultural exchange, and conflict resolution. Since 1998, it has reached approximately 1 million young people, on all 7 continents.
Global Nomads Approach
Using innovative technology, interactive curricula, and youth-centered online communities, Global Nomads provides young people access to the world through meaningful dialogue. Via storytelling, teens are able to build empathy and dispel misconceptions about the people and places they often only learn about in the media. Through its virtual exchange programs, Global Nomads Group is preparing the next generation of youth to be engaged global citizens capable of navigating the increasingly interconnected and changing world.
This document was produced by Global Nomads Group, August, 2019.