Service Civil International
Service Civil International (SCI) is one of the world's largest international volunteering organisations dedicated to promoting a culture of peace through the organisation and coordination of voluntary projects all over the world. SCI has been organising international voluntary projects since 1920.
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SCI Archives
The historical archives of SCI in the Bibliothèque de la Ville La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland) provides an extensive documentation on international volunteering for peace.
News
Posted by Heinz Gabathuler on Jan 16, 2017
When I looked for some printed SCI materials from the 1980s, I randomly encountered these old leaflets issued by the International Secretariat of SCI, explaining SCI's Origins & Aims, how SCI works (completely unsurprising is the list of activities, and their order of appearance: Workcamps, Local Groups, Educational Activities, Long Term Projects), and listing the addresses of all branches / groups and international co-ordinating structures. My pre-predecessor Ralph Hegnauer had noted the respective year of the issuing on each of the leaflets, so there should be no doubt about that.
The ones that date back from the time when the IS was located in Canterbury, England, it was before 1986, had been issued in both English and French. The one from 1988, "printed at Naubharath Enterprises" (apparently in Bangalore, India), is in English only.
Posted by Heinz Gabathuler on Dec 29, 2016
I found this poster only recently, when I was looking for material on the solidarity campaign with SWAPO and Namibia which had been coordinated by SEED. The abbreviation stands for Solidarity Exchanges Education Development - SCI's former North South commission based at the then European Secretariat in Antwerpen. It was a veteran who had been involved in SCI at that time, and in this campaign particularly, and who had asked whether there was some extra material that could be let to him.
Posted by Heinz Gabathuler on Oct 17, 2016
In one of the many boxes I got from the IS two years ago, I found this sober sheet of paper in DIN A3 format, containing a diagram that shows all relevant international bodies of SCI in handdrawn rectangles and their relations in various lines, also drawn by hand.
Posted by Heinz Gabathuler on Sep 23, 2016
The first Wednesday in September every year is the moment when volunteers gather at the SCI Switzerland office in Bern for packing the freshly printed small booklets called 'Agenda' (pocket calendars, or diaries, or planners, indeed) which are then mailed to all members of the Swiss branch as well as to some subscribers who live abroad. And later in spring, Swiss delegates carry dozens of these booklets to international meetings in order to sell them to other branches.
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Posted by Heinz Gabathuler on Jul 12, 2016
"If the number of displaced people in the world is swelling as they are forced to run from civil war, oppression or plain poverty, the response should not be to reinforce the walls of the rich-world fortress."
This sounds like a statement to the recent so-called "refugee crisis" in Europe. In fact, it is a quote from a 20-year-old document, edited by SEED – the Solidarity, Exchange & Education for Development, or simply the North-South Commission of SCI International.