International Cultural Youth Exchange 70th Anniversary - Volunteering Experience Abroad 2019 (Fully Funded Volunteer in Indonesia and Colombia)

In celebration of our 70th Anniversary, ICYE is happy to announce a short story writing competition: Tell a Life-Changing ICYE Tale opens for submissions from 1st May – 15th July 2019.

Up for grabs are two awards:

The first award category is open to ICYE alumni and calls for short stories narrating unique, moving, humorous or life-changing volunteering experience through ICYE. The winner will be invited to attend ICYE’s 70th anniversary celebrations at its 31st General Assembly in Vietnam in November 2019.

The second award category is open to the general public and calls for short stories that narrate a fictional experience of volunteering in a country abroad: Imagine you have or are volunteering in Colombia or in Indonesia and narrate a life-changing fictional story of your experience during this time. The winner will be offered an all-expense paid four-week volunteering experience in Colombia hosted by ICYE Colombia or in Indonesia hosted by Dejavato Foundation – ICYE Indonesia.

Joint us on whatsapp, telegram, LINE

Benefit:

First Award Category: The winner will be invited to participate in ICYE’s anniversary celebrations at its 31st General Assembly in Vietnam in November 2019 (see Rules below for more details).
Second Award Category: The winner will be offered a free ticket and all-expense paid four-week volunteering experience in Colombia or Indonesia in 2020 (see Rules below for more details). If the short story of the winner is set in Colombia, the winner will have the chance to volunteer for four weeks in Colombia. If the short story is set in Indonesia, the winner will be able to volunteer for four weeks in Indonesia.
Runners Up:
Two runners up of both award categories will receive a 70th anniversary bag and T-shirt.

Rules/Requirement:

Closing date for receipt of entries is 15th July 2019 at midnight Berlin time.
Entrants must be 18 years old or over on the closing date, 15th July 2019.
The maximum length of entries is 500 words (without the title and 2-line summary). There is no minimum length.
The competition is open to all. There is no geographical restriction on entry, but all entries must be in English or must be submitted together with a good English translation.
Only one short story per author will be accepted for both categories. Those submitting articles for one award category cannot apply for the other award category. If more than one submission is received from one author, the first submission will be accepted for the competition.
Entries must be the work of a sole author; no co-authored texts will be accepted.
Entries will not be returned. Please keep a copy. No corrections or alterations can be made to your submission after receipt of the entry, although the winning and runner-up entries will be subject to editing before final online publication.
Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and should never have been previously published, either in print or online (this includes self-published work, eBooks, magazines, journals, websites, blogs, social networking sites), or broadcast or won a prize in another writing competition on or before 15th July 2019. Any entry found guilty of plagiarism will be disqualified. Simultaneous submissions are welcome – but please let us know as soon as possible if your submission is to be published elsewhere in print or online.
Entries will be read and judged anonymously. The entrant’s name and contact details should only appear in the entry email and not anywhere on their short story. The short story must be free of all personal information about the author, i.e. email address, contact details, etc.
Entries will be acknowledged by email. If an entrant does not receive an email acknowledgement, they are very welcome to contact icye@icye.org to confirm that their entry has been received. Contact via email is the preferred mode of communication.
No entrant to Tell a Life-Changing ICYE Tale: Short Story Writing Competition may win more than one award. The judges’ decision and public voting will decide the winners and no discussion or individual communication will be entered into.
By submitting, entrants agree that if they are shortlisted for either category, their entries will be published on the ICYE website and shared on Facebook in English with the summary of their short story and a photograph. Authors will retain worldwide copyright of their work (including film and dramatic rights) but ICYE has first publication rights to publish the shortlisted stories. The shortlisted stories must not have been previously published, in print or online (including self-published, eBook, magazines, journals, websites, blogs, social networking sites), or broadcast or have won a prize in another writing competition on or before 15th July 2019.
The winner of the first category (ICYE alumni) must be able to participate in the 70th anniversary celebrations at the ICYE General Assembly in Vietnam in November 2019 on the specified dates. Dates are not transferrable and no cash alternative is offered. At the 70th anniversary celebration, the winner will be required to read the winning short-story. The winner will also have the opportunity to participate in a four-day field trip to visit host projects in Vietnam. The ICYE Federation will cover expenses including the international flight ticket, board and lodging, and insurance for the specified dates (maximum two days) of the 70th anniversary celebration. Volunteers for Peace Vietnam – ICYE Vietnam will cover expenses related to board, lodging and local transport costs for the field trip (maximum four-days). The winner will have to bear the cost of the visa for Vietnam. In the event that the winner cannot participate in the 70th anniversary celebrations, the title of winner and the respective award will pass to the first runner up, and so on.
The winner of the second category will be offered a four-week all expenses paid volunteering experience in Colombia or Indonesia in 2020. The four-week experience can only be used during 2020 and no cash alternative is offered. The volunteering country (whether Colombia or Indonesia) will depend on which country the winning short story is set in. The ICYE Federation will cover the international flight and insurance costs for the four-week volunteering period. ICYE Colombia or as the case may be Dejavato Foundation – ICYE Indonesia will cover hosting costs: all board and lodging and local transport costs for the duration of four weeks. In the event that the winner cannot undertake the four-week volunteering opportunity, the title of winner and the respective award will pass to the first runner up, and so on.
The winner of the second category (open to the public) will be required to write a blog or article for the ICYE Federation newsletter on the four-week volunteering experience.
Results of the competition will be announced on the ICYE Federation website and its Facebook page on 6th September 2019.
Entrants wishing to withdraw their entry from the competition may do so at any time prior to the closing date 15th July 2019.

How to Apply:

Entries to the competition should be sent by email attachment to icye@icye.org. The subject line of your email must contain the title of the competition and specify the award category: “A Life-Changing ICYE Tale – First Award Category” or “A Life-Changing ICYE Tale – Second Award Category”.
Entries should be attached to the email as Word document or PDF. They should be no longer than an A4 page (500 words maximum, single spacing, font size 12).
Entries should have a title and should be sent with a two-line summary, as well as at least one photograph of the entrant.
Entries to the First Award Category for ICYE alumni should include a photograph of the entrant from her/his time volunteering to accompany the short story and a photograph of the entrant today.
Entries must be submitted in English or along with a good English translation.
The entrant’s name and contact details should only appear in the entry email and nowhere on their short story page.