The role of ASEFUAN members
What is the concrete role of ASEFUAN members in organizing Culture Capsule?
ASEFUAN members who get involved in the Culture Capsule project only wish to be rewarded with the smile of young students taking part in a cultural exchange program. They look for an interested class in the country they come from or where they reside, and communicate with fellow ASEFUAN members to find a potential partner class abroad. In this research process, the age of the students as well as the language they study will be considered. Close personal friendships that have been established during ASEF Universities are a great asset in this respect. ASEFUAN members contact schools and teachers, explain what Culture Capsule is about and promote the project. Moreover, our website offers to those schools interested in joining a Culture Capsule the possibility to apply online as a potential ASEFUAN partner, as well as the possibility to look for a counterpart in the list of schools that have already registered.
Once two partner classes will have been found, a local ASEFUAN member shall come to the classroom and present the project and the partner school's country to the students. The local ASEFUAN member should be informed of what students intend to include in the parcel so that he can transmit relevant information to its fellow ASEFUAN member in the partner class's country. He/she will come back to the classroom once the parcel has arrived to be there for its opening and provide explanations on certain items.
In some cases, no ASEFUAN members may live close to the place where the partner class is situated. Yet, representants (friends, relatives) of ASEFUAN members can be sent to help partner classes; also, permanent contact can be established between ASEFUAN members and teachers through emails and letters. Although it would be best to have an ASEFUAN member come to the classroom and explain Culture Capsule, we hope “logistic” difficulties will not deter some classes to take part in such a rewarding activity. Help from the school staff will not only be greatly appreciated, but is necessary to the success of Culture Capsule.