SCI-DE is the German national branch of SCI (Service Civil International) which is one of the oldest peace and volunteering organisations in the world (non-profit, non-governmental)

SCI was founded after WW I by the Swiss pacifists Pierre Ceresole and Helen Monastiere. One of the first projects was the rebuilding of a destroyed French village close to Verdun which took place with the involvement of volunteers from the former adversarial states France and Germany. This proved to be trendsetting for the peace making work of SCI.

In the mean time SCI is present in more than 35 states in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. Furthermore SCI cooperates with partner organisations in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America.

You’ll get to know more about the international network of the SCI branches here (www.sciint.org).

Deeds and Words

SCI as a peace organisation worked for a long time theme "Deeds not words" which had an impact on the way of organising the workcamps. Throughout there were long-term assignments in regions which had been destroyed by natural disasters and/or wars. During the 1960s SCI slowly changed and became the SCI we know today. The workcamps became shorter (2-3 weeks). They dealt with social problems more often and they wanted to cooperate with other NGOs. Thus it came to a stronger socio-political dimension of SCI work. The motto long has changed to  "Deeds and Words".

Main Forms & Fields of Activity

Each year SCI-D organizes around 65 international workcamps in Germany. The main fields of activity are: 

• work in remembrance centres for victims of fascism and racism
• peace projects
• social & cultural projects
• ecological projects
• poverty and homelessness
• solidarity projects with developing countries

East-West Cooperation

SCI organized the first exchanges with partners in Eastern Europe in 1955 during the time of the Cold War. Together with only a few other Ngos, SCI played a pioneering role in breaking down the enemy images that divided people in East and West. Since the fall of the Berlin wall, SCI has always been very active in supporting the development & growth of new voluntary service organizations in Eastern Europe, offering its experience, expertise, volunteers and material support. At the same time, SCI has been enriched by new member organisations from Central & Eastern Europe who decided to join the international movement. Today we cooperate with & support more than thirty different organisations in Central Europe and throughout the former Soviet Union. During the past decade SCI has exchanged several thousand volunteers for short-term workcamps, as well as several hundreds for long-term voluntary services. We have also been main coordinator for several long-term educational projects supported by the EU TACIS programme.

Our involvement in YTNF long-term project is therefore a logical progression of this long tradition and priority of our work.

 Contact:

SCI Deutscher Zweig e.V.
Blücherstr. 14
53115 Bonn
Germany
Telephone: +49 228 212086