På Global Conference i Nederland i august blei det utdelt æresprisar til medlemmer som har gjort ein ekstraordinær innsats over lengre tid. Trond Magnus Berg frå CISV Bergen blei tildelt Jennifer Watson Outstanding Contribution Award. Prisen er velfortent, og me er svært stolte over å ha verdas beste frivillig som medlem hos oss!
Utlysingstekst:
Jennifer Watson Outstanding Contribution Award: For Chapter, National or International volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the organization over a long period of time. We wish to thank volunteers who have shown outstanding commitment, who have inspired others and have created something unique either in their Chapter, NA, or at the International level. This award is named in memory of Jennifer Watson and her many years of outstanding contribution to CISV Great Britain and CISV International.
Nominasjonstekst:
Dear selection panel,
We would like to nominate Trond Magnus Berg, member of the chapter CISV Bergen, board member of the chapter CISV Hordaland, as a candidate for the Chapter Volunteer Award and the Dr. Jennifer Watson Award for Outstanding Contribution. Trond Magnus does to full extent fulfil the criteria for both awards.
Trond Magnus’ dedication to CISV started on a Village in Detroit in 1970. At the time not many children from Norway had gone to USA on holiday, and meeting the world on camp made a great impact on him. He later participated as a delegate, JC, leader and staff on numerous international programmes. He became a member of the board of CISV Bergen at young age, and quickly became an important contributor both to his chapter and to CISV Norway. Trond Magnus participated in his first reunion in 1980, and is still an active participant in DISV, where he travels the world to meet old CISV friends.
Chapters in Norway are in general divided by the borders of the national administrative counties and exist from the very north to the very south of the country. The west coast chapter of Hordaland is very special, not only in CISV Norway, but also in an international perspective. Within the chapter of Hordaland, there are 7 sovereign sub-chapters with their own boards, delegations and hosting plans. All of these chapters are founded on the dedication of Trond Magnus. He started this work in the early 80’s. He is currently working on establishing an 8th chapter within the same county. No chapter can be sustainable on the work of one man, but none of these chapters would have existed as they are today if it wasn’t for Trond Magnus. Due to him, the chapter of CISV Hordaland is represented in more than 1/3 of all the Villages worldwide this year. In 2018, CISV Hordaland with it’s sub-chapters hosts 1 Youth Meeting, 1 Village, 2 Step Ups, 2 Interchanges, participates with 17 delegations and 8 JCs to Village, 7 delegations to Step Up, 12 Youth Meeting and 10 Seminar Camp participants. If the numbers don’t impress you, bear in mind that Hordaland has a population of about 520.000 people within 15.400 square kilometres.
To make the sub-chapters sustainable and to divide a fair workload for the volunteers, Trond Magnus invented a hosting system: For each camp you host, you earn points. For each delegation you send, you spend points. This system motivated the chapters to engage in hosting, seeing that volunteering for CISV is what keeps the wheel going. The system was implemented in CISV Norway. Many years later, CISV International followed. The international system we know today, is similar to the hosting plan introduced years ago in CISV Hordaland by Trond Magnus.
Trond Magnus has not only contributed greatly at a local level, but also at the national. He has a strongly developed sense of justice, and has contributed to making CISV Norway an inclusive organization grounded on solidarity and a fair distribution of risks and benefits. An example of a great impact he has engineered, is an insurance fund in CISV Norway. This fund is designed to cover expenses that are not covered by conventional travel insurances, for example the costs of replacing a leader who gets sick during camp, thus providing economic security to the chapters. He has also contributed in developing a system with differentiated participation fees based on destination, making it possible for more families to participate, even though the camp is in a country far away.
Trond Magnus has a unique ability to inspire and support fellow volunteers. He is always positive to new ideas and to trying new ways of doing things, balancing this and his long experience in a way that is beneficial both at a local and national level. With all his wisdom and experience, Trond Magnus is a go-to-person for board members at all organizational levels in Norway: the sub-chapters of Hordaland, the other members of the board of CISV Hordaland, as well as members of the national board of CISV Norway.
The quality of the programs we host is equally important as the quantity. In the same way, the quality of the preparation of our delegations and leaders is crucial to maximize their experience at camp. Trond Magnus has taken part of designing and introducing national and local trainings for staffs and leaders.
He is also specially dedicated to junior work. As Norway includes juniors in boards on all levels instead of having a separate JB, Trond Magnus cares a lot about the voice of the juniors. Anyone who has a few years of experience in a board, will easily recognise the common mistakes made by a novice. When so, Trond Magnus will take the juniors side, saying: «How can we be certain they don’t succeed this time? And if they fail, it will still be a good learning experience that makes them grow both as individuals and in the organization. If the juniors believe in their initiative, I will vote for it!» His positive attitude, care and empathy for everybody around him is of great inspiration to everybody who works with him.
Trond Magnus still lives his memories from his first Village in 1970. He has a heartfelt wish that as many children as possible should get the same experience. He has a kind spirit, and is a true protector of the weak. On occasion small chapters in Norway struggle due to changes in hosting plans, and consequently lack of points. At those times, Trond Magnus will always advocate for sharing the workload between bigger chapters and offer points from Hordaland. In doing so, he enables the chapters to get back on their feet, and contributes to a stronger NA. He uses the same philosophy between the sub-chapters of Hordaland. When the smaller ones go down, the bigger ones step up. Through cooperation and dialogue, he ensures that sub-chapters stay sustainable, even through hard times.
And not the least: Trond Magnus is great fun! His stories from previous CISV years when a delegation took the train through Europe (without mobiles or internet) to arrive only after camp was over, or when he staffed a Village in Eastern Europe and had to bring his own toilet paper, can never be heard too many times. It is not coincidentally he returns to leaders training in Hordaland every year to give an inspirational speech. Trond Magnus will be present at Global Conference in the Netherlands, don’t miss the chance to make him do the energizer he once learned from his Italian friend about the prince and the dragon.
We believe Trond Magnus is a worthy recipient of both the Chapter Volunteer Award and the Dr. Jennifer Watson Award for Outstanding Contribution. Without Trond Magnus’ enthusiasm, strategic thinking, and dedication to CISV through many years, neither CISV Hordaland nor CISV Norway would have been where we are today.
On behalf of CISV Hordaland and the sub-chapters CISV Askøy, CISV Bergen, CISV Nordhordland, CISV Os, CISV Sotra/Øygarden, CISV Sunnhordland and CISV Voss,
Eirin Krüger Skaftun
President CISV Hordaland 2015-2017
Jostein Sydnes
Chair of National Organisational Development Committee
President CISV Norway 2009-2013
Inger Berit Hagen
President CISV Hordaland 2008-2015
