The Foundation for Advancement of Moldova Announces a Competition to Select 40 Teenagers for an Intercultural Exchange in Trogen, Switzerland

/08 Oct 2025

April 30, 2024 – The Foundation for Advancement of Moldova (FAM), with the support of the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation (Switzerland), announces a competition to select 40 teenagers to participate in an intercultural exchange that will take place in the Children’s Village, Trogen, Switzerland, from September 4 to 18, 2024. This activity is part of the project “Educational and Psycho-Social Inclusion of Migrant Children,” Phase 2. Participants will be involved in non-formal education activities together with other young people from countries where projects supported by the Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation are implemented (Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Poland, or Ukraine).

Eligibility Criteria

You can participate if you:

Were born in the years 2009 – 2010;
Have a biometric passport valid at least until April 2025;
Are captivated by the topic of interculturality;
Are ready to share the acquired knowledge upon return: to organize a follow-up activity for your schoolmates, friends, etc.
Your parents are able to partially cover the round-trip transportation costs Switzerland – Moldova.
Have a satisfactory level of communication in English (all activities will be held in English).

NOTE: If you do not attend one of the project’s partner schools, you will have to organize an additional follow-up activity (online format) for students from our project’s partner schools.

Selection Advantages

You have a higher chance of being selected if you:

Actively participate in school life, are a volunteer or an active member of the School Council or a Youth Center, Local Council of Students/Youth in your locality, etc.
Represent an ethnic minority group or have parents working abroad (migrants);
Have participated in activities organized within the project “Educational and Psycho-Social Inclusion of Migrant Children” in one of the 15 partner schools.

Selection Process

The selection process will have 2 stages:

Stage 1: Application Submission

Candidates must send the following to the email address victoria.barbulat@fam.md:

A motivation letter in English: explaining why they consider themselves the right candidates to be selected for the intercultural program (maximum one A4 page);
A copy of the biometric passport;
Complete the online participation form (link to the questionnaire is available in the original announcement).

In addition to the information candidates wish to include in the letter, they must answer the following questions:

What do they know about the Intercultural Exchange Program in the Trogen Children’s Village, Switzerland?
If they are/have been involved in the project activities implemented at their school (in case the school is an FDM partner).
Why they want to participate in the Intercultural Exchange Program.

Stage 2: Online Interview

Pre-selected candidates will be invited to participate in an online interview.

Financial Contribution and Costs Covered

Participants will be required to pay a contribution of 8000 MDL, which will be used for the partial coverage of the transport costs Chișinău – Trogen – Chișinău (round-trip), and accommodation during transit (1 night in Budapest and 1 night in Vienna). The Foundation reserves the right to adjust the contribution per child, depending on the carriers’ costs in September 2024.

The organizers will cover the educational program, accommodation, and meals for the participants during their stay in Trogen, Switzerland.

Estimated Timeline

Activity	Estimated Period
Application Deadline	June 16, 2024
Online Interviews	June 24 – July 22, 2024
Physical Meeting in Chișinău (for selected children and parents)	End of July 2024
Departure for Trogen	September 1
Return to Country	September 20-21

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We await candidates’ applications until June 16, 2024, at the email address victoria.barbulat@fam.md. Contact person: Victoria Barbulat, mobile phone: 069998748.