As the city prepares to play host to the international bio-diversity COP-11, billed as one of the biggest events in these parts, the A.P. National Green Corps (APNGC) has taken up the exercise of shaping a volunteer base.
Apart from teachers and other volunteers, the NGC is in the process of identifying and training around 2,000 university students in various aspects to be able to guide and assist the large number of foreign delegates who will arrive here. Scheduled in the month of October, the event is expected to receive more than 8,000 delegates from 192 countries.
Drawn from various colleges, these students are being exposed to a host of issues such as foreign and bio-diversity policies of different nations, UN approach on the subject and also basic language and etiquette of the participating countries. Experts in related fields too have been roped in to impart necessary orientation.
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Student volunteers are being introduced to basics of different languages to ensure that they can interact with delegates more comfortably. “We are looking at orienting them with at least 150 basic words of a foreign language to be able to greet, enquire and guide a delegate,” said W.G. Prasanna Kumar, Director, APNGC.
Languages to be covered include Arabic, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Portuguese. A control room is to be set up at Madhapur from where teachers, who are also undergoing training, will guide and coordinate with the volunteers.
The volunteer force is being drawn from students of medicine, law, engineering and even some from the agriculture university have been drafted in.
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