08 November 2002
	Aisec BENEFITS OF GLOBAL EXCHANGE By Ethel Hazelhurst

Ricardo Madahave (21) is not planning to leave Cida City Campus. His career, he says, will have to be within Cida. Madahave, from Pietermaritzburg, is Cida's representative at Aisec. Aisec, the world's largest student organisation, is a global network of 50 000 members, across more than 83 countries and territories, at more than 800 universities worldwide. Its aim is to develop individuals and communities through global exchange. It organises international working experiences to help people of different cultures understand each other. "A few months back, Aisec moved its SA national office to Cida," says Madahave. "They chose Cida because of its values," he says. Madahave attended the recent world summit, in Johannesburg, as one of 45 Aisec delegates from 15 countries. "We networked, got to know each other and met important people. And I brought them to Cida where we had set up a global village." He believes education is critical to environmental issues. "If you educate people about the environment and health, if people knew what to do, there wouldn't be all this pollution." Madahave particularly values Cida's holistic approach to education and the opportunity to be trained in transcendental meditation, which is part of the Cida programme.