`Beautiful, kind, a people at one with the world and with themselves." That's how Michele Sheehan, a University of Dundee student from Tralee, Co Kerry, describes the people of Ghana. "They're always ready to give, always willing to help," she says. "They never seem wrapped up in their own preoccupations, but instead are always conscious of the beauty surrounding them and appreciative of what little they have."

Last summer, Sheehan was able to spend time in Ghana getting to know the local people thanks to a scholarship organised by the Cork-based EIL - Educational and Cultural Travel. EIL (originally Experiment in International Living) - which was founded in the 1930s in the US - claims to be the oldest educational exchange organisation in the world.

During her stay in Ghana, Sheehan spent a week in the capital Accra, 10 days with a host family in Kumasi, helped to dig foundations for a health clinic and explored the south coast, staying in luxury hotels.

Every year, EIL offers scholarships to young people to give them the chance to visit far-off lands, meet the people and get to grips with foreign cultures. It's not all play, though. There's an element of community service attached to most scholarships.

This year, EIL is offering a total of seven all-expenses-paid trips to Turkey, Japan, Ecuador, Mexico, Ghana, Canada and Chile. Scholarships include return flights from Ireland, home-stays with local families and visits to places of interest, as well as pre-travel medical expenses of up to £100.

Age limits for the scholarships vary. In the case of Japan and Ecuador, only 16 to 18-year-olds need apply. To qualify for Mexico, Ghana and Turkey, you have to be aged between 16 and 22 years; Canada is looking for 17- to 20year-olds, while there are no age restriction on applications for the Chilean scholarship.

To get shortlisted for the scholarships and hence be invited to interview, you're required to complete a task, which usually means writing an essay. This year, tasks include making a presentation about Ireland for a Japanese school; essays on why you'd like to visit Ecuador; on your key priorities as Irish ambassador to Mexico/Turkey; on how we could build bridges between young people in Ireland and Ghana; and on five things you would bring to Canada and why. In the case of Chile, applicants are invited to write an essay on innovative ways of getting Transition Year students interested in Chile.

According to Kevin Hickey, director of EIL, the selection interview is rigorous. "The criteria varies from scholarship to scholarship, depending on the level of independence required," he says. In most cases, people join multinational groups, which boast full-time group leaders. In Japan and Canada, though, scholarship-holders travel independently. They do, however, avail of good support networks.

Japan is the most popular destination for Irish youngsters, according to Hickey. Last year, this scholarship received up to 80 applications, he says.

Anna Madden, a pupil at Loreto College, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, was the lucky recipient of the Japanese scholarship, last year. "I had an amazing time," she recalls. "The families with whom I stayed welcomed me wholeheartedly into their homes and their lives. They shared their way of life and culture with me by talking to me, taking me places and showing me things. Speaking different languages and using different gestures to express the same things was never a barrier to communication."

Madden was impressed with the punctuality of the local train service and the lack of crime and litter. However, "it's the people I met during my stay in Japan that I remember above all else, and I remember them with fondness," she says.

Ivan Crowley, a pupil at St Mary's Secondary School, Tralee, Co Kerry, joined a group of students from Japan, Mexico, US and England in Turkey. He enjoyed his two weeks' home-stay with an Istanbul family and got a thrill out of working on the group's community service project. They worked on the construction of a basketball court, helped farmers in the fields and built a cemetery wall. "It was hard work," he says, "but immensely satisfying and fulfilling to see the appreciation of the village when, on our final day, everyone came out to say farewell.

"The scholarship gave me the chance to gain valuable insights into another culture, to meet new people from all walks of life and see myself working as part of an international group." What more could you ask?

Contact:

for further details contact: Kevin Hickey/Ita Harris (tel: 021 4551535; www.eilireland.org). Note that the application requires you to clip an EL logo from the supplement.