- Volunteers have always been the Foundation of GCIV -
June 29, 2011
This blog post continues our retrospective, compiled in 1998 by former GCIV executive director Anne Hansen. Please be a part of our 50th anniversary celebration in 2012 by leaving comments about your GCIV memories, reasons for hosting, and beliefs about the impact of our shared work.
The unique aspect of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is that the community groups are volunteer-based and locally funded and managed. The concept of the program from the beginning was to have local citizens who best knew their own communities and resources to set up the appointments for the visitors. Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk said at the 1965 COSERV Conference, “For one thing, the government simply can’t do what you are doing. We can’t render that kind of individual, sensitive and personalized service such as you can and do render in your own communities. This voluntary spirit is of course a keystone in the understanding which other people may have of us, an asset beyond price in this total world situation.”
Mongolian visitor, Mr. Bold Sanduijav, volunteering for Hands on Atlanta Day at Centennial Olympic Park.
International visitors are constantly amazed by the widespread use of volunteers in the United States and GCIV attempts to build a volunteer experience into a visitor’s program whenever possible. The visitors have helped in soup kitchens, cleaned up yards for the elderly, delivered meals on wheels to AIDS patients and helped build Habitat for Humanity houses. The international visitors are also amazed and initially suspicious that our GCIV volunteers, known as “citizen diplomats,” do all of this voluntarily just for the opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss a wide range of topics with their visitors.
Some wonderful anecdotes have been passed down through the years by volunteers. Eve Silver recalls accompanying a visitor from Africa to his many appointments and at the end of the day taking him to visit the Atlanta Zoo because he was so homesick for his native land and the animals there.
Hans von Spakovsky says that he especially enjoyed his meetings with election officials from newly-freed countries and sharing with them his experiences as a member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections.
Lorraine Carribean told us, “I have had the good fortune of having visitors at my dining room table sharing their lives and their countries. I have had arguments and shared laughs with Great Decision members, and I have had the great opportunity to become a better more informed citizen through pizza and beer with fellows from here and abroad.”
Peggy Helm, a Delta Air Lines flight attendant and former Spanish teacher who also speaks French, talks about one of her most memorable visitor experiences. “I hosted a Japanese gentleman, the director of Japan’s largest newspaper, on a tour of Atlanta. You should have seen the puzzled looks on people’s faces as they heard us conversing in French as his English was hard to understand.” She has had the opportunity to visit many of her international guests in Brussels, Paris and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Dieter and Chris Franz had the wonderful experience of taking the Queen of Lesotho to an Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performance and then backstage afterwards to meet Robert Shaw and the guest violinist.
What is your favorite experience with a GCIV delegation or IVLP participant? Feel free to share stories or photos.
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Our Mission & Vision
GCIV builds understanding and cooperation between the people of our state and the world. Our vision is that every Georgia citizen has the opportunity to become more globally engaged.
Upcoming Events & Delegations
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/26/2012: Libyan Delegation
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/26/2012: South African Delegation
- Wed 2/22/2012 - 2/25/2012: Greek Delegation
- Fri 2/24/2012: International Dining Experience