-Testimonials of Citizen Diplomacy-
January 31, 2012
We at GCIV believe in the power of citizen diplomacy and the results of building relationships between the members of our community and future leaders from around the world. There is no greater evidence than the testimonials by our members and our exchange participants. These are guest blog posts that we wanted to share.
Sucheta Rawal, a GCIV volunteer home stay host dedicated a post on her food and travel blog, Go Eat Give, to her experience in December hosting a Russian visitor participating in an Open World program.
Russian Open World delegation with volunteer home host Sucheta Rawal.
“Last week a delegation from Russia came to Atlanta to discuss social issues and healthcare through the Open World Leadership Program. The six delegates were hosted with families who have opened up their homes by being members of the Georgia Council for International Visitors (GCIV).
Mariya Yuryevna Solodunova, a young lady from Saint Petersburg was assigned to live with us for a week. She is a child psychologist who works in an orphanage providing counseling to children, parents and the care takers. Having volunteered in an orphanage in Yaroslavl, Russia a couple of years ago, I was eager to learn more about what she did. Mariya (pronounced Marsha) is absolutely passionate about her work. She told me about how cutting edge her orphanage was and how her team has been on a mission to replicate its model in other places. Basically, they hired mothers to work as caretakers with the orphan babies between the age of 0-4, a delicate age when they are most in need of emotional and physical care. This has completely changed the children’s psychological behavior leading them to grow up to be healthy kids.
Mariya and I had a wonderful time together. This was her first visit to the U.S. Even though we live across the world from each other, we found we have a lot of similarities and could converse on practically any subject (even though Mariya said her English was limited which I disagreed with). One evening we had a girl’s day in and cooked pirogues (Russian stuffed bread), drank wine and shared stories. Needless to say I got to learn a lot about Russian traditions. Did you know that Christmas in not celebrated on December 25 in Russia? Also, they do not put presents under the tree until Christmas Eve and the children actually have to earn them by doing a performance or a recital.
One thing Mariya shared with me brought about a self awakening. She said that in Russia people are generally cautious about their belongings and their privacy, and would not leave their home open to a complete stranger. The fact that I gave her a key to my home after only a few hours of knowing her surprised her that I would trust someone so much so soon. I explained to her that we humans try to protect our materialistic things and forget that we came into the world with nothing and will leave with nothing. It is only our gestures towards each person that leaves an everlasting impact on one individual or an entire society. Then why do we give so much importance to materialistic things? A Buddhist believer, she found me to be. She said after staying with us, it has opened her heart and she will now be more trusting of people as well. Perhaps she will sign up to be a host family in her city.
Click here to read the rest of Sucheta’s post and visit her blog.
Yazeed, a high school exchange student from Jordan, is spending his sophomore year abroad in Atlanta, staying with a local family and attending North Atlanta High School. He is here on a full scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program. YES is a program for high school student exchange to the U.S. from countries of Muslim majority population. Here in Atlanta, AFS carries out part of the YES exchange experience, finding the host family and supporting them and the student throughout the year’s exchange. Yazeed joined GCIV for the 50th anniversary kickoff celebration at Fernbank Museum of Natural History in December 2011, and here are some of his impressions:
“Hey – I’m Yazeed and I’m an exchange student from Jordan. I came to the USA thru a program called Youth Exchange and Study (YES).
I was surprised when I went to the 50th anniversary celebration for GCIV because I saw people from my own country, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. I really enjoyed the party because I had a chance to see people from all over the world and talk to them and they were actually interested in knowing things about me.
And the first ones who I thank (because without it I wouldn’t have this incredible experience in my life) are the AFS and the YES programs. The second one I thank is my father who encouraged me to go, and without him I probably wouldn’t be here.
I’ve been in the USA since September and I have already made a lot of friends and met great people. I have a really great host family and I love my school (North Atlanta High School).
I celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas here in the USA and it was a great chance for me to know how the Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
I had the greatest days of my life here in the USA and I thank everybody that encouraged me to come and especially the AFS and the YES programs.”
Feel free to share your own experiences and memories interacting with GCIV’s professional exchange participants.
-Making a Difference-
December 1, 2011
One of GCIV’s most active hosts shares why everyone should participate in home hospitality through GCIV.
“When was the last time your dinner conversation was more than the boring, ‘What did you do today?’
Would you like to travel to Egypt, Israel, China, Italy or anywhere else in the world just for dinner? Allow me to recommend the dinner home hosting program through the Georgia Council for International Visitors (GCIV).
The GCIV program brings the best and brightest professionals from around the world right here to Atlanta, people like former participants Nelson Mandela and Nicholas Sarkozy. I have been a home host with GCIV for the last six years now and have hosted dinners for people from over 45 countries of the world. Since I live alone, my dinner conversations are usually pretty one-sided, but when I host these international visitors I transcend my solo life and become a part of the wider international world.
I have hosted a former prime minister, doctors, veterinarians, mayors, judges, a former teen singing idol, television anchors, authors and sheiks, among others. There is a good chance I have even hosted someone who will become a future president or Nobel Prize winner. The discussions can be serious or amusing and range anywhere from home life to cutting-edge science.
What a wonderful time I have had. Here are a few memorable tidbits that stand out…
- the sheik explained his living conditions with multiple wives
- guests wanted permission to look at my pick-up truck because they were not allowed to own one in their own country
- I showed a photo of one of my international guests to a friend of mine from Egypt and he told me I had hosted the most famous newscaster on television in the Arab world
- Israeli and Palestinian visitors sat next to each other at my dinner table and were friends
- a guest read the label on the bottle of salad dressing and told me he would NEVER eat blue cheese and asked why are there no fortified fences around the houses
The true reason I host is because I thoroughly enjoy it. However, I always tell people I host because I feel that I am doing something, even though it’s small, for the common good and that I am helping to build a bridge of friendship throughout the world. The famous sociologist Margaret Mead said ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ I feel that if each and every one of us in the world knew each other, there would be peace because you don’t harm your friends.
Every time I drop my guests off back at their hotel, each person thanks me and tells me, ‘I didn’t know Americans were so nice.’ I think it’s important for me to keep hosting until I no longer hear those words.”
- GCIV volunteer host Vicki Van Der Hoek
Please feel free to share your own home hospitality experiences, thoughts and memories. If you are interested in being a home hospitality host or would like more information, please contact Emily O’Harris at emily@gciv.org or 404-832-5560 x 15. GCIV is currently seeking home hospitality hosts for a worldwide delegation of visiting Fulbright scholars on Friday, February 10, 2012.
-Staff Spotlight: RJ Paulisick-
November 1, 2011
GCIV welcomes the newest member of our team, RJ Paulisick, Program and Technology Coordinator.
Robert John (RJ) Paulisick, a native of Washington D.C., is a recent graduate of Georgia Tech earning his B.S. in International Affairs. While at Tech he performed undergraduate research analyzing expert opinions concerning nanotechnology applications within the nuclear energy and nuclear weapons industries. He has previously worked as a research associate for the India, China America (ICA) Institute and the British Consulate General. RJ also has extensive experience as a web developer and designer from his internship with local interactive marketing firm, What’s Up Interactive. He speaks a little German and when he’s not playing piano, he’s out playing basketball or tennis.
You can email RJ at rj@gciv.org.
If you are a former GCIV intern, please share with us what you are doing now. We hope all former interns or volunteers will share your memories/comments about your experience at GCIV.
-Celebrating 500 Programs-
September 30, 2011
GCIV program director Emily O’Harris has reached a significant milestone. She recently completed her 500th international exchange program. Over the past five years, Emily has designed and implemented professional and cultural programs for visiting leaders from over 125 countries. GCIV staff, board members, volunteers, friends and family celebrated Emily’s accomplishment and the power of citizen diplomacy in September with a party at Pura Vida. Do you have a favorite story about Emily? Do you have any memories or comments to share about your experiences with GCIV and hosting international visitors?
Click here to view more images from the celebration.
-Invaluable Programs and Lasting Impressions-
August 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.
GCIV became the coordinating office for the Great Decisions discussion groups in 1993 for the state of Georgia, with Rosalie FitzPatrick managing the program. This combination of GCIV members and Great Decision participants provides a forum for the visitors to speak to interested groups about their countries and to observe U.S. citizens in small groups discussing foreign affairs.
No history of GCIV would be complete without a special mention of James Kindell, long time program officer since 1977, who died in April 1996. Mr. Kindell, as he was known by all, will be remembered for his hearty laugh, his southern cooking and his love of gospel music. In 1993 he was given the NCIV award for outstanding program officer for the many group programs he coordinated during his twenty years. Ada Almering reminisces, “Mr. Kindell was always most involved with the GCIV office holiday party, his fried chicken was famous, his pound cakes were sacred. On the day of the office party he was always busy organizing the mid-winter AID Seminar – typing on his knees because all extra chairs were needed elsewhere for the party.”
One last anecdote from Dorothy Beasley, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals and a new GCIV board member in 1998, depicts the way the visitors and programs of GCIV interface with other international endeavors in the city and how Americans exchange ways of doing things with people from other countries. She says, “As a new member of the board, I have already had many experiences which have enriched my life and those of others as we reach into the global community.” She goes on to recount a breakfast meeting with the chief editor and head of programming for Croatian television, which helped her in the preparation for two Croatian law students who would be coming to spend a semester at Georgia State Law School. 
She also entertained an Indian visitor over “grits, biscuits and can syrup” while they discussed the use of mediation in settling disputes in both their countries. She later arranged for the visitor to have a productive meeting with the Justice Center of Atlanta, a mediation center.
- Many Past Homes and Many International Programming Responsiblities –
July 20, 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.
After its beginnings back in the Haas back bedroom, ACIV/GCIV has been located in a number of offices, all donated. From the Biltmore Hotel, the office moved to the First National Bank at North Avenue and Peachtree Center, briefly in the Bank of the South, the Habersham Hotel and Georgia Tech, the First Union Bank at 10th and Peachtree Streets and at Tower Place in Buckhead.
The First National Bank, once home to GCIV offices, was demolished in 2006.
Photo courtesy Atlanta Time Machine.
In addition to the primary objective of programming for short term visitors, GCIV has several other programs and projects which it oversees. The International Women Associates, a group of 130 women both American and international, meet once a month from September through May for social coffees in members’ homes for programs of cultural interest. This group has its origins as the Committee for Wives of International Students in 1967 under the Atlanta International Student Bureau. Later called Friends of Internationals, the name was changed to International Women Associates in 1985. One of the earliest volunteers with this group was Ada Almering who in 1998 still conducted a monthly reading group for international women at her home.
Another women’s group, the International Businesswomen’s Network was formed in 1982 by Gema Dillard to promote interaction among women who worked in the international field or who had origins in other countries. Meeting monthly for lunch and a speaker on an international topic, in 1998 this group had 100 members.
In 1972 Helen Sebba took over the management of the Language Bank, a file of translators and interpreters who could be called in emergencies and for business needs. Mrs. Sebba, herself a translator, brought more professional screening and evaluation to the bank. When there were few language resources in the city, especially for emergency situations, this list of interpreters and translators was used extensively by the police and emergency agencies, hotels, hospitals and the airport. In addition businesses were referred to the names in the Language Bank for translation services. As the expertise in languages within the community increased and more commercial resources were available, then need for the Language Bank decreased and in 1995 it was phased out.
- 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.
- Salute to the Consular Corps Tradition Continues -
May 27, 2011
Funding for the organization has always been primarily from the local community. Mills B. Lane, president of Citizens & Southern Bank, was an early supporter encouraging the Trust Company and First National Bank to donate funds also. He convinced the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce to provide seed money for many years as well. Other early corporate supporters were The Coca-Cola Company, Georgia International Life Insurance Co., Pan American Airways, Retail Credit (now Equifax) and Scientific Atlanta.
In 1981 Elaine Hayes chaired the first of a series of fundraising dinner 
dances. These developed into an annual Salute honoring a different country each year with the Ambassador of that country invited from Washington and most of the Atlanta international community in attendance. GCIV worked with local consuls of the honored countries and there were often trades shows, cultural exhibits and educational programs as well as the formal event. These fundraising galas evolved into an annual Salute to the Consular Corps, the first of which was held in 1998.
From 1988-1998, the U.S. Information Agency, which took over the International Visitor Program from the State Department, made funds available on an annual grant basis to local community organizations. GCIV applied for and received about 10% of its yearly budget from this source during that time. For many years GCIV received funding from the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, now discontinued due to budget cuts. In 1972 the State of Georgia began providing funds through the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism and in 1998 GCIV received about 15% of its budget from that source, working closely with that department to send visitors around the state, meeting with community leaders, business people and local media. Smaller towns and communities around Georgia, less used to international visitors than Atlanta, really rolled out the red carpet for these visitors and gladly showed them a different point of view of life in the South.
- 50 Years of Significance in Citizen Diplomacy -
April 29, 2011
This blog post continues our retrospective. 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.
In 1973, the Atlanta Committee for International Visitors (ACIV) and the Atlanta International Student Bureau (AISB) were merged under the leadership of Lloyd Whitaker, president of ACIV, and Ida Bell, chairman of AISB. Faye McKay-Clegg, executive director of AISB, became the executive director of the newly combined organization, holding that position until 1990 when she retired. In 1975, Dr. Fahed Abu Akel’s Atlanta Ministry to International Students (AMIS), located at First Presbyterian Church, took over student activities and hospitality. Anne Hansen, an ACIV volunteer since 1970, served as executive director until 1995, followed by Carol Emmons.
Some of the highlights through the years include a visit from Secretary of State Dean Rusk in 1964 who met with the executive committee of ACIV’s board, a regional conference in 1965 sponsored by ACIV to encourage other southern cities to become COSERV contacts, an impressive 1,295 visitors hosted in the year of 1965, merger with the Atlanta International Student Bureau in 1973, providing host families for the delegates to the first Organization of American States to be held outside Washington, D.C. when Jimmy Carter was governor, name change to the Georgia Council for International Visitors in 1986, and becoming the statewide coordinating office for the Great Decisions program in 1994.
Another memorable event in GCIV’s history was a trip to The People’s Republic of China led by volunteer Anne Hansen. A group of 22 GCIV volunteers, in the year following Mao Tse Tung’s death, got permission to visit the newly-opened China and in October 1977 toured Nanjing, Shanghai, Guelin and Canton. Westerners were a novelty then and the Chinese, still clothed in Mao-style gray jackets and pants, stared in amazement as the group made its way around the crowded streets of the country.
- “Atlanta, a City Built in a Forest” -
March 31, 2011
This blog post continues our retrospective. Please be a part of our 50th anniversary celebration in 2012 by leaving comments about your GCIV memories, your reasons for hosting, and your beliefs about the impact of our shared work.
The services provided to the international visitors from the beginning to the present day have remained the same: to supply a written program upon arrival with appointments fulfilling the objectives of the visitor, to arrange hotels and transportation as needed, to set up home visits with our host volunteers and to give as broad and balanced a look at Atlanta and Georgia and our culture as possible in the limited time a visitor or group was here.
It was one of our visitors who coined the phrase “Atlanta, a city built in a forest” while being interviewed by Hugh Parks, a columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who repeated the description in his newspaper column.
Marge and Dan McDonald recall entertaining an early group of Russian visitors in their home who were fascinated by all the electric gadgets and modern conveniences in the kitchen and enjoyed exploring their house from top to bottom. Recent visitors are much more sophisticated and demanding in their requests, wanting in-depth presentations rather than general overviews.
The host volunteers have changed as well over the 35 years since Atlanta Committee for International Visitors (ACIV) was founded (this history was compiled by Anne Hansen in 1998). In the beginning most volunteer hosts welcomed the visitors into their homes to show Southern hospitality to strangers and to learn about other cultures and distant lands. Now most hosts have traveled or lived abroad and want to practice their second language skills or continue a genuine interest in foreign affairs.
At the instigation of the Institute for International Education in Houston, the Atlanta International Student Bureau (AISB) was established in 1962 by the Atlanta Junior League under the leadership of Margaret Perdue and Connie Calhoun, then employed at the YWCA. Garland Davies was chairman of the junior League Task Force who assessed the needs of international students in metro Atlanta and recommended that an organization serving the international student population be formed. She served as chairman of AISB for the first three years and started the English classes for wives of the students. The AISB was later affiliated with the Institute for International Education office in Atlanta in the late 60s and continued matching international students at the various colleges and universities with host families. Many host families were volunteers with both AISB and ACIV.
Ada Almering, a volunteer English teacher for six years, recalls, “Most of the students were wives of international students, but there were also consular wives, chefs’ wives and foreign businessmen’s wives. In all they were fascinating women.” The classes were taught on three levels on Mondays and Thursdays first at North Avenue Presbyterian Church and later moved to First Presbyterian Church.
Gloria Stone, an early volunteer member of both ACIV and the International Women Associates wrote, “When I came to Atlanta from New York state in 1953 I was treated like an unwanted intruder – just because I came from a northern state! Anyone who came from another country might just as well come from Mars. A foreign language implied you were too stupid to speak English. A year or so after the Atlanta Council for International Visitors was founded I heard about it and immediately joined. I have been a member ever since and have thoroughly enjoyed entertaining visitors from all over the world. I truly believe organizations such as ours have had a tremendous impact and were very influential in bringing down the Iron Curtain.”
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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
- Sat 2/4/2012 - 2/9/2012: Near East and North African Delegation
- Tue 2/7/2012 - 2/11/2012: Saudi Arabian Delegation
- Thu 2/9/2012 - 2/14/2012: Multi-Regional Delegation
- Fri 2/10/2012: Worldwide Fulbright Delegation