Below is Sadiq’s full essay on his experiences as a foreign exchange student from Pakistan.

On the morning of August 10th 2011, I boarded my flight to the United States as an exchange student of the Kennedy-Lugar YES Program. Several apprehensions about Americans occupied my heart and brain as I embarked upon this epic journey. It wasn’t just my heart that was anxious about what it would be like to live with an American host family and attend an American high school; the 60 other Pakistani exchange students on the flight  experienced similar feelings.
 
Our distress was understandable: most of us only “knew” a few things about the United States and its people – that Americans love war, and that they hate us because they assume that we’re terrorists. Every time I thought about getting bullied by a gang of students at school because of my religious background or nationality, my stomach knotted with terror. However, all my assumptions were proved wrong the moment my lovely host family, the Chapmans, warmly opened the doors of not just their house but also their hearts.
 
During the five months I have spent here, I realized the extent to which we all unintentionally buy into stereotypes. After listening to anti-American rhetoric by right wing leaders in Pakistan and being under the influence of irresponsible media all my life, I had to some extent been programmed to believe that Americans are arrogant and power-hungry and seek to dominate Muslim countries. I I think that’s how most Pakistani teenagers think, because of the distorted information given by the media about the life of average Americans. Most of what we see on our news channels are American senators or congress members talking about drones and wars.
 
But I think the same holds true from the other side around as well. Average Americans have mostly been shown only the negative aspect of Pakistan by their media. Most Americans probably think of Pakistan as the land of Osama bin Ladin, the Taliban, crazed suicide bombers etc. So it’s not too much of a shock anymore when someone asks whether I live in a cave and ride a camel back home. (I don’t).
 
But during my time here, I have learned that Americans are wonderful, warm, fun-loving, creative people. It is true, as religious conservatives in Pakistan like to emphasize, that America has a high divorce rate and a popular culture focused on sex and violence. But this is hardly a fair or complete picture. Americans value family and culture and religion just as Pakistanis do, and I have really enjoyed celebrating the great festivals of Thanksgiving and Christmas, visiting churches and synagogues, and experiencing different flavors of American culture. I have also  tried to convey the positive sides of my culture, country and religion to family and friends here. Pakistan is a very new country, barely 65 years old, with a rough history: its chaotic formative years, a civil war that resulted in the profound loss of resource-rich Bangladesh, several bloody border wars with much more powerful India, the violent failed state of Afghanistan bordering on the other side. Despite this, Pakistan has always striven to be an enlightened, modern state, a liberal democracy friendly to but independent of the West. Pakistan has universities such as the Lahore University of Management Sciences and the National University of Science and Technology that are on a par with the better universities in the U.S. Pakistan has produced Nobel Prize-winning scientists and the fourth-highest number of foreign-born physicians practicing in the U.S. And our religion, Islam, is devoted to building and maintaining a peaceful and just society, despite what you might hear from “haters” in the  media.

To learn more about AFS hosting opportunities, please visit http://www.afsusa.org/host-family/.

At the last session of the 2012 Dunwoody Great Decisions Lecture Series on Thursday, March 8, 2012, founder, Rosalie FitzPatrick was honored for her outstanding contributions to the group’s founding, development and operation since 1992.

Great Decisions is the largest discussion program on world affairs in the United States. It is sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association (FPA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to “inspiring the American public to learn more about the world.” Each year a briefing book of eight current world affairs topics with background articles is published and distributed across the country to the various discussion groups. Participants in the group complete opinion ballots which are subsequently collected, analyzed and summarized in the National Opinion Ballot report. This report is presented to the White House, members of Congress, the Departments of State and Defense and the national media, among others.

Under the guidance of Rosalie FitzPatrick, The Dunwoody Great Decisions Lecture Series has grown from an average of 30 attendees to as high as 350 registered participants. Over the years, the discussion group evolved into an annual lecture series beginning in January and running for eight consecutive weeks. The Dunwoody United Methodist Church on Mt. Vernon Road graciously provides the space for the meetings, which has allowed the group continued growth. The Georgia Council for International Visitors (GCIV) is the statewide coordinator for all discussion groups and supports the Dunwoody activities as well.

After Geoff Webber, a long-time participant of the Dunwoody Great Decisions Lecture Series described the many ways in which Rosalie has contributed to the group, she was presented with an engraved Murano glass sculpture, a bouquet of roses and a substantial monetary gift. Nicole Rateau representing the Georgia Council for International Visitors presented her with a Certificate of Appreciation complete with U.S. Department of State insignia. All of these gifts were contributions from Rosalie’s many friends on the planning Committee and GCIV.

For more information on the Dunwoody Great Decisions Lecture Series, visit www.gciv.org/programs/gd/dunwoody. Please feel free to share your own experiences and memories regarding Great Decisions.

Prior to my participation in NCIV’s Citizen Diplomacy Program for Emerging Leaders I had been interested in international relations and interacting with people from other cultures. I was honored to have been selected as an emerging leader, and to represent Georgia in Washington, D.C. However, since my four days of training, workshops and seminars I now consider myself a real ‘citizen diplomat,’ and have returned to my community with the willingness, knowledge and desire to work on behalf of cross-cultural communication. I thank GCIV for my nomination as an Emerging Leader, and NCIV for selecting me for this prestigious opportunity and for contributing to my education in such a powerful manner.”

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).

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 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.

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.

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.

Click here to view more images from the celebration.

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.

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.

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.

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.