Students Making
Worldwide Connections
Teens promote peace as ambassadors to other
countries.
by Rachel Kalina
TWEENS
& TEENS News September 2007
Mike Bashline of Pittsburgh knows he wants
to be part of Doctors Without Borders. The
humanitarian group delivers emergency aid
to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics
and natural and man-made disasters, as well
as those excluded from healthcare within a
range of 70 countries. It’s a hefty
goal requiring years of dedication. But Bashline,
17, is determined to help the cause—
even at an age when most students struggle
with which college to attend, let alone which
college major or career path to choose.
Bashline attributes his main source of inspiration
to People to People Student Ambassadors, an
organization that has been allowing children
as young as 5th graders to experience other
cultures through travel and face-to-face interaction
for about 50 years. Under the umbrella organization
known as People to People International, the
Student Ambassadors program has enabled Bashline
to visit to all seven continents.
“I want to spend my life traveling,”
Bashline says. “Even though we all live
in different countries, everyone in the world
is exactly the same. We all have similar goals.
I would have never known that.”
These sentiments echo the core values of People
to People and why President Dwight D. Eisenhower
established the organization in the 1950s
with the help and continued support of respected
leaders nationwide.
Peg Thomas, president of the People to People
Ambassador Programs, says the organization
was started to bring people face to face,
encourage learning about different cultures
and promote peace through communication. According
to the People to People Web site, President
Eisenhower believed that interaction between
ordinary citizens in different nations would
help solve conflicts and promote peace. A
subset of the Student Ambassador Programs
actually allows young adults to attend peace
camps and mingle with their peers of other
cultures.
The Student Ambassador Programs provide international
educational opportunities, interactive cultural
experiences, behind-the-scenes access, direct
interaction with students in other cultures
and outdoor adventures to create life-changing
experiences. Yet, unlike government-sponsored
groups like the United Nations, People to
People is a nonprofit organization with no
governmental ties despite its ability to bring
people of all backgrounds together.
“[President Eisenhower] wanted to create
an organization that would be a tool to bring
out the best of human nature,” says
Mary Eisenhower, the president’s granddaughter
and president and chief executive officer
of People to People International. “He
really felt that people needed to go around
the government because if the people get together,
so will the countries. We’re not signing
treaties, but we’re setting the path
for them.”
The two to three week trips to continents
such as Australia, Asia and Europe typically
have long-lasting effects on the 30-40 youths
who attend, according to Thomas. She says
alumni of these trips have gone on to pursue
international business in college and help
organize fundraisers for international causes.
Students meet members of the Parliament in
the United Kingdom, become eco-friendly in
Austria where they help clean glaciers receding
from global warming, observe endangered Loggerhead
Turtles in Athens, dispel ideas about anti-American
sentiments by visiting Hiroshima and build
friendships with kids their age through attending
foreign schools, dances and special events.
Thomas says the trips are unique not only
for the experiences they provide the students,
but also because People to People is endorsed
by the White House. The affiliation allows
participating students to gain access to parts
of the culture they could not otherwise experience
on something like a family trip.
Rachelle Plotkin, 17, of Orange County, California,
knows firsthand just how advantageous this
incredible access can be. During her combined
trip to New Zealand and Australia, Plotkin
was able to stay overnight with the aboriginal
Maori tribe and witness its daily and traditional
practices, like playing rugby games, singing
songs and participating in the Maori Huka,
which she described as a male war dance.
“As a tourist, I never would have had
the opportunity to stay the night with a tribe
or enter restricted tours with specialized
guides,” writes Plotkin via e-mail.
“I brought home with me this joy of
celebrating and incorporating culture into
my life.”
Plotkin has also learned to value the environment
during hikes and nature walks. “I am
yet to see the entire world,” she says,
“but I can confidently say that no place
can rival the splendors of an Australian sunset,
the creatures in the Great Barrier Reef or
the indigenous birds of New Zealand. I learned
much about nature from mere observation and
I really appreciated the beauty of the land.
I never knew why someone would wish to protect
it until I traveled.”
Plotkin’s future plans now involve a
semester abroad while in college. Mary Eisenhower
likes Plotkin’s idea. “I hope
that someday student travel abroad is a requirement
for high school graduation,” Mary says.
“It’s necessary in this day and
time.”
The leaders of Student Ambassadors are gravely
aware of the need for adhering to strict safety
precautions while abroad— a main concern
for parents with children entering the program.
To ease parents’ fears, Thomas says
parents meet the program’s teachers
and hosts at a local informational meeting
that covers security issues. Leaders of the
different ambassador groups also perform simulations
of possible emergencies to ensure that families
back home are easily alerted of dangers and
participating children remain safe and calm.
Thomas says the program leaders heed “incredibly
specific” instructions. She notes that
there were Student Ambassadors in London during
the bombings a few years ago, and parents
with children on the trip later commended
People to People for their ability to handle
the situation so well. Since then, the organization
has taken every measure to reroute necessary
modes of transportation and to avoid using
public transport as much as possible.
“It’s more important now than
ever,” Thomas says of maintaining the
Student Ambassadors program and of enhancing
communication between cultures. “[People
to People] has the seeds of peace behind it.
The younger [the ambassadors], the less prejudice
they have. This is just the beginning.”
Mary agrees with Thomas’s thoughts and
says, “There’s miracles big and
small, and you see them every day— ranging
from kids from 30 different countries getting
together in a peace camp and watching Israeli
and Palestinian kids holding hands to children
learning how to use chopsticks. It even goes
farther in that when it comes time for people
to grow up and get out into the real world,
they’re not afraid of people, there’s
a trust that’s already there.”
If anything, becoming a Student Ambassador
expands minds and opens eyes to a different
view of the world. While Bashline was in South
Africa during Christmas, he helped distribute
gifts to orphans and realized how fortunate
he was in his own life.
“We all hear about how bad [the poverty]
is, but once you see it, it blows you all
away,” Bashline says. In South Africa,
he watched his leader give a Tootsie Roll
to an orphan. Through translation, Bashline
understood that the orphan said he finally
felt like he experienced a Christmas because
he received something. “It definitely
made me want to make a difference.”
Both Bashline and Plotkin have been able to
keep in touch with other Americans from around
the country whom they met on their trips as
well as with students in other countries whose
cultures they were able to embrace.
“People to People Student Ambassadors,”
says Plotkin, “is a program that can
inspire others to step onto life’s path
and walk the avenue of civilization as it
exists throughout the world.”
Rachel Kalina is an assistant editor.
