The wonderful exchange between public schools in Mongolia and Boston will take place in 2011. Fifteen students and teachers from each country will have their minds and hearts opened by traveling to the other country, living with families, touring historical sites, and exchanging information about media in a civil society. These folks will travel free of charge, thanks to a grant from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs – surely giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
United Planet is honored to be the organization chosen to implement this program on the ground in Mongolia and in Boston, MA. But what a task! We have to train teachers, interview students, locate host families, consider translation challenges – and learn loads and loads!
United Planet Vice President Theresa Higgs, herself a returned Peace Corps volunteer and veteran traveler, has been in Mongolia for the past couple weeks – and it’s been an eye-opener, even for her!
Read on for some of her funny and touching observations; and feel free to contact us for more information!
Notes from Theresa Higgs, reporting from Mongolia…
My trip is coming to an end as I leave tomorrow morning, but this program is just beginning! The first 2 days of the 3 day youth journalism/media training were terrific! Doing trainings like this in a different culture is always nerve-wracking, as you are not sure how activities and information will be received and how your communication style will blend with or conflict with the local style.
I’m happy to report that this training has been a success! Aside from a few challenges with translation, the participating students and teachers from 10 schools from around the country are so motivated and focused on learning more about journalism and community action. They have truly inspired me! I know that students in Boston and Mongolia will learn a lot from each other and will have the experiences of a lifetime on their exchanges in 2011. Anindita, my colleague from iEarn, and I are so excited about the incredible things that will come from this program over the next 13 months!
As I am preparing to leave this wonderful country, I thought I would share with you the things I am thanking the Great Mongolia for…
Thank you, Mongolia, for:
- Showing me the power of family warmth and love, even in cramped quarters and with the most limited of resources.
- Filling my lungs with more cigarette smoke this past week than all of my previous 33 years.
- Warming me up during the cold Mongolian winter in the warmest of gers!
- Scaring the **** out of me every time I cross the street.
- Sharing with me your students who are some of the most passionate and motivated I have ever met.
- Filling me full of more red meat this past week than I have eaten in the past year!
- Providing me insight into the joys and challenges of a country in transition from socialism to democracy, and what that means in the lives of young people and ordinary citizens.
- Leaving me with wonderful memories and a special place in my heart just for the warm Mongolian people!
And thank you to the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs, for creating this program and providing all the funds to make it happen!
Final words from the most famous Mongol, Chinggis Khan himself – “If my body dies, let my body die, but do not let my country die.” Mongolia has only flourished since his death almost 800 years ago!
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
