United Planet was founded with the mission of building cross-cultural understanding; we have several programs to help with this effort, including the Ambassador Program. Currently, there are United Planet Ambassadors and Ambassador Clubs in several countries.
One of our most active and vital clubs is in Shanghai. Naomi, a student at Shanghai International Studies University, founded the club last year after learning about United Planet. She has been working diligently to build the club, hold events, and – foster and deepen understanding about different cultures.
In July 2011, more than a year after she first saw United Planet’s name on idealist.com and decided to start the club, Naomi visited Boston for the first time. We were so happy to welcome her! She walked the Freedom Trail, rode the T (Boston’s subway system), and visited lots of historic sites (Boston is loaded with those). She gave us a little info about her vibrant Ambassador Club:
A few months after starting the club, Naomi was discouraged by how slowly it was taking off. Though the club was located at the Shanghai International Studies University, most students were interested in careers in international studies – not in cross-cultural clubs. It felt like it was fading away.
“It was very hard,” says Naomi, the club’s founder, “I just kept thinking ‘we can’t give up’.” Determined that club would succeed, she spent the school break working on ideas.
After winter break, Naomi marched into the first meeting with a plan. She showed an inspirational video, and laid out seven ideas — ranging from an international food tasting to a party celebrating foreign cultures. The ideas sparked interest and excitement, and the club was spurred into action.
Recruiting more members was the first goal. Naomi found mailchimp.com, a free website generally used by marketing professionals. She used it to create polished e-mails that emitted an image of an exciting, put-together, and fun club – the type of club students would want to join. The club soon attracted dozens of people.
The club then pounced on their first cross-cultural event. Cross Cultures- Cross SISU (Shanghai International Studies University) was based on the idea that colleges had different cultures just as countries did; students from colleges across Shanghai were invited to listen to live music, meet new people, and enjoy the view of the stars from the roof of a skyscraper. Although not well attended by students from other universities, many students from Shanghai International Studies University came: a strong start for the new club.
Today, the club has twenty members, including a ten-member board of directors. Although Naomi, now a second year student, is realistic, she has big dreams for her club. “I want it to become a big club someday,” she says, “maybe we could even expand to other colleges.”
With three new projects for the club to pursue, the future looks bright. Project one is a contest in which groups will compete to have the best way to promote cross-cultural learning in local communities; Naomi hopes to raise enough money to send the winners on a trip abroad. Project two will be a presentation by someone who has lived abroad or an international food tasting. Club members learn about other countries and then present them to the rest of the club in Culture Lab, an ongoing project.
After presenting to us in the United Planet office, Naomi enjoyed pizza and chatted with the team. Conversation flew around the table. What was Shanghai like? How did Naomi like Boston? What were Naomi’s plans for the future? The United Planet team wondered how they could help her. Perhaps United Planet can help with the prize for project one? The staff left with a renewed excitement about teaching people foreign cultures.
As for Naomi, the experience made her more enthusiastic about her club; she plans to make a presentation on Boston when she returns to Shanghai.
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.
