The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

24 DECEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Why International Exchanges? One key goal of any government-managed exchange program is the casting of the host country in the best possible light in the minds of a foreign audience. Another objective is sharing knowledge that overseas visitors can use when they return home as well as facilitating an exchange of ideas. Federal agencies have for decades invited foreign scholars, experts, military personnel and researchers to our country to meet American counterparts in fields from museum management and public health development, to international trade and foreign policy, to name but a few. Since 1940, the United States has invited these would-be leaders from around the world on short-term visits under the auspices of the International Visitor and Leadership Program. U.S. embassy officials identify and nominate candidates whose careers are still unfolding but who have already demonstrated the potential to become influential at home. Visitors take part in programs that last from a few days to three weeks. While Washington, D.C., is often their first stop, nearly all participants go on to visit three to four cities across the United States. The program operates on the premise that foreign participants will gain a realistic picture of the United States by spending time there. Visitors see firsthand how American society and politics “work,” leading to understanding if not admiration. Most International Visitor Leadership Program funding ultimately filters back to the United States, to be spent on services provided by U.S. firms. For example, the 1978 Fly America Act (Public Law 95–473) has been interpreted to require the use of U.S. carriers where possible. The entire program takes place in the United States, to the benefit of its hotels, transportation companies and contractors. Many participants bring extra funds with them to purchase gifts for families and friends at home. Some even extend their stay to see more of the country on their own. The IVLP’s “Gold Star” program brings alumni who have made a significant impact in their home communities back to the United States to share their insights and to discuss new strategies with their American counterparts. I reached out to the network of individuals and organizations that made the International Visitor Leadership Program a global success in search of a few stories to share, and heard from many wonderful people, far more than we could include here. The following selection of personal accounts by participants offers abundant testimony to the program’s vitality and effectiveness. Finding Common Ground BY SAID ELKAOUKAJI T he U.S. government has a large number of people-to-people programs, but from the perspective of this son of Morocco, I know of none that has touched the lives of me and my fellow countrymen more than the International Visitor Leadership Program. Indeed, my life was turned around for the better, thanks to the invitation the U.S. State Department extended to me to participate in this initiative in 2004. I have been a teacher for more than 25 years, and have focused on the underprivileged youth of my native land since 1994. From the beginning, I made it my business to be as close to my students as possible. An effective teacher must view his or her students as individuals and begin the relationship with a cardinal rule: never treat them as empty vessels to be filled with information. As I see it, pedagogy mandates that we take on the roles of social workers, psychologists, mentors and tutors. Unfortunately, the need to wear “more than one hat” at a time in the classroom is sometimes lost on my colleagues. Many complain about overcrowded classes; students of varying ability in the same classroom; and the link between low family income and student performance. In the United States, I learned that the techniques I practice are integrated into the fabric of teaching. On my return to Morocco, I tried to implement the excellent work I saw in the course of my travels to several U.S. cities. The projects I work on focus on three scourges that continue to plague communities in Morocco: fundamentalism and intolerance, drug use and prostitution. I helped launch Morocco’s Access Micro-Scholarship Program, an initiative offering English-language instruction to underprivileged youth in more than 90 counties. We started with only 17 pupils and now have many more, thanks to continued U.S. State Department engagement. My IVLP experience motivated me to organize a trip for 11 students and two teachers from Dakhla, a city of about 55,000 located in the Moroccan Sahara (the region referred to abroad as the “Western Sahara”). The group spent a week in Casa- blanca on a program that included visits to sites that showcase