At Lincoln South Rotary Club, we heard from Arlene Rea on the Friendship Force on June 7, 2024.
Arlene started out by pointing out that the mission of Friendship Force is much like Rotary's focus on Peace.
They have a motto "A World of Friends is a World of Peace".
What that means to them is Citizen Diplomacy - bringing the World and its citizens together. She shared that Citizen Diplomacy has been the hallmark of the American experience from the early days of the democracy and is of even greater value today.
Arlene provided specific times in history as the concept evolved.
Beginning in 1914 under President Theodore Roosevelt there were Chinese students studying STEM in the United States. In 1940 there was an International Visitor Leadership Program established by F.D. Roosevelt. In 1956 Dwight Eisenhower established People-to-People and founded sister cities which still exists - with 570 communities in 150 countries.
Through the U.S. Department of State, various exchanges were developed. Latin Journalists were invited on an exchange in 1940. The Fulbright Scholar Program was started in 1946 and continues today. It provides the exchange of students in education, culture and science.
The International Leadership Program was designed as a premier professional exchange with 200,000 professionals participating around the world since 1948. Lincoln has hosted nearly 2500 International visitors through this program. The People-to-People program started up student travel and by 2005 the first student group visited all seven continents.
The Peace Corps started with the challenge by John F. Kennedy "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country". Since 1961 there have been over 225,000 Americans respond to that challenge.
Friendship Force was started in 1977. It was the vision of Wayne Smith, supported by President and First Lady Jimmy and Roselyn Carter that brought this about. It was specifically set up with no government support. By definition at that time "Friendship Force International is a non-profit cultural organization that promotes understanding, cultural education, and citizen diplomacy through homestay Journeys and personal friendships".
These started out as true exchanges. A group would travel from one country to another. At the same time the receiving country would send a group to the sending country. There was a lot of coordination to get homestays set up - and with homestays there was little cost to the traveler. As well the airlines and public transportation were part of the program so must of the transportation was donated.
The Lincoln Friendship Force started in 1980 and by 1985 had participated in 7 of these exchanges:
1980: Newcastle-Upon Tyne, England
1981: Seoul, Korea
1982: Hanover, West Germany
1983: USSR Moscow
1981: Seoul, Korea
1982: Hanover, West Germany
1983: USSR Moscow
1093: Cali, Colombia
1984: New Zealand, Israel
1985: Japan
1984: New Zealand, Israel
1985: Japan
For Friendship Force, these exchanges were more than vacations. They provided opportunities to connect people and promote peace, The home-hosting provided opportunities to learn about other cultures and develop a greater understanding of the world and our shared humanity.
Arlene explained that, today, the Friendship Force has journeys - they no longer have exchanges. The journeys are one-way and shorter. And, the traveler pays for the transportation. The journeys are coordinated by the Friendship Force members. Some of those are International while others may be within the United States. Our Lincoln south Rotary Club Member, Maxine, will be the Friendship Force coordinator for a trip to Indonesia planned for June 2025.
The pandemic provided challenges for the group. But, they were creative in finding ways to keep the group active. With the number of immigrants and culture-specific restaurants, they found activities where they learned about other cultures while not traveling.
Finally Arlene talked about Open World which is a program established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. The State Department sponsors groups to come visit Washington and then spend a week in homes in the United States. The Lincoln Friendship Force sponsors 1 or 2 of these groups per year.
Lincoln South Rotary Club has been fortunate to meet some of the traveling individuals as Friendship Force has shared their experiences during a Rotary Club Meeting.
BIO
My career path has always led to being a teacher. I was a middle school math teacher for 30 years, 10 years in Hastings, and 20 years in Lincoln. In addition, for nine years while our two boys were young, I worked as a volunteer coordinator for the Crisis Center in Grand Island, an instructor of adults at Central Community College and as a director of religious education at our church. When we moved to Lincoln, I taught primarily at East and Lux Middle Schools. I, also, had a six-year stint away from the classroom, by being the President of the Lincoln Education Association.
After retiring from the Lincoln Public Schools, I was an adjunct mathematics professor for Kaplan and Strayer Universities.
Since my second retirement, I have been president of Friendship Force of Lincoln and a journey coordinator for both inbound and outbound journeys.
In my spare time, I take classes in watercolor painting, travel to visit our two sons and their families, read, garden, and play mahjong. I am also an officer (treasurer) in the Nebraska State Education Association-Retired.