IV.

Talks

During both the university and community phase, the visiting educators were called on frequently to talk before interested groups. The visitors found it highly gratifying to find so much interest in their home countries among Americans and almost all were pleased to have many opportunities to speak before university classes, school assemblies, teacher organizations, church groups, and many other types of civic and service clubs. A few, because of a limited command of English, preferred not to accept speaking invitations; but, as seen in the chart below, there were a number who gave more than 50 talks. In general, these talks concerned various aspects of life, education and customs of their native lands, and were usually followed by a question period. Beyond these more or less formal talks, every teacher was called upon many times to speak to classes in elementary and secondary schools. All of them felt that these talks contributed to American understanding of their countries and formed a very important reciprocal aspect of the program. This belief was also expressed by many local school officials who wrote to the Office to express appreciation for having been given the privilege of receiving the visitors in their school systems.

A total of 236 visiting teachers made from 1 to 30 talks each. Following is a tabulation of the record:

reported that they had taken part in radio programs in 64 cities and towns. Sixty-seven appeared on television in 31 cities. For both media the programs usually were in the form of an interview concerning the teacher's experiences in the United States or of a discussion about life in his or her home country. In some instances several teachers as a group took part in a panel discussion about their countries or about their reactions to their study programs.

A total of 344 visiting teachers said that the local newspapers had reported their university and community visits at least once. Frequently, newspaper articles would precede the teacher's arrival in order to introduce him or her and inform the community of the purpose of the visit. In many cases, too, the papers carried frequent articles and news notes about the visitor's activities, reactions to his experiences in the United States, and talks. before local organizations.

A total of 281 stated that their visit has been reported in newspapers of their home countries Usually the item was an announcement that the teacher had been awarded a grant to study in the United States. Some of the papers, however, carried reports or comments on the teacher's experiences and assignments during the program.

Visits in Homes

Undoubtedly, visiting in private homes is one of the most important phases of the program from the standpoint of introducing the visitors to American life. Long after most of the statements and assertions of the lecturers in the classroom have been forgotten, the impressions from several weeks of "guesthood" in private homes will remain with the teachers.

While in the college and university communities, the teachers visited in many private homes. Their housing arrangements often opened the ways to additional experiences. For example, housing for the group at the University of Washington in Seattle was arranged in private homes of the University area with American families who were paid modest rates for the lodgings. The teachers came to experience the tempo of American living. Often, they also shared in the hosts' social lives and several

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visited the hosts' places of work. Almost without exception, the relationships grew into warm and satisfying friendships.

The reactions of the hosts helped to enchance the favorable picture of the 3 months that this group spent in Seattle. Typical reactions were the following:

Our guest was a delight to all of the family, from first to last. We will always feel a little richer for the experience. I am just as sure that she will, too.

The experiences we had with our guest were delightful in every respect. She seemed to enjoy our family life and we certainly enjoyed her...I feel the program was a success and that much was gained from having the visitors here. And I think they left with regret, having learned a good deal and having made many friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed my two house guests. They were gentlemen-kind, courteous, considerate, interesting, and interested in everything American...I feel that not only did they gain a great deal from the wonderful program here, but that this type of international exchange does much for us and our country.

Other visiting teachers at other colleges and universities also lived with local families. Such was the case at the Universities of Colorado, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico, and Washington; and at Ball State Teachers College, San Diego State College, and Southern Illinois University. For their part, the visiting teachers reported their appreciation of the opportunity to live with American families. Typical of the teachers' report are the following:

A teacher from Brazil-After my stay in these homes I am able to say that I can't imagine any people more polite, generous, honest, and courteous in the world...Living together with Americans I learned to love America better. I could appreciate the pure way of life of American families, their high standard of morality and kindness.

One from Indonesia-The most exciting part was staying with American families. My hostess welcomed me with the words: "We are glad to have chosen you. Please tell us all about your country." The next day she took me to a farm and showed me how corn was harvested. I stood open-mouthed watching the gigantic machines doing the work of 10 men. The irrigation of the fields impressed me as did the sugar beet fac

tory.

I felt that my host and hostess had shown me that race, religion, and culture are no hindrance for friendship.

A teacher from Japan. -The visits to many different families gave us the opportunity to have a personal idea of the cordiality, the kindness, and the hospitality of the American people which we have had the chance to appreciate on other occasions since our arrival in the United States.

By entertaining us very warmly they showed that they were interested in hearing about our customs, our education, our ways of living; and they started to appreciate what we said. We truly felt that we were among friendly and helpful people and our speaking became surer than before, and we were made to feel at home. We were nearly able to forget that we were so far from our families and loved ones. We had enjoyable moments everywhere we went.

The conclusion must be drawn-from the examples cited and from many more-that no other single type of experience which the visitors had in the United States was as significant as the home visiting experience in depicting to them our way of life. Their associations with American citizens at home gave the visitors a better insight than they had previously held into the values of our culture and corrected many stereotyped impressions they had brought with them as a result of various overseas sources of misinformation.

Visits in Communities

Nearly one thousand (987) cities and towns of the separate States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico were visited by the 520 grantees from 65 countries who participated in this year's program. As evidence that the grantees visit small communities as well as large, nearly a third (320) of the total number of communities visited were under 5,000 population, and well over half (568) under 15,000. (See table 7, p. 64.)

In most instances, or course, more than one grantee visited the same city. All of the 520 grantees spent some time in Washington, and most of them also visited New York. The total number of visits to cities and towns amounted to 8,627. Visits to metropolitan areas and large cities were in the preponderance, and more than half (4,418) were to cities of over 100,000 population. Still, more than one-eighth (1,131) of the visits were to small towns of under 5,000. No segment of the entire

The children of the Yerington (Nevada) Elementary School collected $50 to present to Mrs. Ayesha Ameen of East Pakistan. In his letter conveying the money, the school principal wrote Mrs. Ameen as follows:

"This money was collected by the children. . .and is offered to you with the request that you spend it to purchase an item or items you believe would help the children of your school in East Pakistan. Because of your visit and the impression you left, our children seem to have a strong feeling for those in your school. This is not merely money-it is a more precious thing, the feelings of the youngsters of one country for the youngsters of another country, a bridge for future understanding and friendship."

Mr. Joseph Mwemba from Northern Rhodesia was given a $100 check by the Dedham (Massachusetts) Rotary Club for use in his native country to pay the school expenses of one pupil needing funds to

.continue in school.

Mr. Yaseen M. Qureshi from West Pakistan was given a new portable typewriter by the school children of St. Clair (Michigan) "in sincere appreciation of your contribution during your 5-week visit." The St. Clair superintendent of schools wrote of Mr. Qureshi: "His visit has had a tremendous impact upon our school community! . . . By the time he leaves, he will have visited virtually every class and teacher in our school system."

Mr. Stephen J. Kioni from Kenya made a favorable and lasting impression in Syracuse (New York). Two families in that city commended him in the following

words: "We want to inform you of the wonderful impression Mr. Kioni has made on us personally and on a great many others. . .He has been on a very busy schedule learning about the United States in the daytime and telling interested groups about Africa in the evening. His way of presenting the problems is most effective, and he certainly has made a lasting personal impression on a great number of people and has made many of us more aware of the problems and potential of Africa. From our contacts with Mr. Kioni we are certain that whatever Federal funds were expended in bringing him to the United States could not have been spent more wisely. When he returns to Kenya, American ideas of freedom will go with him. When the cause of freedom needs friends in Kenya, Stephen J. Kioni will be amongst those than can be counted on for responsible action."

Two months later, the Office of Education learned that more than 6,000 books had been collected by libraries, publishers, and school children in Syracuse in a project designated "Sharing Books with Kenya." In addition, two slide projectors, a film-strip projector, and $175 were collected and sent to Kenya. More than 20 citizens gave over 100 man-hours of work to the project, and a laboratory firm packed the projectors. A shipping company sent the books to the International Exchange Service at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and this Service agreed to ship them to Mombasa and Ruiru.

For his part, Mr. Kioni wrote to the Office about some of his experiences in Syracuse:

I was in Syracuse on January 20, when President Kennedy's inauguration came about. I was invited by the Voice of America to come to Washington to cover the ceremony in the Swahili language. I felt very honoured and privileged. I did my best. Our educational tour had coincided with the most interesting period in American Politics, the election of the President. . .After the election, I tried to notice how the two political groups shelved their differences and supported the President-elect. This is a sign of political maturity. We of the new immerging Independent Nations have something to learn from the American Party politics.

I remember how as I was leaving Seymour School in Syracuse, a small boy, hardly 9 years old approached me and said, "Hey, are you the guy from Africa?" I said "Yes." Then the little fellow extended his hand to me and said, "Gee, ain't I glad to see you."