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Four Russians Visit Elkhart to Learn American Ways
South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN)
Posted on August 8, 1999
By David Tyler
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Four Russians who visited Elkhart last week pose with one of their hosts, Sally Thompson (center, with scarf). From left are Viktoriya Tagirova, Olga Maslova, Olga Bugrinova and Olga Smirnova.
Tribune Photo/JIM LOUDEN | ELKHART -- A group of Russians spent last week in Elkhart County on an intelligence-gathering mission. In the 1980s, that news might have sounded the Cold War alarms, but at the end of the 20th century this trip was not for espionage but to exchange ideas. The Peace Links Russian Leadership Program brought four women to Elkhart to learn about American government, culture, education and business.
Visiting from Nizhnij Novgorod in the Nizhegorodskaya region, (formerly the Soviet city of Gorky) were Olga Bugrinova, 35, an educator who directs a fund for gifted children; Olga Smirnova, 31, press secretary for a regional branch of the Nizhegorodskaya region political party Rossiya Molodaya; and Viktoriya Tagirova, 33, director of the Vozmozhnost cooperative, a small-business lobbying and consulting group; and their translator Olga Maslova from the city of Kaluga. They stayed in the homes of area residents and traveled all over Elkhart County.
The Russians, who leave for home today, hope to put some of what they learned into practice back in their home country. "We came here at this right time," Smirnova said through a translator. "You have your local elections coming up and we have our parliamentary elections this year as well."
Hopefully they were taking notes, because they've got a lot to remember. Peace Links and local coordinator Doloris Cogan, prepared a full slate of events throughout their 10-day stay. There was a visit to a public relations firm and an RV company, and a tour of a local television station and newspaper. There was a stop at Elkhart City Hall to meet Mayor James Perron and City Council President Mary Olson, a visit with Elkhart County Administrator Dave Hess, and a trip to the county clerk's office to discuss voter registration.
The Russians stopped by Roosevelt Elementary School to talk with school teachers, visited the Midwestern Museum of Art to watch youth art classes, and met with Elkhart Community Schools Superintendent Fred Bechtold. They visited a small business incubator, the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, and sat in on sessions of Elkhart Superior and City courts.
The group was impressed with the role women and senior citizens play in American society. "Feminism seems to be very strong here," Smirnova said. Voters in Russia don't have to register, and the ballot counting process is still largely done by hand, Smirnova said. She's hoping the country can modernize those processes. "But it will be quite expensive," she said.
After visiting American small businesses, Tagirova said she hopes to cut down on government regulations in her country. "Nobody here seems to have a problem with the fire marshal or the health inspection in terms of fees," she said through a translator. "I can't say it's so good in Russia."
But for each difference that the visitors noticed, they said they found many similarities between the two countries. Door-to-door political campaigning has become very popular in Russia, Smirnova said. Small businesses are looking for grants and training, just like in the United States, Tagirova said. Nonprofit agencies are becoming stronger in Russia, and the government is learning to partner with companies to train leaders and help people, Tagirova said.
And like their American counterparts, Russians love to grumble about their taxes. "I've traveled a lot, Tagirova said. "And I've never been anywhere where people are happy with their taxes."
[Permission granted by South Bend Tribune. ]
[Reprinted with Permission]
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