American Athletes Promote Life Skills for Indian Youth
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC February 12, 2013
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and Olympian Natasha Watley will travel as sports envoys to India from February 12-18. Working with Major League Baseball and USA Softball, this trip marks the Department’s first joint baseball and softball program to encourage youth participation in sports.
In New Delhi and Imphal, Larkin and Whatley will lead baseball and softball clinics for underserved youth and their coaches, as well as engage in dialogue on sports and diversity. In both cities, the sports envoys will meet with officials from the Indian Baseball and Softball Associations as well as representatives from NGOs that promote youth sports opportunities. Throughout the exchange, they will speak with local media about how sports encourage in the development of good sportsmanship, leadership, and teamwork skills. MORE
International Writing Program Sends Former U.S. Poet Laureate to Burma
For centuries, great writers have opened windows into other worlds, and allowed countries — often for the very first time — a glimpse into a different culture and a different way of living. Through their work, writers connect cultures on a people-to-people level. The art of creative writing is fundamental to freedom of expression and a reason why the U.S. Department of State has sponsors exchange programs like the International Writing Program.
This past month, the State Department sent four of the best American writers and poets on our first International Writing Program delegation to Burma. The group included former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, writers Brenda Hillman and ZZ Packer, and Christopher Merrill, director of the… more »
Taking the Lessons of Title IX Global—On the Court and In Life
February 6 marks the 27th National Day of Women and Girls in Sports.
Today in Esteli, Nicaragua, girls from under-served areas are on the softball diamond, fielding grounders, running out base hits, and learning how sports can improve their health and their performance in the classroom.
In Donetsk, Ukraine, girls were on the basketball court, looking for the outlet pass, grabbing rebounds, and working as a team.
Have you participated in a State Department-sponsored exchange program? Stay connected. Do you teach English abroad? We have free resources to help. Do you want to engage in citizen diplomacy? One of these new websites holds the information you need to get you started.
After extensive research and planning, five of ECA’s websites have been given a sleek redesign in order to better serve our audiences. The launch includes five distinct new websites, each uniquely designed to provide people around the globe with the information they need to engage in citizen diplomacy and English teaching/learning activities. The redesigned sites allow Americans and foreign audiences to easily discover how they can be a part of the Department’s academic, cultural, sports, youth, professional, or private sector exchanges.
International Exchange Alumni, American English, Exchanges,… more »
A New Generation of FLEX Arrives in the United States
About the Author: Amy Schulz serves as a Program Officer in the Youth Programs Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) began 20 years ago as a way to introduce high-school students from Eurasia to American society and in turn, expose U.S. citizens to the culture, traditions, and lifestyles of the people of Eurasia. As a sign of its success, FLEX continues to impact a new generation. Olga Pak, participated in the very first cohort of students in the FLEX program in 1993-1994 and spent her exchange year in California. Aleksandr Kim, her son, is the first second-generation FLEX Program participant.
Aleksandr says his mother’s positive exchange experience inspired him to pursue a FLEX scholarship. “My mother was telling me stories about her exchange year since I was 11 years old. She encouraged me to come to the United… more »
U.S. Department of State Announces Basketball Sports Visitor Program with Youth from Burma
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC January 4, 2013
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces that 12 Burmese youth—six boys and six girls—and two coaches will travel to the United States January 7-20. The basketball exchange program, with support from the National Basketball Association (NBA), marks the first State Department Sports Visitor program with Burma. Throughout the program, the group will learn about sports in the United States by participating in basketball clinics with their American peers and engage in educational sessions on nutrition, conflict resolution, and disability sports.
The program builds on the first-ever Sports Envoy program in Burma, that sent Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rich Cho, former Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player Allison Feaster, current Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Darvin Ham, and former NBA player Marty Conlon to Burma as Sports Envoys in August 2012.
The basketball exchange participants, ages 15-17, will visit North Carolina to attend a Charlotte Bobcats game and take part in a clinic with Cho, who was born in Burma, and Bobcats players. In Washington, D.C., the group will attend a Washington Wizards game and meet team members.
SportsUnited is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ division devoted to sports diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State. Athletes and coaches from a range of sports are chosen to conduct clinics, visit schools, and engage with youth abroad in a dialogue on the importance of education, positive health practices, and respect for diversity. The NBA has partnered with SportsUnited since 2005, helping to host Sports Visitors from 20 countries and sending nearly 60 current and former NBA and WNBA players and coaches to travel to more than 30 countries as Sports Envoys.
For more information, contact Anna Griffin of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, at eca-press@state.gov.
Marshall Islands Students Honor the Victims of Sandy Hook
About the Author: Doug Carey serves as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy Majuro.
Majuro Cooperative School in the Republic of the Marshall Islands put away their traditional red school uniforms and instead wore green and white - the school colors of Sandy Hook - to honor the children and teachers who lost their lives in Newtown.
In a condolence card delivered to Ambassador Thomas Armbruster on December 21, the students said, “even though we are half a world away and living on a tiny island in the Pacific, we felt the pain…of the families and the community of Newtown.” Even though the United States and the Marshall Islands are geographically very distant from each other, the connection between the peoples of our two countries is particularly close.
The Compact of Free Association between the Marshall Islands and the United States allows Marshallese students to travel, live, work and study in the United States; nearly…more »
Naval Academy Football Player Honors American Diplomats
Following Navy’s 17-13 win over Army earlier this month, you may have seen theWashington Post’s ”Sports Section” on December 9 that carried a photograph of Navy safety Kwazel Bertrand reacting to a fumble by Army late in the game.
Bertrand — appropriately wearing number 17 — was captured in that photo running off the field in victory while wearing a patch bearing the seal of the State Department. Naval Academy football players individually choose one or two patches to wear on their jersey for the Army-Navy game. Many players opt for patches with personal ties — a player may select the unit patch from a ship or squadron in which… more »
Think about it. Breaking the glass ceiling and advancing science go hand-in-hand. If we can get more women and girls - maybe half the world’s population - studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), we have more chances to solve major global crises, from disease to arms control, from communications to health. Getting ahead on STEM is a challenge worth taking on.
Over coffee one day, we decided that we would do our part to address this challenge. The answer, we believed, was self evident: We need to recruit greater numbers of young people to enter the fields of STEM so that we can extend our budding talent pool. And we must reach out to the 50 percent of our population traditionally constrained from pursuing careers in science: women.
That is what motivated us to create two programs, both launched on December 19, dedicated to removing barriers… more »
Folk Music Group Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer With Barbara Lamb Tour Asia and the Pacific Islands
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC December 27, 2012
The American Music Abroad program, a partnership with American Voices, sends American musical groups overseas to engage with audiences and communities, especially underserved youth. This season’s 12 participating American Music Abroad groups were selected from a pool of nearly 300 applicants to travel to more than 40 countries to promote cross-cultural understanding through music.
The program builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the full range of diplomatic tools, including music, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding. MORE.
![Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass speaks with university students in Rangoon, Burma, January 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2013_0211_burma_writers_m.jpg)
![Jessica Mendoza, U.S. Olympian and member of the State Department Council to Empower Women and Girls, leads clinics in Nicaragua as part of the State Department's global efforts to empower women and girls through sports, February 4, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2013_0205_women_sports_m.jpg)
![Aleksandr Kim, a participant in the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX), is pictured with his mother, Olga Pak, in Kyrgyzstan before travelling to the United States in January 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2013_0114_flex_program_m.jpg)
![Students and parents at the Majuro Cooperative School honor the victims of Sandy Hook in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on December 21, 2012. [U.S. Embassy Photo/Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1221_coop_honors_sandy_hook.__m.jpg)
![A Navy Wide Receiver catches a pass over an Army Cornerback in the Navy vs. Army football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Dec. 8, 2012. [AP Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/1208_2012_navy_army_football_game_m.jpg)
![Under Secretary Sonenshine and Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller pose for a photo with a student group the Tomorrows Women in Science and Technology (TWIST) in an event at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130213202749im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/1228_2012_empowering_women_engaging_girls_m.JPG)
