As a part of the ongoing
International Education Week, November 14-18, the U.S. Department
of State recognizes all those who have participated in an
international exchange program. As of November 2005, the
U.S. Department of State estimates that more than 800,000
individuals have participated in U.S. Department of State-sponsored
exchange programs. That number increases by approximately
30,000 each year through the professional, academic and
cultural exchanges carried out by the Department of State’s
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). In addition,
over 190,000 American students are currently studying in
countries around the globe, and over half a million foreign
students are currently studying at colleges and universities
in the United States.
Alumni of U.S. Department of State exchanges programs, including
Fulbrighters, International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)
participants, and others have gone on to great achievements
in their professional careers. Thirty-five Fulbrighters
have won the Nobel Prize. Currently, 33 IVLP alumni are
Head of Government or Chief-of-State.
Each month the Department of State recognizes an alumnus
or alumna for his or her accomplishments. This month the
"Alumna of the Month" is Sarah Alam of Pakistan,
alumna of the 2004 Study of the U.S. Institute at Washington
College in Maryland. Recently, Ms. Alam helped organize
alumni of the ECA high school Youth Exchange and Study program
in the southern port city of Karachi, Pakistan to move relief
supplies to the earthquake-stricken area of Kashmir. Ms.
Alam has also helped form a youth-led organization AALIANS
International, which will hold an Indian-Pakistani Youth
Peace Conference in Karachi in late November. Ms. Alam is
featured on the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs website, http://exchanges.state.gov.
Active alumni associations have been created in many countries
to maintain the connections that were made through their
international exchange programs. During International Education
Week, all program alumni are encouraged to reconnect with
the people they met during their exchange experience. At
the same time, the Department of State encourages all those
who have participated in an exchange program—hosting
a student, meeting with visitors at your place of employment,
or actually traveling abroad—to reach out and reconnect
with those people they have met.
Now in its sixth year, International Education Week is a
global event. During the week, students, educators, and
community leaders and our Embassies participate in a wide
range of activities to recognize and celebrate the benefits
of internationalism in our classrooms and our educational
systems. For more information on IEW, including a worldwide
list of events, please visit http://iew.state.gov/.
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