Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Iraqi students complete leadership training at USI
Arivan Ahmed helps plant a tree in front of a Habitat for Humanity home. View a slideshow of images from the Young Iraqi Leaders Exchange Program at USI.
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Wendy Knipe Bredhold Media Relations Specialist, News & Information Services 812/461-5259 Community service was just a small part of USI's Young Iraqi Leaders Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students (YILEPUS), which included classroom instruction, field trips and site visits, leadership training, conflict resolution, and cultural and recreational activities. Arivan Ahmed, a student at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani in Kurdistan, was familiar with Habitat for Humanity. His architect father worked with the organization in Kurdistan a decade ago. He said that homes in Iraq follow the Habitat model of simple, decent housing, but - like most buildings in Iraq - are made of cement rather than wood. And in order to house extended families, Habitat homes in Kurdistan are larger than the homes the students worked on in Glenwood. That's a small example of how the program allowed Americans and Iraqis - linked by more than seven years of war, but with little knowledge of the other - to learn about each other's lives. As Sumar Fuad of Baghdad put it, "It is an exchange program. We learn from them, and they learn from us." USI was one of two institutions selected by World Learning for the program, which was sponsored by the Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Forty-eight students participated, with 25 studying at Colorado State University. The students arrived in Washington, D.C. in July and reunited there in August. USI's students met with Senator Richard Lugar before returning to Iraq. While at USI, the students attended classes in leadership, community health, and social services. Heidi Gregori-Gahan, director of International Programs and Services, was project facilitator and oversaw all aspects of the program. "What we have done is expose the leadership qualities that the students already have," she said. "They are going to be able to apply those skills to developing something specific for their own situations back home, and they are going to take back a whole different perspective on the United States." Dr. Kevin Valadares, associate professor and chair of health services administration, was a lead faculty member. He said, "The overall theme was leadership, so they went through the Leadership Evansville program from beginning to end, but it was tailored for their backgrounds and vision for Iraq. The other two focuses were on community health and social services, so we did a quarter of the work in the classroom and the rest of the time they were at sites such as St. Mary's hospital or a homeless shelter. The theme was the idea of advocacy. People need advocates, communities need advocates, and they themselves can be advocates for needs that they perceive are important in Iraq." The students also visited a childcare center, a domestic violence shelter, the Tri-State Food Bank, and Patchwork Central, where they picked vegetables and helped prepare a garden feast. In addition to their classes and community projects, they spent a day at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, played video games at Walther's Golf & Fun, shopped, and held birthday and Karaoke parties. They visited the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln and met Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. On a trip to St. Louis, they attended a Cardinals game, rode to the top of the Gateway Arch, and visited the St. Louis Zoo (where, some were quick to point out, they saw their first camels). Several attended a Lady Gaga concert. In the middle of their visit, the students presented "This is Iraq," a program about history, culture, and daily life in Iraq, for their host families - USI employees and their families who were paired with one or more of the students during the period they were at USI. The students were Muslim and Christian, Arabic and Kurdish, and from all areas of Iraq. Some wore traditional clothing from their regions. At the conclusion of the program, they joined together to sing the Iraqi national anthem. It was a moment their host families won't soon forget. Erin Gibson, instructor in journalism, and her husband John hosted Areen Medhat of Duhok and Hiba Khalid of Baghdad. "When the Iraqis sang their national anthem, I was struck by how joyful they were," she said. "They sang their anthem with pride and hope, and I felt lucky to be standing there witnessing such a moment. Visiting with the students has challenged my perspective on the U.S. invasion of Iraq. I'm not sure how I feel at this point because I'm still processing my conversations with the students and the presentations they made. That is the true joy from this experience - how much they have prompted me to think and reconsider." Valadares was similarly moved. He said, "We saw 23 students with their hands on their hearts - in the same way we would do it at a baseball game or in front of the flag - and they were so proud to be Iraqis. The program was an opportunity for them to identify themselves as Iraqis, and though they picked up a lot from the teaching and certainly from American culture, they also learned a lot about each other, which was a great thing for us to see." The following weekend, the students presented "This is Iraq" in Indianapolis, and then continued to Chicago, where they visited the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, John Hancock Observatory, and Millennium Park. The Chicago trip was a highlight of their visit to the U.S. for many of the students, including Noof Asee, a design major at the College of Fine Arts in Baghdad, who loved the Art Institute of Chicago, and Shene Ahmed, a student at University of Sulaimani, who said, "I kept thinking, 'Am I really in Chicago?' I still can't believe it. It's like a dream." That was a theme among the students. At a farewell celebration and awards ceremony on their final evening in Evansville, Nawras Mahmood, a nursing student at University of Sulaimani, said, "You ask us why we don't sleep. It is because our reality is better than our dreams." Both the Iraqi students and their USI hosts learned that the preconceptions they had about each other, formed by the news media and Hollywood, didn't reflect reality. Jennifer Briggs, associate registrar, hosted Ali Abu-Aleiss and Ola Abbas, both from Basra. She and husband Chris Briggs, general manager of Food Services, have two sons. Jennifer said, "My boys have seen that Ali and Ola are just like them. The only difference is where they were born and raised. They like the same music and movies, they play cards and have fun. Now the boys want to go to Iraq and visit them." She added, "We are supportive of the war effort. Even if we didn't accomplish what we set out to accomplish, that we liberated that country is something that we can all be proud of." Jacob Minniear, a 2009 USI graduate with degrees in international studies and public relations/advertising, was one of four USI student mentors who became very close to the Iraqi students during their time here. "It was a surprise to be walking with them and someone tells you about someone who was killed in their family, or the tragedy they experienced," he said. "These are people who've had experiences in life we can't even imagine, and they are so strong and happy. They are still young people, but have this amazing life inside them. You see them and you see the future of a country going in a positive direction. It really is a group of leaders." Editor's note: Some quotes are from interviews with WNIN's Micah Schweizer. |
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