Due to space limitations letters under 500 words generally will be given preference in order that we may present a greater number of viewpoints.

 

Davenport, Iowa

The Youth Issue of Our World was summed up on the cover. You could probably sell it as a poster. I'd buy one.

Robert Huerckstedt
USA-Turkey/69

 

Berlin

The first 1970 issue of Our World on "Youth" makes me write, not just to utter praise, but to share a thought with others. "The Challenge of the Seventies" articles, some of which were very impressive, were proof to me of the variety of mentalities working with AFS---and the fact that there is a generation gap even within the same age group. I am talking about the two contributions from Virginia Blanford and Stephen H. Peterson.

Hopefully Stephen will not mind my remarks; they are intended to help. He seems to represent the old AFS, My AFS ---wonderful, heart-warming, a bit too idealistic. Virginia, I think, has the right approach---wonderful, heart-warming, realistic. She is right. Exchanging people is not enough; there has to be a message, a practical job, a lesson to be learned, and it is our responsibility to develop that lesson and to teach it. Walking together is nice, but technological process will eventually take care of that. We should worry more about the talking part of our motto.

What will be the subject of our talks? Will we know the background of our partners? To ask directly: what has been done in Stephen's environment to help Americans of tomorrow to know more about what he calls the Communist Bloc? Does his college teach about the educational and economic structures in the Soviet Union, in Poland, in East Germany? If so, how are these subjects taught?

His idea of including the Communist countries is great. But does he honestly expect a "free" exchange? Our problem will be to accept something like a "different, but equal" ideology. We should not wait for governments to act---that almost sounds like an alibi. Talking with people of a different world is a matter of human beings and their tolerance, not one of state administration. Ask Virginia!

Alexander Longolius, AFS/53
Germany

 

Kuala Lumpur

Looking through the Our World Magazine on Youth, I have no doubt that the programs for the Seventies will be dynamic and all-embracing. The activities of students from the different countries of the world must form the basis for world understanding and cooperation. To this end, AFS has the vital task for the promotion of peace and understanding.

Yap Hong Kuan
Educator Program III/67
Chief Education Officer, Selangor
Malaysia

 

Vitoria

I think Our World is a wonderful bond for our great family throughout the world.

Margareth M. Gama Scarton, AFS/67
Brazil

 

Amsterdam

In this letter I want to notify you of my decision to discontinue my AFS membership, for the following reasons. Although I have always felt sympathy for the goals of the organization, in the light of current developments in world politics, they do not appear very realistic anymore.

If we want to reach real peace all over the world, then, in my opinion, radical changes in the present world structure and in the separate countries should be brought about. An organization which has a goal to work towards peace in the world, can not and may not stay aloof from world politics but has to take clear stands on political issues.

As long as AFS keeps functioning the way it has been doing, namely as an organization based on present structures, it is one of the many organizations that tries to prevent necessary change from taking place, that tries to hide from the more and more sharply defined political, economic and social controversies under the shelter of friendly exchanges. However, this does not mean that I won't look back to my AFS time without thankfulness; I certainly will try to realize the ideals of the organization by other means.

Marijke Geutskens, AFS/67
Netherlands

 

[The Editors of the Dutch Newsletter, in which Marijke's letter was originally published, made this reply:]

. . . In your letter you state that the AFS goals have become unrealistic because world politics have changed. We think that world politics fundamentally do not change. They have always been a mess. What might have changed is your opinion on the world situation. And how did you reach these new ideas---not by sitting at home developing theories, did you? Maybe a year abroad can just help to create the consciousness you are after.

 

Pachern

Many of us who are concerned about AFS have questioned its relevance and its premises. Let us look at a few critical points.

AFS claims to be furthering international understanding. It is said that in reality, in most cases, it gives a touch of American education to young people of the upper class in countries where this class is to a large extent dependent on the American economy and its system; that exceptions don't conform to the rule, but that they conceal the facts for us and for others; that the actual political chaos is perpetuated and the social gap between those who eat and those who starve is widened. That nothing is done to look for the causes of war in a political apparatus whose irrationality is as agonizing as its cruel logicity.

AFS claims to be furthering personal understanding. It is said that in many cases this understanding is in reality a mere verbalism; that it consists in stereotyped smiles and talk, the easy social game among people who can afford to have fun and to prove to each other that the world is basically a good place to stay in. Excitement for young people; the good life; loaded picnic tables; games. Pseudo-folklore performances that are not even known to the poor majority they are supposed to be typical of, as their conception of culture has been tied to transistor radios and Coca-cola. Disgusting, sickening kitsch, the critics say.

AFS proclaims to be creating a durable community. Some feel that their local Chapter is unable to free itself from the playful attitude which begins to look merely grotesque to them, and that the Returnees thankfully follow President Nixon's advice, "Dream together." (Quoted in Our World 1969).

Stated in more abstract terms, what is reproachable to us is that AFS, along with other institutions, provides the necessary amount of idealism for the ever-growing uneasiness of a society which is so hauntingly "realistic" in most respects. That this idealism is indirectly paid for in Dollars. That, as the real mistakes are not admitted, this idealism itself becomes their accomplice. That for us, apolitical means conservative.

How can we justify ourselves, as we have to admit that these critics are right? Of course, each point deserves further analysis. But wouldn't it be unfair to refute their basic truth for this reason?

We have only one answer: we will change. We will smile less and open our eyes. Every one of us will find out in how many families in his country the children have bread to eat and how long their fathers have to work for one piece and what kind of work they are doing for it. We will find out how many pieces of bread one American Dollar will buy in our countries and then we will check the ratio of the sums spent on bread, guns, Coca-cola and transistor radios. We will compare different countries, look for reasons. We will learn that our society was wrong in its assumption that one can take without giving and that our attempt to justify this mathematical error has led us to denying our reality and to playing with a destructive irrationality which our pretended idealism was part of.

We will not be political, we will be calm and mathematical. We will do the organizing the critics underestimate. In our publications we will give room to informed people (even non-AFsers), risking to cut out wedding announcements. We will hand out our knowledge to our new candidates (whom we will choose more carefully), so that they can represent their countries more adequately when they have to talk about them. We will have new international programs. Enough time will be left for entertainment, so that we won't frighten too many people, but we will concentrate on our goal: education. We will be diplomatic, because we know more than our critics to whom we are thankful for the fresh air, but our diplomacy will not be repressive tolerance.

We will profit from our possibilities before it's too late. Or won't we?

Siegfried Posch AFS/68
Austria

Turku. Just a few weeks have passed since I was a chaperon, so I may not have gained the perspective to evaluate the conference at Hiram College, Ohio. I would, however, like to make some comparisons between my own Midway at the University of Massachusetts in 1961 and the conference this year.

The biggest improvement made in nine years was the way everybody could take an active part at Hiram. In 1961 the student's role was very passive, but this time the division into small discussion groups and AFS forums gave all a chance to participate. The clear message at Hiram was that the AFS students of today want to talk themselves---not listen to speeches made by others.

While the program at Hiram was not very strenuous, all speeches were some thirty minutes late because the students did not show up on time in spite of the urging of the staff. It seems to me that the AFS generation nine years ago was more responsible and had a greater respect for authority and more sense of discipline. This is probably true not only of AFsers but of all young people of today, in the U.S. and in other countries.

The two days that the conference lasted were not enough. My own Midway was longer and I believe that the Hiram conference would have benefited from another day. It would have given the students more time for themselves and for sorting out their thoughts.

Finally, it was wonderful to renew my AFS experience. Being a chaperon gave me an insight into the workings of AFS that no student ever gets. Maybe being a chaperon made the difference or maybe I'm getting old but I could not wholeheartedly join in the joy of the students; the last night it was often like watching a color movie as an outsider. There is no doubt though that AFS is on the move and my experience this time gave me new faith in it.

Kimmo Stjarnstedt AFS/61
Finland

AFS on the Air

Cameras rolled and there was light and action as six AFS '70 students displayed a variety of talents on The Morning Show, Channel Seven, WXYZ-TV, Detroit, Michigan. Commentator Bob Hynes interviewed Denis Rouast, France; Hans Michaelson, Norway; and Mrs. James E. Steele, Member of AFS Detroit Metropolitan Board. Mohammed Hashim Yar, Afghanistan, prepared shish kebab. Giselle Redondo, Costa Rica, and Nirina Raveloarisoa, Madagascar, performed national dances, and Barbara Bauschulte, Germany, played a piano selection from Bach.

Moments before they appeared on the nationally televised Today Show, WNBCTV, Vlatko Korobar, Yugoslavia '70; (l.) Claudia Cruz Medina, Brazil '70; and Rosemarie Zoehrer, Austria '70, met with Chris Brown, program writer. During the half-hour telecast, they were interviewed by commentator Edwin Newman.

Featured on the Education Panorama Series on eighty-four stations in the New York vicinity, a radio broadcast about AFS reached thousands of listeners. Scriptwriter and narrator Ira Freedman of the New York State Teachers Association recounted the highlights of the AFS programs. He stressed that through the experience of living as a member of another family AFS students---both inbound and out-bound---learn a lot that doesn't come from books.

AFS in Print

Edward N. Seccombe, AFS ambulance driver, is shown "casually alert" at a "poste" in Vacherauville on the right bank of the Meuse River, 1917. His byline appears under an article entitled "Model T Ambulances in World War I," in the magazine Model T Times, a publication of the Model T Ford Club International. In relating the history of the AFS volunteer ambulance corps, he mentioned that all volunteers bought their own uniforms, paid their transportation to France and other expenses. In return, they received the same pay as the ordinary poilu (French soldier)---in American money five cents a day.

The New York Times (August 19) announced that Ward B. Chamberlin, Jr. has been appointed executive vice president of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, which operates Channel Thirteen. The article stated that he "played a key role in setting up the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after Congress authorized creation of the body to advance noncommercial radio and T.V." According to the Times headline, Mr. Chamberlin, an attorney, is "Number Two at Channel Thirteen," but as Chairman of the AFS Board of Directors and a Trustee Member, he is also a key man with AFS.

                             Photo-The Titusville Herald

A happy marriage between sculpture and sports is symbolized in the gift Umberto Simi, Italy '70, presented to Titusville H.S., Penna., as a token of his appreciation. Noted Italian sculptor, Bruno Pierini, chiseled the Carrara marble football according to the measurements Umberto sent him. The Titusville Herald reported that due to a misunderstanding the circumference measurement was used as the length, so the football grew to gigantic proportions---75 pounds. Shown l. to r.: Toni Strawbridge, Umberto's host sister; B. B. Pringle, Principal, Titusville High School; R. A. Whiting, AFS Area Representative.

Distinguished Loeb Award recipient Yves Demeer, France '58, has authored a book La Vice-Présidence des Etats-Unis d'Amérique, which deals with the presidential succession problem. According to Yves, his AFS experience exerted a strong influence on his decision to write about the functions of the vice presidency in the United States.

Tara Ah Baig, AFS Trustee Member and Honorary Advisor to India, places her faith in young people who are striving to realize the "One World" dream by building deep human relationships. In an article entitled "Walk Together, Talk Together, Live Together," in The Illustrated Weekly of India, March '70, Mrs. Baig maintains "AFS offers youthful ambassadors from every walk of life an opportunity to transcend the barriers of prejudice and chauvinism."

                            Photo---Tucson Daily Citizen

Queen of the Lasso

To 1970 Tucson Rodeo Queen Victoria (Vikki) Stevens (USA-Argentina '69), cattle round-ups and branding irons are second nature. In a feature in the Arizona Tucson Daily Citizen, Vikki confessed she has worked with cattle since the age of ten. Being half-Apache and proud of it, Vikki's future plans include working as a psychiatrist with Indian children on the reservation.

Awards

Plaudits to Arefaine Ghebrejohannes, Ethiopia '65, who won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for a very high achievement in the Faculty of Arts at the Haile Selassie I University. He received his degree in June along with seven other returnees, including Yoseph Adane '64 and Abraham Agonafir '64.

Personality Plus

The vibrant Miss Peru, one of seven children, entered her first beauty contest on a dare by members of her family. She is none other than Cristina Malaga, Peru '67, a secretary for the Bank of America in Lima, who represented her country in the Miss Universe pageant in Miami, Florida.

Fikre Tolossa, Ethiopia '70, won top honors and a gold medal in the Wisconsin High School Forensic Association Speech Contest. He is shown sharing his triumph with Mr. and Mrs. John Bertz, his host parents. As his subject, Fikre chose "Civilization and its Probable Future."

Winner of the 1969 Nationwide United Nations (Uganda Branch) Human Rights Essay Competition, Moses S. Musisi, Uganda '68, chose "Equality" as his theme. He wrote: ". . . The right to be equal is most essential if other rights are also to be observed and preserved." His acceptance of the award was televised in Uganda.

Time Out!

Thirteen AFS soccer buffs from Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Iceland, Peru, Turkey, and Uganda razed their opponents in Southern California through fleet-footed teamwork. Luis Padron, Argentina '70, reported how the AFS team emerged victorious in several games against San Diego H.S. groups. He added: "This isn't all, this is just one small part in the big AFS family I love so much and to which I proudly belong."

Tran Thanh Dang, South Vietnam '66, a junior at Blackburn College, Illinois, captured first prize in the 18th Annual Essay Contest sponsored by The Asian Student on the topic: "Asian Concerns and Decisions in Environmental Control."

Warren B. Kinsey (USA-France '57) gained acclaim as the winner of the annual $1,000 Averell Harriman Award of the American Foreign Service Association. Cited for being the "keystone and prime mover" of an American advisory effort in Vietnam, Kinsey is with the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

Michael Brondoli's (USA-Turkey '65) writing career received a boost when he was named the recipient of a Writing Fellowship Award by the Book-of-the-Month Club. The $3,000 prize money may be used in any way Michael, a Duke University graduate, chooses. "Old Man," one of his short stories, appeared in The Archive, Duke University's literary magazine, and another, "A Correspondence," is slated for publication in A Duke Miscellany.

Six Cardinal Artists

Neophyte card designers triumph! In the 1970 AFS Christmas Card Design Contest, the following winners each received a $50 cash award: Amy Powers, AFS host sister, North Carolina; Elizabeth Reichert, wife of Fred Reichert, Germany '53; Nuntana Kianpotheeramard, Thailand '70; Sue Watson, AFS Club Member, Ohio; Sara Lee Gerber, AFS Club Member, Maryland; and Alex Barthel, Luxembourg '68.

The rich history, cultures and the responsiveness to AFS are inviting reasons to visit these two countries of lively Latin America. They offer a contrast, not only in dimensions---Brazil is 150 times the size of Costa Rica---but also in the way their AFS programs have developed.

This "Our World" entree into Costa Rica and Brazil was made possible by Returnees who generously shared an inside view of their worlds.

Brazil is a spicy mixture of people, life-styles and terrain-from the sophisticated, fast-moving cities to remote areas; from the sparkling beaches and magnificent harbors to the teeming rainforests of the mighty Amazon. Size and spirit, though, are the special flavor of Brazil and AFS/Brazil.

The Giant of South America

Brazil encompasses half the land mass and population of South America. Fifth largest country in the world, Brazil ranked first in its number of students to the U.S. for the past three years. This year Brazil sent 170 students to the U.S. and received 127 Americans Abroad.

The population of 95,000,000 (World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, 1970 [estimated figure]) is composed mainly of four elements: White, Negro, Indian and Mestizo (the countless mixtures). Many Brazilians descend from Portuguese settlers or later immigrants of other nations.

Three distinct geographic regions characterize Brazil---the northeast with its dry scrubland; the huge, undeveloped tropical basin of the Amazon River; and the agricultural and mineral heartland of the south central plains and uplands. The bulk of the populace is concentrated in the latter area and along the coast. AFS Committees are in all of these regions.

From a Colony to a Republic

Unlike their Spanish-speaking neighbors, the Brazilians speak Portuguese. The territory, claimed for Portugal in 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral, was named after the "pau-brasil," a redwood of the coastal areas which was exported as a dyestuff.

Like many other South American countries, it has had its share of revolutionary movements, regional strifes, and economic crises, mixed with periods of relative calm. A Portuguese colony for three centuries Brazil gained its independence in 1822 under Dom Pedro, son of the King of Portugal.

After sixty-seven years as an empire Brazil was declared a Federal Republic. A number of presidents have held office since then, including Juscelino Kubitschek, who founded the new capital Brasilia in 1960 to promote development of the interior. This year Emilio Garrastazu Medici was appointed President.

At present, the Brazilian economy is constantly expanding and Brazil leads the world in coffee-producing. While there is a wealthy class and a small but growing middle class, the economic growth has yet to reach the indigent majority.

The Social Fabric

Fusion of the Portuguese, African, and Indian heritages has produced a vibrant cultural pattern. The influence of each is clearly felt in all branches of Brazilian art, particularly in its rhythmic music.

Although no area is typical of the whole country here are a few sketches of ones in which AFS functions:

Rio de Janiero, home of the Central AFS Office, is a large city (pop. 4,000,000) famed for its beauty. Dramatically situated on the sea, its sandy white beaches are a constant attraction for the "carioca," or resident of Rio. Two sides of Rio stand in sharp contrast---the sophisticated, social one of its elite and the impoverished one of its multitudes who overflow its towering black hills. However, the favelas or slums gradually are being replaced by government-sponsored building complexes.

Sao Paulo is the fastest growing city in the world, with a new building going up every eight minutes. The largest and most varied industrial center of the Southern Hemisphere, it is a veritable explosion of concrete and steel. Its 6,000,000 inhabitants, or "paulistanos," are energetic and hardworking people.

Manaus, a port a thousand miles up the Amazon, is portrayed as "a very small city set in an interesting beautiful area of mighty rivers and waterfalls, animals and plants. This region once enjoyed an era of prosperity and splendor during the rubber boom, and the past is still alive in the buildings. New constructions, though, remind us that Manaus is changing. On the whole, the people live a simple life, and it seems as though they are always taking their time. 'Siesta' goes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m."

AFS do Brasil

One well may wonder how AFS/Brazil operates in such a diverse and sprawling country. Since seven students went to the U.S. in 1956, the program has grown rapidly as Returnees formed AFS Committees in their home towns. Two hundred cities now have Committees; the program has spread to nineteen of the twenty-three states, and nearly 2000 Brazilian youths have shared the AFS experience to date.

Mario Wickert '68 remarks that "Since the country is very large, it gives AFS do Brasil a greater responsibility for running it, keeping an eye on the many state committees and advising them. On another side, it probably makes Brazilian AFsers share more different ways of thinking."

In 1966 the first By-Laws were approved, providing for a General Assembly of Returnees, a Council of Committee Presidents, a Board of Directors, the Executive Office in Rio, State Committees and Local Chapters. Each state committee has a different organizational set-up and reports to the Central Office.

Executive Office, Rio

The well-organized Central Office in Rio is staffed by the Overseas Representative, Mrs. Maria Helena Villela Correa, '59, her assistant, Miss Amelia Schmidt Dickie '64, an office boy, plus five part-time assistants. Silio Boccanera '66, one of the staff, relates, however, "The concept of part-time within AFS probably has been altered world-wide. When one of us sneaks into the office on a Sunday morning to speed up some work, he is often surprised to see everyone else doing the same.

"Maria Helena is the boss and all the work is coordinated by her. Four of the assistants are in charge of different parts of the country, according to the amount of AFS work in the area. Sao Paulo State, for instance, is almost like a separate country by itself. For the 1969-70 year it sent 82 students to the U.S. and received 85.

"The only one we could not possibly do without is the office boy Renato. He takes care of the house, cleans it, answers the door, handles the mail, does all the work downtown, solves problems with banks, etc."

Silio further reports that "We have recently moved to a nice two-story house because the other one was already too small for the amount of work and material we have. Also, the old house was about to fall apart from heavy rain on top and some mice underground. The new one is straight underneath the right arm of the Corcovado Statue on top of the mountain and near a lagoon. Between the breezes blowing from both directions, we manage to survive."

Maintaining the necessary network of communications is a major problem in Brazil. Silio describes the situation aptly, "Telephones are a national joke; they simply do not work when one needs them. But even worse than having a telephone that doesn't work is not having one, and AFS/Brazil functioned for twelve years without one!

"In our last office we used the phone of the dry cleaner across the street. We were getting used to spending half our work-day making phone calls among the smell of dirty clothes and the noise of angry clients.

"The post office also has its tricks. When a student complains that his mail is not getting through we always tell him to send it registered, but if he says it has been registered, we just tell him not to register anymore! The trick is to surprise the post office." So dubious is the mail service that the Central Office often elects instead to use "malotes"---mail pouches privately flown to state capitals. State chairmen then distribute materials to local committees.

The Volunteers---'fantastic and wonderful"

The local committees are run entirely by volunteers---young and eager Returnees. Although there is a great workload, they want to help out and do their best, and they manage, despite the pressures of schoolwork and jobs. As Ruy Sant'Ana '67, President of the Parana State Committee notes, "There's a lot of enthusiasm and will to improve . . . 'We have tried harder'."

Maria Helena confirms this, "We would have no AFS in Brazil without the local representations. Their work is fantastic and wonderful."

Through the Year

Selection of Winter Program students begins long in advance. After the news media and posters publicize the program and Returnees visit the schools, approximately 4,000 students make the initial application. They are interviewed and take a nationwide examination. Candidates who pass are again interviewed and visited at home by two Returnees, one older and one younger.

During the selection period local AFS committees may have substantial contact with their applicants. In Curitiba, for example, "The candidates have weekly meetings, when we help them out with their forms. We organize parties and trips, where we have a chance to know them more deeply. The candidates formed an 'organization,' and they even planned our Christmas party this year. This way we have everything to tell who is a good candidate."

Prior to departure, students to the U.S. receive orientation by the Executive Office, which also handles problems of passports, excess luggage, etc., as well as the occasional missing person. As Maria Helena comments, "with 210 departing students, this is not easy."

Americans Abroad

The other side of the picture is the Americans Abroad program. In 1958, Brazil received six AFS Summer Program students. This number has increased steadily every year, and thus far 791 have been hosted by families and communities.

An additional 286 American AFS students have participated in the School Program since it began in 1962. The incoming students spend a week at a language camp where they take five daily hours of conversational Portuguese and learn about Brazilian customs and culture in the process. At this time each student meets with the person who will be his correspondent for the year.

The AFS committee in each community also provides a personal contact for the student outside the host family. The committees and the Rio office have shown a consistent and genuine concern for the students throughout their stays.

Finding host families poses some problems in Brazil, as elsewhere. The economy, for one, is a reason---the per capita gross national income is about $250---and the small size of apartments in the larger cities is another.

Few families apply on their own. Tarcisio de Sousa '66, describes how they locate families in Natal: "The AFS group gets together and makes suggestions. If we have a pretty good picture of the family, we talk to the parents about the idea of having an AFS student; if they accept it, we visit them again for the 'family interview.'"

Naturally, it takes a great deal of time and effort to make AFS well-known in a country the size of Brazil. The Galvao family of Curitiba, who hosted a student in 1967-68, note that "We had a little suspicion before we got to know more about AFS. Now we know there is nothing hidden in the organization. Our Chapter here has very dedicated and devoted people."

AFS students everywhere have memories of their year. Ruy Fernando Sant'Ana also wrote, "Since the day when I took the exams, AFS has taken half of my heart. AFS is now a sort of philosophy of life. Even when I stop 'filling the forms,' AFS will be with me, giving me good moments remembering all the things I learned, people I met, experiences I had."

Saudade (sou DAH jee) is the word the Brazilians have for a yearning, an indescribable nostalgia for things remembered. Brazilian students feel saudade while away from their country, and afterwards they have it about their year in the U.S. This emotion is part of the unique Brazilian mentality---a blending of cultures and a land---a spirit which makes AFS/Brazil what it is today.

Costa Rica, second smallest nation on the isthmus of Central America, is known for its great natural beauty, democratic traditions, education and tranquility. Its AFS program has also become known as a "pioneer" in its methods of selection and orientation.

A Land and a People

Sandwiched in between Nicaragua and Panama, with the Pacific on the west and the Caribbean on the east, Costa Rica is a land of mountains, high plateaus, and heavily forested coastal plains. San Jose, the capital, is not only the headquarters for AFS Costa Rica, but also for the recently-created Regional AFS Office for Central America and Panama and the Latin American Coordinator, Jose Ramon Chavarria.

The population of almost two million is unusually homogeneous---98 per cent are of Spanish heritage. Because of their use of diminutives such as chiquitico for chiquito ("tiny"), Costa Ricans are nicknamed "ticos."

The main regions of the country are the tropical coastal plains and the tablelands of the Central Plateau. Seventy per cent of inhabitants, mostly farmers, live on the plateau, which is the economic, cultural and political center of the country and produces most of its principal export, coffee.

San Jose (pop. 180,000), the largest city, is growing and changing. Its narrow streets are clean and well-kept, although the volcano Irazu caused trouble for several years by spewing its ashes over the city. Here, as in all of Costa Rica, the people are friendly and "happy-looking."

Different in feeling is Cartago, oldest city and once the capital of Costa Rica. Fernando Garzona '67 describes it as "small (20,000 inhabitants) and picturesque. We like to say it is impressive, as it has one of the most beautiful landscapes of our country. Near the park, is an ancient church building called 'Las Ruinas,' which was destroyed three times by earthquakes in the last century .... It is said that 'people of Cartago are kind of weary.' Undoubtedly, it is the climate, misty and humid, with evening showers that leads them to go to bed early at night. Too, most jobs start at seven in the morning."

"Rich Coast" Without Gold

Christopher Columbus discovered Costa Rica in 1502. Seeing gold earrings worn by the natives, the Spaniards named the land "rich coast," but they found no gold or minerals. For nearly 300 years following the conquest of the Indians, the Spanish ruled the country. Neglected as a colony and isolated by wilderness expanses, an individualist farming people developed.

Costa Rica gained its independence, along with the rest of Central America, in 1821, and was proclaimed a Republic in 1844. Today it enjoys a stable, democratic government and the President is elected by popular vote for a term of four years. This year Jose Figueres was elected to his second term as President.

Education is very important in Costa Rica which, for a developing country, has a high (80 per cent) literacy rate. It is unconstitutional to have an army, and the police force is a "civil guard."

AFS/Costa Rica

In contrast to AFS/Brazil which is enormously extended with its local committees, AFS/Costa Rica is centralized in the San Jose area, where many of the Returnees reside, either to work or to attend the national University. The AFS program has steadily expanded since it began fifteen years ago, and 606 Costa Rican students have participated to date. This year, Costa Rica sent 51 students to the U.S. and received 26 Americans Abroad.

The AFS/Costa Rica Office, now part of the Regional Office for Central America and Panama, was set up in 1962. There are Regional Committees in four of the seven provinces, the largest in San Jose. Essentially the functions of AFS/Costa Rica are carried out by a constellation of volunteer committees serving various purposes.

The Selection Committee for Students to the U.S. (which handles all candidate activities) and the Americans Abroad Committee are composed of Returnees. In addition to working with these two committees, the, Returnee Association (AEAFS) has Social and Cultural Committees and puts out a Bulletin. A Parents' Association assists in the San Jose area. Fernando Rivera '63, as the Coordinator, participates in all four groups.

Guillermo Vargas '65, of the Selection Committee, points out that "The proximity of the major towns means that most Returnees are close to each other and this promotes AFS closeness. On the other hand [because of distance] it's hard to work with students in the Northern or South Pacific areas; it's difficult to select and get in touch with them, both as candidates and Returnees."

"They Feel Prepared"

AFS/Costa Rica is the first country to combine the processes of selection and orientation. This is the function of the Selection Committee of twenty-four Returnees with a "Directory" of four members: Guillermo Vargas '65, Rosario Quesada '65, Guillermo Zuniga '68, and Jose Giralt '68. While preparing and informing the candidates for the challenge ahead, the committee is also provided with a good basis for making its final selections.

Applicants complying with the technical qualifications are divided into discussion groups which meet for twenty weeks. Topics include Costa Rican institutions and economy, Latin-American and U.S. relations, political ideologies, and racial problems. Ana Ugalde '69 and Fernando Garzona '67 oversee the rural candidates, who receive questionnaires on the discussion topics and are visited periodically. These students also come to San Jose for several days of interviews. All candidates then take three English and three general knowledge examinations.

Those who are chosen by AFS/Costa Rica continue their orientation with English classes, and from February to June they attend monthly "conferences" featuring speakers outstanding in various fields, such as professors and politicians.

Before departure there is a three-day orientation at a camp called Roble Alto, when the Selection Committee talks to students about how to cope with situations they might encounter. Leaders of the previous discussion groups also talk personally with those students whom they have come to know through the year. While in the U.S., students receive monthly "Roble Alto" letters from Fernando.

Guillermo Vargas '65 notes that "with the orientation period, students benefit more from the AFS experience. This way, they are more prepared, and they know there are people to help them such as their correspondents and the local chapters . . . . They know what AFS is, and they feel like AFSers even before they go to the U.S." Guillermo adds, "Every day we are trying to improve our selection work, because the future of the program depends on the quality of the students."

Americans Abroad

Since 1961, a total of 176 Americans Abroad have been to Costa Rica, including the AFS students for this year. The Americans Abroad Committee, headed by Mario Blanco '68, works in conjunction with the Regional Committees. The Parents' Association lends a hand with interviews and family finding. Families, however, are hesitant to host American students because they (erroneously) think it is necessary to match the American standard of living.

Unlike Brazil, where it is hard to get from one corner of the country to another, Efrain Calderon '68, coeditor of the Bulletin, observes that "Costa Rica's size is convenient for trips to other regions. This provides American AFSers with a fairly whole view of the nation."

Mario Blanco '68 states, "By now. AFS/Costa Rica is broadly known, not only within our borders, but all over Central America. I'm proud of the job we have been doing."

Indeed, AFS/Costa Rica programs reflect the vigor and cooperation of this small and peaceful country.

Short-term sojourns provide long-term answers to diversify

Through intimate exposure to peoples and cultural patterns of other lands, AFS has for years offered its participants the opportunity to be "New Frontiersmen." The challenge to further expand the concept is being met in a number of ways. One of these---"The Short-Term Exchange"---aims to provide current AFS students from abroad---as well as young U.S. citizens---the advantage of a new living encounter in a community characteristically different from their own family base or host residence. This program became a reality in the USA in 1970. It had been tested by a few chapters in the past, and was already used extensively in a few other countries when negotiations were made between white and black communities, suburban and urban, urban and rural, and Indian and white. The ideas implemented were excitingly varied. Each exchange was keyed to the individual locale. Here are a few of the ventures--and gains---which have resulted.

New Jersey

"All people should be reincarnated and made purple." This comment made by a Japanese girl was her colorful summation of what was billed as a "Goalless Weekend." The gathering brought together students from various areas. There were thirty-five black teenagers from Newark city high schools, sixteen AFS students from eleven countries, and nineteen white young suburbanites. The setting was a "Y" Camp which offered a lake, woodlands, a few mosquitoes, and the quiet beauty of star-filled night skies. The event furnished housing, coordinated to allow for maximum interaction between blacks and whites.

The usual formal introductions were dispensed with in favor of student interviews on a one-to-one basis. When the group assembled for its first meeting each "interviewer" presented a pocket sketch of his subject. The ice was quickly broken when a girl from Thailand admitted her initial query to her partner and new friend had been, "How do you get an Afro? Are you born with it?"

The topic "Racism doesn't mean discrimination---it's a way of life" was discussed at some length in one of the informal talk sessions. This represented a first exposure to black thinking on the subject for many of the participants.

Douglas Stevenson, a quiet, gentle man admits to being a person who is "people-oriented." Following three years with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, he joined AFS in 1968 and became Director of Chapter Relations for the western states. During this period he helped coordinate the "Short-Term Exchange" program in his area. Recently, he was appointed Director of the first AFS Regional office in Seattle, Washington. His special interests include skiing, city architecture and, not in the least, his new bride, the former Marcia Bloom, who also had been a New York staff member.

Donald Payne, a community organization volunteer in Newark and one of the weekend's architects, defined part of the black experience: "Soul is just your inner self. It can go as deep as you want it to go. Soul is present in everyone but it is only brought to the surface through oppression." This statement and others of contemporary relevance were thought-provoking to many of the students from abroad who had earlier maintained that prejudice and discrimination did not exist in their countries. Social and economic barriers in Brazil, and the influx of outsiders into the Netherlands were mentioned by nationals of those countries, and soon the consensus was that racism is not an American phenomenon.

Mr. Payne noted that the AFS students from abroad were the real catalysts in stimulating dialogue.

Ohio/Austria and Argentina

Charles Walker, a black student at Glenville High School in Cleveland had never heard of AFS before. His school, like many other truly inner-city high schools had not participated in the AFS programs. Charles' brief but warm introduction was a stay with a Chapter Member's family and a week's attendance at the suburban Bay High School. At the conclusion he returned to Glenville accompanied by Gerhard Nothegger of Austria, Bay High's AFS student. Glenville's administration---and German Club---were especially pleased to welcome a "white" visitor who, additionally, was German speaking. During his week at the center-city school, Gerhard spent much of his time with members of the Club, which was in the process of raising funds for a visit to Europe.

William Dean Howells Junior High School, also in Cleveland, has a federally-funded, bi-lingual program designed for students with a wide range of ability in both Spanish and English languages. Maria Rielo Pinto, an Argentine AFS student from Independence, Missouri, worked several days with both staff and students at the school. Her first-hand observations about Argentina on the whole added a cultural value to the course. In turn, she profited from an educational setting much different from the suburban high school she was attending in Missouri.

A Tewa host mother, Mrs. Shupla labors lovingly for her family and guest, a U.S. student from California.

Steep cliffs, forested land and stark canyons frame the Shuplas' adobe hone in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico.

New York/Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Brazil

Four AFS students had already been invited from outlying areas into city schools in Rochester, New York, when a previously existing community problem forced the closing of schools. The Board of Education was faced with picket lines and demonstrations protesting the denial of an integration plan. It seemed then that the AFS visits were not to be made. However, after the eventual reopening, teachers rallied around the exchange program. The visits were made and the four participants learned much they hadn't known before about peaceful protest and issues affecting city residents. All lived with black families and found that basic values and preconceptions with which the experience was begun had to be reassessed.

Perhaps the most ambitious of the exchanges, which totalled 170 in all, was that arranged by Mrs. Joseph Rubenson, an AFS District Representative in the San Francisco Peninsula area. The idea involved an exchange of students from her district with American Indian students from Arizona and New Mexico. Mrs. Rubenson had been aware that for some years local schools had felt AFS was worthwhile but that its purposes of developing understanding between different peoples needed to be applied at home as well as abroad.

As a result of her concern, contacts were made with local high schools, who readily agreed to the plan. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, when approached, also had a positive response. Among the first to seek participation were the Many Farms and Fort Wingate schools. Both are located on the Navajo reservation where 130,000 Indians live on vast stretches of the cactus and mesa country in northern Arizona and New Mexico. Also taking part were the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, the Albuquerque Indian School, and the Santa Clara Pueblo, the latter consisting of 700 Tewa Indians whose adobe homes form a community on their reservation land. Selected for the project were twenty California students---including host brothers and sisters, AFS Club Members, American Abroad candidates---and a comparable number of students from Indian Schools.

After telling a California school assembly that his people are not "wild" as they appear on television and in the movies, a Tewa boy noted, "It's funny, but at home we're all trying to dress like Anglos and here all of you are dressing like Indians!" In general, the Indian students found stimulating the bustling activity and academic interest evident in the California schools. Family life was enjoyable and in many cases the students felt they were just beginning to reap significant benefits when it was time to leave.

The California students reported that for the first time in their lives they were apprehensive about possible rejection because of being "different." Wrote one, "At first I was afraid. I felt so alone and strange as quietly curious faces passed me by. I felt the school was hostile and the Indian students indifferent. I couldn't have been more wrong. Since the first afternoon I have been taken in by my roommates and friends almost as a sister. Although they are not as gregarious as my acquaintances in California, they have accepted me honestly and less critically than anyone I've known. I don't think my hectic way of life can compare with the peace and warmth I've found here."

Californians living in the Santa Clara Pueblo felt especially lucky to be given chores. An introduction to other Indians by their hosts as "our new sons and daughters" dispelled their early fears. In addition to sharing Indian life, two artistically talented young people also gained enormously from contact with the exceptional art programs in Santa Fe. Here a highly motivated student body drawn from every facet of Indian culture in the United States is encouraged to explore both traditional and contemporary methods of artistic expressions. At the end of their stay, the visitors wished that they were of Indian extraction in order to qualify as regular students at the school.

Picking up the theme of those things which commonly unite and separate us, one exchangee observed on his return to California, "Indian youths are trying to move away from the spiritual life and concerns of their ancestors toward a more material one, while at the same time we Anglos are disenchanted with the material lives of our elders and are seeking a richer spiritual one." His conclusion---that this causes opposite kinds of generation gaps in both cultures---goes far in defining the sorts of insights gained by these young people during their stays "abroad but still at home." Another assessment was phrased in this way: "We were all fascinated with Indian art and legend, and most of us returned home greatly impressed with the way Indian life is infused with a respect for nature and the need to live in harmony with it, rather than to oppose it as we so often do."

The Indian schools were eager to repeat the program in the future. Several thought that they would soon be interested in sending students overseas and in receiving students from abroad for a full year. Having previously rejected Vista volunteers, the Santa Clara Pueblo was also hesitant about Al's, but is now eager to continue this participation.

Indian school administrators commented that their students gained new motivation as well as greater confidence in themselves and their fluency with the English language. California faculty believed that the Indian visitors had a noticeable impact on their student bodies, and helped to make them more aware and interested in "otherness."

Comments on all fronts of the "Short Term Exchange Programs" were enthusiastic. The general feeling was that old barriers had been broken down and new frontiers opened. The Sioux saying "In order to know an Indian one must walk in his mocassins" has taken on new realism for AFS.

All one fondly . . . The Freemans encircle Claudia Cruz Medina, Brazil '70, in their Rochester home.

The communication was like a pearl: small, but beautiful," stated Sergio-Latorre-Campos, Chile '70, (r.) who pooled ideas with Christian Cauwe, Belgium '70 (1.) and Lee Peltier, Student Council President of the Flandreau Indian School in Sioux Falls. Mrs. Dorothy M. Brandt (an AFS District Representative in South Dakota) arranged the exchange for the schools in Michigan, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

Touching off a panoply of sight and sound, four End-of-Stay Conferences were held in Englewood, Colorado; Wellesley, Massachusetts; Hiram, Ohio; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Converging in groups of 750 each at the four sites, students from sixty-one countries assembled not only to "talk together," but to "listen together" to Arthur Howe, Jr., AFS President, William P. Orrick, AFS Vice President for Programs, and other speakers. These year-end meetings represented a departure from previous annual gatherings when all of the students to the U.S. met together in one area. Designed to help the Conferees put into perspective their year, the "midi" sessions allowed for "maxi" involvement.

. . . Englewood, Colorado

Overnight, Englewood High School was transformed into a Conference Headquarters, information center and reunion site for two days of informal and formal get-togethers.

Keynote spokesman, Chancellor Maurice B. Mitchell, University of Denver, cited the need for young people to become involved as individuals. They "may be the last and most effective weapon with which the world can fight the immense problems created by the technological age," he declared. "The world is not going to snap back into shape with just a little change," he said. He urged the students who have studied abroad to help lead the way toward peace.

In between Conference events, the participants met with civic and business leaders, appeared on TV (KLZ, KWGN, KBTV, ABC) and joined in recreational activities planned by Denver host families and local AFS chapters. Commemorating the occasion, Englewood Mayor Elmer Schwab proclaimed an AFS International Week.

Standing in for their father, Governor John Love of Colorado, Becky and Andy join the delegates at Englewood High School (1. to r.): Hector J. Gomez, Dominican Republic; Becky Love; Margrethe Kleist, Greenland; Andy Love. [photo---Denver Herald]

No language gap here as Elizabet Robertsson, Sweden, converses with Chancellor Maurice Mitchell and Arthur Howe, Jr. at the Denver Conference. [photo courtesy---Gregory Associates]

. . . Wellesley, Massachusetts

The spacious tree-shaded grounds of Wellesley College took on a cosmopolitan look as AFS Conferees congregated there.

Underlying the principle of unity amidst global diversity, Arthur Howe, Jr. urged the participants to recognize "that our differences are very thin and our common humanity the important truth. This is the realization that can bring us the peace, justice and freedom we seek."

Challenging the students to become "inventors of the future," Dr. Reginald Smart, Director of International Studies, Lake Erie College and author of Global Village Conversation, stated: "The future will be determined by those who make it---or by reaction to them. It lies in the hands of those with the courage to invent it."

In the evening a songfest led by folksinger Tony Saletan rounded out the program.

. . . Hiram, Oho

A traditional campus setting contrasted dramatically with innovative ideas at Hiram College.

AFS Trustee Member Carl T. Rowan, now a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and formerly U.S. Ambassador to Finland, tackled the question of survival. He told his youthful audience: "If the world cannot close the gap between the rich and the poor, the have and the have nots, then all our talk of love and peace and justice will be in vain." Radio stations KWYC and WCLV broadcasted his speech.

Joining him on the podium were speakers Arthur Howe, Jr., William P. Orrick and George Edgell, former AFS Director of Programs.

During the Conference period, the participants were housed in dormitories, which resulted in "sit-up" talkathons instead of "sit-ins."

In tune at Hiram, this international group from Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Holland, and Norway sang a Brazilian melody. [photo---Larry O. Nighswander]
Carl T. Rowan-Hiram. . . "No nation can prosper and endure without the golden thread of exact and universal justice." [photo courtesy--- Publishers-Hall Syndicate]	William P. Orrick---Alverno . . . "To what extent and in what manner you involve yourself in the effort to help your neighbor is for you to decide." [photo-R. K. Johnson]

. . . Milwaukee, Wisconsin

A medley of languages rippled across the wooded lawns of Alverno College as AFS students intermingled.

At the opening day ceremonies, Milwaukee Mayor Henry W. Maier welcomed the participants. Speaking on "Commitment to Conscience," William P. Orrick stressed the "something extra" homeward-bound students might take with them: "a deeper insight . . . a clearer understanding that human beings everywhere share the same hopes and fears and aspirations, a realization that communicating one's thoughts and feelings to another person is a difficult art and must be worked at to be achieved . .

Our World, continued
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