Remarks

Remarks by Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Judy Chammas at Orientation for P4L/YES Participants

(High School Exchange – both returned students and outgoing students present)

American Club, Dhaka

July 12, 2005

Mr. Abdel Hafidh Chaibi, International Director of NACEL Open Door; Mr. Dulal Biswas, Country Director of NACEL Open Door; participants in the Partnerships for Learning Youth Exchange program: Asalamu Aleikum; Nomoskar; I’m very happy to be here with you today.

Let me first congratulate all of you for being here today.  For those of you who are preparing to go to the United States: I congratulate you on being selected.  This is a highly competitive program, and I know that you have gone through a long selection process and you have clearly impressed a number of people both here in Bangladesh and in America in order to be selected.  It must be an exciting time, getting ready to go to a different country, to meet different people, see new sights, experience new experiences, make new friends. 

It may also be somewhat scary to spend a year separated from your family – I’m sure that it’s a hard time for your parents as well.  So I’d like to congratulate your parents for having the courage to send you to America for a year.  I’m a parent too, and my daughter will soon be going off to university, so I can understand the worries that a parent has, but I do want to assure them that we will take good care of you – that American families are strong and you will all be living with a good family.

I would also like to congratulate all of you who have returned.  I’m sure that it wasn’t always easy.  I’m sure that at some point, all of you were homesick, and I know that some of you may have faced some unexpected challenges.  For example, shortly after Mohammad Zubair Hossain arrived in Florida, that state was hit hard by several hurricanes.  The rest of you may not have faced hurricanes, but I’m sure that all of you faced challenges – perhaps you surprised yourselves by what you were able to do.  I think that you can all be proud that you traveled around the world and learned how to live in America, in a different society.  I’m sure that you also taught Americans about Bangladesh.  You may have given speeches or presentations about Bangladesh at your school or at community organizations, but I’m sure that you also taught about Bangladesh in your day-to-day interaction with your host family, friends, and schoolmates. 

You might be surprised to know that by learning about America and by teaching Americans about Bangladesh, you were helping us in the Embassy to accomplish one of our most important goals, which is to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of Bangladesh.  We have a variety of ways to accomplish that goal: I give interviews to Bangladeshi newspapers and television stations; we have a library where people can come to read books and magazines; we encourage Bangladeshi students to study in the United States; but one of the most important ways that we promote mutual understanding is by sponsoring exchange programs like the Partnership for Learning Youth Exchange program.  The Embassy has a long history of  sponsoring exchange programs for students, faculty, and professionals.  In 1954, Sheik Mujib participated in our international visitor program as a student leader.  However, it was only last year that we started this P4L/YES program for high school students.

I did say earlier that mutual understanding is one of our goals, so I hope that this can be a dialogue today.  At this point I would welcome any questions that you may have, or any observations – particularly from those who have recently returned.

 

Note:  A Bangla translation of this article is also available from the American Center.  If you are interested in the translation, please call the American Center Press Section (Tel: 8813440-4, Fax: 9881677; e-mail: DhakaPA@state.gov; Website: dhaka.usembassy.gov (New)