USEFP achieved or exceeded the objectives set out its
Program Proposal for FY10. In fact, despite the challenge
of undergoing a major transition and operating with an
Acting Executive Director, FY10 was a record-breaking year
for USEFP. Many more Pakistani participants were sent to
the U.S. in more programs than ever before. In fact, the
number of participants from Pakistan more than doubled in
FY10, from 184 to 376, due to supplemental funding. Of
these, 36 percent were women and 43 percent were from
remote or economically disadvantaged areas. The number of
Americans coming to Pakistan also grew significantly,
again aided by supplemental funding. In addition to four
regular U.S. Fulbright scholars, USEFP managed to submit
the applications of 38 interested U.S. scholars to the
Fulbright Specialist Roster, exceeding the target of 30
set by ECA. The objective of opening up further the U.S.
portion of the program to more host institutions and to
include Lahore was also met. "
USEFP achieved more positive press coverage in FY10 than
ever before. From a White House press release
congratulating the U.S.-Pakistan Fulbright Program, to
print and television coverage of the Pre-departure
Orientation ceremony for Fulbright awardees held at the
Prime Minister’s Secretariat with the Prime Minister as
Chief Guest, to coverage of other program events and
visiting U.S. scholar activities, USEFP benefited from a
significantly raised profile in FY10.
USEFP was honored to have Deputy Assistant Secretary Ms.
Alina Romanowski inaugurate its Fulbright Pre-departure
Orientation. It also saw its contribution from the
Ministry of Education of the Government of Pakistan
doubled, the first such increase in 60 years.
Excited CCI grantees from Pakistan share
their story of meeting with Greg Mortenson
Ms. Lala Bano,Mr. Faiz Rasool and Mr. Muhammad Younis
Rustamani are grantees under 2010 CCI (Community College
Initiative) program of USEFP. They went from Pakistan to
study in Davidson County Community College for one year.
Currently they are in the second half of their program.
Here is how they excitedly narrate their story of meeting
with Mr. Greg Morenson, American humanitarian, writer and
former mountaineer, well known worldwide and particularly
in Pakistan for his great relief work and books for the
region including the famous “Three cups of Tea” .
"After a nice dinner at La Carreta , we traveled to
Winston-Salem to see Greg Mortenson at Wait Chapel, Wake
Forest U. After waiting and pushing through a crowd of
about 1000 people, some with tickets and some without, we
finally entered Wait Chapel and found seats in the
balcony. We sat transfixed, listening to Mortenson
describe his ongoing quest to raise monies for schools in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. His sincerity and wisdom
delighted his eagerly listening fans and groupies. Lal,
Younas, and Faiz openly agreed with many of Mortenson's
statements about the interdependence of ignorance and
prejudice and many other similarly wise statements. I left
them briefly to go to the lobby to purchase the newly
published book, Stones into Schools, and then returned to
my rapt students within about five minutes. As the
"conversation" between WXII's reporter, Cameron Kent and
Mortenson was winding down. Lal asked, "Mam, how will we
get to meet him?" I stood up as the last few words were
being said and all the students followed suit. Lal asked
again, "How, Mam?" I put the book in her hands and pointed
to Mortenson and said, "Go, Go!" as the crowd began to
push forward. All the CCI students rushed down the stairs.
I caught up with Forster and Akua at the bottom and
noticed that the Pakistanis were no where to be seen. I
asked Forster to look about and find them while I began
waiting patiently in the book signing line, which was more
like a mob than a line, hoping that Lal, Younas, Faiz, and
the book would reappear. But, as the crowd waited for
Mortenson to come back out and sign their books, I knew
where he was. Well, I didn't know where he was, but I knew
who was with him. Forster came back and told me that Lal,
Younas, and Faiz were behind the door and the woman in
pink would not let him enter. Akua and Forster sat on a
pew and waited patiently while I left the book signing
trapezoid, which never became a line, and simply walked
into the hall behind the stage. I eventually found a
frazzled looking woman wearing a lovely fushia sweater
standing guard near a vestibule. I asked if she has seen
three students, to which she replied quite disapprovingly,
"They're in there (pointing) with HIM!" I'm sure at least
part of a smile crept along one corner of my mouth as I
asked, "Would you like me to take them away?" Of course, I
was hoping I could also gain entrance into the pastor's
study, which was Mortenson's temporary fortress of
solitude. The exasperated lady was almost livid that our
three Pakistani students shared 15 minutes of conversation
with Greg Mortenson while the adoring multitudes were
waiting, impatiently, for him to appear and sign their
books. Next, I heard Lal's voice, and suddenly they
reappeared with autographed books in their hands.
Mortenson had given Lal and Younas books. Faiz had my copy
and the inscription was personalized for him of course, so
I gave him the book with blessings, explaining that it was
meant to be his. Seems that Mortenson had stayed with
Lal's niece while he was in Pakistan, so he and Lal had a
nice conversation, because in that culture, they are
practically family. Mortenson spoke to them all in Urdu
and gave them all his personal email address. Yes, that's
right... while the educated and wealthy mass waited, Greg
Mortenson actually conversed with our DCCC CCI students
from Pakistan. As Forster said, "It was destiny." Oh, and
one of the security guards took a picture of Lal, Faiz,
Younas, and Greg Mortenson. I don't know if they will
publish it on FB, but they are very proud of it."
About Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson (born December 27, 1957[1]) is an American
humanitarian, writer, and former mountaineer. Mortenson is
the co-founder (with Dr. Jean Hoerni) and director of the
non-profit Central Asia Institute, and founder of the
educational charity Pennies for Peace. He is the
protagonist and co-author of the #1 New York Times
bestseller Three Cups of Tea. The sequel, Stones Into
Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in
Afghanistan and Pakistan was released on Dec 1, 2009
(Viking 2009).
Global UGRAD grantees cherish
Thanksgiving celebrations in the host institutes
Global UGRAD in Pakistan fellows celebrated Thanksgiving
in a variety of ways in the United States.
Rubab
Zahra, studying at St. Cloud State University,
celebrated Thanksgiving with her friendship family,
where she helped make roasted turkey and chicken. Her
friendship family is “now impressed with my cooking
abilities,” she said. Suliman Khan, Bilal Anwar, and
Rashid Munir, studying at Minnesota State University –
Mankato, were invited to their host advisor’s home for
Thanksgiving. Suliman appreciated the “delicious Desi
foods” she cooked for them and her family.
Tariq Usman Saeed, studying at the University of Idaho,
experienced driving through snow on his way to his
friend’s house in Portland for Thanksgiving. “It was
difficult to drive through snow,” he said. Nonetheless,
“it was an adventurous journey. We visited a number of
towns and different places of importance” including
Palouse Falls State Park, Sacajawea State Park, and the
Columbia Gorge. As a civil engineering student, Tariq was
particularly excited to see the Burnside Bridge in
Portland, which was designed by Joseph Strauss, the
designer of the Golden Gate Bridge. Tariq arrived in
Portland at the end of a long snowy day, and could “see
the beautiful city and bridge of my dreams glowing in
colorful lightings.”
Afza Asif, studying at Chadron State University, declared
that “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so far.”
Although she enjoyed the whole meal, she concluded that
“pecan pie turned out to be my personal favorite.” She
also had the opportunity to partake in the American
tradition of shopping on Black Friday. She and other
international students went shopping in Rapid City
starting at four in the morning. She said that, “it was
really exciting to see lines in front of stores and
products vanishing from the store.”
In Rapid City, Afza also had the opportunity to enjoy the
water park, as well as ride go carts and go ice skating
for the first time. Finally, she attended a hockey game
and expressed that “something that was really different
was ‘conventional fighting’ among the players. It’s like
beauty of the game to fight and people cheer them up. Loud
aggressive music, cowbells and slamming and shouting,
funny videos and cheer leaders dancing on skates. It was a
something I didn’t expect out of hockey.”
Saba Safdar, studying at North Central College, had two
Thanksgiving dinners – one with a Chinese-American friend
and one with her roommate. She has also had a chance to
discover some favorite places to visit in Chicago.
“Nothing beats a hot cup of coffee on top of the John
Hancock Building with the amazing view of Chicago. People,
cars, other ‘buildings’ seem miniscule from the top and
one feels like a giant from some classic fairytale,” she
notes.
She recently visited the Adler Planetarium and the Museum
of Science & Industry in Chicago. She saw exhibits at the
planetarium “which highlighted man's journey to the moon
with description of all the triumphs and tragedies
involved.” Embracing her inner child, Saba visited the
children’s planet explorer exhibit, where she
“successfully launched and docked a spaceship on the
moon!”
Saba’s favorite exhibit at the Museum of Science &
Industry was the Fast Forward exhibit which showcased
technologies of the future. There she saw an Omnimax show,
about which she said “The theatre feels exactly like the
never-ending night sky, as it is in the shape of a
parabola stretching across 2/3rd of the room. It was an
amazing experience.”
Science beyond
borders; education beyond science – Dr. Talat Roome’s
r
Dr. Talat Roome, a Fulbright
grantee under the Fulbright Scholar Program went to
U.S. for her post-doc. Her research work has been
appreciated and acknowledged by Cleveland clinic and
her interview is published on Lerner Research
Institute Website. Following is the excerpt from the
article published on the website.
esearch acknowledged
The past year has been
exceptionally eventful for Fulbright Scholar Talat Roome,
PhD, of Pakistan. Through the Fulbright Program, which
aims to promote mutual understanding between people of the
United States and those of 155 other countries, she has
had the opportunity to obtain a first-hand "American
experience" to share with fellow Pakistanis upon her
return…and study under one of her research's most
influential scientists, Martha Cathcart, PhD, of Cell
Biology in the Lerner Research Institute.
Fulbrighters
offer assistance during Pakistan flooding crisis
In Sept. 15 remarks from Thatta, Pakistan, U.S. Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard
Holbrooke said, “...right now we just have to get the
people back on their feet, the waters have to recede, we
have to find out how many bridges and roads have been
destroyed, and we have to help Pakistan fix that problem.
The Pakistani economy was getting better, was getting
stronger, when this happened…All of that effort was washed
away by these floods."
The Fulbright Association extends condolences to the
Pakistani people for the losses they have suffered in the
floods in northwest Pakistan and supports the U.S.
Department of State’s efforts to provide relief. For ways
to contribute, please visit
http://www.state.gov/p/sca/ci/pk/flood/index.htm . Or
text “SWAT” to the number 20222 from your mobile phone to
make a $10 contribution that will help the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees provide tents, clothing, food,
clean drinking water, and medicine to people displaced by
floods.
Maria Hasan, a current visiting Fulbrighter at Tufts
University’s Fletcher School, along with fellow
Fulbrighters Dania Khan and Jonas Wheltan, volunteered
this summer with PakRelief CrowdMap, a project created to
map flood areas in greatest need of assistance. Through
the project, people in flood zones used their mobile
phones--many people’s only forms of communication after
floods--to assist in coordinating relief efforts.
“I did crisis mapping which entailed taking SMS reports
[text messages] that people were sending, and looking for
GIS [longitude and latitude] coordinates and then mapping
the information,” Ms. Hasan said. “The information could
be about what a particular village or area needed in terms
of relief (so that NGOs could reach that area) but could
also be about how a certain sort of aid had reached an
area to prevent duplication of efforts.
The United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP)
celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Fulbright Program
in Pakistan not long before the first floods in
Baluchistan. The Fulbright Association applauds the work
of the nearly 4,000 Pakistanis and American’s who have
participated in Fulbright exchanges between the two
countries. The importance of the Fulbright Program for
Pakistan’s future is exemplified by Maria Hasan, who
reports that her Fulbright experience at Tufts will
prepare her for the Central Superior Services examination
and, she hopes, life as a diplomat with the Pakistan
Foreign Ministry.
Senior ICFJ officials hold training workshop at USEFP Islamabad
United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP)
held an outreach event on Dec. 9, 2010 to train local
journalists on international best practices in Journalism.
The event was well attended by more than 45 journalists
with diverse background of print, radio, TV and internet
media. The trainers were senior officials from
International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) - Patrick
Butler, Vice President ICFJ and Ms. Johanna Carrillo,
Senior Program Director ICFJ. Mr. Patrick has been with
ICFJ for last more than 10 years, and before that he was a
journalist trainer in Latin America. He has also had
working experience of journalism in various leading
newspaper of USA. Ms. Johanna has been with ICFJ for last
seven years. Before this, she worked as a broadcast
journalist in Chili. She also worked for the National TV
of Chili. Both Patrick and Johanna are now based in
Washgtion, USA.
The trainers briefed journalists about various training
and exchange opportunities that exist amongst various
chapters of ICFJ worldwide, including the USEFP program
for Journalists. Talking about the best practices they
shed light on media, ethics and expected behavior of
Journalists. Various actual case studies of different
countries were discussed explaining role of media as
responsibility to society; the right way of reporting the
truth, social norms and citation of news source etc. They
also discussed the significance of manual of code of
ethics. It was interesting to note that many leading media
groups in Pakistan either have such ethics manual while in
some groups the senior editors review all the stories
submitted, ensuring ethical code of conduct. Newer media
channels and papers though don’t have clear policies.
Speakers also talked about the impact of new media and
communication technologies on the Journalism and how these
have revolutionized the independence of journalists.
Later, the journalists were divided into groups of four
and each group was assigned a case study. All the case
studies were real life examples on how critical issues
have been reported by media and what the consequences of
these reporting were. The groups critically analyzed the
situations, talking about the actual versus expected
ethical behavior of journalists in the situations.
Ms. Rita Akhtar, acting Executive Director was also
present on the occasion and while having conversation with
the journalists during networking tea, she briefed about
increase in the grant of scholarship for Pakistanis
including the launch of journalist program this year.
About ICFJ
The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit,
professional organization, promotes quality journalism
worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media
are crucial in improving the human condition.
With 26 years in the field, the International Center for
Journalists has worked directly with more than 65,000
journalists from 180 countries. Aiming to raise the
standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training,
workshops, seminars, fellowships and international
exchanges to journalists and media managers around the
globe.
UGRAD Grantee‘s
video won competition, posted in IREX official website
Rubab Zahra (official name) is a Global UGRAD grantee who
participated in the program fall 2010. Ms. Zahra’s field
of study is Biochemistry and she was enrolled at the St.
Cloud State University for a semester and is now in
Pakistan after completing her program. She is delighted to
share that she won the three competitions simultaneously.
In one of the instance, her video was selected by IREX
(Internal Research and Exchange Board) for educational
week in U.S. and was posted on their official website. In
another instance, she won micro-grant for proposing some
good ideas on how to introduce Pakistan, while in another
competition of making video of her U.S. experience; she
also won a “Video Camera”.
Student exchange
program builds knowledge between U.S., Pakistan
Sikandar Hayat Sajid was
halfway around the world from his home in Charsadda,
Pakistan, and newly arrived at a university in the
southern U.S. state of Tennessee, when one of his new
American friends asked him where he had gone for the
weekend.
"Nowhere, he confessed. “I told him that I was in the
dorm and feeling pretty bored. He told me, ‘Oh, man,
why didn’t you tell me?’” Sajid didn’t have a problem
with being bored again.
For the next weekend, the
friend got together a group — including Sajid — for
river rafting. “Believe me, I was having no idea what
rafting is,” said Sajid, who also did not know how to
swim. On the river, on campus and as a guest at
friends’ homes, Sajid spent a semester immersing
himself in America while continuing his engineering
studies as part of a new U.S. exchange program for
college students from Pakistan.
“I found some nice
friends over there, and Americans are very keen to hear
about Pakistan,” Sajid said, who added that the image
Americans have from the media is mostly of a Pakistan
wracked by violence.
The students said they encountered only friendly curiosity
and helpfulness over their Muslim faith no matter where
they were in the United States. During Ramadan, Sajid kept
food in his dorm room so that he could eat before dawn,
and a custodian noticed it and arranged for him to have a
refrigerator in the room. The cafeteria “changed the whole
menu for us” to provide more vegetarian and fish meals, he
added.
“I didn’t feel anything uncomfortable regarding the
religion, to be very honest,” Sajid said. “There was a
mosque beside our dorm on the campus, and we went
regularly to offer the taraweeh prayers. … My parents,
they were surprised, [saying], ‘You are in the United
States and you are going for taraweeh?’ I told them that,
yes; it’s the religious freedom over here.”
Get Set Go -
Spring 2011 UGRAD-Pakistan grantees engage in cultural
exchange activities at the U.S.
All of the Spring 2011 Global UGRAD-Pakistan fellows are
busy in a wide range of activities since their arrivals on
campus. They are not only getting used to their
communities and the local weather as they settle in to
their classes and campuses, but making the most of the new
opportunities surrounding them.
Geo TV Voice of America-
features UGRAD 2011 Program
Muhammad Israr at Shawnee State University is already
getting involved on campus and demonstrating his
leadership skills. He has been elected to the position of
secretary for the International Students Forum, based on
his speech at the international student orientation.
Arsalan Majeed, studying at SUNY-Plattsburg, cooked his
first American meal for his friendship family. He first
went grocery shopping with his host mother at the local
grocery store and then cooked pasta and grilled chicken.
Arsalan was surprised to find that his family thoroughly
enjoyed the meal. “They actually liked it, and ate a lot,
which made me feel very good and satisfied.”
Many of the fellows have already gotten to know their
friendship families and others in their community through
sharing meals together. Talal Raza, at South East
Community College, met with his friendship family and had
a great time getting to know them while shopping and
cooking with them. He is also enjoying getting to know his
roommates and other international exchange students, who
shared their national dishes with him.
Several of the fellows have begun their community service
work. Wasim Qadir, studying at Grand Valley State
University, assisted the American Red Cross with setting
up a blood donation drive on campus. Apart from being fun,
Wasim said it was quite interesting to know how the
organization is working to help needy people by providing
blood to them. He said that, “it was awesome to observe
the generosity level of people while they were coming to
donate blood. I saw people from every age group who showed
up to donate blood.”
Wasim Qadir volunteering for
Red Cross
Ammad Ayub, studying at the
University of Wyoming, started his community service
at the local civic center with the Service, Leadership
and Community Engagement program, through which he
worked on a campaign to restore the civic center, in
honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Ammad also had
the chance to attend a “Cowgirl Basketball” game on
campus. Ammad said he “had a lot of fun there, though
our university lost. But I enjoyed it!” Ammad is
looking forward to the next cowgirl basketball match.
It’s basketball season in
the United States. Arsalan Khan, at the University of
Idaho, has enjoyed spending time with his new roommates at
the university and has attended with them a couple
basketball games – both of which the University of Idaho
won!
Many of the fellows have experienced winter weather
activities upon their arrival in the US, as well. Imran
Ullah, studying at Augustana College, had a chance to
enjoy the snowy weather in South Dakota when he went snow
tubing. He has also enjoyed warmer activities, like
bowling, and has found a team to play soccer with on
campus.
Hammad Baig was greeted at Endicott University by his
international student advisors on campus and a number of
international students. While waiting for classes to
begin, he is staying with a friendship family near the
campus. With his friendship family he has embraced the
Massachusetts winter through snowboarding, sledding and
ice-skating. He has also visited the downtown Boston
Aquarium and I-Max theatre. “I am looking forward to the
best time of my life ahead,” he said.
Some of the fellows have also had the opportunity to learn
about American culture through dance. Ammad Ayub learned
square dancing at a fundraiser on campus at the University
of Wyoming. “It was so much fun learning that dance,” said
Amad. “I learned a few steps like DoSaDo and Grand
Square.”
Naveed Khan, studying at Otero Junior College, started his
cultural passport activities by attending an Indian Dance
event on campus. He said, “It was just an awesome time
there. I saw 16 different types of old cultural Native
American and Mexican dances.” Naveed was featured this
week in the Colorado Community Colleges news! Read the
story here:
http://newswire.coloradocommunitycolleges.com/?p=1814
Senior English
language fellow concludes the certificate course for
Pakistani Teachers in collaboration with HEC
A group of 15 English teachers from Rawalpindi and
Islamabad completed a U.S.-sponsored six week teacher
training course administered by the Higher Education
Commission of Pakistan (HEC). The “Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages” (TESOL) program is one of
many U.S. government programs in Pakistan to invest in
English instruction for teachers and education for youth.
The 15 teachers will be awarded an internationally
recognized TESOL certificate.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Cultural Attaché Julia Fendrick
congratulated the group and encouraged them to share what
they have learned with their colleagues to further improve
English instruction in Pakistan.
The course was conducted by Mr. David Hopkins, Senior
Fellow from the U.S. State Department’s English Language
Fellow Program. This program brings American experts to
Pakistan to partner with local education institutions. The
purpose of this course is to introduce teachers to make
participative, so called “communicative,” activities in
their class rooms. Focused on current theory in language
acquisition, it provided a verity of techniques to
maximize the interaction of the students with the target
language. Students were brought in to the training
sessions, taught and then asked to recall the lessons. The
teachers were made to observe this entire teaching and
evaluation process. Demos by the trainer and emphasis upon
teaching practice was the most successful and unique part
of this training. It helped teachers to observe and get
on-hands feedback that how the students have been able to
re-call and understand what was taught to them.
With more than 30 years of diverse international
experience of teaching and managing educational program,
Mr. Dave holds Masters Degrees in Intercultural Management
as well as in Arts in Teaching (ESOL).
The English Language (EL) Fellow Program is funded
worldwide by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) through
the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and
is currently administrated by the Center of Intercultural
Education and Development at Georgetown University (GU).
The program sends talented American Teachers of English to
speakers of other languages on ten-month fellow ships to
overseas education institutes. USEFP is facilitating ECA
in the program hosting and execution. For more details
please visit
http://exchanges.state.gov/englishteaching/el-fellow.html.
Disclaimer: Ed-USA News also contains third party content from cited
sources, therefore, these are not the views of USEFP. Please note that
the items have been edited for purpose of brevity. To unsubscribe,
please send an e-mail with Subject 'Unsubscribe' to
usefp@usefpaksitan.org
