Stephanie Blochinger with the Young Professionals in International Education (yPIE) in Washington DC recently interviewed Learning Life Founder and Director Paul Lachelier about the Citizen Diplomacy Initiative. The full interview is copied below, and can be found at yPIE of DC here.
The two promising events were live, internet video dialogues or “virtual exchanges” that I organized between students at Stetson University in Florida and university students in Paris and Cairo in 2009 and 2011, respectively, when I was then a professor of sociology at Stetson. (You can view short videos about those dialogues here and here.) Those single dialogues — respectively about the role of government in society in light of Obamacare legislation then being debated, and about social media and social change in light of the Arab Spring in Egypt — were well-received on all sides, and left me thinking that more such substantive, respectful, learning-focused, transnational dialogues are needed.
The tragic event was the series of coordinated terrorist attacks that happened in Paris on Friday, November 13, 2015 that killed 130 people. That event spurred me to conclude that it was time for Learning Life to turn our focus to combating the ignorance and disconnection that fuel extremism and xenophobia through virtual exchange and collaboration.
2. Why is this initiative different from other community-based initiatives?
Most international virtual exchange is currently student-to-student or classroom-to-classroom. As much as such exchange is praiseworthy and deserving of expansion to more schools (so long as it produces positive and sustainable outcomes), it is more likely to occur between relatively privileged students because schools in wealthier communities are more likely to be equipped and motivated to engage in such dialogues.
As far as we know, we are the only nonprofit in the international virtual exchange field that’s devoted to dialogue and collaboration between lower-income people, and specifically families, in different nations. Families are sometimes viewed as refuges from a dangerous world, but families are always vulnerable to all sorts of public dangers, some of them international, like terrorism, disease, cyber-piracy and evolutions in transnational trade. We envision and work to nurture families not as refuges but as vehicles for peace through a new kind of family-to-family citizen diplomacy.
Plus, for less educated families, talking about family and lifestyle can be a more comprehensible and appealing entry-point into citizen diplomacy than talking about trade agreements, terrorism or climate change.
It’s also an opportunity for families to bond and create memories together through international dialogue. As one of our family members in Dakar, Senegal, recently told us, his large family is usually busy, each at their own cell phones, hobbies or tasks, but when our dialogues happen, they come together as a family.
3. What challenges did you face and were there any lessons learned from the first year of implementation?
In our first year of the Citizen Diplomacy Initiative, we faced a number of challenges, including recruiting families here in DC and abroad, making sure everyone showed up to the dialogues as planned, arranging transportation for our DC families without cars, hoping the internet connection is strong enough, keeping the families engaged as we continue to develop and refine our curriculum, coordinating a volunteer-intensive operation, fundraising to pay for food, transport and communications for our dialogues and supportive learning activities (field trips, international potlucks, global learning “fundays,” etc.).
We’re still working on some of these challenges, but are happy to report that we successfully completed over twenty live, family-to-family dialogues, and an international photo project comparing various aspects of our families’ communities in DC, Dakar, Senegal, and Jerash, Jordan.
4. What can international education professionals learn from this program?
If there is anything our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative is intended to convey in the short and long-term it’s that:
a) Overcoming many of the world’s challenges will take widespread, participatory, public commitment,
b) Our current largely elite-controlled system of diplomacy doesn’t help spread that commitment,
c) we thus need to democratize diplomacy, that is, to widen the spectrum of people participating in tackling those challenges,
d) that technologies like the internet, cell phones and tablets — when properly used in carefully designed, research-based, international programs — can help democratize diplomacy.
5. Anything else you would like to share? This could also be a good opportunity to share information about the networking group you formed?
Also, if you’re interested in helping to advance the field of international virtual exchange, let us know and we’ll notify you of the bi-monthly face-to-face meetings in DC and online Slack of our Virtual Exchange Coalition, which brings together government, business and nonprofit professionals in the field.
The Eight Families in Our First International Project
In August, Learning Life completed its first international collaboration through our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). That collaboration engaged eight families in three countries on three continents in answering the question “what is the nature of your community?” through photos. The families took nearly 500 photos, voted for the best photos, and their votes helped select 70 photos for a photo album that compares their three communities on five themes. The album will be released soon. In the meantime, we want to introduce you to the eight families who participated in our first, international. family-to-family project collaboration.
Note:All those featured in the photos are project participants unless otherwise noted. Not all family members participated in the CDI photo project, and thus in many cases are not featured below. For the sake of the families’ privacy, the family names are not listed.
JERASH, JORDAN
Family #1 (from left to right): Jena (daughter, 12), Taeb (son, 10), Teba (daughter, 5), Suleman (father), Tiam (son, <1), Reta (daughter, 6), Youssra (mother)
Project participants: Suleman, Jena, Taeb
DAKAR, SENEGAL
Family #2 (from left to right): Fatou (daughter, 17), Maimouna (niece, 10), Bineta (mother), Libasse (son, 29).
Family #3 (from left to right): Awa (daughter, 33), Therese (daughter, 17), Cecile (daughter, 23), Josephine (mother), Marie Michelle (granddaughter, 2), Jeannot (son, 36), Michel-Pierre (son, 14), Jean-Marie (son, 18).
Project participants: All except Marie Michelle. Other participants not in the photo: Lucie, Angelique.
METRO WASHINGTON, DC, USA
Family #4: Tracey (mother), Alexis (daughter, 12)
Family #5: Terri (mother), Sandra (daughter, 12)
Family #6: Janelle (mother), Bianca (daughter, 12), Kristin (daughter, 8)
Family #7: Marsha (grandmother), James (grandson, 11)
Family #8: Adrian (father), Samya (daughter, 14), Kaliah (daughter, 8)
Intern Spotlight: Sara Edgar
This is the first in a series of spotlights on our fall 2017 student interns. Learning Life’s students this fall are assisting with research, curriculum development, outreach, and family and youth learning activities for our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Sara Edgar, interviewed below, is helping with our learning activities and fundraising research, among other things.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, a small town in the suburbs about 45 minutes outside of Philadelphia.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
I am currently a sophomore at The George Washington University, majoring in International Affairs and Political Science with a minor in Public Health.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love reading historical fiction and watching documentaries on Medieval European history as well as Ancient Egyptian life. When I’m not getting my nerd on, I very much enjoy traveling! I’ve wandered throughout Europe and parts of Canada, as well as traveled to Africa (Ghana) in high school. Usually in college traveling becomes more difficult, but a major benefit of living in DC is the accessibility to a diverse array of areas in the city where I can stretch my navigation muscles and feed my love of different places.
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
Before going to boarding school for high school, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Chateau D’oex, Switzerland. For two months when I was twelve I was part of a French immersion program, learning the language and reaping the multicultural benefits Europe had to offer. Afterwards I traveled alone from Switzerland to Spain, stopping at hostels in France and Italy along the way. Traveling alone on a continent I knew very little about, especially at such a young age, was an incredibly eye opening experience that instilled in me a sense of adventure and independence.
What are your career plans?
As of right now I have two paths in front of me that I hope to spend the next few years deciding between. The first is graduating law school, and one day working with an international non-profit to build on women’s rights issues in Latin American countries. In combining women’s rights advocacy, individual education, and legal representation I aim to help overcome gender inequalities in a fairly overlooked area of the world. The second is (still) graduating law school and working with a nonprofit, but specializing in domestic public health law to support a commonly-abused population: those with mental disabilities.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
I chose to work with Learning Life because I believe globalization is the future and that every individual has the right to thrive. Learning Life gives children the foundational knowledge and experiences they need in order to tackle what lies in front of them, helping to even the playing field for those with fewer opportunities. I firmly believe in the values of citizen diplomacy, and am very excited to be working with Learning Life to create global citizens among lower-income families worldwide.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
The most beautiful place I’ve ever seen is probably the Swiss Alps. Chateau D’oex is a small village in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by green mountains and blue skies. The simple churches and pastures nestled in the hills are so beautiful in the summer, and waking up to see the area enveloped in morning mist is something I will never forget. It is such a peaceful area, and I look forward to going back there one day.
Number of e-News Subscribers Surpasses 1,000!
This week, we are happy to report that the number of subscribers to Learning Life’s email newsletter surpassed 1,000 for the first time.
Learning Life’s e-news includes an announcement and photos sent at the beginning of the month about the past month’s events and events upcoming. We also send occasional breaking news about milestones achieved, new partnerships, issue articles, etc. Much of our e-news reports on our flagship Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI), which engages lower-income American families in live dialogues and project collaborations with lower-income families in other nations.
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The two promising events were live, internet video dialogues or “virtual exchanges” that I organized between students at Stetson University in Florida and university students in Paris and Cairo in 2009 and 2011, respectively, when I was then a professor of sociology at Stetson. (You can view short videos about those dialogues here and here.) Those single dialogues — respectively about the role of government in society in light of Obamacare legislation then being debated, and about social media and social change in light of the Arab Spring in Egypt — were well-received on all sides, and left me thinking that more such substantive, respectful, learning-focused, transnational dialogues are needed. 
