PTPI Blog

The Board of Trustees for PTPI is tasked with promoting the mission of the organization in their communities around the world. They are founders and members of PTPI Chapters, they introduce new members to PTPI, support our programs and attend our conferences and meetings, and tell as many people as possible about what we do.

Once per year, members of the Board of Trustees gather together to discuss how to best continue the legacy of PTPI. In 2011, the meeting took place in Brussels, Belgium (see photos on Facebook). This year the Trustees will gather in Tallinn, Estonia in conjunction with the 2012 Worldwide Conference.

Members of PTPI's Board of Trustees in Brussels, Belgium in 2011

We recently asked our Trustees to tell us why PTPI is important to them, and how they work to create Peace through Understanding. Here are a few of their responses:

“I understand the importance of service, especially in view of PTPI’s perspective. Our success largely depends on our members’ active participation and their unswerving devotion to our global mission. My involvement in the mission for several decades has made me an inseparable part of PTPI. I assure you that so long as I live I will continue to do my best in pursuing our ultimate goal of creating Peace through Understanding.”

- Soon Jong Kim, Kunpo City Kyonggi-do, South Korea

“I joined the Delaware Chapter of PTPI in 1985 after traveling to Africa and the Middle East about 75 times during the previous seven years.  I learned so much during those years about the commonality of peoples – their wants, wishes, interaction between others – that I have always wanted to share my experiences with others when possible.  I had so many  interactions with people from these many countries (I visited about nine countries in Africa and 10 countries in the Middle East) that now, when I hear comments that degrade or minimize cultures, I tell others about my personal human experiences that made me realize we are all the same. During the past 10 years I have been coordinating speakers from the US Department of State to visit Wilmington, Delaware for community programs and to speak to students at local public high schools and a local law school. These are intended to educate us about the peoples of these geographical areas.”

- Carl Hutter, Wilmington, Delaware

“It is an honor for me to be one of your amazing volunteers. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express myself and say thank you to all members of PTPI. I want to share some of my favorite words:”Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. -from Martin Luther King Jr.’s last sermon

- Lusine Manasyan, Yerevan, Armenia

“One of my greatest commitments is to volunteer and do what I can as an individual with PTPI’s Scottsdale, Arizona Chapter, and to support our veterans – especially the women.  I also started an educational program in Mexicali, Mexico to educate children.  This program is 18 years in existence and we continue to have sponsors for the young teens through college.  “Making a Difference” is one of my favorite sayings.”

-Yolanda McDonald, Scottsdale, Arizona

To learn more about People to People International, visit www.ptpi.org