PTPI Blog

Archive for October, 2009

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

5 Minutes with Bruce Johnson

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

It always makes us smile when we hear news of our members being recognized for their achievements.  Bruce Johnson of La Porte, Indiana USA recently received a very prestigious honor.  Read more about Bruce, his award, his amazing travel experiences and his lengthy history of involvement with PTPI.

1. First things first, congratulations on being named Indiana’s Educator of the Year!  That’s an incredible honor.  Is there anything in particular that you feel contributed to you being nominated for and winning the award – advice you received or a particular outlook you have on life and try to bring to your classroom?

Thank you.  It has been a thrilling experience to be honored locally, in the district, and by the state.  I have been blessed with an amazing life of golden opportunities that I have been able to share with my school and community.  I have enjoyed working on many projects in the community with PTPI, the historical society, the library, my church, and many other organizations.  It has also been exciting sharing my travel experiences with local organizations as well as with my school.  Photography is my hobby, and I enjoy putting together travel documentaries in which I can teach others about the beauty of other cultures through my visits with families, schools, and typical communities in other countries.

I realize that others are not as fortunate to have the opportunities to do what I have done.  Therefore I am thankful I can take them with me for a short adventure to another amazing place in our wonderful world.  My students and members of the community seem to truly appreciate going along for the ride and are left with long-lasting, positive memories.  I am a busy person, but I love doing everything I do. I feel that I need to do my share in getting important jobs done in order to make this world a much better place for all of us now and in the future.  I think that my parents have been a major influence and excellent example in helping me to be a good example for others.

Bruce Johnson on the edge of a glacier in Iceland

Bruce Johnson on the edge of a glacier in Iceland

2. The article in your local newspaper talks about your involvement in numerous organizations…one of which we know is PTPI.  Tell us how long you’ve been involved and what some of your most memorable experiences have been.

After returning home from my term as a Peace Corps Volunteer on the island of St. Vincent, I became very interested in PTPI.  I joined our La Porte Chapter and have been a member for more than 35 years.  During those years I served as vice-president, president, board of director’s member, chairman of the Great Lakes Council of chapters in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, and on the PTPI Board of Trustees in Kansas City.  Some of my most memorable experiences have been hosting homestays from Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, China, our sister chapter from Scotland, a folk dance troop from Denmark, and a gymnastics team from Denmark, too.  Other special memories include visiting many people I have hosted, meeting Susan Eisenhower and George H. W. Bush in Washington, D.C., singing the People to People song for Mary Eisenhower in La Porte, and making so many wonderful friends over the years from all over the world.

3. The article also mentions the tremendous amount of countries you’ve visited (78!) and how you have taught overseas twice.   How did you become interested in traveling and learning about other cultures?  Is there any part of the world that stands out as a favorite?

I caught the “travel bug” as a child when I traveled with my parents throughout the United States during the summers.  Then after college, I served in the Peace Corps and began doing graduate projects overseas during my summers.  I did research in comparative education, history, and culture in Japan, China, Australia, England, Russia, and France.  I also taught children of missionaries in the bush of Liberia in western Africa for a year.

Each summer I try to visit an area of the world where I have not been.  Last summer I traveled throughout South Africa with excursions to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Victoria Falls.  This year I explored Honduras, El Salvador, Belize, and Guatemala to experience the Mayan ruins.  When people ask me what are my favorite countries I have two answers.  I love Peru for the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, the mysterious line drawings in the Nazca Desert, the ancient Incan culture, and the Amazon rain forest. However, I also love China because of its amazing history and culture and the warm and friendly people.

Bruce Johnson at Machu Picchu in Peru

Bruce Johnson at Machu Picchu in Peru

4. You participated in PTPI’s School and Classroom Program and were paired with teachers in many different countries, correct?  How did your classrooms interact and what do you feel your students gained from being involved in the program?

For more than 25 years my students have written letters to pen pals at Bowhouse Primary School in Grangemouth, Scotland, La Porte’s sister chapter.  We have also written to children in classrooms in Turkmenistan and Jordan because some of my former students have taught in those countries.  We have written to classes in Bulgaria and Romania for several years through the School and Classroom Program, too. Now we are also writing to students at our new partner school in China. Over the years we have exchanged letters, cards, stories, drawings, coins, stamps, photos, pencils, and other small gifts.  In 2006, the teacher with whom we corresponded in Bulgaria came to meet me in Istanbul, Turkey!  It was a major effort on her part because she had to travel by bus all night and had never been to Turkey before.  She was quite frightened but determined to come and spend a day together.  It was truly special.

My students have a new appreciation of cultural diversity.  Children are very much the same throughout the world except that the kids of the USA find that they have so much more than kids in other countries.  They are amazed at how other families live in small apartments, own very little, and work so hard in school for a good education. I hope my students leave my class with a new appreciation for what they have and a better understanding of the differences of other cultures.

5. Do you feel it is important for all people to try and be understanding of cultures different than their own and if so, why?

I feel that most citizens of the US seem to have little interest or concern for other countries and cultures.  Unfortunately, the news media seems to dwell on negative news of unrest, disaster, and hostile governments.  It leaves a bad impression of many countries and cultures.  However, other countries seem to air much of our negative news on the scandals of our celebrities in music and movies and pop culture as well as anything negative in our government, too.  This is why I feel it so very important to share with my students what I know of other countries and cultures and compare them to us.  Then we can realize how much we are the same and how we all truly want to be positive and work together for peace and prosperity.

Tags: , ,
Posted in 5 Minutes With... | 1 Comment »

A Note from Milvi Saarna

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Milvi Saarna is the President and founder of the recently formed PTPI Kansas City Student Chapter.  The chapter is off to a fantastic start, recently organizing an event to promote awareness about human rights and what young people can do to get involved and take action.  Milvi wrote to tell us more about how she came up with the idea, how she made it happen and what she did to spread the word in her community about the event.

What inspired me to organize the human rights awareness event:

I was watching a Kansas City Wizards soccer game on TV with my family when it went to break. Suddenly on TV there was a commercial announcment by Youth for Human Rights, informing the public of the right to an education, something I well understand is lacking in some developing countries after my experience living in Myanmar (Burma). At the end of the announcement a Wizards player came on advocating human rights. I thought “Why not get the Wizards to speak directly with the Kansas City community?” Kids especially need to know more about what’s going on in other countries, and realize that they have the potential to address these issues.

Davy Arnaud of the Kansas City Wizards was a speaker at the event

Davy Arnaud of the Kansas City Wizards at the Kansas City Student Chapter Humanitarian Rights Awareness event

How it all happened:

I sent an email to the Wizards and Youth for Human Rights. After some time I got a response back from Youth for Human Rights, saying they could get in contact with the Wizards to see if this is possible. It was! I was so happy to know that an MLS soccer player, Davy Arnaud, someone many kids look up to and respect in the community, was willing to come out of his busy schedule to support a great cause, bringing more awareness about it.

I then invited Dr. Ewa Unoke (a professor at KCKCC and former child-soldier) to come and share his story, explaining why being aware of our human rights and having them are important. He was out of town for a week and hadn’t confirmed whether or not he’d be coming (and the event was two weeks away!), so I tried again to get in contact with him but he had no access to communication.

I panicked and asked everyone I knew in the area if they knew of a good backup speaker. Two responded immediately: Steven Youngblood (a professor at Park University) and Dr. David Rine (former professor and Sudan Sunrise staff member). They agreed to come speak at the event, telling us of their work for Peace through Understanding and how they have been helping human rights conditions. Then all of a sudden Dr. Unoke contacted me! He apologized for not being able to contact me before. So there we had four guest speakers at the event.

I designed the flyers and distributed them. Our PTPI chapter organized the food and drinks, the lights, preprarations for the powerpoint presentation, contacted the media and invited everyone to come.

Summary of the International Human Rights Awareness Day:

Chapter Vice President William Ash kicks off the Human Rights Awareness event

Chapter Vice President Williamm Ash kicks off the Human Rights Awareness event

William Ash (our chapter vice president) was the host, introducing the topic human rights and defining what that meant. He gave examples of human rights, and we shared video clips from Youth For Human Rights to give the audience a visual aid. Davy Arnaud then spoke, explaining why he was personally supporting this event the importance of it.

Dr. Ewa Unoke next shared his story of how he was captured and forced to become a child-soldier.  He shared that his sister was raped and that even amid difficult environment, the sight of his kindergarten teacher wearing shoes (the first pair he every saw) gave him hope for a better life. He eventually became a professor, now teaching at a college.

Then we had Dr. David Rine, who informed us of the situation in Sudan, and how Sudan Sunrise is allowing kids an essential human right: the right to education.

Steven Youngblood was the final speaker, and he explained how even a career in Peace Journalism can contribute to human rights. He raised awareness about a school in which many children weren’t able to attend because they were too hungry, and was able to motivate organizations to provide funding to allow children to eat and also receive an education.

We then had a 10 minute break, in which snacks and drinks were served. The event ended with a Question & Answer session, in which the audience asked several questions.

Dr. Ewa Onoke, another speaker at the event

Dr. Ewa Onoke addresses the audience at the Kansas City Student Chapter event

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in From Our Members | 1 Comment »

Discussion Questions 8 and 10 for Reading Lolita in Tehran

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Questions answered by Kristine Knutter, Youth Programs Coordinator for PTPI.

6. Life in the Islamic Republic as described by Nafisi was burdened with censorship, fear and anti-west propaganda.   Discuss how this affects individuals and societies collectively.

The author Azar Nafisi was extremely frustrated with a leftist Marxist organization, which included her student Mahtab. The group felt that “focusing on women’s rights was individualist and bourgeois and played into their (the government) hands.”  However, Nafisi and other women knew that women’s problems were very real. Not only women prostitutes were being stoned to death. Nafisi’s former school principal was accused of “corruption on earth, sexual offenses and violation off the decency of morality.”  The accusations were not because of lewd actions but because she was the minister of education. For this, she was either stoned or shot to death.

One of my favorite quotes is by Edmund Burk and follows, “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.”

I think that Azar Nafisi and her closest female students demonstrated defiance and courage in an environment in which fear and the morality police ran rampant. Both publicly and privately they engaged in rebellions acts such as allowing strands of hair to show from beneath their chador. In addition to publicly protesting the Government’s role in degrading women’s rights, Nafisi engaged in her personal passion of incessant reading and writing. (It’s clear she wasn’t reading religious texts but rather; chose texts she most enjoyed.) She wrote on page 112, “I felt a silent defiance that may also have shaped my public desire to defend a vague and amorphous entity I thought of as myself.” I think Nafisi showed great courage in holding onto her individual values despite the potential consequences.

8. Did you find any parallels between the characters in the book and your own life?  What kind of parallels or lessons did you learn from the book?

One of the lessons that I learned from this book are that if you are passionate about something, you can use your own unique talents to make a difference. In addition, one must allow themselves to feel pan to better deal with tragedy.

Nafisi details how the American-British author Henry James was not able to physically participate in World War I because of a back injury though he supported and aided the British through writing letters. In one of his letters to a friend whose husband was killed he wrote, “Feel, feel, I say—feel for all you’re worth, and even if it half kills you, for that is the only way to live, especially to live at this terrible pressure, and the only way to honour and celebrate these admirable beings who are our pride and our inspiration.”

I think that when people experience tragedy it can be difficult to allow themselves to feel pain. It’s hard to think clearly and learn from experiences if we don’t allow ourselves this experience. While I cannot imagine trying to allow yourself to feel pain for all of the tragedies that unfold while your country is in a conflict, I still feel it’s a better alternative than allowing yourself to become numb or act out violently. Nafisi writes, “Feeling would stir up empathy and would remind them that life was worth living.”

The opinions expressed by PTPI staff and other book club members are entirely their own and are not necessarily the views of  People to People International or that of PTPI’s Officers, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Global Book Club | 3 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »