Inga, you have been an active member of PTPI and the Greater Kansas City Chapter for quite a while. When and how did you came to be a part of the organization and what drew you to want to get involved?
My involvement with PTPI started in 1983 through a co-worker and member of the local chapter. The chance to be a sponsor to an international officer (through the Greater Kansas City Chapter’s International Military Student Sponsorship program) and his family seemed interesting and a chance to put my language abilities to good use. To mention all of the countries would be too long, there are six in Africa, nine in Europe, some in the Caribbean and South America as well as in Asia and the Middle East.
Through PTPI’s Greater Kansas City Chapter’s International Military Student Program you have sponsored many international officers and developed many great friendships. For how long have you participated in the program and what does it entail? What do you enjoy most about the program?
This is my 26th year as a sponsor and each year has been a wonderful learning experience. Simply being a friend, sharing the American way of life and learning about other countries and cultures has been exciting and has definitely enriched my life. As an immigrant myself, I welcome and enjoy the chance to be an ambassador for all that America stands for.
Have you kept in touch with and/or visited any of the friends you have made through the International Military Student Program?
Some of the families have become good friends and even with a few of the now adult children I still maintain contact. There are several families I visit on a regular basis and they also visit me.
In 2008 you traveled to Egypt for PTPI’s Worldwide Conference and upon your return, you embarked on a project to send dictionaries to a school in Senegal. How did this project come about and to whom did you send the dictionaries?
The connection to Senegal began at the Gala Dinner for PTPI’s 50th anniversary, where I met the officer from Senegal who was so pleased to be able to have a conversation in his language. In the following months we enjoyed many discussions over dinner, while sightseeing or shopping for the many things he wanted for his family. Upon leaving he made me promise to visit them, which I did in the fall of 2007. While attending the Worldwide Conference in Egypt in 2008 I saw that a delegate from Senegal was registered and of course I wanted to meet him. During our few conversations I learned he was the director of a school in the northern part of the country and needed schoolbooks and dictionaries. Unable to buy French textbooks in the United States, but having the availability of French/English dictionaries, I bought and sent him enough for one classroom.
Manel Diallo from Senegal poses with PTPI's Mary Eisenhower and Paige Leitnaker at the 2008 Worldwide Conference in Egypt
Students in Senegal pose with the dictionaries provided by Inga Barringer
Your trip to Senegal and Botswana in April, 2009 really exemplifies the way members of PTPI are increasing awareness of other cultures, spreading international friendship and serving as true humanitarians. Can you tell us a bit about your trip (who you visited and where you went)?
Once my interest in Senegal was established, I naturally wanted to meet the Senegalese international military students each year and through one of them I met a student from Botswana, which had been the very first country I sponsored. Since we shared similar interests and knowledge due to our respective medical professions, another friendship ensued. An invitation to Botswana to see their nationwide AIDS research and programming was offered, and when a boy was added to the family of my friend in Senegal, it became clear that these reasons merited a trip.
In the spring of 2009 I travelled first to Botswana, where the warmth and hospitality of my hosts just overwhelmed me. Besides sightseeing, there was participation in a rally and a community march for AIDS Education and also a military ceremony for me to attend. Botswana impressed me as a modern and progressive country, yet still traditional in many ways. Leaving was eased by the promise of the daughter to come to Kansas!
Next it was on to Dakar, Senegal, to immerse myself into the “Taranga de Senegal “ (amazing hospitality), to see the heir and newest addition to “my“ family, a beautiful, healthy and adorable baby boy, and to have a meeting with the school director I had met in Egypt. He asked me to give a presentation about PTPI to a group of people interested in joining our organization and mission – Peace through Understanding. It was my privilege to do so at a luncheon he organized and we had a lively question and answer session. It is my sincere hope that soon there will be a Senegal Chapter!*
Inga Barringer received a warm welcome from friends in Senegal
*We are proud to announce that PTPI’s Senegal Chapter was chartered on May 28, 2009!
