OPINIONS
OPINIONS
People Diplomacy: Beyond the Headlines
By Brad Correa
As I approached the doors of School 185 in Leningrad, I could see
the children peeking their heads through the giant red curtains. I remember
feeling very nervous, but their smiles were assurances that they were just as
excited as I was for the big day. As an American boy visiting the Soviet Union
in 1988, I would be the first American that any of these children would meet in
person. So I guess my nervousness was understandable.
After a warm greeting from the Mayor of Leningrad and the Principal of the School, I was whisked away arm-in-arm by a group of eager students. Their Young Pioneers’ uniforms were impeccable with their characteristically-attractive red scarves. They were all smiles and wanted me to really feel welcome at their school. I immediately felt like all the students were my friends. The students and I spent the afternoon singing, dancing, and exchanging gifts.
The atmosphere had been relaxed and congenial until the moment Sacha came along – my life would never be the same. While walking the school grounds one little boy kept touching me persistently. With a smile, I asked the interpreter to ask him his name and age. “Sacha” he said. “I am seven”. I asked him why he was touching me. With a face full of innocent skepticism and childish naiveté he asked the interpreter “Is he the boy we’re supposed to hate? He is not a monster, he is just like me!”
To this day, Sacha’s words give me goose bumps. It’s hard to believe that there was a day when state-sponsored propaganda was so thick that people actually believed that an American child could be a monster. As I looked into Sacha’s eyes, I was reminded of my own classmates at home whose thoughts were consistent with Sacha’s. When I told my classmates that I was going to the Soviet Union, one student said loudly: “They’re gonna kill you over there!” At that moment, I realized that my encounter with Sacha actually made my long trip to the USSR worthwhile.
Once I was talking to children in the Soviet Union face-to-face, we had already put government propaganda aside and discovered for ourselves that we are all the same. I realized Sacha, just like my classmate, had been influenced by disinformation. Sasha had completely changed his mind when confronted face to face with the “enemy”. I always wished more Americans could have the opportunity to meet them and see for themselves that we are all alike and feel the warmth of the Soviet youth. I remember thinking “if only all American kids could meet my new Soviet friends, there would be no way we could go to war with our friends.”
That was not my last visit to the Soviet Union. In fact, because of these successes in the USSR, I was later invited to visit numerous other countries to represent the youth of the United States. Throughout my travels I have been fortunate enough to learn a few lessons about children and youth worldwide. Each experience and country provided different sets lessons – many of which can’t always be put into words. Some of the simplest inactions are the most complex to describe, such as looking into the eyes of a child and realizing they are just like you.
It was those unique one-on-one interactions, with everyday people, like Sacha, that resonate and continue to provide me with the inspiration to continue to try to make the world a better place as well as reaffirm my trust that peace is achievable.
All of my trips concentrated on establishing pen-pals and international friendships, and hands-on learning about our respective cultures and history during a time when the internet had not yet become such a large part of our everyday lives. My presence provided young people an opportunity to interact first-hand with an American youth outside of magazines, newspapers, and Hollywood. It was an opportunity for us to see that we were different yet the same.
Nowadays it's hard not to grow disillusioned with the world even for the staunch optimist like myself. For over 20 years, the evening news has done very little to dispel the idea that the world is a cold place on the brink of disaster and constantly in a state of war or unrest. In many ways, our thoughts and ideas about other countries and peoples are shaped by what we read in books or magazines or 30 second segments of stock footage and lazy journalism on the daily news about the conflict du jour.
The widespread use of the internet has allowed many of us to access information in unprecedented ways, become active participants in global movements, educate ourselves, and broadcast our voice around the world. Indeed, technology and globalization has brought us closer than we ever thought possible. Yet, we still know very little about our global friends, particularly the poor and marginalized. We mustn’t forget that the digital divide affects not only access to technology but the ability to utilize it. What remains is a blaring gap in what we know about the billions of people inhabiting the world.
It is easy to get wrapped up in the sweeping generalizations of our geopolitical and economic situation. The compartmentalization of people, cultures and countries tends to dominate discussions about our current global events. So easily we forget about the millions of people around the world that are just like us – honest, hard working, struggling to provide for their children, love sports, art, and of course, their family, and most of all are absent, from political decision making circles and are either absent or distorted in the eyes of the world's media.
My
resolve to develop new and innovative ways to cultivate peace continues to live
on within me. With a group of like-minded individuals, we created Voices
Without Borders International. Voices Without Borders International is a global
initiative contributing to alleviating the unidirectional flow of information
from North to South and West to East,
one voice at a time. By empowering individuals, particularly
youth, and communities to create their own media content for archival record,
collective memory, and global distribution in international broadcasting and via
the internet, we hope to shatter the barriers that prevent communication between
citizens of the world.
Voices Without Borders International is working to empower youth in disadvantaged communities to represent themselves, their communities, countries and experiences in a fashion that no newscast can produce. We are committed to extending youth worldwide with the opportunity to tell their own stories in a fashion that is both sustainable to the communities in which they live and empowering to the individuals who participate.
The premise of Voices Without Borders International is hinged on the understanding that globalization is more than just the free flow of commodities across borders. Rather, the most valuable products that permeate national political and economic boundaries are immaterial – ideas, histories, life experiences, dreams and aspirations. Voices Without Borders encourages diversity through self-representation and intercultural communication not solely between governments, officials, authorities, aristocracy, and the upper echelons in society. Instead, Voices Without Borders reorients "public diplomacy" by placing the onus back on the public as the creator of information rather than solely the recipient and consumer of government-produced media. By ensuring that the constraints of technological access and understanding are overcome, we hope the tales of world's silent majority can finally be told.
When achieving peace can be as easy as bringing two young people face-to-face,
we must never forget about the rich diversity of stories that exist in our
global community. We must continue to educate our young people to communicate
creatively and effectively across cultures and social classes. It’s this sort
of experiential learning that brings newspapers and textbooks to life and allows
us to truly understand our world.
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