Connection Initiatives
All Conncections For: Adults, Senior Students, Individuals
The following are questions asked of Dr. Lauren and Dr. Martin West (MA) per the Boston Globe and CH Tribune after a Voices gathering in Cambridge, Mass.. , Spring,2007). Dr. Lauren is on the board of President Bill Clinton’s African antipoverty and AIDS initiatives.
Interviewer: I can see how it would be easy to find a student with relatives to communicate with but are there really enough people in the country’s you want to reach who have access to e-mail?
Dr. Lauren: At first, I was shocked to find that a family sharing a room in a very small or virtually abandoned city still has a cell phone and access to e-mal. Find out for yourself. Ask those we take for granted in service employment for hotels, corporations, schools.. etc. They either e-mail or text message (virtually daily) to save on long distance charges. The technology is definitely everywhere.
Interviewer: Are most of your connections made via classrooms?
Dr. West: Actually, no. Lauren has a teaching degree from way back and it was she who promoted contacting schools or facsimiles here and in the Third World to get children in classrooms while they are young enough to form a lasting impression through this kind of contact. The bulk of the links in the chain have come from enthusiastic adults who followed the initial program of passing contacts forward to a minimum of 2 others who will commit to making the connection.
Interviewer: Are connections being made in countries where North America is not very popular or with which the U.S. has been at war.?
Dr. Lauren: Yes, definitely. In the last 50 years there has been a great deal of movement in Islamic countries. So, a connection made with an apolitical family in Syria has led to contacts and connections with people in Iran. Iraq, Pakistan...ETC. Contacts in Isreal have brought contacts in Russia and on and on. Often they lead back to the U.S., in which case these contacts are used to reach yet another unfamiliar region in the world.
Interviewer: How far do you expect Voices for Alliances to go and what is your final objective?
Dr. West:That is a tough question. We ask, via this web site and with flyers in major, North American cities, that individuals do this on their own by finding their own contact. Now that the average American spends as much time online (for no specific reason), as they do watching television, I suspect many just thought it was worth a try and were surprised by the enthusiasm of those in less fortunate countries. Then, it really does spread!
Dr. Lauren:Yes, it has spread like wild fire and it is difficult to maintain a reasonably close count. We also linked ourselves with a variety of grassroots causes: President Bill Clinton’s poverty and AIDS in Africa movements, Virgin Airline endeavors, George Clooney’s and Richard Gere’s hands-on projects, as well as those related to non-denominational churches. In addition, recent immigrants are now coming to us to ask that a class, a small company or a family “befriend” his or her family and friends. It’s great because the initial contact is coming to us and we ask them , too, to pass it forward at least two times.
Interviewer:Well, you’re doing great work setting this up and monitoring it and, as I just heard, bending some powerful people’s arms to present and push the cause. I’d ask where to sign up but I know. Thank you for your time.