CDCSD Update

CDCSD October 2008 Update

MULTIREGIONAL PROJECT: GEORGIA, JAMAICA, SENEGAL, VIETNAM
October 14 - October 19
URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, 4 visitors

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA: ALGERIA, BAHRAIN, EGYPT, IRAQ, JORDAN, KUWAIT, MOROCCO, OMAN, SAUDI ARABIA, SYRIA, WEST BANK, YEMEN
October 15 - October 21
JOURNALISM AND MEDIA,
12 visitors
*Dinner Hospitality Opportunity

POLAND
October 25 - October 29
TV JOURNALISM AND MEDIA, 1 visitor

EGYPT
November 1 - November 5
BORDER ISSUES AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT,
1 visitor

I-VOTE
November 2 - November 5
U.S. ELECTIONS, 2 visitors
*Volunteer Driving Opportunity



U.S. Department of State

City of San Diego

County of San Diego

Star Citizen Diplomats

Metz Public Relations

Business Office Outfitters

Cox Communications

Art Expressions Gallery

Billy Colestock

October 2008
Update

Greetings to Each and All,

My deep thanks to you, our members, and your extended network.
Last month’s entreaty brought miracles in the form of enough home hosts! Not one Russian was forced to stay at Campland on Mission Bay…. hooray! Together, it all works out at the end of the day. Gets a bit tricky some days, but it always works out.

Thanks especially for coming forward to host: Fran Schultz, Barbara Metz and Hector Torres, Terry and Larry Sieck, Joan Dahlin, and to first-time hosts Kit and Walt Ladwig, Bonnie and George Lamb, Judy Bambace and Brain Trotier, Betsy Olsen, Mary and Jim Dawe, Liz and Roger Bohn, Ruth and Jim Larson, Peter and Georgina Jarrette, Rex and Margaret Downing, Dolores Crawford. < /p>

Miracle workers, one and all.

NEW: Member MeetUp! See details below.

NEW: We are already well into planning our holiday gathering. We LOVE the locale and think you will too. Plus, this year for the first time we are having our event along with People to People of San Diego. Chin-Yeh Hostler set this idea into motion and we think it will be fun to hang out not only with our own members but members of People to People too. Both have similar global souls.

Around the office, once the Russians are safely on their way home, we are off in different directions for rest, relaxation and fun. Courtney to Playa del Carmen in Mexico, Mel to Dallas, Enrique to Washington DC, and me to Kauai, Hawaii. Not all at once! But after hard work, we are looking forward to restoration.

It’s been a very full year, for a year that is not even over yet. We have been blessed by touching the lives of hundreds of visitors so far this year who we hope go back to their countries and touch the lives of thousands more.

Internationally yours,

Cath DeStefano
Executive Director

Contents
1. October 23rd Member MeetUp
2. Save this date: December 4th!
3. Happy Russians in Town
4. Volunteer Driving for "I-VOTE"
5. Debate or Dinner Hospitality

1. October 23rd Member MeetUp
We're gathering together at Celebration Fine Art Gallery in the US Grant to so that our current member can meet our new members. and invite possible new members!

Our Member MeetUp will feature guest speaker, Denise Hummel, "A Sneak Peek into the Arab Mind."

Hosted wine and hors d'oeuvres. New Members: Free, Members: $20, Non Members: $25. Click here for more details. MUST RSVP. Email Mel Miro.

2. Save This Date: December 4th!
AFRICAN HOLIDAY!
This year’s theme for our December Holiday Event is Africa! CDCSD and People to People will come together to celebrate at Albert’s TreeHouse in the San Diego Zoo.

3. Happy Russians in Town
Enrique Meza, who designed their program, is out with the Russians all day nearly every day until they depart on the 16^th. Here for three weeks to study Disaster Preparedness, and to get to know US, they are having a great time and learning lots. Las Vegas was added and they still have Beverly Hills and Disneyland to experience.

4. Volunteer Driving for I-VOTE

Volunteer drivers for some very special IVLP visitors are needed on November 3^rd and 4^th. Two visitors will be coming to San Diego under the IVLP “I-VOTE” Program. As a part of IVLP, the Department of State has created the “I-VOTE” (International Visitors Observe The Election) program to bring the message of American electoral democracy more efficiently to a global audience. For more information on “I-VOTE” click here. If you would like more information or would like to escort these visitors on either or both days, please email Mel Miro.

5. Debate or Dinner Hospitality
Dinner or Debate Hospitality is needed for 12 journalists from the Middle East and North Africa participating in the IVLP Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists. The Program invites approximately 100 international media professionals each year to spend time at leading journalism schools in the United States, honing their skills, sharing ideas, and gaining first-hand understanding of American society and democratic institutions. The goal is to not only inform the fellows about the United States, but also to promote journalistic freedom and excellence around the world.

Dinner Hospitality has been requested for Thursday, October 16^th and Friday, October 17^th. If you would like more information or would like to host all or part of this group, please email Mel Miro.

Citizen diplomats know that one person
can make a difference.

We do it every day.

Disclaimer

Website designed and developed by Constance Wuest Graphic Design

Citizen Diplomacy Council September 2008 Update

CHINA
September 9 - September 13, 2008
PUBLIC HEALTH AND ANIMAL EPIDEMICS, 1 visitor

IRAQ
September 18 - September 24, 2008
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT, 15 visitors

GERMANY
September 21 - September 24, 2008
INTEGRATION AND MANAGEMENT OF DIVERSITY,
5 visitors

JAPAN
September 24 - September 27, 2008
PLANNING FOR CRISES: DISASTERS AND PANDEMICS, 2 visitors

PHILIPPINES
September 24 - September 27, 2008
ANTI-CORRUPTION, 1 visitor

ARGENTINA
September, 2008
COMBATTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, 1 visitor

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
RUSSIA
September 25th - October 16th, 2008
DISASTER RESPONSE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, 10 visitors
*Home Hosts Needed! Please contact Cath for more information!

MULTIREGIONAL PROJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, GHANA, INDIA, ISRAEL, KENYA, LIBERIA, MALAWI, MALAYSIA, MEXICO, MOZAMBIQUE, NETHERLANDS, NIGERIA, CHINA, ROMANIA, SERBIA, SYRIA, TANZANIA, THAILAND, ZAMBIA
September 24 - September 28, 2008
COMBATTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING, 23 visitors

HUNGARY
September 28 - October 1, 2008
AMERICAN LIBRARIES: DIGITAL AND CULTURAL PRESERVATION, 1 visitor

MULTIREGIONAL PROJECT: SOUTH AFRICA, NIGERIA, MAURITANIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, CHINA, KOSOVO, TURKEY, MOROCCO
September 30 - October 4, 2008
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION,
9 visitors
*Dinner Hospitality Opportunity



U.S. Department of State

City of San Diego

County of San Diego

Star Citizen Diplomats

Metz Public Relations

Business Office Outfitters

Cox Communications

Art Expressions Gallery

Billy Colestock

September 2008
Update

Greetings,

I keep thinking finding home hosts is going to get easier the longer we do it.

Not yet.

And therefore I ask for your help (can you hear the begging tone in my voice as in “pleeeeeeeeze.”). I ask you to wander around in your mind through every person you know in San Diego, and if you think there might be the slightest chance they would want to host a Russian from St. Petersburg starting September 25^th. Then I would like to meet them. ASAP.

Deadline in 9-11. Cath@CDCSD.org BIG THANKS.

On another note, I now know we can find any expert, and design around any theme that Washington DC can dream up! Courtney just designed a program for a visitor with this theme: Foot and mouth disease and avian flu! Ha! Maybe a new action hero is in order here? SuperProgrammer.

I open with home hosts, I close with home hosts.

Thanks for send The Willing our way. There are points somewhere for this.

Grateful for hosted Russians,

Cath DeStefano
Executive Director

Contents
1. Home Hosts STILL Needed!
2. An Evening With...Afghanistan SOLD OUT
3. Save the Date
4. World Affairs Council Event
5. Visitor Story
6. Around the Office
7. New Board Members Welcomed

1. Home Hosts STILL Needed!

We need Home Host angels to step forward. The Russians are coming from St. Petersburg September 25^th and some are still host-less. This time we offer hosting for only half the time the visitors are here with another host taking the other half. Please email everyone you know who might think hosting is a great idea. Contact: Cath DeStefano or call 619-291-8105. For more information click here.

2. An Evening with…Afghanistan SOLD OUT

Years and years and years later, there we are, still in Afghanistan. WHAT is happening there?

Know that one of the three speakers, Bonita Chamberlin will bring jewelry for sale made by woman of Afghanistan and the proceeds get returned to them to help. Our other speakers, Tony Perry of the LA Times and Stephen Brown of Rotary International will tell of their first hand experiences. We are glad to be co-sponsoring this event with World Affairs Council.

3. Save the Date

The New Member Reception
October 23^rd we are officially welcoming all members who have joined since last September to a WELCOME event.

All CDCSD members are invited and we will have Denise Hummel, CDCSD Board Member speak about the Arab culture. Watch your mail for your official invitation.

4.World Affairs Council Event

Carroll Bogert speaking on “The Human Rights Agenda for the Next President"
Sheraton San Diego, Mission Valley: 1433 Camino del Rio South Wednesday, September 17^th 11:30 am Lunch will be served; free parking Members $35 Non-Members $45 Speaker only (no lunch) $10.
To reserve a spot, call 619-325-8200 or Click here to book online.

5. Visitor Story
by Courtney Giordano, IVLP Program Manager

Last month I had the pleasure of joining the closing session of our multiple-country delegation here to learn more about the U.S. Judicial System.

The closing sessions are a truly unique forum in which the visitors share with the State Department program officer and the Programming agency program officer their thoughts on the IVLP program. On top of discussing their professional meetings that took place during the various city stops, they also highlight their overall impressions of the United States and cite specific experiences that stood out.

Many of the members of the judicial delegation noted the warmth and friendliness of the Americans they came across, as well as the freedom we enjoy and our inherent generosity (which is apparent to them in our system of gratuity).

But one visitor, however, shared a truly unique story from his experience at dinner hospitality in another city. The Judge from Tanzania explained that in his country he did not believe homosexuality to exist, and noted that if it did it absolutely was not recognized. He continued to state that because of this he held preconceived notions toward homosexuals, expecting them to somehow be inferior or unnatural.

As luck would have it, he was invited to a gay couple’s home for dinner hospitality.

As it turns out, he had a very pleasant experience, one that he said he would remember forever. As a result of this, he realized that LBGT community members, while not openly accepted in his home country, are people just like everyone else. He was grateful for the opportunity to change his previous views through a personal interaction!

Now that is citizen diplomacy in action – people from all different backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, and ethnicities coming together and realizing that at the end of the day we are all human beings first and cultures second.

6. Around the Office

Finally, the sad gray wallpaper is going and being replaced by fresh new paint. I know this seems minor, but this is the fulfillment of a three year attempt to get this done…alas, success! Still another lesson in patience…

We are in the middle of a major update of our website. Our web designer, Connie Wuest, is setting it up so we can update most of the copy ourselves whenever we want without having to know Dreamweaver, moving us from PayPal to another vendor, and making it possible to register and pay for events online! It will have a new look and be even easier to navigate.

Bright new interns have arrived and we still have some helping us from last semester!

We welcome:

► Juliana Hinch is a USD anthropology major. She jumped right in and is planning our holiday gathering in December and also finishing up the Visitor ORIENTATION powerpoint.
► Kristina Leano is working on her masters in international relations at Alliant University. We put her on the phones calling all of you looking for home hosts on her first day here! She is also already doing visitor agendas.
►Michael Schainfeld has a degree in philosophy from Boston College. He will be working mainly with programming when he arrives on the 16^th.
►Keelan McClymont is in UCSD Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies Master of Pacific International Affairs. Her career focus is International Politics and Latin America. Keelan will join us later this month as a marketing intern.

7. New Board Members Welcomed

Denise Hummel
Denise Hummel is an attorney, a diversity trainer, a mediator, and a writer. She directs her own communications firm, www.imagine-communications.com, which focuses on cross-cultural training and otherwise bridging the divide between countries and cultures. Considered an expert on the subject of tourism image-restoration and recovery after natural disaster or terrorism, Denise was recently honored as a guest speaker at the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism Global Summit in Pattaya, Thailand. She has trained executives in multiple continents as they prepare to enter the U.S. market for commercial or altruistic purposes. Denise maintains a part-time posit ion as an Executive Editor of www.justtheplanet.com, a luxury travel magazine.

Kieu Vo
Kieu Vo is employed with Global Campus Management USA (GCM) which is an Australian based educational company that seeks to promote international education throughout the world. Kieu holds a Master of Arts, International Relations from United States International University, San Diego, Summa Cum Laude, and Bachelor of Science, Economics from the University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Citizen diplomats know that one person
can make a difference.

We do it every day.

Disclaimer

Website designed and developed by Constance Wuest Graphic Design