Intercultural Exposure Enhances Global Understanding.

When I think and talk about intercultural experiences I recall the greatest poet and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore once who wrote that, “all human beings are by nature twice-born. First, they are born to their home and then, for their fulfillment, they have to be born to the larger world.” Yes indeed, when a person lives in a country, never expose outside the country, does not want to know what is going on outside the world, then the person thinks that surrounding of the place where the person lives is the world looks a like as what he/she sees. There is nothing larger than where he is! It limits everything. However, when the person exposes himself/herself in outside the world in various cultures and nature, the person interacts with different humans, and sees the beauty of the world then it gives a different conceptual understanding about the world and human beings. Intercultural exposures and education in various nations/societies open inner mind and heart. It allows viewing the world differently and helps to see the big picture of the world.

As I was born and grew up in a Catholic family in Bangladesh which is about 150 millions people live in the nation. The size of the nation is about 56, 500 square miles only. There are 85% Muslim population in Bangladesh the third Muslim nation in the world. I grew up and studied with Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist friends. It was my privilege to visit various ethnic groups in the rural area in Bangladesh when I was a college student involved with various student’s movements and socioeconomic development organizations. Moreover, it was my privilege to visit the places when I worked for a NGO called Society for Peace and Development. I met with various people in the rural areas. It was a great advantage for me to understand the rural culture and religious that enhanced me to make them good friends. On the other hand, different religious people understood about my religion. Till today, I could not imagine about one of the experiences when I was accompanied with a German volunteer Diana. She was a university student come from Germany to visit the project in the district of Dinajur, the northern part in Bangladesh, mostly Muslim and Hindu populated rural area. While we were visiting preschools, families, and groups, there were many men, women, and children come to see us how do Christian people look like? Because, they never seen Christian people and white man and woman.
Moreover, they heard that only white men and women are Christian. I was asked many times--why my skin color is not like white woman being a Christian. I was able to share them about Christian history in Bangladesh, Christian faith, and values which were very interesting conversation for them. Rural people they are illiterate and live in a very poor condition. They do not have education and there is no access to get basic education. It imaged us to see the hospitality showed by the poor villagers to the visitors when they boiled and offered visitors the only chicken eggs that they might sell to buy their daily food and essentials for the family members. We found that only chicken gives eggs that the poor family will cook for the visitors. The villagers are economically poor but in heart they are very rich when they show their love, respect, and care for others. It gives them highest happy life.

In addition, in 1993 I have participated more exciting international educational exposure programs in Bangalore, India and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that the university students attended in the programs represented 85 countries with so many diverse knowledge, ideas, cultures, and experiences that enriched participant’s theoretical understanding of differences and learned in depth knowledge of diverse cultures and traditions of the different parts of the world. Moreover, we had an opportunity to share on local, national, regional, and international socioeconomic issues, problems, and analyzed problems to find the solutions, roles of individual, different groups, and national student’s movement to solve the problem. Also we visited the rural school that runs by not-for-profit organizations. We visited various slum areas in Bangalore and Rio de Janeiro that stirred my heart. These visits inspired me lots to think and feel of the poor people of the world, and to do something for the poorest of the poor people within my limited resources. In 2002 and 2003 more inspiring experienced that I have gathered by visiting Bockhorn, Germany when I was studying my undergrad in the Catholic University of America. I visited a foster care center in Bockhorn run by one of German friends who is a social worker. I have visited few families there. I deeply realized that in the different parts of the world still there are so many serious social problems, such as inadequate education facilities and curricula, health care/support for poor families, AIDS, homeless and foster children, teenage pregnancy, school violent, juvenile crime, abortion, unemployment, global warming, environmental problem, and youth formation/development are all an unsolved and unspoken in publicly, those problems need to be solved for the greater benefits of the world.

Furthermore, I have gathered more extensive and cultural diverse experiences working and studying in the Catholic University of America. The most accomplishment I have gathered to visit various diverse countries that created an enormous opportunity for me to know and understand other cultures, self-developed to respect, tolerate, love, care, and serve others. Intercultural education allowed me to make friendship with so many unlike populations. It has changed my worldview. Indeed, I have developed my research and writing skill on various social problems. For example, value of education, good citizenship, importance of character education in school, technology and social values, cultural values practice for human beings, peace and non-violent, and higher education for poor and middle class families, all these have been publishing in the daily/weekly English electronic and printed newspapers in Bangladesh and US.
Being exposed in various nations I got a great reflecting opportunity to think globally and act locally. My volunteer activities with various socioeconomic organizations and intercultural experiences inspired and motivated me to set up a scholarship program called “Seeds of Hope (SH)” to continue school for poor children and skill training program for youth in my native village in Bangladesh. From 1995-2010 SH successfully operated its activities in the rural area in Bangladesh. Human beings are born in different culture and environment. Every human being has so much differences, resources, and talents. Any kind of intercultural educational programs can reduce each other differences and distances, and make the true friendship among each others, that promote individuals to share talents, resources, and wealth, and so many others things that make the world more livable and peaceful. I believe and act that my single drop of social welfare activity, continuing writing articles, research, and features writing on various socioeconomic issues can make a big difference.

(Author is a specialist in Educational Admin. & Policy Studies, Int'l Scholar Winner- recognized by the Center for Global Education, the Catholic University of America (CUA), Washington, DC, & Freelance Journalist).

Email: Nirmalgomes@aol.com, Gomes@cua.edu