Green River Community College recently concluded its portion of the Study of the United States Institutes for Student Leaders (SUSI) to whirling skirts and colorful dresses.
The 20 women from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan performed songs and dances from their native land as part of a thank you presentation for their host families.
The July 18 ceremony closed with the restating of the phrase, “be the change you want to see in the world,” and not a single student’s eye was dry.
A State Department exchange program, SUSI draws foreign students to America to study at select institutions for four weeks, with two additional weeks of tours in the United States.
The SUSI programs have different themes, but all fall under the larger umbrella of “what does it mean to be an American,” says State Department Representative Maccon Barrow. GRCC, along with three other US colleges, focused its theme on women’s leadership through a study of women’s rights in the U.S.
Other topics for SUSI schools – such as the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Miami University – include global environmental issues, civic engagement, religious pluralism in the U.S., social entrepreneurship and U.S. history and government.
International Development Director Barry Bannister said that this year has been unique, and that the group is one of the most motivated he’s seen. They have an unprecedented curiosity about the U.S. and American culture. Bannister also noted that the girls really bought into the idea that good leaders and good role models lead from the front.
The women were eager to take the lessons they learned in leadership home with them.
Djamiliya, a 19-year-old from Uzbekistan, plans to start a non-governmental organization (NGO) to help mothers with disabled children. By taking care of the child for a brief time, the mother can go develop job skills.
“I think I’m really lucky,” Djamiliya says, regarding her chance to come to the program. “I’ll try to reinvest everything that I’ve learned here.”
Twenty-two-year-old Khusnora came to the program from Uzbekistan, where she is a third-year student in business administration. She says that while the country has legal protections for women’s rights, there are still large social discrepancies between men and women. Women have very narrow social roles in Uzbekistanian society, she says. She hopes to help change that when she returns home, but realizes it won’t be a fast process.
“It takes time, not only from perspectives of men but women, too.”
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