Your passport to global affairs

Friendship Families Build International Connections

A fun and inspiring way to support the mission of NCWA while building a network of international connections is participation in our Friendship Families program.

Council members volunteer to offer their time and social resources to host international scholars and leaders who visit Southwest Florida to study, teach and participate in programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Florida Gulf Coast University and other established organizations.

Last year, our members connected with 23 teachers from 20 countries who co-taught in two Lee County high schools for six weeks. They visited our area under the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State. FGCU is one of four U.S. universities selected as official hosts. Dr. Ally Zhou, a professor of education at FGCU, is project director.

Fulbright scholars at brunch with Mickey and Mo Winograd and
their house guest are Judit Alejandrina Casillo Lopez of Guatemala,
left; Anna Khairetdinova of Russia, second from left; Dinesh Kumar  
of India, second from right; and Richen Angmo of India, right.

Serving as Friendship Families, our members hosted small dinners in their homes, took their guests to the movies, the beach, the Baker Art Museum, Shy

Wolf Sanctuary and swamp buggy rides, watched sunsets over the Gulf, fed them barbecue and tacos, and watched TV together. The shared activities are less impo

rtant than that they offer their guests a taste of American culture and a friendly experience with Americans. Some relationships are ongoing. Some are not. But all participants came away saying they are the richer for the experience. 

The program provided the teachers with an opportunity to develop greater expertise in
their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills and increase their knowledge of the
U.S. They taught at Dunbar High School and Estero High School.

The visiting scholars were from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Colombia, Cote
D'Ivoire, Croatia, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Kenya, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Russia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Rinchen Angmo teaches a senior class at Estero High School about the impact of malaria 
in India.

In July, the Mandela Washington Fellows Program for Young African Leaders brought another 25 leaders 25-35 years old to the FGCU campus for leadership training for six weeks. A photo from the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellows Program is below.

NCWA Board member Francisco Figueroa, right,
and his wife, Edde, second from left, took two
young African leaders to the beach.

For more information on how to participate in the Friendship Families initiative, please contact coordinator Judi Palay at judispalay@gmail.com or a NCWA Board of Directors member.