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Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Sports Diplomacy ECA Fulbrighters Help NFL Kick-Off New 'One
World' Curriculum ECA Fulbrighters Help NFL Kick-Off New 'One World' CurriculumFive international Fulbright students and former NFL players joined the National Football League and Scholastic Corporation to announce the One World: Connecting Communities, Cultures and Classrooms program in Boston on September 8, 2004. Fulbrighters from Iraq, South Africa, Costa Rica, Peru and the Philippines joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, former Steelers defensive back Rod Woodson former Patriots wide receiver Cedric Jones and linebacker Ed Reynolds to participate in several program lessons and activities with Boston area students in the Citizen Schools program, focusing on ethnic differences and cultural understanding. The program was designed to help educators of 4th to 6th graders teach the importance of diversity and cultural understanding. The program is made possible through part of a $10 million fund established by the NFL and NFL Players Association (NFLPA), to respond to community needs in the days following September 11, 2001. Iraqi Fulbright student Barakat Jassem led a discussion about stereotyping and noted that not all Muslims or all people from the Middle East are the same, while Rod Woodson challenged each student to go up and talk to someone new each day, to "step out of your center, respect yourself and respect others." The Fulbright Program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide and for over 50 years has provided more than 250,000 participants - chosen for their leadership or leadership potential - with the opportunity to observe political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas, and to develop international competence and cross-cultural experience. Approximately 5,000 grants are awarded annually. The Program is sponsored and administered by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs working with private non-profit educational exchange organizations. Department of State Reaches Out at International
Childrens Games and Cultural Festival ECA teamed with the Department of States Bureau of Public Affairs (PA) to participate in the International Childrens Games and Cultural Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, July 30 through August 2, 2004. Endorsed by the International Olympic Committee, the Games began in 1968 with the partnership of teams from nine European cities. This year, 2200 young athletes from 50 countries and 120 cities descended on Cleveland for the first United States-hosted Games. The athletes, ages 12-15, participated in 10 sporting areas: athletics, tennis, swimming, volleyball, soccer, water polo, table tennis, basketball, baseball and gymnastics, as well as representing their cities as ambassadors of cultural exchange.
Sharing a booth with the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce on Embassy
Row, State Department representatives answered questions about employment
opportunities and distributed information, including
future.state.gov materials, the State Department Weekly Reader, and
a new ECA
Sports Diplomacy fact sheet. ECA also helped facilitate last-minute
visa issues. Athletes and Coaches Learn How to Include Disabled
in Sports Public-Private Partnerships Benefit Filipino Youth With
funding from the International Sports Initiative, the Detlef Schrempf
Foundation concluded a highly successful sports exchange with the Philippines,
demonstrating how effective public-private partnership can expand the
impact of an ECA Office of Citizen Exchanges program. Former NBA star
Detlef Schrempf and nine other Americans returned from a two-week stay
in the Philippines where they conducted basketball clinics for coaches
and two two-day camps for boys and girls, ages seven to eighteen.
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