10/24/2005 - Becoming a Citizen of the World: How the AFS experience is shaping one young woman’s life

Hanna Labonte became an AFS international exchange student from Germany, her native country, at the age of 16. But her involvement with AFS did not end there. After spending a year at a school in New Zealand, Hanna has continued to be involved with AFS as a volunteer in her country. This year, her role within the international community expanded as she became the delegate for German youth at a roundtable hosted by the United Nations World Program of Action for Youth. The 2005 meeting took place one day before the General Assembly’s plenary session, and featured youth delegates from 30 countries.

The United Nations web site defines a Youth Delegate and their role as “a young person between the ages of 15-24. A youth is selected to represent his or her country’s youth interests at the UN General Assembly in New York. It is vital that youth participation is encouraged within the government missions. The participation of youth in the decision-making of policies and developments is one of the key priority areas of the UN’s agenda on youth. The most direct form of youth participation at the United Nations has been through the inclusion of youth delegates in a country’s official delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.”

During her stay in New York City, Hanna took time out of her schedule to talk to us about her enriching experiences at AFS and how those experiences prepared her to take on this important new role.

Hanna recalls most vividly how her experience as an intercultural exchange student helped her break with cultural preconceptions and how her life was enriched by opening up her mind and teaching her to embrace diversity. Having thought that going to New Zealand, her host country, would mean immersing herself in a mostly Maori and European community, Hanna recalls how rapidly her notion was challenged as she found herself hosted by an Indian family and attending a school in a Polynesian neighborhood. Her school, with a student body made up mostly of Polynesians, Asians, some South and North Africans, and only about ten percent of Europeans, served as the perfect ground for Hanna to learn to understand different cultures and to celebrate their differences. “The most wonderful feeling is that no matter how foreign you may be, not only culturally, but also regarding the way you look, people do take you in and accept you. You come out with new friends and a new view of the world.”

Hanna’s experience also demonstrates how AFS programs serve to foster cultural understanding not only among youth, but also across generations. Hanna recalls a regular evening gathering where she and her friend discussed German culture with the people present. As the conversation turned toward the topic of World War II, Hanna remembers explaining to the participants how Germans themselves have had trouble dealing with that part of German history and how difficult the experience had been for them. She recalls that at that point an elderly audience member told them that since she had lost her husband during the war, she had always been angry with the German people. But the woman added that Hanna’s and her friend’s discussion had helped her understand that also many Germans had actually suffered as much as she had. As Hanna puts it, “This is when I realized that we can make a difference, when we can go and talk to people and speak to them about our experiences and our culture. We were the face of a new generation bringing a message of understanding, bridging gaps between generations.”

Hanna embodies the spirit of voluntarism encouraged and promoted by AFS. Her reasons for having become an AFS volunteer include the thrill of constant learning achieved by meeting people from different cultures and the important realization that she can make a difference. “It is amazing seeing the changes in people; that is, before they leave for an AFS experience, and after they come back. You realize that you have really helped them with what you try to teach them.” The learning experience works both ways, explains Hanna, as AFS staff and volunteers must constantly challenge their own cultural assumptions and learn to observe and take into account the customs of others. “You get to realize how much you’re stuck in your cultural boundaries, and how this work opens you up; it is a continuous learning process.”

Hanna’s experiences at AFS have allowed her to see herself as an active citizen of the world and have culturally prepared her to act among United Nations delegates as the voice for her country’s youth. The United Nations roundtable, addressing topics such as young people in the global economy; young people in civil society; and young people and their well-being, served as a forum to discuss concrete, practical ways to further implement the 1995 World Program of Action for Youth. Hanna explains, “At home, my job consisted of telling German youth about the United Nations and asking them what they actually wish for, what their problems are. Here I’m influencing the German delegation by relaying the messages and hopes of German youth to them.”

Reflecting on her role as delegate, Hanna comments, “To paint a picture in one color is no good. You have to paint the picture using all different colors. This is what diversity is all about, having a colorful picture. This is what we’re trying to do as young people in the United Nations, to bring out this colorful picture, to bring out the diversity and gain from it. It’s so amazing to come together with people from all over the world like I did during my AFS year.”

Hanna encourages everyone, from youths to adults, to participate in AFS programs, “It is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people, to have new experiences and to really grow. This is where it ties with what I am doing in the United Nations. We are all trying to build a better world. We really believe that something is going to change if we continue to do what we’re doing.”

Hanna’s trajectory is a testimonial to AFS’s core values. It illustrates how our programs serve to foster understanding among cultures while helping individuals become participants in the creation a more just and peaceful world. For Hanna, this new role as youth delegate is a meaningful application of her learning at AFS.