Phone:
800.257.7751
TTY:
802.258.3388
Fax:
802.258.3508
Mailing Address:
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laura Ingalls (laura.ingalls@worldlearning.org) in Washington, 1.202.464.6973
World Learning Hosts Congressional Delegation in Oman
WASHINGTON, DC (February 24, 2010) -- A congressional delegation led by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY, visited World Learning's Oman Center on February 16 to learn how its education, training and exchange programs build bridges between the Islamic world and the United States.
Other members of the delegation included Reps. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Donna Edwards, D-Md., as well as US Ambassador to Oman Richard Schmierer and former World Learning Board of Trustees Chair Steve Lowey.
Established in 2005, the Oman Center is the only US-based program that brings undergraduate and graduate students to Oman for educational programs. More than 100 American undergraduate students have participated in World Learning's SIT Study Abroad program in Oman, which features instruction in culturally-appropriate research methodologies and intensive Arabic, as well as home stays with local families. The center also offers master's degree-level courses in global management to both Omani and international students.
The delegation spent an hour at the center learning more about its mission and hearing from current students about how the program fit into their long-term goals. A student from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told Rep. Lowey that he intended to follow in her footsteps and run for Congress. Rep. Edwards called the visit to the center "inspiring" and shared her own experiences with the Experiment in International Living, including serving as a host family for an international student in 1985.
Center Director David Fenner explained how many of World Learning's programs benefit from US government funding. SIT Study Abroad students are able to study in Oman because of Pell Grants and Guaranteed Student Loans. In addition, the US State Department funds the Critical Languages Scholarship, as well as the International Visitor Leadership Program, Peace Scholarship and the Youth Exchange Scholarship which bring Omanis to the United States.
"This is important work as each student becomes America's—and Oman's—best ambassador," said Fenner.
World Learning works globally to enhance the capacity and commitment of individuals, institutions, and communities to create a more peaceful and just world through education, training and exchange programs.
###