Video Description: This program is now complete.  The original program promo is available above.  Archived segments from the interviews below are now available for each guest.  Just click on the guest name below to be taken to their particular program. 

Celebrate International Friendship with Zena

Currently a teacher in Oregon, Zena, a Peace Corps volunteer who spent two years in Mongolia then another year on her own serving in a refugee camp in Calais, France, describes her experiences, shares insights on what she learned about the people and cultures in each location, and offers her thoughts on the importance of increasing one’s knowledge of different peoples and cultures.  Learn more about Mongolia here and here.

Celebrate International Friendship with Alberte Jensen and Emma Lewis

View this video to hear from Alberte Jensen and Emma Lewis.  Alberte is a foreign exchange student from Glumso, Denmark, and Emma is her host sister.  Learn about life in Denmark and what it’s been like to spend a year in America.  Find out about the excitement of hosting a foreign exchange student.  Celebrate how everyone’s life is changed when you meet people from other places and cultures.  Click on the links to learn more about Alberte’s home town of Glumso and her country of Denmark.

Celebrate International Friendship with Jessica Ambuehl, International Photo Journalist

Jessica Ambuehl, an international photojournalist and mission worker who has traveled around the world, describes her experiences, shares insights on what she learned about the people and cultures in each location, and offers her thoughts on the importance of increasing one’s knowledge of different peoples and cultures.  Her work has taken her to Haiti, Jordan, Uganda, India, Tunisia, Jamaica, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.  See images of her work and learn more about her at her website.

Celebrate International Friendship with Greg Luzecky and Britta Glassl, Rotary Youth Exchange

Greg Luzecky coordinates youth exchanges for the Eastern Missouri Rotary District which stretches from north of Hannibal down to Cape Girardeau.  He discusses the nature of the program and how students, parents, and community members can get involved and is  joined by Britta Glassl who, while a high school student in the St. Louis area, was an exchange student  in Germany in 2016-17.  She shares her experiences in Germany while living there for a year and the value, importance, and excitement of being part of a program that connects people and cultures around the world.

Celebrate International Friendship with Giada Pedretti and Joaquin Surbera 

Giada is a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Esine, a small town in the Lombardy region of Italy, and Joaquin is a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Marcos Juarez, Argentina.  Both are enjoying a year of high school in the St Louis area as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.  View the video to learn fascinating information about life in their home countries and the excitement of spending a year in America.

Celebrate International Friendship with Kristina Coleman and Ekaterina Pozdniakova

Kristina, originally from Benton Illinois,  was on exchange in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2001-2002 and is now a Host Mom for Ekaterina Pozdniakova, a Rotary Youth Exchange student from St. Petersburg, Russia, now staying with Kristina.  Kristina talks about her experiences as an exchange student many years ago in Brazil, how it has impacted her life, and why she is still involved as a host mom for Ekaterina (Kate).  Kate shares why she wanted to be an exchange student and what it’s like to live in her hometown of St. Petersburg.

Celebrate International Friendship with Amy Sara Morros, Advocacy Chair—St. Louis Peace Corps Association

Amy Morros is currently the Advocacy Chair for the St. Louis Peace Corps Association, an organization for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), currently-serving Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs), and friends of the Peace Corps in the St. Louis Area.  You can learn more about the organization at https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/companies/st-louis-peace-corps-association.  She also shares about her own experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, West Africa from1996 to 1998. She was a Natural Resource Management Extension Agent and lived in Diawarala, a small hamlet of 600 people, located a few hours from the capital Bamako