On Track by Cynthia Spake, Editor

Special After Conference Ontrack, 2002

This special issue of “On Track” provides highlights of PTPI’s 15th Worldwide Conference and Global Youth Forum.  Look for other news in the regular November issue.

Conference and Forum Highlights

	Nearly 400 students and adults from 24 countries participated in the 15th Worldwide Conference and Global Youth Forum held at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri (USA), October 9-13, 2002.  An additional 300 participated in specific events during the weeklong activities.  Among the comments from Youth Forum attendees: “It was a blast.  I wish we could have it more than once a year,” and “It was probably the most educational experience so far in my life.”  Conference participants said:  “Everything was world class, all the way,” and “…Brings caring people together that want to strive for the betterment of the world for all."
	Among the many highlights was the presentation of PTPI’s most prestigious award, the Eisenhower Medallion, to His late Majesty King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan.  Accepting this award on his father’s behalf was His Royal Highness Prince Hashim bin Hussein.  Participants enjoyed a moving tribute to His late Majesty, followed with remarks by the Prince.
The conference theme was “Peace Through Understanding.”  General sessions focused on various components of PTPI’s mission statement:  International Understanding, Education and Humanitarianism.
	Wednesday evening’s welcome reception promised delegates a “Circus of a Time” as they were led from the conference hotel to Kansas City’s Union Station by the Marching Cobras, a renowned marching band.  Once inside Union Station, participants enjoyed clowns, performers and circus fare.  After this warm welcome, they were encouraged to participate in Home Hospitality Dinners courtesy of the members of PTPI’s Greater Kansas City Chapter, or No-Host Group Dinners at local restaurants.  Global Youth Forum delegates enjoyed dinner, remarks by PTPI leaders and were divided into groups for the coming days.  Each evening the groups met to recap the day’s events and were given a goal to organize their group into leadership positions, select a name, and decide upon ways they could continue activities and make a difference in their communities.
	Thursday’s events began with an optional “Youth and Adult Mentor Breakfast” followed by an “Awakener” which treated delegates to the talents of the Genesis School Jeli Kundra West African Dance Troupe.  This was followed by welcome remarks from President Bill Jarvis, Chairman of the Board of Directors Mayor Dick Berkley, Board member Councilman Troy Nash, and CEO Mary Eisenhower.  The focus of International Understanding was underscored by the extraordinary presentation from Dr. Colin Jones of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Peace.  His message was, “Peace and Reconciliation: At What Price?”  Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes presented Mary with a Key to the City and extended her warm welcome to delegates from around the world.  Kansas City is often considered a “well-kept secret” offering various cultural activities, arts, entertainment and fine dining.  Thursday’s sessions continued with a fascinating panel, “Meet the Diplomats: Issues and Challenges,” with former U.S. Ambassadors Theodore Britton, Charles Hostler and Jay Niemczyk, PTPI’s Chairman Emeritus, and “Examining Barrier Complexities” with Robert Cavey of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  Global Youth Forum attendees focused on “Defusing Differences: A Course on Conflict Resolution” with Rob Spear of Deliberate Directions.  The day’s events concluded with the optional event “An Evening on 18th and  Vine,” featuring jazz and barbecue in the historic 18th and  Vine Jazz District.
	Friday started with an optional “Roundtable Discussion Breakfast” followed by an “Awakener” featuring the Mexican Folkloric Group “El Grupo Atotonilco.”  The Education theme began with the session, “Understanding Current World Events,” with speakers Thomas Gouttierre, Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies; Ambassador Kenton Keith, Senior Vice President of the Meridian International Center and Chair of the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange; Prof. John Carey of the Ft. Leavenworth Command and General Staff College; and Warren Mosler, Principal and Founder of AVM, LP, a U.S. Broker-Dealer.  The moderator was Art Brisbane, President and Publisher of The Kansas City Star newspaper.  Chapter Development sessions rounded out the afternoon with participants selecting between two topics:  Recruitment/Retention/Programs or Engaging the Media: The ABC’s of PR.  Global Youth Forum attendees enjoyed remarks by Sir Andrew Bowden, a former Member of British Parliament, and proceeded to Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium for Leadership & Teambuilding with Project AIM and special guest speaker, Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln Bloomfield.  That evening, the Awards Reception and Gala featured many memorable moments, including a beautiful performance by the Kansas City Chorale.  Esteemed guest speaker the Honorable Lincoln Bloomfield, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department for Political-Military Affairs, announced the Mine Action Initiative and together with PTPI Leadership including Bill Jarvis, Mayor Dick Berkley and Mary Eisenhower, signed an agreement with our organization to help in the effort to eradicate landmines and the horrific consequences inflicted on thousands of victims in at least 70 countries worldwide.  PTPI members will receive further details about this combined effort and are encouraged to join this fight locally.  Following the historic signing of this agreement, award recipients were announced and each honoree was invited to a private Awards Reception following the dinner gala.  A complete listing of award recipients is provided later in this issue.
	Saturday began with an optional “Roundtable Discussion Breakfast” followed by sessions focusing on Humanitarianism.  CEO Mary Eisenhower addressed delegates on the topic of “Putting Humanitarianism Back into Our Mission.”  Fourteen-year-old humanitarian Annie Wignall focused on “Making a Difference: One Person at a Time” and shared information about her Care Bags Foundation.  Maria Antonia, news anchor of Kansas City’s KMBC TV 9, shared with attendees information about her homeland of Cuba.  The morning’s remarks led the Global Youth Forum participants into their afternoon session of filling 1,200 Care Bags to help the less fortunate in Cuba.  The bags will be distributed and, at a later date, delegates of a PTPI Mission in Understanding will meet with the people who directly benefit from this humanitarian effort.  We would be remiss if we did not mention the outpouring of generosity from delegates and companies who supported this effort.  A special thanks to Wagner Industries for offering warehouse space for this enormous project.  Saturday evening’s dinner and dance was truly “A Taste of Italy” complete with a beautiful opera performance, a children’s’ choir, strolling musicians, and several stations featuring Italian fare.  Global Youth Forum attendees held their final delegation meetings and learned that, in fact, the week’s activities were showing them how fun and simple it is to form a PTPI Student Chapter. Through the skills learned over the course of the previous few days, the students were equipped to take back to their schools and communities the knowledge to develop humanitarian projects, serve as effective leaders and global citizens, and form chapters to continue these worthwhile efforts.
	The weeklong activities concluded with Sunday’s Conference of Delegates.  The Global Youth Forum groups made outstanding presentations of their activities and their plans for the future, followed by adult delegates from around the world sharing information from their chapters and ideas for future collaboration.
PTPI Elections...
	Congratulations to Anita Manuel who was elected as Chairman of the Board of Trustees!  Sincere thanks to outgoing Chairman Peter Whitby for his leadership during the past four years.
	Congratulations to the following Vice Chairmen of the Board of Trustees, Zenaida “Boots” Bautista representing the Americas, Dr. Chuan Lee representing Asia, and Otto Burri representing Europe.
	Congratulations to these newly elected members of the Board of Trustees for a three-year term:  Ernest Freeman, Kensington, Maryland; John Glenn, Leawood, Kansas; Dr. Colin Jones, Cape Town, South Africa; Ramesh Nath Joshi, Kathmandu, Nepal; Mayor Betty Keim, Mission Hills, Kansas; Toshio Kuno, Shiga, Japan; Ross Marine, Kansas City, Missouri; Ruriko Nakajima, Shizuoka-ken, Japan; Toshiko “Toko” Ousdahl, Escondido, California; Joseph Patterson, Blue Springs, Missouri; Eric Pressel, Union Hills, Indiana; Bertrand Shijaku, Tirana, Albania; and Michael Wood, Kansas City, Missouri.
Many thanks to the outgoing Trustees who have given so generously to us!!
Awards Presentations
PTPI salutes the outstanding individuals who served on the Awards Committee. Together, they spent a considerable amount of time reviewing each nomination and making often difficult decisions among so many remarkable nominees. We would like to thank Committee Chairman Ambassador Theodore “Ted” Britton and Co-Chair Katheleen Betts, along with members William Conrad, Dr. Chuan Lee and A. Peter Tage.
	As reported in the highlights section of this issue, PTPI’s most prestigious honor, the Eisenhower Medallion, was presented to His late Majesty King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan for his contributions to humankind.  Often referred to as the “father of modern Jordan,” King Hussein struggled throughout his 47-year reign to promote peace in the Middle East.  He is remembered as a leader who guided his country through strife and turmoil to become an oasis of peace, stability and moderation in the Middle East.  We were honored to have his son, Prince Hashim bin Hussein, accept this award on his behalf.
	The Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award was presented to PTPI’s President Bill Jarvis for his unwavering commitment, his steady leadership, and the support he has shown to the people and programs that make up our organization.  In her remarks, Mary Eisenhower said, “Bill exemplifies what People to People International is all about.”  This award was also presented to Dr. Ed Gragert, Executive Director of iEARN for his substantial contribution to humankind on an international level for more than three years.  He has been a strong lead in our Honorary Chair’s Initiative, the Friendship Through Education Consortium, and has devoted countless hours to help other like-minded organizations in their efforts.
	The following individuals were selected for the Outstanding Leadership Award at the National and International Level:  Amr Badr representing the Middle East; Dr. Altan Kodanaz, United States; Barbara Capozzi, United States; Simon Troxler, Europe; Dr. Chuan Lee, Asia; Ruriko Nakajima, Asia.
	Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to those individuals who have been involved with People to People for 30 years.  These extraordinary individuals include:  Dorothy Alvey, Edith Beck, Kum Yong Choi, Meta Griffith, Muriel Hartwig, Anna Herbert, Claradean Ladd, George Ladd, Darlene McDonald, Raquel Mendez-Krebs, Marilyn Minster, Norman Minster, Irene de Molinari, Ambassador Julian Niemczyk, Dr. Teh-Ming Pao, Prof. S. V. Ramanna, and Myon Hyu Shin.
	The President’s Award was given to Mayor Richard Berkley who serves as Chairman of PTPI’s Board of Directors and Honorary Chair of the Conference Host Committee.  In his presentation, President Bill Jarvis said, “In Dick’s capacity as Chairman, he leads our organization with intelligence, vision, and a sense of purpose…I am confident that under his leadership, our organization will continue to grow stronger.”
	The CEO’s Award was given to Trustee Mike Meyer for his numerous efforts on behalf of the organization, including 2001’s Operation Silent Witness of which PTPI was a proud participant, and the humanitarian effort for PTPI’s Global Youth Forum participants, which ultimately resulted in 1,200 Care Bags being organized for distribution to the underprivileged in Cuba.
	The James T. Doty Memorial Awards were given as follows: Individual or Group to Dong Won Kim and Shirley Brooks-Jones; Chapter to Delray Beach, Florida and Roman, Romania Chapters.
	Chapter Awards were given as follows:  Best Chapter Newsletter Award to the Greater Kansas City Chapter, Barbara Dolci, President; Best Chapter Website Award to the Greater Kansas City Chapter; Chapter Leadership Award to Herbert Thompson (Southern Nevada Chapter); Chapter Membership Award to Delray Beach, Florida Chapter, Laura Liebel, President, and the Greater Kansas City Chapters; International Homestay Award to Christchurch, New Zealand, Gibb Lee, President.
	Two new awards for Student Chapters were announced as follows:  Outstanding Student Leadership to Tina Smith of the Metro-Atlanta Chapter, and Outstanding Adult Advisor to Jeanne Sandusky of the Pennsylvania Chapter for International Peace.
	Earlier in the week, the following individuals were inaugurated into PTPI’s Inner Circle:  Bill Dawson, Ambassador Charles Hostler, Peter Whitby and Sunny Wirth.
Our heartfelt congratulations to all of the recipients of these well-deserved honors!  Look for more information in the next issue of PTPI’s global magazine, People.

Cynthia S. Spake
Managing Director of Publications and Facilities
People to People International
501 East Armour Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64109 USA

  (816) 531-4701 * Fax (816) 561-7502 * Internet: ptpi@ptpi.org