A group of six distinguished visitors from South Korea came to Pensacola with the International Visitor Leadership Program in May to learn more about a broad variety of current events.
The State Department outlined the following specific objectives for the participants:
· To learn about U.S. federalism, relations between the branches of the federal government and how the various levels of government divide power and authority;
· To better understand U.S. elections and political campaigns, grassroots politics, and the role of the media, NGOs and lobbyists;
· To examine U.S. foreign policy priorities and goals, especially as they relate to Korea;
· To understand how Americans view their role in the world;
· To learn about the U.S. economy and U.S.-Korea economic & trade relations;
· To explore women’s issues involving career, politics and family and American men’s attitudes on gender;
· To become more familiar with the geographic, cultural and political diversity of the United States, and examine the impact of immigration and ethnic diversity.
The group, which included several journalists at major Korean publications, a leader in an environmental justice movement, and the director of a modern history museum, enjoyed two days full of appointments in the area.
Their first appointment was a meeting with the Pensacola League of Women Voters where they met with league member and former Escambia County Commissioner Muriel Wagner as well as with Fay Walker and Gene Feicht. Here they learned about the organization’s programs and gained a better understanding about how the organization functions as a bi-partisan advocate of specific issues affecting women. The visitors were especially interested in hearing about the League’s leading role in establishing the first presidential debates.
The group then headed to First United Methodist Church where they met with Barbara Vititow, the Program Coordinator for the church’s Feeding the Homeless Plus Team, and the Reverend Geoffrey Lentz before volunteering in a soup kitchen, providing a meal for the homeless. Next, they met with the Executive Director of Catholic Charities, Mark Dufva and Refugee Coordinator Maria Roswold where they gained an understanding of Catholic Charities’ local services for immigrants and refugees and learned about U.S. immigration and refugee policies; and then Rick Outzen, publisher of Independent News, met with the group to discuss the origins of the paper, its day to day operations, and how it pursues investigative journalism. Their final appointment of the day was with Pensacola Mayor Mike Wiggins at city hall, where they were surprised and honored to be presented with certificates making them honorary citizens of Pensacola.
The next day the group started with a meeting with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) where they talked to the Florida branch Chairman Dr. Art Rocker, former Chairmen and current member Honor Bell, and successful businessmen Jay Patel and Nash Patel. The topics covered at this meeting included the history of the state as well as the national mission of the SCLC. Mr. Bell lead a discussion about the current state of race relations in Northwest Florida and Mr. Jay Patel gave a talk about the Asian American Hotel Owners Association and the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers as examples of organizations linking minority owned businesses. Following this meeting, the visitors were invited to lunch by the Patel brothers at their Pensacola restaurant, Masala Spice of India.
Their last meetings in Pensacola focused on the environment and were coordinated by Pat Chunn. First, they met with Keith Wilkins, Deputy Chief of the Neighborhoods & Community Services Bureau who provided them with an environmental orientation to the area and to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident. Then, they met with Chips Kirschenfeld, Manager of the Water Quality and Land Management Division & Senior Environmental Programs Manager with Escambia County, and visited nearby sites in the area to conduct water sampling in preparation for the arrival of oil to the area.
Thank you to everyone who made this project a success, especially Joan Allen and Keith Wilkins for having all of the visitors over for dinner for an enjoyable night of home hospitality.
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