(excerpted from The Friendship Force International) 

The Friendship Force International, a nonprofit international cultural exchange organization headquartered in Atlanta, was founded with a single mission: to create an environment in which personal friendships are established across the barriers that separate people. It is active in more than 60 countries, promoting friendship and goodwill through an extensive program of homestay exchanges. More than half a million participants have experienced the personal enrichment and cross-cultural understanding that results from a Friendship Force exchange.

Friendship Force International was founded in 1977 by its first president, Wayne Smith and was announced on March 1, 1977, by President Jimmy Carter at White House gathering of state governors. 

Wayne SmithWayne Smith in Atlanta, GA, originated the idea of sharing your home with a stranger for a week. Smith was a friend of then Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter. Smith enlisted the help of Gov. Carter in organizing a citizen exchange to Brazil where the homestay concept was launched. The first official "Friendship Force Exchange" was between Newcastle, England and Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. Several hundred people from the Atlanta area flew to England and lived with families for a week. The plane immediately returned from England with a similar number of Britons who lived with families in Atlanta for a week. After Robert Ray, govenor of Iowa, came back from attending President Carter's Governor's Conference, he presented the Friendship Force idea and a chapter was established in Des Moines. The Dubuque club was the second chapter chartered in Iowa and our first exchange was held in 1979 to Guatemala with Margaret Fuerste as the Exchange Director.

Jimmy and Rosalynn CarterFriendship Missions, with day hosting only, were introduced in 1982, first to the USSR, then to mainland China, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Yugoslavia. Today, most of these countries or their successors participate in the regular homestay exchange program.

A 1992 nominee for The Nobel Peace Prize, Friendship Force International began by organizing the travel of goodwill Ambassadors who share the lives of a Host family in another country for one or two weeks. Since the program began in 1977, nearly half-million volunteer Ambassadors and Hosts have participated through 3,300 exchanges, touching the lives of more than two million people, and the means for accomplishing its mission has expanded considerably, as new relationships uncovered new possibilities.

What Is The Friendship Force?

The founders envisioned that friendships among people of different nations and cultures not only would be personally enriching for participants,but could contribute to world peace on a broad scale. Their idea has proved its merit. Friendship Force programs have created tens of thousands of enduring friendships and helped to establish ties among businesses, institutions and communities throughout the world You are invited to stay in the home of some friends you haven't yet met! Our exchanges typically include a one or two-week homestay with optional post-exchange touring in the region. Each exchange is led by an experienced Friendship Force club leader who will gladly discuss all of the details with you.

Philosophy

The Friendship Force was chartered for the purpose of promoting understanding in the world through the "force of friendship." The goal is achieved through exchanges that create an environment for establishing personal friendships between citizens throughout the world. The Friendship Force believes that people are more important than places, that making friends is more vital than touring, and that a world of friends is a world at peace.

Friendship Force Club Exchanges

The organizational framework of Friendship Force International has evolved over the past 30 years from a few large back-to-back charters to small, more flexible exchanges using scheduled airlines, carried out by a global network of clubs. For the past 20 years, these independent local Friendship Force Clubs have been the backbone of Friendship Force International, providing volunteer leadership for the exchange program as well as a community focus for Friendship Force International between exchanges. They are supported by professional staff and trained volunteers. Membership is open to all in the community who share in the organization's goals. There are now more than 360 clubs in 60 countries and 41 U.S. States.

Festivals of Friendship were begun in 1987, combining informational seminars with home-hosting experience. Participants from across the U.S. and around the world spend three nights in a hotel setting with orientations designed to celebrate the culture of the host country. A 5-7 day homestay follows the orientation activities.

"Bridgebuilders" program uses the basic homestay format as the means for linking professional counterparts in medicine, agriculture, banking, law, education, small business development, communication, and other vital areas. Bridgebuilders exchanges provide unique opportunities for putting friendship into action through joint projects that grow out of the personal friendships established during the exchange. One of the first involved a group of doctors and medical technicians traveling to a hospital in Moscow in July of 1992 to aid their counterparts, delivering medicine, medical supplies and equipment and exploring possible joint efforts to meet the hospital's most critical needs. In 1994 The Friendship Force received its first two U.S. government grants to support specialized training under the Bridgebuilders program.

Friendship Force International has begun conducting joint programs with Sister Cities, Open World Russian Leadership Program, and the National Peace Corps Association. If these experiments are successful, they will be expanded, with additional connections sought with Sister Cities and other organizations. The goal is to use mutually supportive programs with these organizations as a means of introducing Friendship Force International to new audiences.

George Brown, FFI President Friendship Force International is supported by membership and exchange fees, donations, and foundation grants. George Brown is the current president of the Friendship Force International.

More information about the international organization can be obtained from Friendship Force International (FFI) website at www.thefriendshipforce.org.