About America’s Unofficial Ambassadors
The underlying premise of America’s Unofficial Ambassadors (AUA) is that private American citizens have the power to improve America’s relationship with the Muslim World. Together, America and the Muslim World face daunting challenges which traditional diplomatic efforts and official development assistance will not solve alone. To complement our government’s programs and efforts, we seek to galvanize the power of people to reach across cultural differences, form partnerships of mutual interest, and build peace. Not coincidentally, public opinion polling shows that our people are America’s greatest asset around the world. From archaeologists to musicians to engineers, America’s Unofficial Ambassadors, i.e. private citizens representing America through deeds of service, have created a tradition that represents diversity, equality, creativity, and optimism.
Through short-term volunteer service in key areas of human development, Creative Learning is interested in supporting America’s Unofficial Ambassadors to:
- Help address human development deficits throughout the Muslim World – the problems of education, health, human rights, and economic development in Muslim-majority countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia are sorrowful. In 2011, we can’t consider these challenges to be isolated to the villages of Indonesia or the refugee camps of Lebanon; we are all connected.
- Build positive people-to-people connections between the Muslim World and America – while many people throughout the Muslim World have a better impression of the American people than they do of US foreign policy, there is still a ways to go. There is no better way to get beyond harmful stereotypes than through the development of people-to-people partnerships built upon substantive achievements in education, health, and other areas of development.
- Decrease Islamophobia in the United States – from the debate surrounding the Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan to the stereotyping that occurs on a daily basis across the United States, America has a growing problem in how we view Muslims, including Muslim-Americans. There is no better way to dispel rumors and stereotypes than through first-hand experiences in Muslim World communities and by sharing those experiences with family and friends back home.
By increasing the number of America’s Unofficial Ambassadors to the Muslim World we can begin to address these problems.
By December of 2012, we aim to have 1000 Americans commit to at least 1 week of service in the Muslim World.
To reach that goal, we are working on a number of fronts:
- Raising awareness that private American citizens can volunteer effectively. Our Project Director is writing a book about different volunteers’ experiences throughout the Muslim World; we are collecting stories and photos for our online Community Forum and Facebook Page; and are looking for current volunteers in the field to blog about their experiences.
- Increasing access to credible and safe volunteer opportunities by providing the AUA Directory of Recommended Organizations© that send or host American volunteers in Muslim majority countries.
- Supporting high impact volunteer service through the AUA Mosaic Fellowships. The Mosaic Fellowships enable the full mosaic of America’s diversity to volunteer in the Muslim world. Creative Learning is accepting applications for the Mosaic Fellowship Program now!
America’s Unofficial Ambassadors is a citizens’ initiative – its success relies upon the actions and efforts of private citizens like you. Think about what you can do to help build peace between America and the Muslim World. We have a couple of ideas about how you can get involved, take a look here.