LIHU‘E — Eighteen guests from Hamburg, of all places, helped the Kaua‘i Friendship Force celebrate its 25th anniversary Wednesday. “The guests from Germany arrived Tuesday and will be spending a week at Friendship Force members’ homes,” said Bonnie Tiffany, the
LIHU‘E — Eighteen guests from Hamburg, of all places, helped the Kaua‘i Friendship Force celebrate its 25th anniversary Wednesday.
“The guests from Germany arrived Tuesday and will be spending a week at Friendship Force members’ homes,” said Bonnie Tiffany, the president of the Kaua‘i Friendship Force during a stop to visit Kaua‘i Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.
Carvalho presented the Kaua‘i group a Friendship Force International Day proclamation to celebrate the arrival of the guests and commemorate the international event as members of the Lihu‘e Senior Center’s ‘ukulele band provided background music and hula to the delight of the visitors.
“Last year, Kaua‘i visitors were hosted by the Germans, and this year, we are hosting them as one of two in-bound exchanges,” said Bev Olsen, vice president of the Kaua‘i Friendship Force. “In fact, Bonnie and some of the other members just returned from a New Zealand trip.”
Friendship Force International is a worldwide network of local chapters called “Friendship Force Clubs” that are led by volunteers in more than 350 communities on six continents, the proclamation said. The mission of the Friendship Force Clubs is to promote global understanding across the barriers that separate people.
Tiffany pointed out one of the guests that unpacked his German suit to wear to the meeting with the mayor as music from the seniors was punctuated with hula performances by some of its members to help pass the time while awaiting the arrival of Carvalho.
That tied in with the values of Friendship Force International to promote mutual respect, cultural diversity, cultural exploration and service.
The vision of Friendship Force International is that each individual will make a contribution to global goodwill, overcome differences among people and nations by connecting the world, one friend at a time to create a world of friends that becomes world peace.
“When we were in New Zealand, there was a lot of news coverage for our trip,” Tiffany said. “There were at least two newspapers and a television station that covered our visit.”
Olsen said the second in-bound exchange Kaua‘i Friendship Force is hosting will be coming from Australia at the end of June.
The Friendship Force was founded by Wayne Smith and introduced on March 1, 1977 by President Jimmy Carter at a White House gathering of state governors that returned to their states and identified a volunteer leader to serve as State Director for the Friendship Force. Rosalyn Carter served as Honorary Chairperson of Friendship Force until 2002.
Today there are about 25 active members in the Kaua‘i Friendship Force that celebrate the international theme of “Changing the Way You See the World,” seeing into the heart of a country and its people.
For more information, visit www.friendshipforce.org
