On March 9, a group of international visitors from seven nations had the opportunity to observe and participate in the American tradition of volunteerism. Hosted in Akron by the nonprofit Akron International Friendship in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program, young civic leaders from Egypt, Kuwait, the Czech Republic, Norway, Guyana, Nepal and the Palestinian Territories were here on an exchange project entitled "Media Literacy: Promoting Civil Society Through New Media."

Two of these delegates, Michella Abraham-Ali, a radio producer from Guyana, and Ujjwal Acharya, Online Coordinator with Republica National Daily in Nepal, spent an afternoon at Pawsibilities, which is the Humane Society of Greater Akron in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Six Serbian leaders participating in the Open World Program will spend Feb. 17 through 24 in Akron examining Civil Society organizations and human rights. Akron International Friendship (AIF) is hosting the delegation for Open World.

Managed by the independent Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, Open World enables emerging Eurasian political and civic leaders to work with their U.S. counterparts and experience American-style democracy at the local level.

The visiting delegates are Ms. Mirjana Zoran Bogdanovic, executive director of the Gay- Straight Alliance; Mr. Luka Zvonko Bozovic, Youth Initiative for Human Rights; Ms. Jelena Bosko Dzombic, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights; Mr. Dragon Milan Ristic, finance manager for Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights; Ms. Jelena Boro Visnjic, program director for Feminist Culture Center BeFem. Ms. Ksenija Lazovic, from Belgrade, Serbia will accompany them as a facilitator.