Friendship Force: Travel with a higher purpose

You may not have noticed, but things were just a little bit friendlier in Central Virginia this weekend, and it’s all due to a swelling in the force.

From locations far, far away, members of various Friendship Force chapters from New England through the Mid-Atlantic met in Jefferson’s land this weekend as part of the organization’s regional conference. They aren’t rebel marauders or imperial stormtroopers, however. They’re just friends.

“I guess the best way to put it is that we’re ambassadors for our country and we go into other cultures to create understanding between people in different countries,” explained Robert Schwagerl, of Keswick, the Friendship Force conference chairman. “We actually live with people in that culture for a week and try to make that connection.”

Think of them as adult exchange students visiting countries as far-flung as Australia and Japan, Azerbaijan and France. They fly in, land, move in and sit down with hosts.

“The first night it can be pretty formal and you feel the distance between you and your hosts,” Mr. Schwagerl said. “By the end of the week, you’re getting up and going to the refrigerator to get a beer. You’ve become family.”

Friendship is a multinational force with members across the United States and the world. The organization began during the Carter administration with the blessing of the then-chief executive. Its protocol for visits has changed once or twice in that time, but the group’s goal has remained the same: Get to know each other.

“It came along about the same time as Habitat for Humanity, but they had better public relations,” Mr. Schwagerl laughed. “Wayne Smith, a Georgia reverend, approached President Carter and said that the best way to foster peace in the world is for people to get to know each other, and the best way to do that is to spend time together. President Carter agreed.”

Today the force is alive in nearly 60 countries. In 2007, about 6,000 ambassadors traveled between 58 countries with thousands more serving as hosts.

“You create friends in this program and some friendships last for years,” Mr. Schwagerl said. “It really is an inexpensive way to travel and meet people and build a relationship between countries.”

Some of those relationships come between countries that could use the exchange. For instance, the local force is planning exchanges with Azerbaijan and Georgia later this spring.

“There are a lot of places where the majority of Americans don’t know much about the customs, culture or people of a country and the opposite is true,” he said. “Those are particularly important.”

Members are recruiting others to come to their side of the force. While in most countries young adults make up the majority of those traveling, the U.S. force is a bit older.

“We have a limited amount of holiday time in this country. If you’re 25 or 35, you may only have two weeks vacation and, with family commitments and such, it’s harder to get away for a week,” Mr. Schwagerl said. “Those of us who are older tend to have more time that we can take off to do these kinds of things, but everyone is invited.”