The Young Ambassadors
After Hatem Alharbi arrived in Washington D.C. from Saudi Arabia, he picked
up the car he would drive to Huntington, West Virginia. Having never visited
the United States before, he relied on directions from an electronic navigational
system to guide his way. Hatem entered a request for the "shortest route" and
began to follow directions for what would turn out to be a drive on winding Rt. 55
over ice covered roads through the mountains of rural West Virginia at night. What
was supposed to be a six hour trip took him 10 hours. "I would climb a mountain,
go down again, then back up another. There were no people. No one was driving. I
thought, 'This is a main road in America.'"
While his route may not have been the quickest or most conventional, Hatem's journey from Saudi Arabia to Huntington is increasingly common. Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Marshall University hosted a considerable number of students from predominantly Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia. Just days after 9-11, many of these students left. "I remember running into some of the few Saudi students who were still here on campus if they hadn't already gone back, and they were just so depressed looking," says Clark Egnor, executive director of the Center for International Programs at Marshall University. "They were so embarrassed for what happened. Of course, they had nothing to do with that. They were here to get a degree and they couldn't go right back home. I don't think they were getting treated badly on campus, but they just felt like people hated them. They could feel it in the air. Everyone could. Immediately following 9-11 it was a really weird time when we felt like Americans were just angry at that part of the world."
Consequently, Marshall lost most of its Saudi and Middle Eastern students, and was unable to attract new students from those countries to fill their places. "Anyone who wanted to come here to study was being persuaded by their family members and friends not to go. 'Hey, Americans don't like us anymore,' so, they were going to England and other countries. The perception was that we were not a welcoming country," says Egnor.
Slowly, students from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East returned, until the number of Saudi students at Marshall was significant enough to attract the attention of Time magazine, which in March 2006, visited Huntington and ran an article on the experiences of the 30- some Saudi students attending Marshall University at that time. This reversal in enrollment trends is due in large part to a program implemented by the Saudi and U.S. governments which is designed to foster understanding between the two cultures. According to Time magazine, Saudi Arabia will pay for thousands of its most promising students and professionals to come to America to study in the hopes that they will not only obtain an education, but that the experience will help dispel the apprehensions that linger in both countries after 9-11.
The program seems to be successful, at least in encouraging students that it is safe to return to America to study. In summer 2006, over 40 students from Saudi Arabia were enrolled at Marshall, as well as students from Iran, Turkey and Syria. "There is such a history between that part of the world and the U.S. that we even have the capacity to heal from something as tragic as 9-11. That says something about the cultures," says Egnor.
This new wave of students come to America charged with a dual purpose: they are here to get an education, but they also come to America as informal ambassadors of peace, hoping to represent what is good about Islam, the Middle East and Arab people to a nation deeply wounded by the events of 9-11, and which too often only sees negative images of Muslims and the Middle East on the news. "To want to come study here would take a fair amount of courage because everything they are seeing in their media is, 'You are not welcome in the U.S. It is not friendly to Muslim students or students from Saudi Arabia' so I am always amazed that they are coming here. The one difference I see in the students who are coming now and the students before 9-11 is they seem to be aware of that, yet they seem to be on a mission to make us like them and say, 'Hey, they are not that bad after all'," says Egnor.
Talal and Zaid, both 19, do not fit the image brought to mind by the word "ambassador." They both look a bit younger than their age, and have twinkling, slightly mischievous eyes and faces that easily break into infectious grins. For our interview, they are joined by their friend, Hamad, whom they refer to as the "oldest." He is 22, and like his friends, polite and instantly likable.
Recipients of Saudi government scholarships are responsible for obtaining admission to the university of their choice. Talal, Hamad and Zaid were each steered toward Marshall by family members or friends who were familiar with the university's academic reputation and safe, small-town environment, but none of the three knew anyone in Huntington prior to their arrival. They agree the transition to life at an American university was hardest on Talal, who arrived before his two friends, and stayed on campus for almost a week before classes began. In describing his first days at Marshall, he says, "I couldn't find anyone [to talk to]. The first days I just knew the Student Center and my dorm. I stayed for five days like this, then I saw two Arab people. I started talking with them. They said, 'It's okay. Don't worry.' They had been here longer than me. They told me the first time you will feel homesick. After that, you will feel comfortable."
Once each of the three started classes and were introduced to their fellow students, it did not take long for them to feel comfortable. "About nine of us guys, we are like family. Everyone worries about everyone else, and we do everything as a group," says Hamad.
Talal says he had to convince his father to allow him to come to America to study. "Before I came, some people told me Americans changed after 9-11. They told me they hate Saudis and Arabs in general. You can find people who hate Saudi Arabia, but before I came here I thought all Americans hate Saudi Arabia. When I came here [Americans] were very friendly. 9-11 makes people confused about Saudi Arabia. Any place you find good and bad people. Don't just look to the bad people and say all people are like this," he says.
Zaid shared Talal's apprehensions about coming to America, and was also pleasantly surprised by the friendly reception he received. "If someone doesn't like you, he might try to be far from you, but he will also help you any way he can. [Americans] are very friendly and don't want something bad to happen to you."
All three men are studying in the university's intensive English as a Second Language program to improve their English prior to beginning university classes. Hamad says that when he first arrived in Huntington, "I couldn't talk with people because my English was very bad. I couldn't make sentences, just 'yes' and 'no.'"
Linguistic barriers have not prevented the three from having fun during their stay in Huntington. When I asked what their favorite things to do are, they answer, almost in unison, "Go to Pullman Square." Hamad says he likes to cook Arab food for his friends on weekends. Talal says, "He was not a good cook in Saudi Arabia." Hamad smiles and agrees, "I was bad. I learned here."
Elnaz, a 19-year-old Iranian student, says she goes by "Ellie" because it is easier for Americans to pronounce. She apologizes for her accent, even though her English is actually quite good. When we met for our interview, she had been in the United States for about a month. She shared the dream of many Iranian young people, to study abroad in America, but held little hope of its realization, even as she submitted her visa application. "I heard all the visas were forbidden for Iranians because of the relations between the two countries... all the people there don't have hope to get to America, and the [political] situation is worse today than before," she says. Instead, she attended school in Paris, and applied to study in America through the American embassy in France. To her surprise, her application was accepted, and she suddenly found herself on her way to join her mother, aunt and uncle, who all study at Marshall. Her one regret was that her visa would not allow her to return to Iran prior to coming to America, so she could not say good-bye to her family there.
Ellie plans to study finance at Marshall, or transfer to another university where she can study architecture. When she was young, however, she dreamt of being a journalist, and still wishes she had the opportunity to use the media to portray a more positive image of her home. "Life in Iran is difficult, but it is my country and I love it...Sometimes I am very sad when I see the news...The image of Iran for the world is not too good. But the people are different. The people are different from the government. The political situation is not too good, but Iran has delicious food, lots of traditional and historic monuments...it has nice cities and Iranian people love foreign people and are happy to see tourists...I think the image [of Iran in America] is better than among the European people. I had lots of problems in Paris because I was Iranian," she says, "but I think the people here are very kind and understand better."
Her short time in America has not been without its challenges. Unlike students from Saudi Arabia, Ellie does not have financial assistance from her government to pay for her education. She was also surprised when she tried to open a bank account, but was denied because she was Iranian. She was told government regulations prohibit Iranians from opening accounts at international banks. She says the people at the bank were very kind in explaining the situation to her. "I can understand why, but it is still hard for me," she says.
When I met Khaled Mansouri, 19, for our interview, he was hanging out with his friends on Marshall's Memorial Student Center plaza after their classes had ended for the day. Khaled talked a lot about his friends during our interview. "Now I have lots of friends," he says, "but in the first place it was difficult because I left all my friends behind in Saudi Arabia. I was a little homesick, but when I started to meet my classmates from Saudi Arabia and other nationalities, we started to be friends... My friends have American roommates, so now my best friend is American. He is a very good guy."
Khaled says he has no bad experiences to relay about his time in America. "[Before coming to America] I was both excited and nervous at the same time because of the problem that happened between America and Saudi Arabia. At first, I was so afraid of the police and security stuff. But when I landed at the airport in New York, everything was easy. They treat Saudi people as if they were Americans." He has a full catalog of good experiences from his time in America, including visiting New York, Florida, Washington D.C. and Columbus, skiing at Winterplace, playing paint-ball, boating at Beech Fork Lake and playing football at Ritter Park.
Khaled came to America to study with his mother, who is working on her doctorate in psychology, and three sisters, one of whom plans to study art at Marshall. Khaled plans to eventually earn his M.A. and Ph.D. in Information Technology before returning to Saudi Arabia to work. He is as enthusiastic about Marshall as any native of Huntington would be. "I didn't know anything about Marshall or Huntington before. I thought it was a big city. When I came here, I was surprised, but I loved it because it was small and quiet. Marshall is a good university. I love it here so much," he says.
Hatem is one of those rare people who, within five minutes of meeting him, makes you feel as if you are talking to an old friend. "I did not know anyone [when I came to Marshall], but now I know everyone," he says with a laugh. He was alone when he first came to Huntington from Saudi Arabia, but was later joined by his wife and children. He claims he has never been homesick during the six months he has lived in Huntington. "I adapt quickly to my environment. I have went many places and had good experiences there."
Hatem had worked in project management for the Saudi Border Guard for 11 years before he decided to take the opportunity to obtain a Master's degree abroad. He says of the government program that encourages Saudis to study in America and other countries, "I think in Saudi Arabia, we have an excellent leader. They think [the government] has to invest in their people. I think this program is good for both sides. It is good for Saudis to see what happens in America, and good for Saudis to meet American people. I think there are many Saudi students in America now, so maybe Americans have learned something about our country, our culture."
Of all the students I interviewed, Hatem spoke the most directly and eloquently of the obligation Muslim and Middle Eastern students feel to represent their faith and homeland to Americans. "One of my concerns is to deliver something to Americans, not only to get my M.A. and go home. We don't have access to the media, like magazines or newspapers to write in. We can only deal directly with people. This is the only way we can deliver something about our culture and religion and our way of thinking: by dealing with things here the right way. We need to close this gap between us."
Hatem especially wishes to inform Americans about Islam, a faith he says, "insists on dealing well with others. I hope Americans will learn about Islam, not to become Muslim, but only to learn the main ideas. For example, in my religion, you cannot kill any animal without a reason. You can kill a chicken or lamb to eat it, but you cannot hurt any animal without reason because you will get a punishment for this from God. We believe that when you see cats or dogs, you have to feed them or give them water. We have a story from our prophet: there was a woman who entered heaven because a dog was very thirsty and she gave him a drink...If we are dealing with animals like this, would we not do the same for people? We are very merciful."
Hatem also speaks of the obligation he feels to represent America to Saudis who are unable to travel here themselves, "I would like to change the mind of anyone who says that people in America are dealing with Muslims and Arabs in a different way after 9-11. All my experiences here have been very positive. If there is an exception, a small situation or action, this does not reflect what the general people think about us. The people here like to smile, like to say hello to you, like to play with your children. If you sit beside someone, he or she starts talking. I have been to many countries, but I haven't found many people more friendly than American people. I hope they think the same of us. If they have a bad impression after 9-11, they have a right to feel that way. But I trust who we are."
Like most universities, Marshall seeks an international component to the education it provides for its students. According to Egnor, bringing students from around the world to study at Marshall is crucial to accomplishing this goal. "It is nice to have students from the Middle East (at Marshall) because that is a part of our world we probably have more misconceptions about than other places, and those misconceptions are dangerous, even. You may have a misconception about Sweden, but if you meet a Swede, you are not going to run for your life. But with a Middle Eastern person or Muslim person, maybe someone has never met anyone from that part of the world, and all they know is what they see on TV, and that is scary. If all you know is what you see on TV, you are going to fear that person or hate that person, and neither of those would be good things because that person is probably not too different from the American student," says Egnor.
Toward the end of our interview, Hamad says, "We are here with a message to change the opinion about us. That is our goal. I hope we are good guys to do that." Talal and Zaid nod in agreement. In so many ways, Marshall's Arab and Muslim students are typical students, concerned with studies, friends and family obligations, while still finding ways to balance work with fun. Yet, typical college students rarely give thought to matters as weighty as representing their country or faith to a nation halfway around the world, or healing impossibly painful wounds. This is a heavy responsibility to lay on the shoulders of such young men and women, but at that moment, I felt assured these young ambassadors are up to the task.
