Sunday, May 29, 2011

IVLP: what it is and why was i floating in the US of A in April

To begin with... I am very much back in India, in Delhi, in the courts... so that should set the record straight, well I hope :)
Well so what on earth was i doing in US?? Ok, so the US Department of State has a programme called the IVLP i.e. International Visitor Leadership Programme, you can read more about it here http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/ivlp.html wherein the US embassies in variopus countries nominate people who they think are potential leaders in their respective fields, put them together, see what are their previous experiences and areas of expertise and send them on a 3 week programme to the US where they meet other people from different countries working on the same issue and persons working on similar lines in the US.

I was nominated last year for this programme and in April 2011 alongwith 9 other persons from various Central and South Asain Countries I visited the US on a programme on Transparency in Government. We visited 6 places: Washington DC, Miami, Dallas, Boston, Manchester and New York. On my way back I also did a stop over at London.
Crazy April for sure, literally went to the airport from the Michpur case and travelled so much in 4 weeks that by the end of it I was quite tired. It was a great experience for sure and it has opened up a number of avenues for me. We were 10 of us, 3 from India, 3 from Pakistan, 1 each from Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Kazakistan. Alongwith us were 2 people from the Dept of State who were traveling with us. Over all a great experience, I have been back in India since 1st of May and am back in the grind :)

Watch this space for some more madness.



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