Norway's Envoys of Compassion

Letter Submitted to the Washington Post
from the Ambassador of Norway
March 27, 1999

As Jim Hoagland noted ["Listen to Little Norway," Washington Post, op-ed, Jan. 24], one of the first things the Norwegian minister for international development and human rights, Hilde F. Johnson, did in 1997 was to allocate funds for American teens to visit Norway and learn about Operation Day's Work (ODW), a youth-to-youth aid program that has proven successful among Norwegian students. Her aim: to help introduce ODW in the United States.

While some may characterize this primarily as a "public relations campaign" or a pitch for increased foreign aid-as did Peter Schaefer's March 5 op-ed article, "Our Wasted Foreign Aid"-the Norwegian government views it as a sound investment in our common future.

For more than 30 years, Norwegian students have taken part in Operation Day's Work, a program designed to educate young people about the world and encourage compassion, volunteerism and global engagement. Every October, an army of Norwegian teens march out of their schools and into their local communities, sporting bright yellow armbands, armed with buckets, mops, shovels and rakes. They volunteer their time for donations to benefit education projects in the developing world, projects the students choose themselves. This year, they will support projects in three East African countries. This spring the Norwegian teens will be joined by, among others, students from Washington's Macfarland Middle School, who will focus on agricultural education in Haiti.

The students start by studying the history, culture and lifestyle of the chosen country or region. Music, dance, role playing and simulation games complement a daily schedule of classroom lectures. After the "day of work," students continue to monitor the progress of their aid project.

For some students, this experience may lead to a more positive attitude toward foreign aid. For others, the program may spark a desire to apply themselves in fields where technology or science holds the promise of alleviating hunger and poverty. Participation may give yet others their first chance to develop leadership skills. Operation Day's Work gives young people in affluent corners of the world a better chance of becoming well-informed, compassionate and engaged leaders and citizens of tomorrow.

With the support of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator J. Brian Atwood and participating schools, Operation Day's Work has received a warm welcome in the United States. USAID and eight participating pilot schools have created a Web page, (www.odwusa.org).

I believe that the MacFarland students and the other participants have started something that will grow to benefit not only them but their children and grandchildren. If I am right, the seed money from the Norwegian government may have been one of our best investments yet.

TOM VRAALSEN
Ambassador
Embassy of Norway
Washington