{"id":3509,"date":"2016-06-29T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greenheartclub.staging.wpengine.com\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2018-09-14T12:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-09-14T17:21:18","slug":"cultural-exchange-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/blog\/exchange\/cultural-exchange-why-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Exchange: Why it Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kelsey Holmes, Greenheart Club Program Assistant<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSimple exchanges can break down walls between us, for when people come together and speak to one another and share a common experience, then their common humanity is revealed.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 —\u00a0 United States President, Barack Obama<\/em><\/p>\n

Cultural exchange is the heart of Greenheart\u2019s mission.\u00a0 By providing programs through Greenheart Travel<\/a><\/span> and CCI Greenheart<\/a><\/span>, members of the Greenheart community reach across (literal) borders to heighten their appreciation for other cultures and broaden their perspectives.\u00a0 Branches of Greenheart like Greenheart Shop<\/a><\/span> and Greenheart Transforms<\/a><\/span> help us see how we can connect with each other and members of the global community.\u00a0 Greenheart Club<\/a><\/span> serves as a launching pad for these branches and a home where community members can share ideas, exchange culture, and connect.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, Greenheart Club highlighted what cultural exchange means<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 Now, we\u2019re shifting our focus to why it matters<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 As global leaders, it is important to work for the equality and understanding of all \u2013 which is exactly what cultural exchange aims to do.\u00a0 As we connect with those of different backgrounds, cultural upbringings and communities than our own, it becomes more and more clear that not only do our differences contribute to a unique and wonderful global society, but that there are often more similarities amongst us than we would expect.<\/p>\n\"BenefitsofCulturalExchange-edit\"\n

Consider laughter \u2013 a universal sign and sound of happiness.\u00a0 This involuntary reaction is not unique to any specific culture, but rather is a unifying factor worldwide.\u00a0 Often, the stories we see in the media focus heavily on our differences; but cultural exchange challenges that in a number of ways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Cultural exchange proves that you can thrive in a new environment.<\/em><\/span> Every day we hear stories of Greenhearts around the world working for impactful change wherever they go.\u00a0 As Greenhearts encounter new and exciting people and places, they are living proof that cultural exchange is effective and enables us to become leaders wherever we go.<\/li>\n
  2. Cultural exchange shows the importance of similarities rather than differences<\/span>.<\/em> Despite being surrounded by an endless stream of newsmedia that often perpetuates fear of those different than ourselves, by actually going out, speaking to, and connecting with others we see clearly that we are more similar than different.\u00a0 We love, laugh, and cry for the same universal human values.<\/li>\n
  3. Cultural exchange highlights the beauty of diversity<\/span>.<\/em> Although we begin to see our similarities more clearly, this does not mean that our uniqueness falls by the wayside.\u00a0 Rather, through cultural exchange we are able to celebrate our differences and use the knowledge of one another\u2019s cultures going forward to be effective global leaders.<\/li>\n
  4. Cultural exchange makes the world a more beautiful, connected place for everyone<\/span>.<\/em> If we recognize the intrinsic value that each member of our global community holds, we can better understand one another.\u00a0 If we better understand one another, we can work together for impactful change.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cWe are reminded that we’re joined together by our pursuit of a life that’s productive and purposeful, and when that happens mistrust begins to fade and our smaller differences no longer overshadow the things that we share. And that’s where progress begins.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0— United States President, Barack Obama<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Kelsey Holmes, Greenheart Club Program Assistant \u201cSimple exchanges can break down walls between us, for when people come together and speak to one another and share <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3890,"featured_media":3511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,218],"tags":[68,53,61,86,87,85],"class_list":["post-3509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exchange","category-greenheart-international","tag-cci-greenheart","tag-cultural-exchange","tag-greenheart-club","tag-greenheart-shop","tag-greenheart-transforms","tag-greenheart-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/3511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenheart.org\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}