Memorializing the Khmer Rouge: Genocide Museum Receives a Big Donation

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Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo from G.S. Matthews via Flickr)

On October 14, 2017 Meridian International Center and the U.S. Department of State opened an International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) with six participants from Cambodia. These staff members of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum had arrived in Washington, DC for a professional program on museum curation and the intellectual approach to memorializing history’s darkest moments. Only a few months later, the project takes on new meaning after William Heidt, the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, announced a $55,500 donation from the American embassy to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Continue  

FY17 IVLP @ Meridian International Center: By the Numbers

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International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) @ Meridian

This blog post was written to provide the reader with a visual, data driven look into the impact of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) administered by Meridian International Center over the past fiscal year. The data used are derived from internal record-keeping in the Professional Exchanges Division at Meridian. For FY16’s numbers, you can read the blog here.

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Sustainable Tourism in India: U.S. Speaker Kelly Bricker Lends her Expertise through the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program

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Meeting with Faculty and Mr. Yugabrata 'Bubu' Kar, the Founder of the NGO Barefoot at St. Xavier's High School.

Since Fall 2013, Meridian International Center, in partnership with the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, has had the pleasure of implementing the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program for India, a program designed to connect U.S. experts with Indian audiences and institutions; to promote an understanding of U.S. strategic priorities, policies and institutions; and to discuss the political, economic, social, and cultural context from which they arise. To date, through the program implemented by Meridian, some 45 American experts have traveled to India to engage with audiences through lectures, workshops, and seminars; through appearances in...

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PAYLP Alumnus Brian Sibanda’s Journey from Poverty in Zimbabwe to Scholarship in the United States

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Brian Sibanda poses in a PAYLP t-shirt in front of Pomona College

For 18-year-old Zimbabwean Brian Sibanda, discovering that he had been accepted to Pomona College in California was nothing short of a dream come true. “I was very shocked and for a couple of days I thought I was dreaming.” A former participant in the Pan-African Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP) administered by Meridian International Center in partnership with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Brian received a full scholarship to attend Pomona College this year where he is now just days away from completing his first semester. As someone who faced adversity at a young age, this feat represents a major milestone in Brian’s ongoing journey to empower himself and the lives of youth like him in countries across Africa. Continue