British Teens Job Shadow Colin Powell
U.S. Teens Sample British Government
Thoughts From Across The Pond

British Teens Job Shadow Colin Powell

Editor’s Note: This summer, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw turned their attention away from foreign policy for a brief moment, and focused on the future: youth. The pair sponsored the third annual Powell-Straw Youth Exchange, a program designed to highlight U.S. and British young people who have overcome significant obstacles in their lives – and are now role models for other young people. Straw hosted two American teens, Huy Ngo, 17 of Charlotte, NC and Nichole Anderson, 18, of Killeen, TX, from July 5-12 and Powell hosted two young Britons, Lara Macardle and Danielle Roberts, both 17, from July 18-26. The exchange culminated in the opportunity for each pair of youths to spend an entire day personally “job shadowing” Powell and Straw, respectively.

With Powell as its founding chairman, America’s Promise (a nonprofit youth development organization) was charged with selecting two U.S. students from its network of affiliated communities. Despite family turmoil, peer pressures and other challenges, Anderson is an honor student, star athlete, and teacher and coach to younger children. She learned to endure even more hardship recently when her single mother, one of the Army’s few female African American Seargents-Major, was deployed to serve in Iraq. Ngo, born in Vietnam, has made the most of the opportunities afforded by his adoptive homeland. Despite severe poverty and the break-up of his family, he is ranked first in his class, leads several school and civic youth groups, and is active in community service. The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office worked with RPS Rainer, a leading British Non-Governmental Organization, to select the two British students. Like Anderson and Ngo, Macardle and Roberts have also overcome significant challenges and today serve as role models and youth leaders in their native England.

U.S. Teens Sample British Government

By Huy Ngo & Nichole Anderson

London – There we were in the most beautiful city in the world, London, but unfortunately it wasn’t such a beautiful time. The week we happened to be there as selected participants in the Powell/Straw Exchange to “job shadow” Minister Straw, President Bush was forced to address media amid reports that the United States and England went to war with Iraq under false pretenses.

As it turned out, Iraq did not attempt to purchase uranium from Nigeria. Understandably, since the intelligence report in question came to the U.S. by way of Britain, British leaders were quite busy that week trying to resolve this issue, too. To add to this extremely tense atmosphere, two suspected terrorists, who were British citizens, were being held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. The fact that the U.S. was planning to use a military tribunal (leading to their possible execution) added to an already uncomfortable situation that gnawed at the close friendship between the U.S. and Britain. The U.S. and the UK have always been great friends, but now they were experiencing some unpleasant circumstances.

We must admit, as citizens of the U.S., we were not feeling all that wonderful, seeing how tense our relations with Britain were at the time. We were also very apprehensive knowing that we would be meeting the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Jack Straw. We were anxious to see how our meeting would turn out. We feared that it would be one of those situations where there’s an elephant in the room, but no one wants to talk about it. This was a true test of time for diplomacy.

It was finally Tuesday and we headed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for our meeting with Minister Straw. As nervous as we were, we were also very excited, as we had never met a Member of Parliament before. To us, it was like meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell. As we stood in front of the grand double doors of Minister Straw’s office, we took a deep breath. When the doors opened, this wonderful man greeted us. He was so very energetic and friendly.

As prepared for the meeting as we were, we still had preconceived notions of what a British gentleman (especially one in Parliament) would be like. We imagined him to be austere and overly formal, but Minister Straw was neither. He was extremely approachable and welcomed us warmly into his office – and country – profusely. At that moment, we seemed to forget everything that was happening in the world (and more specifically, between our two countries).

Inside his office, we were photographed as we said our pleasantries, but we had a much more informal chat afterwards. In speaking with Minister Straw, we realized how similar the youth of Great Britain are to those in America, and that the British Government is working to address many of the same policy issues that affect youth as our government. Hot topics included education, unemployment, social welfare, and citizenship for illegal aliens could hang in an office in the House of Lords as easily as in one on Capitol Hill.

Shortly after our discussion, Minister Straw’s deputies came in to brief him in preparation for a Q&A session before the House of Commons that would be held later that day. Imagine being in the same room where these discussions were being held. We became insiders to decisions about world policy and even world history. A wide variety of topics were addressed, most notably those involving Iraq as well as issues concerning Europe, the European Union, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

Despite the stress of the week on his office due to the Iraq and Guantanamo Bay situations, Minister Straw nonetheless made us feel as if we were as important as any other meeting on his schedule. His dedication to today’s youth in providing insight into his very demanding job during this particularly tense moment in history only added to our admiration and appreciation of what it means to be one of the world’s most important diplomats. The Straw/Powell exchange program was living out its purpose in highlighting the wonderful insights and opportunities that mentoring and “job shadowing” allows young people to become tomorrow’s workers and leaders. The vital importance of marketable skills, one of the tenets of America’s Promise (the nonprofit organization founded by Colin Powell in 1977) was truly at work.

As if the day could get any better, we accompanied Minister Straw to the House of Commons. Once inside the green chamber, we watched as Minister Straw answered every question posed by the opposing party with such eloquence and skill despite the fact that he had been briefed less than an hour earlier. At one point the debate became quite heated as President Bush and the war in Iraq were raised. We were quickly reminded that we were Americans in a land where not everyone was in favor of our policies. We became a little uncomfortable when an MP persistently referred to our President as “That Cowboy.” But slight feelings of discomfort aside, seeing diplomacy in action, learning how people effectively work with other people is an experience we will never forget.

Thoughts From Across The Pond

By Lara Macardle & Danielle Roberts

We’ll never forget what Secretary Powell said to us. During our day “job shadowing” one of the most powerful men in the world, he said, “Don’t let your past predict your future.” For us, that advice hit home and has really stuck with us. Our experience with Colin Powell gave us great insight into how the American Government works – but more so, his story demonstrates how much work you have to put in to succeed in life. Colin Powell didn’t grow up in a really posh area (we actually toured the Bronx while in New York), and this showed us that it doesn’t matter how disadvantaged you are, anyone can achieve great things. It made us realize we could do a lot more than we thought we could do. There are opportunities out there, you just have to go and get them.

Among the highlights of our trip to the States were visits to several youth community programmes. We are active in similar programmes in London and Essex, England, so this was an enlightening experience for us. We saw firsthand that the young people in the U.S. face the same problems we do when it comes to youth and their community. The only difference seems to be that there is a lot more space in the United States to set up these kinds of facilities. We were particularly impressed with the AmeriCorps programme. Seeing so many young people living in residential areas and working for communities as teams for 10 months, and then getting grants towards furthering their education, was amazing. It’s an idea that we would very much like to see come to the UK.

As we were saying goodbye to Secretary Powell, he said something else that will stay with us forever. He told us, “Don’t ever let anybody tell you you can’t do it.” We certainly won’t, because we know that we can do anything!

“Shadowing” U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell are British youths Lara Macardle and Danielle Roberts.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Lara Macardle and Danielle Roberts.

Future American leaders Huy Ngo, left, and and Nichole Anderson, right, with British Foreign Minister Jack Straw.