When Iowa State’s international students and area children get together, they try to teach the community about understanding.

Through the YWCA-sponsored program Weekend Voyagers International, international students attempt to “raise the awareness of racism through play and interacting,” said Judy Dolphin, executive director of the YWCA of Ames ISU.

Dolphin started the program in 1991 to combat the negative stereotypes some in Ames associated with international students.

“All people from the Middle East were being portrayed as Saddam Hussein,” she said. “My thought was that if area children could meet the people I know from ISU, they would be getting good company, and they would question negative stereotypes.”

Student groups that participate in Weekend Voyagers International provide children with activities such as dancing, crafts and games that demonstrate the particular culture the group represents. The group may offer a variety of activities, but it must provide its own resources, Dolphin said.

The weekend program is flexible both in its content and location, Dolphin said.

“The program is not stationary; we organize it on an occasion-by-occasion basis,” she said.

For example, a group might decide to do an African voyage, and then its members will look for potential schools or other children’s groups that might be interested in such a program, she said.

Groups have put on presentations for schoolchildren in Story City and Colo. They also have put on programs at the Ames Public Library and the Brunnier Art Museum.

The Office of International Education Services, formerly the Office of International Students and Scholars, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs fund such programs as Weekend Voyagers International through the Culture Corps Grants Program.

Money from the Culture Corps grants has been used to hire a coordinator for the Weekend Voyagers program. However, the group members who participate in the program are volunteers.

According to the IES Web site, ISU faculty and staff may apply for grant money to support activities that “foster an environment in which differences among people are respected and mutual understanding is enhanced.”

Dennis Peterson, director of IES, said the grant money is used to hire students to promote diversity education.

He also said money from the Culture Corps Grant is being used to pay a student in the College of Education to help promote the study-abroad program in that college.

Another student is working to find ways to bridge communication gaps between international tutors and their students. Abhinav Sharma, undeclared freshman, is the student serving as coordinator of the Weekend Voyagers International program.

Sharma, a native of India, said he just “wanted to do something that would help him get to know more people and learn about different cultures.”

“When you have a chance to meet people, you find you have things in common, and that we’re no different,” Sharma said. “We’re all people.”