Celebrating Winter SUSI 2020

From January to February of the 2020 school year, FIUTS hosted 20 high achieving African Students through the Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) on Civic Engagement. Students were selected from the countries of South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Mali. 

Before arriving in Seattle, the students (colloquially referred to as “SUSIs”) spent six days in Washington D.C. and Memphis with The Meridian International Center and FIUTS. In D.C., the SUSIs visited the Diplomacy Center in D.C. as well as the National Museum of African American History and Culture. In Memphis, they visited the National Civil Rights Museum and met with the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development. 

Upon arrival in Seattle, SUSIs stayed with local host families and explored the area before they began their four weeks of Civic Engagement instruction. They were then paired with ambassadors and became acquainted with the Seattle community through service projects and site visits. The SUSIs completed service projects with the YMCA and Lahai Health  for Martin Luther King Day and volunteered with the local nonprofits Westside Baby and the Asian Counseling and Referral Services Food Bank.

During this time the students also spoke about their passions in “This I Believe” speeches, engaged in networking events, and visited schools in Sequim, Washington. The SUSIs had a busy schedule that involved getting to know the Seattle community through roundtable discussions, presenting projects in Capitol Hill, and conducting site visits to local nonprofits and organizations like Real Change. 

In their final week in Seattle, the SUSIs were tasked with developing plans for community projects which they will implement once they return to their home communities. On the evening of February 8, host families and ambassadors joined the FIUTS and Meridian staff to wish the SUSI students a safe farewell.

To learn more about the projects designed by 2020 SUSI on Civic Engagement participants, click through the slideshow above. Biographies about the participants are available here.

The Study of the U.S. Institute is a program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with funding provided by the U.S. Government, administered by Meridian International Center and FIUTS.