US Embassy organizes 1st alumni reception
The US Embassy in Kuwait organized its first ever reception for Kuwaiti alumni of US State Department educational, professional, cultural and training programs. In his welcoming speech, US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence R Silverman lauded the largest gathering of alumni in Kuwait which they organized for the first time. “Wherever they take place, all of our programs have a common goal: To increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people living in Kuwait,” he said.
According to Silverman, there are nearly 2,000 alumni in Kuwait since the establishments of International Exchange Alumni. “Those of you who are alumni of our programs form part of a network of over one million program alumni worldwide. You are certainly in good company: International alumni of Department of State programs include former British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, Gordon Brown, and Tony Blair, for example, who all participated in International Visitor Leadership Programs. Altogether, 565 of our alumni are current or former heads of state - so far,” he added.
“We would love to see more of you registered on alumni.state.gov to continue networking with other distinguished peers. Our alumni build on the experiences they gain and the networks they form through our programs; we want to nurture those networks, and help them grow,” explained Silverman.
The US State Department offers a variety of resources, educational cultural and professional development programs. More than 100 English language teachers in Kuwait have had distance learning through English language professionals available to them including the American English E-Teacher Program, the American English Webinar Series, and the Massive Open Online Courses. The recent US-Kuwait Strategic Dialogue has reaffirmed that cultural and educational exchange is more important than ever to the bilateral relationship.
Eyad Zaben, the US embassy’s new Alumni Coordinator said there is a need for the creation of this department so as to help alumni in Kuwait. “As Alumni Coordinator, my main goal is to increase the involvement of Kuwait-based alumni of US Government exchange and study programs, facilitating collaboration on topics of mutual interest. This helps our Kuwaitbased alumni share and deepen their expertise once they have returned from different exchange programs in the United States,” he said. The invitation-only reception was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Salwa.