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Jim McGrath of McGrath Real Estate Joins the Foreign Service Youth Foundation Board

Jim McGrath of McGrath Real Estate Joins the Foreign Service Youth Foundation Board

Jim McGrath and winner Chungdhak Lhamo Sherpa at the awards ceremony

Herndon, VA (PRWEB) November 23, 2011

Jim McGrath, president of McGrath Real Estate Services, Inc. was nominated and has accepted a position on the Foreign Service Youth Foundation Board of Directors. A former foreign service youth himself, Jim and his brother, Vice President, Tim McGrath spent much of their childhood traveling the world with the father, a Foreign Service Officer and mother. Understanding the unique challenges and needs of owning a home while overseas, the McGrath’s began their Northern Virginia property management firm. Now decades later, Jim and Tim own and manage the business. Inspired by their own experience as Foreign Service youths, the McGrath family chose to become involved with the Foreign Service Youth Foundation.

The Foreign Service Youth Foundation was created to examine the special needs and concerns of youths in the US and worldwide. They develop, implement and fund programs to meet the needs of the Foreign Service youth. Some of these programs include quarterly newsletters and yearly contests for students.

For the last several years McGrath has sponsored the FSYF Essay contest aimed at young adults in the United States and abroad to share their experiences based on an essay topic. Winners receive a cash prizes and are honored in Washington DC every summer. Wanting to be even more involved with this great program, Jim petitioned to join the board and was approved in November. The Board oversees the many programs and publications and manages the budget among other things.

“We have been extremely happy to sponsor and support the Foreign Service Youth Foundation over the years. FSYF has a direct and positive impact on our friends, clients, family and colleagues that work overseas for the benefit of us all and I am thrilled to be a member of the Executive Committee. The FSYF contests, college scholarships and preparation programs, as well as many special opportunities and support programs are very beneficial to our members. I encourage all Foreign Service families to consider becoming a member.” If you are interested in joining the Foreign Service Youth Foundation, please visit their website at http://www.FSYF.org.

About:

McGrath Real Estate Services has served the Northern Virginia region since 1976 as an expert in property management and real estate sales. Founded by a Foreign Service family they understand and appreciate the unique needs of homeowners serving our country abroad. For more information please visit http://www.McGrathRealEstate.com.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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Tags: Board, Estate, Foreign, Foundation, Joins, McGrath, Real, Service, Youth

Egypt Seeks End to Foreign Wheat Dependence

Egypt is stepping up its wheat production in a bid to stem the country’s rising
dependence on foreign imports that escalated during the 30-year rule of former
President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in February.

Subsidies: Who Really Benefits? – INTER PRESS SERVICE

Tags: Dependence, Egypt, Foreign, Seeks, Wheat

First Official Recognition by Japanese Government for Private Foreign University Branch Campus Operating in Japan

Tokyo, Japan (PRWEB) December 17, 2005

On December 15, 2005 Lakeland College became the first private institution of higher education to receive official Japanese government recognition for its branch campus undergraduate program in Japan.

By granting the designation “Foreign University, Japan Campus” to Lakeland College Japan (LCJ), the government of Japan has indicated its recognition of U.S. colleges and universities that receive their degree-granting status from private accreditation boards, rather than national or state-level government agencies. Lakeland College, based in Wisconsin, USA, is an independent, private, liberal arts college accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The new status, granted by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), promises “significant benefits” for LCJ students, according to LCJ Assistant Dean Andrew Conning. “The most immediate benefit is that our students will be able to apply for the student discount on commuting passes issued by train or bus companies. And in the future, if they decide to attend a Japanese university, they will be able to apply to transfer the academic credits they have earned at LCJ.”

LCJ will also be able to apply with the Ministry of Justice to sponsor student visas for applicants from outside Japan. “Japan is an attractive location for international students looking to earn an undergraduate education, and we plan to take advantage of this opportunity to bring more students here,” Conning added.

These and other potential benefits will help LCJ and other foreign universities in Japan to operate on an equal basis with Japanese universities, and therefore to continue to expand the educational alternatives offered to Japanese university students. In response to the Ministry’s announcement that LCJ had been granted Foreign University, Japan Campus, status, U.S. Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer commented: “This recognition speaks highly of Lakeland College Japan as an institution of higher education. The Ministry’s decision demonstrates the Japanese government’s recognition of the quality of U.S. higher education and the benefits it offers to Japanese students.”

Conning added that “LCJ offers an innovative, English-based program that gives Japanese students a broad-minded, international outlook and the ability to think independently. This recognition from the government of Japan will support LCJ students as they seek the international training and experience required for full participation in the global economy. By granting us official recognition, the government has invited LCJ to continue training the kind of citizens that will serve the needs of domestic and foreign companies and help Japan remain competitive.”

To qualify for the government’s recognition as a Foreign University, Japan Campus, LCJ had to satisfy a variety of criteria. For example, it had to demonstrate that it was an officially accredited branch of a US college, and that the standards and quality of the LCJ faculty and programs were fully compatible with those of the main campus in the United States. LCJ submitted documents to satisfy these and other criteria to the Embassy of the United States, which transmitted LCJ’s application to MEXT.

While LCJ’s official recognition as a Foreign University, Japan Campus is a significant step toward operating on equal status with Japanese universities, LCJ hopes that the various agencies of the Japanese government will follow MEXT’s lead in recognizing the important contribution foreign universities can make to Japanese society and to the nation’s future economic strength. The government’s unified support will be essential in making Japan an attractive location for university study for both Japanese and foreign students.

Lakeland College was founded in 1862. The LCJ campus has offered a US-accredited two-year Associate of Arts degree since 1991. Most LCJ graduates complete a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree program through continued study at the main campus in Wisconsin, USA or at other universities. Until 2003, Lakeland College was the coordinating institution of the Association of American Colleges and Universities in Japan.

For inquiries on this press release, please contact Masanori Nakayama, LCJ (Tel. +813-5285-5571).

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Tags: Branch, Campus, First, Foreign, Government, Japan, Japanese, Official, Operating, Private, Recognition, University

AYUSA Seeks Families to Host Foreign Exchange Students for US Department of State YES Program

AYUSA Seeks Families to Host Foreign Exchange Students for US Department of State YES Program

San Francisco, CA (Vocus) June 23, 2010

Last week Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an address to a group of AYUSA high school exchange students visiting on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, commended the students on their courage in coming to the U.S. and thanked the American families who had welcomed them into their homes for the school year.

“I don’t think I would have been as courageous when I was your age to leave my home and go someplace that seemed really far away,” said Secretary Clinton from the Dean Acheson Auditorium in the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. “So I join in commending you for taking this opportunity to see what it was like in the United States. And I also want to thank the host families for opening up their homes to each and every one of you. We obviously could not run this program without them.”

Every year, more than 28,000 high school students from around the world come to the U.S. to study as part of U.S. government-sponsored foreign exchange programs, like the YES program. The students, ages 15 to 19 years old, are placed with volunteer host families in communities across America.

“I absolutely love being a host mom to YES students,” said Katrina Ontiveros, an AYUSA host mom from Arizona who hosted YES students from Pakistan and Bangladesh this year. “We firmly believe that by sharing our home with foreign exchange students we can help to break down stereotypes between our cultures. Next year we are welcoming two more YES students into our home in order to continue the learning process and bridge the gaps between the U.S. and the other parts of the world.”

The Ontiveros family is one of thousands of U.S. families that have opened their homes to foreign exchange students through AYUSA, an established non-profit based in San Francisco that has been placing international exchange students with U.S. host families for 30 years. AYUSA is currently accepting applications from families interested in hosting an exchange student for the 2010-2011 school year.

There is no “typical” American host family and having school-aged children is not a requirement. Host families include married couples with or without children, empty-nesters, single parents, and even grandparents. Exchange students are placed with students in both rural and urban communities – in small towns, on farms, in the suburbs and in big cities.

Host families are asked to provide a safe, warm and nurturing environment while sharing their American culture with their student. A host family’s financial responsibility is minimal. Host families provide three meals a day and a bedroom (either private or shared with a host sibling of the same gender). Each student is supported by a professionally trained Community Representative from AYUSA that is assigned to work with the family and student for the entire program.

“Welcoming an international high school student into your home is a transformative experience, for the student, the host family, and the community,” said Sherry Carpenter, executive director of AYUSA. “At AYUSA, we believe that by empowering and inspiring students from around the world to understand and respect global cultures, we can create a peaceful international community.”

Since 2003 more than 2000 U.S. families have hosted YES students in all 50 states. Less than four percent of the students who apply to the YES program are accepted. AYUSA YES students come from the following countries: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Gaza, Israel (Arab Communities), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tunisia, West Bank, and Yemen.

AYUSA facilitates several U.S. Department of State grant programs which offer scholarships to extraordinary student leaders from other countries. In addition to the YES Program, AYUSA also runs the Future Leaders Exchange Program (FLEX) for high school students from countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union, and the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) which offers a direct exchange program between American and German high school students.

The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program was established in October 2002 and is a U.S. Department of State sponsored program that provides scholarships for high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend an academic year in the U.S. Students live with American host families, attend high school, engage in activities to learn about American society and values, acquire leadership skills, and help educate Americans about their countries and cultures. AYUSA is one of the partner organizations that pairs YES students with U.S. host families.

AYUSA has been a member of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET) for more than 25 years – since its foundation. CSIET evaluates U.S.-based youth exchange programs so that students, families and schools can identify inbound and outbound reputable exchange organizations.

For more information about hosting a foreign exchange student, or to meet prospective students, please visit AYUSA’s website at http://www.ayusa.org.

About AYUSA

AYUSA Global Youth Exchange is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to promote global learning and leadership through foreign exchange, study abroad and leadership programs for high school students from the US and around the world. In addition, AYUSA administers multiple high profile grant programs funded by the U.S. Department of State. AYUSA is part of the Intrax Cultural Exchange family of organizations devoted to fostering international understanding through cultural exchange and educational programs, with operations in more than 80 countries worldwide.

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©Copyright 1997-2010, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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Tags: AYUSA, Department, Exchange, Families, Foreign, Host, Program, Seeks, State, Students

Foreign Educated Nurse Survey: Results

I am presenting only a brief summary of the survey. In order to be fair to those who participated, I am not publishing the entire survey online.

Since this survey is ongoing, if you would like to receive a final report, please complete the survey and email me with your request. Thank you.

Selected results from the survey:

1. Differences between native country and the U.S.

Very different: Climate, food, living conditions
Slightly different: Clothing, language, leisure

2. Most important challenges upon arrival;

Transportation problems, cultural difficulties, housing arrangements

3. Work-related challenges:

Work-related technological problems, cultural difficulties, work practices

4. Cultural training provided by employer:

1-2 hours U.S. health care system, cultural differences

5. Most employers provided housing and transportation assistance during the first three months. A majority provided social support to employees.

If you wish to be contacted for an interview (by phone or e-mail), please send me a message.

Thank you for your participation.

Tags: Educated, Foreign, Nurse, Results, Survey

Foreign Nurses Cultural Preparation: How to survive and thrive in a new culture

Enlarge Image

With all these challenges, foreign educated nurses possess amazing resilience and commitment to quality nursing practice.

What can you do as a foreign nurse to ensure that you are going to survive and thrive in this new environment?

First of all, “know before you go”. Learn all you can about your intended destination. When talking to friends who have been there, ask not only about the positive but also the negative issues so you can learn and prepare for them adequately.

Ask your recruiter or prospective employer what kind of cultural preparation and acculturation support they provide pre-departure, upon arrival, and any continuing support program.

Even if you think that you are adjusting very well to the new culture and work situation, there might be family issues back home that would prove to require more resources than you can muster, especially now that you are not there to deal with the situation. Prepare for family contingencies before you leave. Discuss possible scenarios with your family and how they should be handled in your absence.

Make sure you have social support networks established in the community where you will be living and practicing. If there are nurses from your country already working in the facility, ask for their contact information and start communicating with them before arrival.

Be informed about issues of diversity, prejudice, and discriminatory work practices. Find out how to access resources on immigration information, labor practices, nurse organizations for support, immigrant organizations, etc.

Take advantage of any cultural training programs that are available. You do not have to do it all by yourself. In order to succeed in overcoming these challenges competently, seek support and learn from others who have been there before.

“You can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails.”
–Anonymous

Tags: Cultural, Culture, Foreign, Nurses, Preparation, Survive, thrive

BBC’s Plan to Cut Its Foreign Radio News to Fund an Arab Tv Channel

By Peter Preston

The dreadful, deluding assumption has been slithering around for months now. It’s the talk of the Foreign Office as priorities change under cover of diplomatic darkness. It has spread slowly into academe, where projects wither for lack of cash. But nobody except, bizarrely, the director of the BBC World Service, has had the courage (or stupidity) to say the words out loud. Europe doesn’t matter to us any longer. We’re moving out and moving on.

Well, maybe Nigel Chapman puts things a fraction more emolliently in “mission accomplished” mode. He’s starting his own £19m television answer to al-Jazeera, so bang go 10 existing Bush House services. Many of them, he says, “had their roots in the second world war and served their audiences well right through the cold war years. But Europe has changed, fundamentally … and now the countries to which these languages are broadcast are members of the EU or likely to join soon”. They have their own “rival news services … which subscribe to similar values as the BBC”. Thank you and goodnight.

That sounds reasonable enough, surely? Why broadcast to Poles when they’re over here painting and plumbing anyway? Why pretend that the colonels still run Greece? The history of this FO-funded operation is full of pragmatic transitions. Here’s another. But it doesn’t quite look like that as you work down the hit list.

By chance, I’ve spent time these last few days in two of the doomed capitals – Zagreb and Sofia – talking to journalists from all over the region about the quality of their new “freedoms”. A sometimes inspiring, sometimes disheartening experience. The good things are very good indeed: Bulgaria’s brand new, self-started press council and a concern with standards and ethics to put Fleet Street to shame; Croatia’s thriving, competitive media scene. But don’t get too carried away, please, Nigel. The bad and the ugly are still there, the struggle is constant – and clinically documented in new reports (such as one from Belgrade’s Media Centre).

Why do editors in Croatian public radio have to threaten resignation to keep politicians and big business off their backs? Why can “any twit” open a radio station? How do supposedly independent reporters turn up as TV party front men at election time, then go back to neutrality five seconds after the polls close? Or listen to one almost proud Bulgarian journalist: “I made the [local election] campaign exactly as I like it to be: as a result a certain party later reported that it managed to place five of its people on the municipal council thanks to the media where I work.”

BBC values, in short, aren’t exactly in place yet. Nor, as vivid debates about combating corruption and handing over war criminals for international trial continue, is Bulgarian or Croatian accession to the EU. (One common Zagreb belief is that Britain is actually trying to block its membership.) Mr Chapman’s mission is still tossing in midstream with many rocks to navigate.

And as for the claim that European membership is a safe port in the storm, forget it. Look over the Adriatic to Berlusconi-land and laugh in scorn – or, more poignantly, turn north to Slovenia, far fresher to our supposedly pristine club, where the creeping but unmistakable hand of government can sack editors on major papers and take a firmer grip on public broadcasting by starting new channels of its own.

There are profound misconceptions here that need the sharpest challenge. It’s ludicrous to suppose that some language services facing the chop have been rendered freedom-redundant by glowing success. Believe that about Kazakhstan and you might as well run Alastair Campbell for pope. It’s foolish to suppose that some of the battling countries of eastern Europe are anywhere near safe haven yet. It is silly to think that Brussels in general means editorial independence in particular. And it’s crazy to hail “rival news services” that are no service at all.

The dominant newspaper-owning force in eastern Europe, remember, is German. So will be the voice on its airwaves as the BBC retreats. While we go through all the usual guff about being at “the heart” of this or that, we leave a void for Berlin to fill. The FO whispers instructions. The FO cancels the grants that makes work in these countries possible. The FO (one inevitable Bush House repercussion) diminishes the expertise we have and need to hold.

Maybe, for the moment, pitting what can be too easily seen as al-Blairzeera against Arabian Breakfasts with Frost is the fashionable notion. Maybe Iraq dominates and blights every discussion. Maybe what happens in Moldova or Macedonia is way off our radar. But don’t pretend that nothing important or tragic is happening here – because, loud and clear, it is.

Tags: Arab, Bbc's, Channel, Foreign, Fund, News, Plan, Radio

Foreign Nurses Cultural Preparation: How to survive and thrive in a new culture

Enlarge Image

With all these challenges, foreign educated nurses possess amazing resilience and commitment to quality nursing practice.

What can you do as a foreign nurse to ensure that you are going to survive and thrive in this new environment?

First of all, “know before you go”. Learn all you can about your intended destination. When talking to friends who have been there, ask not only about the positive but also the negative issues so you can learn and prepare for them adequately.

Ask your recruiter or prospective employer what kind of cultural preparation and acculturation support they provide pre-departure, upon arrival, and any continuing support program.

Even if you think that you are adjusting very well to the new culture and work situation, there might be family issues back home that would prove to require more resources than you can muster, especially now that you are not there to deal with the situation. Prepare for family contingencies before you leave. Discuss possible scenarios with your family and how they should be handled in your absence.

Make sure you have social support networks established in the community where you will be living and practicing. If there are nurses from your country already working in the facility, ask for their contact information and start communicating with them before arrival.

Be informed about issues of diversity, prejudice, and discriminatory work practices. Find out how to access resources on immigration information, labor practices, nurse organizations for support, immigrant organizations, etc.

Take advantage of any cultural training programs that are available. You do not have to do it all by yourself. In order to succeed in overcoming these challenges competently, seek support and learn from others who have been there before.

“You can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails.”
–Anonymous

Tags: Cultural, Culture, Foreign, Nurses, Preparation, Survive, thrive

Foreign Nurses Cultural Preparation: How to survive and thrive in a new culture

Enlarge Image

With all these challenges, foreign educated nurses possess amazing resilience and commitment to quality nursing practice.

What can you do as a foreign nurse to ensure that you are going to survive and thrive in this new environment?

First of all, “know before you go”. Learn all you can about your intended destination. When talking to friends who have been there, ask not only about the positive but also the negative issues so you can learn and prepare for them adequately.

Ask your recruiter or prospective employer what kind of cultural preparation and acculturation support they provide pre-departure, upon arrival, and any continuing support program.

Even if you think that you are adjusting very well to the new culture and work situation, there might be family issues back home that would prove to require more resources than you can muster, especially now that you are not there to deal with the situation. Prepare for family contingencies before you leave. Discuss possible scenarios with your family and how they should be handled in your absence.

Make sure you have social support networks established in the community where you will be living and practicing. If there are nurses from your country already working in the facility, ask for their contact information and start communicating with them before arrival.

Be informed about issues of diversity, prejudice, and discriminatory work practices. Find out how to access resources on immigration information, labor practices, nurse organizations for support, immigrant organizations, etc.

Take advantage of any cultural training programs that are available. You do not have to do it all by yourself. In order to succeed in overcoming these challenges competently, seek support and learn from others who have been there before.

“You can’t direct the wind but you can adjust the sails.”
–Anonymous

Tags: Cultural, Culture, Foreign, Nurses, Preparation, Survive, thrive

Nursing Jobs Overseas Opportunities for Foreign Nurses in the United States

If you are looking to move your nursing abroad to the United States of America, then now is the time to do it. Hospitals in the USA are experiencing a staffing crisis, and this crisis is predicted to become worse over the next decade. The nursing shortage in the USA is said to be caused by the many factors. On one hand there are many nurses reaching retirement age or choosing to retire early, and there simply aren’t enough newly graduated nurses to fill all the gaps. And there is more strain being placed on existing medical staff because of the bubble of baby boomers reaching retirement.

This is great news for internationally educated nurses because they can now find nursing positions in US hospitals with ease. Hospital administrators are aggressively recruiting foreign nurses.

To nurse in the US, legally, there are many papers to fill out and different states have different rules. In order to qualify to register as a nurse in any state in the US you must meet the following criteria:

* undertaken post high school nursing education. This means you must have graduated high school and then gone on to do your nursing qualification afterwards.

* be a registered nurse or hold a license to nurse at home. This means that you are legally allowed to practice nursing in the country where you trained or the country where you currently live.

* have 1 year experience nursing in your specialty. If you aren’t a specialist nurse in, for example, pediatric nursing, psychiatric nursing, neo natal nursing, etc, your specialty would be as an adult nurse.

* be able to communicate clearly in English. If English is not your first language, you will be required to provide evidence of your ability to communicate to the required standard. This means that you’ll have to take an English language test in speaking, reading, writing and listening.

Should you meet these 4 critical pre-application criteria, you can be assured that you’re a good candidate for getting a nursing job in the United States.

There are three visa options for nurses who want to work in the US.

Firstly you can apply for the much coveted Green Card. In order to qualify for a Green Card, you must meet all the criteria above, and sit and pass the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) examination. To get this visa takes the longest of the three options, but it is the better option for you if you want to make a long term move to the US. It is possible, with a Green Card, to move your nursing career to the US permanently.

Secondly, you can apply for an H-1B visa. To qualify for an H-1B visa you need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. If you have a vocational nursing qualification you will not be granted this visa.

The last visa option for nurses is the H-1C visa. The US government issues 500 of these visas to health care workers each year. If you thought that getting a nursing job in the USA was an impossible dream, you were mistaken. You need to get started on your applications right away because medical recruiters in the US are desperate to employ you right now!

Take advantage of the immediate and severe global nursing shortage to secure your own nursing job overseas.

Tags: Foreign, Jobs, Nurses, Nursing, Opportunities, overseas, States, United

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) No Comments