Since the start of its involvement with the Community Colleges Initiative (CCI) Program five years ago, Madison College has been enriched by the presence of students from all over the world.

Among other international programs and scholarships, CCI has some unique characteristics. The program brings diversity to Madison College as well as different perspectives to other countries’ cultures, many of them unfamiliar with American students.

The CCI Program at Madison College started in 2008 with only Egyptian students. The first cohort stayed for two years. They were followed by mixed groups from other developing countries, each group staying for approximately one year, from 2009 through 2013.

Under the Community College for International Development (CCID) consortium, and in partnership with the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), CCI is an exchange educational program that has funded more than 1,400 students from 16 developing countries: Indonesia, Costa Rica, Panama, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Brazil, Cameroon, Pakistan, Kenya, Nicaragua, South Africa and Turkey.

CCID is one of the three consortia that host the CCI Program. Each consortium has different characteristics and goals. CCID’s misson is not only to provide educational and professional development, skills, and an opportunity for non-elite international students to engage with American society and the community, but also to provide global leadership training.

CCI has a definite impact on students at the college, as well as contributing to Madison College as a whole.

“It really brings a different perspective that on a daily basis a lot of students are not exposed to. They are able to really interact with people from different backgrounds. (It) can help create a larger global understanding of how the world works,” said Amy Kue, the Project Coordinator of the CCI Program for Madison College.

CCI bridges the wide gap between American society and the CCI students’ countries. It is a dynamic way for American students to interact face-to-face with people from other countries and have hands-on experience of what their culture looks like. It creates a cross-cultural understanding among them. The cultural gap is caused not only by physical distance but also by the stereotypes that are often portrayed in the media. Media really affects people’s perspective about other cultures and situations and is why CCI students can play an important role in breaking down the stereotypes.

“So, being able to have those direct contacts with each other can make a larger impact on our perspective of other people from different parts of the world,” Kue said.

The impact is not only felt within the general scope of American society and Madison College. It is also felt in the classroom. The exposure to CCI students in the classroom benefits the American students. “It provides a real world experience of learning to communicate and work with people from different cultures and who even speak different languages,” said Natasha Kassulke, adjunct faculty Journalism Certificate at Madison College. “I’ve seen life-long friendships made.”

Further, the program “can help raise cultural awareness, improve students’ intercultural communication skills and encourage a climate of cultural competence in the classroom,” said Virginia Bryan, a Madison College librarian who has been a mentor for CCI students for four years.

Bryan also said CCI students share their cultures with students at Madison College through events, observance of religious holidays, and cultural programs, such as Global Showcase, Independence Day and Chinese New Year.

“This raises awareness among their fellow students of the importance of these observances and encourages tolerance and respect for different traditions, customs and belief systems,” added Bryan.

CCI students see American culture and society from a different perspective after they experience what real life is in the U.S. Before they come, they only know American culture from film and news.

“But you don’t really understand until you come here, that ideas perpetuated by the media are different from the one that actually describe,” said David hh, current CCI student. Since his arrival in the U.S., Franciscus also sees his country, South Africa, more objectively in terms of the law, government and education system.

The idea of cultural exchange that this program fosters has clear benefits for both international students and American students. It demonstrates that people can get along and live peacefully together regardless of where they are from.