Going Global with Barbara

Paris - April 2024

GOING GLOBAL WITH BARBARA:
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

WIF is proud to partner with Going Global with Barbara (GGwB), an organization devoted to exposing African-American youth to the possibilities that exist through travel and study abroad, on its International Youth Leadership Program. This organization is normalizing the conversation around college admissions and expanding it to include the possibility of studying abroad.

In April 2024, GGwB brought its fifth group of students to Paris. For the first time, the cohort was comprised of only male students. Seven (7) middle and high school students aged 13-17 participated.

WIF organized visits to the Paris College of Art (PCA) and the American University of Paris (AUP), a university-focused Entrée to Black Paris tour, and a networking event with Black university students from several universities that was held at PCA.

HEARTFELT THANKS TO FEDEX FOR HELPING MAKE THIS EXCURSION A SUCCESS!

Copyright for the images on this page belongs to one of the following organizations: the Wells International Foundation, Going Global with Barbara, or Entrée to Black Paris.

WIF SEND-OFF

WIF board member and United Airlines Hub Communications Director Anthony Fleet flew from Newark to Dulles International Airport to see the group off on Saturday, March 30.

He shared his travel/study abroad story with the students and their Black male chaperones, and he spoke at length with Going Global founder and president, Barbara Eubanks about the logistics of organizing flights for International Youth Leadership Program excursions.

Anthony Fleet_male chaperones_students_landscape

Anthony Fleet_male chaperones_students_portrait

Group photo with Anthony Fleet

PARIS COLLEGE OF ART

The students spent more time at this institute of higher learning than any previous IYLP cohort has spent visiting any other university in the history of the program!

The morning began with a breathtaking view of Sacré Coeur and a light breakfast of fresh fruits, croissants, and yogurt, followed by a series of presentations by Paris College of Art (PCA) personnel.

Study Abroad Program Coordinator Léa Ponchel kicked things off. She was followed by Director of Student Success & Registrar Alana Manga and Student Life Coordinators Simbarashe Kamuwiro and Verena Thomson.

Between the “wake up” exercise led by Simba Kamuwiro and the many questions posed by the students during the various presentation, the first part of the morning was quite lively. It ran much longer than expected.

After the introductory session, the students visited the Sculpture Lab. It is run by Foundation Department Chair and Fine Arts Department Coordinator Joe Johnson.

As Foundation Department Chair, Johnson is responsible for all the freshman students at PCA. He talked to the students about how things work in the lab and shared his personal study abroad experience, which led him to make Paris his permanent home.

He then invited the students to do some hand-on woodworking and took them to the ceramics lab.

Finally, he took the students to the 3D printing lab, where he demonstrated a printer and gave the students souvenirs that had been printed by the equipment in the lab.

After the laboratory session, the students returned to the room where the initial presentations took place. They were greeted by Harald Hutter, Director of the Film Arts Department, who presented the Film Arts program, and Théo Gauthier, film equipment technician, who called on one of the students to help him demonstrate a harness that supports a rather heavy portable video camera.

They also met junior Akil Carter, who is majoring in photography, and Lailah Munson, a fiber major who is visiting from MICA in Baltimore, MD. Both students talked about what brought them to Paris and PCA.

For the last session of the visit, Akil Carter took the students to visit the PCA dark room and photography printing room. He talked about the pros and cons of film photography and digital photography, and responded to technical questions about the software platforms and materials available for use by PCA students.

He showed the students a “misprint” of a photograph that was currently being shown at an exhibition at the American University of Paris. (The students saw that exhibition the following day.)

When all was said and done, the visit lasted almost two hours longer than planned. WIF cannot thank PCA enough for the extraordinary hospitality that it extended to this Going Global with Barbara cohort!

ENTREE TO BLACK PARIS WALKING TOUR

WIF Founder & CEO, Dr. Monique Y. Wells, is also a co-owner of Entrée to Black Paris. She led the group on ETBP’s Black Paris after WWII tour, which focuses African diaspora history, culture, and contemporary life in Paris from 1945 to the present.

This walking tour takes place in the Latin Quarter, which is home to several institutes of higher learning. These are discussed in relation to the walk’s theme.

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS

Camille Davis, Student Recruitment Counselor, presented the admissions process for universities in general and to the American University of Paris in particular. She then fielded the students’ questions.

Afterward, freshman Sundiata Gittens and junior Zwa Inyoni led the students on a campus tour.

Upon completing the campus tour, the students posed with their guides for a photo in the lobby of the new Quai building. They then took the time to enjoy the Ode to Blackness art exhibition in which PCA guide Akil Carter’s work was hung.

This was followed by lunch and games of pool at the AUP Amex Café prior to departing the school to prepare for the networking event scheduled at PCA that evening.

NETWORKING EVENT AT PCA

Paris College of Art (PCA) welcomed the cohort and its chaperones to campus on Wednesday evening for a photo shoot and networking mixer.

PCA student Akil Carter photographed the students individually, as a group, and as a group with their chaperones. He selected a balcony facing the Saint Vincent de Paul church and the school’s private courtyard as the locations for the photo shoot.

Students and guests then gathered for a couple of hours of fun. The evening kicked off with an ice breaking activity that got everyone on their feet, moving around the room, and laughing.

This was followed by speed networking, where every few minutes, the GGwB students had to move from one group of guests to another to introduce themselves, ask questions, and share their observations about the activities of the past two days.