By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    Southern Maine Community College’s diverse student body and the campus’s function as a place for foreign students to learn and share their stories was on display during the school’s “Living in a Multicultural World” presentation last Thursday.
    The presentation was the fourth out of five designed to elicit conversation between international and multicultural students and the public. SMCC has over 55 international students from 28 countries and over 400 students originally from other states and countries. 
    Debra Andrews, Director of the Center for Global Opportunities and moderator of the event, said that the difference between an international student and a multicultural student is that an international student is admitted into the U.S. on an F1 student visa.   An F1 visa is required for students who plan to enter the U.S. temporarily with the purpose of pursuing full-time studies at a college, university, or other academic institution. Multicultural students are permanent citizens of the U.S. The students may have emigrated to the U.S. from another country or they may be the descendents of a family that emigrated to the U.S.
    Multicultural and international students Ruth Mugisha from Rwanda, Kate Zelinskaya from Kazakhstan, and Vaida Labzintyte from Lithuania, cleared up misconceptions about their countries, spoke about the challenges of attending school in the U.S., and the hope they have for their countries. Silviyo Olweny, a student from Sudan, and Ismael Ahmed, a cultural skills trainer at Catholic Charities, were also scheduled to appear, but were unable to attend.
    “These students all represent countries in transition,” said Andrews addressing the audience.
    Mugisha, a multicultural student and liberal studies major, who came to Maine two years ago, said she thought most people would know about the genocide that occurred in her country in 1994, but people might not know that Rwanda is “a beautiful country and it has good people and a good culture.” The genocide in 1994 resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 to one million people in 100 days. Tensions between the Rwandan ethnic groups, the majority Hutus and the minority Tutsis, culminated in mass killings of Tutsis and moderate Hutus carried out by the military and a militia group, the Interahamwe.  Mugisha said she came to Maine because she “wants to be in a safe place.”
    Zelinskaya and Labzintyte, both Lodging and Restaurant Management majors, said they thought Mainers would know their countries were no longer part of the Soviet Union. When asked if there was any lingering resentment towards the loss of Communism in their countries, Labzintyte said her grandparents grew up in an independent Lithuania and they were happy to see the country regain its independence. When part of the Soviet Union, Labzintyte said families would receive tickets for buying certain foods like flour and sugar and then they would have to wait in long lines to get the items. Labzintyte said independence changed the economy, in that “you can get whatever you want, but now the problem is people don’t have any money.” She said, however, she thought Lithuania’s entrance into the European Union has helped her country.
    Zelinskaya said citizens of Kazakhstan gained more personal freedom with independence. She said prior to gaining independence a man could be sent to jail for owning a television because the government assumed he had been starving his family in order to get it. There is, however, still “a lot of corruption,” she said. When asked what she would do if she were the president of her country, Zelinskaya said she would combat the corruption by making sure the “money from taxes goes in the right direction.”
    Labzintyte also said she would work to direct money to health and education services. Labzintyte said, “I would be a very strict president.”
    If she were president of Rwanda, Mugisha said she would “try to make reconciliations and get the people to understand each other.” When asked what she would do if she were president of the U.S., Mugisha said she would “care more about other countries.” When Rwanda had the genocide, everybody knew that, but nobody did anything,” she said. As president, Mugisha said she would have acted as a mediating force to diffuse the situation in Rwanda. 
    Zelinskaya and Labzintyte both agreed if they were president of the U.S., they would change the health care system. Labzintyte said, “People shouldn’t have to pay everything.”
    The women agreed one of the most difficult things about studying in another country is that you don’t know the history of the U.S. Zelinskaya said it was difficult to join discussions in the classroom. Mugisha also said it was challenging to understand the different points of view that result from cultural differences. Language was also an obstacle and she said, “I thought I knew English, but when I came here I couldn’t understand (it).”
    On the other hand, Mugisha and Labzintyte agreed that Maine schools allow for greater freedom of expression. Mugisha said, “In Rwanda, the teacher is like a dictator.”
    Labzintyte said students in Lithuania are afraid to ask questions. Before asking the teacher a question, she said she would go home and try to find the answer herself by reading more about the subject.
    “I feel very comfortable here,” Labzintyte said. As international students, she and Zelinskaya will be returning home after graduating from SMCC.
    Reflecting on her future, Mugisha said she wants to work in conflict resolution. “Maybe I will be a mediator,” she said. When asked if she plans to return to Rwanda, Mugisha said she would go back “sometime.”