The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
JULY 10, 1951
[This column has emendations. View original version]
NEW YORK, Monday—We have had a busy weekend.
On Saturday several Japanese visitors to this country came to lunch with me. Later in the day Mrs. Waheed of Pakistan and her son, who has been at school for a year in the United States, came to spend the night. I think Mr. and Mrs. Waheed were very courageous to send their son over here to live in a small American community in an American family, but it has worked out well. The young man seems to have enjoyed the contacts made, and Mrs. Waheed hopes that he will take a young American, a son in the house where he stayed, back to visit them in Pakistan. This is the way to real friendship and the way real knowledge of each other's country may be acquired.
The other day another young man, also from Pakistan, came to see me. He came over here to study our various youth organizations. He had been to the 4-H Club convention in Washington and was very much impressed by the boys and girls attending. He said that the only organization they had in Pakistan was the Boy Scouts. Now he is going to travel around and get an idea how a number of our organizations function locally.
I suggested that he should try in different areas of the country to attend county fairs. I have always felt that in the exhibits at county fairs you see the real value of the 4-H Club work for boys and girls alike. He agreed, but maintained that for the girls in Pakistan adjustments would have to be made in programs, and I can well imagine that that will be so.
It seems enterprising on his part to come to this country and to go to many different parts of the country in order to see how our organizations adjust to the needs of different parts of this country. His report should, I think, be of real value because he seems to have so much imagination about what he wants to see.
Also, on Saturday a group called College Summer Service Group, which is under the auspices of the National Intercollegiate Christian Council, used my picnic ground. I spent a little time with these 45 youngsters and counsellors at noon, answering questions before they went over to the library and the big house. This organization brings a group every year and I am always pleased and interested to hear what their questions are and how their interests change as the conditions in the country change.
I came to New York City for my television program right after lunch on Sunday so I had only a very short visit from Mr. Bokhari, who heads the Pakistan delegation to the United Nations when the Foreign Minister, Sir Zafrilla Khan, is not here. I was very glad to have even this short visit and I hope he enjoyed what little time he had in the country.
Next Sunday will be my last television program for some time, and I feel sure that even though I am looking forward to the freedom of these next few weeks I shall still be regretful not to meet the television audience every week and get its reaction to our discussions. Nevertheless, I am sure that I will hear from many of my friends who will express their feelings on what goes on in the world. I am very grateful that they are willing to share their points of view with me.
E. R.
(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)
About this document
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, July 10, 1951
Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007
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