Loras College - Purgold Yearbook (Dubuque, IA)

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Friendship Ambassadors-India 'N 'I 1 7 i 1 A W V I T . 1. I d 1 x 'rrl ti pf f i 'X ,t X. I. 'x g At least l.0O0 photographs and slides were taken by the travelers the first day on trips to historic places and shrines in both Old and New Delhi .... later in the day the choir performed at Delhi University's Hindu College. Before dinner at the Hostel that evening Indian dancers, singers and musicians came to perform for the group and vice versa - it might have gone on all night. On New Year's Eve. the third concert took place at the all-girl lndraprastha College. and the packed house was soon singing along in unison. It was like-a dream come true when the Clarke-Loras Singers were invited to sing for President and Mrs. Carter! Monday President Carter would address the American community at the U.S. Embassy. It was here that the singers were to perform. Arriving at a special entrance to the Embassy grounds. the group was escorted by Secret Service officials to the upper most steps in front of the Embassy building itself. There, Tim Kraft and Mike Casey. on Carter's personal staff, had arranged for the group to sing for the Presidential party and the hundreds of gathering Americans. The group was thrilled to sing America the Beautiful and the spiritual Ain'ta that Good News directly to President and Mrs. Carter. Secretary of State and Mrs. Vance. National Security Advisor Brzesins- ki and American Ambassador Goheen. After the President's brief remarks and kind words about Iowa and the choir. the official party made their way to the Ambassador's residence next door. The President waved his thanks and blew kisses: Mrs. Carter called out: Great! You were wonderful. Keep it up! That was a hard act to follow. However. there were many more experiences in store: the next day began a two day excursion to Agra and the majestic Taj Mahal. Back in New Delhi, a quick rehearsal and a farewell concert at the lndian Interna- tional Centre. Many government and education leaders were present. some of whom joined the festive dinner which was held later that night. Flying into the valley city of Kathmandu. the pilot of the Royal Nepalese jet aircraft gently banked to give the passengers a spectacular birds-eye view of Mount Everest. Il

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Months before President Jimmy Carter announced his global goodwill mission. including a three day visit to India, the Clarke-Loras Singers from Dubuque, Iowa. were busily raising funds. rehearsing and readying themselves for a three week performing iourney to the Indian sub- continent as Friendship Ambassadors. By scheduling coincidence, their appearance in New Delhi took place simultaneously with President Carter's goodwill mission to India. Their first concert as Friendship Ambas- sadors. arranged by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and its head Mrs. S. Kochar. would take place on the day of arrival in Azad Bhavan Auditorium. Since hotel space was at a premium. newspaper- man Samar Pal arranged to have the group stay at the national headquarters of the Indian Youth Hostel Association. Unexpected delays made them decide on the necessity of rehearsing on the plane. since they would now be arriving only minutes before concert time: fortunately. passengers and flight crew encouraged the mid-air rehearsals with spontaneous applause. Air India stewardesses even offered a crash course in helping the singers perfect the Hindi-language Indian National Anthem which would open their first concert on Indian soil. As the curtain opened on John Lease and his Clarke-Loras Singers. the Indian audience raised from their seats in unison with thundering applause, and the concert was a rousing success! Later that same night. Ambassador Kochar and her family spread a maharaiah's feast for the singing Ambassadors and their new Indian friends. Ambassador Kochar eloquently praised the vitality and enthusiasm of her special guests and stressed the importance of their mission. That you sang so splendidly for all of us tonight. she said. seems almost a miracle. It would be difficult for President Carter to have had any finer representa- tives to pave his way. Carry your special talent and gifts of friendship and music wherever you go in India. and I trust that it will be reciprocated a thousand times over. It was past midnight when room assign- ments were made at the new International Youth Hostel: the hosts. Mr. Padki and Mr. and Mrs. Shanker. had waited up for hours to welcome and greet the lowans. 20 Clarke - Loras Singers are L 1 ,Nu A, A. as A f I' - 1 , - 1-' - - l . T gm..- N - Lv.. -L - , ., ,,,. , - ,. , .I- .,. . I

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Met at the airport by Miss Diane Stanley. Public Affairs Officer of the American Embassy, the Friendship Ambassadors were assigned to the American families who would host them so graciously for the next three days. There was no way to describe the beauty of this tiny mountain' kingdom - and what a sensational program had been planned! Ambassador Douglas Heck greeted the Americans with a helpful and instructive briefing on Nepal-American relations: afterwards there was an evening show in a former palace of traditional Nepalese folk dancing and music followed by a candlelit dinner. Quite a few of the hardier choir members were up at 3:00 a.m. to see the split second sunrise over Mt. Everest. Kathmandu's City Hall concert. hosted by Ambassador Heck was filled to capacity . . . . hundreds of diplomats and their families from all over the world were there, including Nepal's Prime Minister Kirti Nidhi Bista. A glorious high indeed, in this glorious high city! ln Calcutta, Ram Datta. local manager of the Reader's Digest, and Mr. Ghose. manager of the Great Eastern Hotel, whose wife and daughter handmade the exquisite garlands that were given each Friendship Ambassador, greeted everyone personally. While the world has great admiration for the work of Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. there is nothing to compare to actually spending time with this incredible woman and her helpers. who have dedicated themselves to helping the poorest of the poor. Mother Teresa believes in getting involved: You're here to do something beautiful for God. she told the choir, and we'll keep you busy giving that something to our people. One day it seemed as though the singers had performed so much in the various centers that their voices would surely fail. but. in the words of one of the choir members. We discovered an energy within us we never knew existed. Mother Teresa had gotten us 'involved' .... even more than our singing,it seemed as though our mere presence, our feeling, touching and reaching out to her orphans. her patients. the children in her schools, was all that really mattered. Sitting and singing on the beds with the terminally ill at the Home for the Destitute and Dying .... our journey to the outskirts of Calcutta to sing and comfort the hundreds living and working in the leper colony .... in their way they lifted our spirit .... gave new meaning 22 Mother Teresa, Pres. Carter 0 6 0 and significance to our own lives and our purpose on this earth. We had come to sing and to give. and yet it was us, the choir. that received. if