Whether it is possible to locate one I do not know, but I think one might be formed. There you have a kind of independence of judgment in the hands of private persons, as your council in the bill would provide for. At the same time, because it is under contract, it would have full accountability to the Congress of the United States, the same way that the Department of State contracts at the present time, for example, with the Conference Board of Associate Research Councils to prescreen and nominate Fulbright scholars. This is a clear contract in the private sector. We are fully accountable to the Department of State and the Congress for the money expended. But the operation is conducted independently and professionally.

Senator YARBOROUGH. This raises many interesting questions the committee needs to solve. Some of these need to be solved, about the possible conflict with other agencies such as AID or USIA by language in our report stating what the objectives are.

We will consider also your other recommendations for a contract in the private sector.

It seems to me that the latter would be pretty difficult when we consider the broad nature of this bill covering both education, labor, and health.

Mr. HUMPHREY. In that sense you are proposing a pioneer effort and you are quite right, there is not any that I know of at the moment this broad. But this does not mean to me it would not be possible to do it.

Senator YARBOROUGH. I agree it would be possible to do it. Starting off I do not know of any existing one to do this service in continents. around the world in all these fields with the minimal money this anticipates. Our grants are not intended to be big grants like those for building a dam or

Mr. HUMPHREY. No.

Senator YARBOROUGH. Or a highway, a new highway, a new railroad along the mountains or something like that.

These are small grants in specific areas, most of the money being for people, with these people-to-people programs in these areas.

I am hopeful that with a minimum amount of money we might accomplish as much as one big multimillion dollar dam would cost. We might spread that in many areas and get out and do with people what USIA can do with radio broadcasts and weekly newspapers and newspaper releases and television.

You, as an educator, know how greatly this can help in the field of education. Some schools of Latin America have blackboards but could not buy chalk for the children to use. I personally have heard of schools down in Peru where there would be one book per subject per room. Not a child in the school owned a book, only the teacher, and nobody in their family ever owned a book in their lives. So I think a little bit of the money here would go a long way in these fields.

Thank you very much for your stimulating discussion which you presented for us to consider.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you.

Senator YARBOROUGH. Our next witness is Mr. Francis Pressly, Director of International Programs, National 4-H Foundation, Washington.

STATEMENT OF W. FRANCIS PRESSLY, LEADER, INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS, NATIONAL 4-H CLUB FOUNDATION; ACCOMPANIED BY LES NICHOLS, SPECIALIST IN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

Mr. PRESSLY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to introduce Mr. Les Nichols, who is a specialist in international programs with the National 4-H Club Foundation.

I am W. Francis Pressly, program leader of the International Programs Department of the National 4-H Club Foundation, Washington, D.C. The 4-H Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational institution of the Cooperative Extension Service of the State LandGrant Universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our mission is to "complement and assist the work of the Cooperative Extension Service, with primary emphasis on youth programs, in ways not readily supported by public funds. In so doing, the foundation has responsibility for securing and using private funds."

The 4-H international programs were among the first to recognize the potential of rural youth programs in the developing countries as one of the keys in fighting the food deficit and population crisis. Agriculture is the base which developing countries must have; it depends upon an educated, motivated people. Rural young people are one of the keys to this vital action. The 4-H international programs are dedicated to mutual understanding and the development of rural youth. The 4-H "idea" is distinctly American-informal; out-of-school training; volunteer adult leaders; cooperation between local community, State and National Governments; support from private as well as public institutions; and individual youth projects of "learning by doing." This experience, principles, and philosophy are the basic elements that have been adapted, not adopted, by some 80 countries around the world.

You can see from the map that about 80 countries around the world have instituted a 4-H type of program and most of these in the past 18 to 20 years.

Many of the programs are identified by number, initials, combinations, such as 4-S, 3-P, 5-V, 4-T, and this is their adaptation of the ideals of 4-H to their language and culture. Well over half of the some 80 programs over the world use a four-leaf clover in their emblem, making this an accepted international symbol for rural youth work.

As you know, Mr. Chairman, a pioneer step in 4-H international programs was the establishment of the International Farm Youth Exchange, better known as IFYE, just 20 years ago this spring. Since that time, more than 4,000 young people have been exchanged between our Nation and some 72 cooperating host countries. They are between 20 and 30 years old, live with families in rural areas as they learn by doing-working, living, teaching, and playing beside their hosts. Nearly every State and Puerto Rico have had outstanding 4-H members in this program.

In the United States, IFYE is privately financed by 4-H Clubs along with business and industrial firms, foundations, and individuals. Valuable assistance also has been available in recent years to assist in many of our international costs through Public Law 480 funds and State Department educational training grants. I want to emphasize

that these public funds are used outside the United States so we may have exchanges with developing countries that cannot carry their full share of the expense of a reciprocal program. These funds have helped us to reach where the need for these exchanges is the greatest. IFYE participants are concerned with more than mutual understanding. They are sharing ideas for a better agricultural and home life. There is emphasis on helping adapt the ideas of 4-H to the culture of a developing nation. I have some very significant new developments to report in just a few moments.

IFYE was one of the early international rural youth exchanges, thus it was appropriate that experience from this program should be incorporated into the Peace Corps when it was established in 1961. Hundreds of former 4-H members have shared their practical training and experience with people of other lands through the Peace Corps. The 4-H Foundation, working in behalf of the Extension Service, has administered Peace Corps projects relating to rural youth development in Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, El Salvador, and Malaysia under contracts with the Peace Corps. Many 4-H Clubs in the United States assist Peace Corps volunteers by providing funds and materials to fledging rural youth programs.

The success of IFYE and other 4-H international programs led to a demand for a short term, family-living experience for older 4-H members (from 17 to 19 years old). This is the 4-H Teen Caravan, now in its fourth year. This program is completely financed by the participants, but is closely related to community 4-H programs.

Mr. Chairman, you would be interested to know that we are working with the Texas Partners for the Alliance Committee at the present time in relation to their program with Peru, and this summer approximately 10 to 15 older 4-H'ers and a few adult volunteer leaders will be going to Peru to live and work with the CAJP Clubs or the 4-H Clubs of that country.

We operate in about 40 countries per year with our 4-H exchange programs. Over the years, we have wanted to change this pattern a bit, to concentrate a large group of people in one country. The opportunity came 2 years ago when an agreement was signed between Japan and the United States which set up the Japanese agricultural training program. About 160 to 200 Japanese young farmers come to the United States for 2 years. They receive about 6 months of formal training plus 18 months of practical on-the-farm or ranch experience. It is a self-supporting program coordinated by the 4-H Foundation. While we are very proud of the program to date, the first trainees will be returning to Japan in July, so it will be at least another year before we can accurately evaluate our effectiveness. This kind of training is much needed in other lands; the Philippines and Ecuador-among others have approached us about programs for their young farmers. In recent years, we have given increasing emphasis to training professional rural youth leaders. These leaders hold jobs in their homelands similar to our county and State 4-H extension personnel. The training they have is usually quite limited, as the educational systems of their countries tend to be deficient in agriculture. But there are many, many extension workers who are capable and dedicated; what they need is practical training. This we are attempting to do. We bring them to the United States for about 3 months in the fall. While

they receive some training at the National and State levels, most of their time is spent working alongside county 4-H agents-learning 4-H firsthand. I believe this is one of our most significant contributions to the food and population problem.

The most recent development in our international work has been through the interamerican rural youth program. This was established in 1960 as a cooperative effort of the Interamerican Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Organization of American States and the American International Association of Economic and Social Development. In December, we assumed the administrative and programing responsibilities for this program from AIA, receiving a 3-year grant from AIA to get our work underway. PIJR, which are its Spanish initials, will be our 4-H international program in the Americas. It combines our IFYE, Teen Caravan, and Professional Leader, and other changes, with the already established PIJR efforts of stimulating increased enrollment in 4-H type programs through incentives, training, and public information. Stimulating private support for rural youth programs-much as we work in the United States-is a keystone of this effort.

Exchanges and foreign training are important. But possibly the most important impact of 4-H international programs is on the thousands, millions of people who participate without ever leaving their homes. They are the host families, the 4-H members, leaders and people of the community who take part in dozens of ways. The 4-H international program gives these people-young and adult-an opportunity to have an international experience. This is a dimension in their education that is needed so very much today. Many State extension leaders have credited these programs with being an important factor in breaking down the traditional isolationism that once was prevalent in rural communities throughout the world.

Probably no bit of Americana has been more rapidly, broadly or enthusiastically accepted in so many parts of the world as has 4-H. 4-H international programs have played a part, especially IFYE and the 4-H Peace Corps projects.

These programs are an important leadership experience for thousands of young people, both those participants and those assisting. Twenty-five former participants in our program have become national leaders of their countries' rural youth programs. They hold such positions in Brazil, Finland, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Peru, Uruguay, and others. Twenty-three IFYE alumni work with the Turkish Extension Service, and 4-K program there; three out of every four IFYE's from Nepal are now working with their national extension service. Whatever their life's work may be, these young people tend to have more concern for other people, and to have developed important leadership skills that make them effective and responsible citizens. They are at the forefront of the fight against hunger and starvation. While the IFYE experience may be quite personal, the program's impact upon a community or country can be very broad:

One of the first exchanges from Nepal, Debi Prasad Thapalia, who came in 1955, was so impressed with 4-H Club work that upon returning home, he urged His Majesty's Government to adapt the idea to Nepal. This was the basis for the growing, flourishing 4-Leaf Clubs of today.

Washington Naranjo of Ecuador, a 1962 participant, developed a plan for training volunteer 4-F Club leaders. This served as the work paper on leader training at the 1964 Interamerican Rural Youth Leaders Conference. He is now Ecuador's National Director of Technical Extension, an important unit of the Ministry of Agriculture. A recent fiscal year annual report from the American Embassy in India states:

The IFYE program was enlarged during the fiscal year to provide for 16 young American farmers to visit India and the same number of Indians to visit the United States. This program appears to be the most successful of the youth exchanges. The Ministry of Agriculture has indicated that it makes a genuine, if limited in scope, contribution to the development of agriculture as well as satisfying cultural exchanges objectives.

The agricultural skills possessed by the American students allow them to make a technical contribution which also enhances their cultural effectiveness. On the other hand, a number of the Indian returnees have become active in farm youth work. One young coffee planter in the South has been instrumental in building a farm youth organization with nearly 3,000 participants in his district.

The Assistant Minister of Agriculture of Botswana was impressed by his observation of 4-H in the United States. Feeling that his newlyindependent country needed a similar program, he requested help and Lyle Murphy, an 11-year 4-H member and an agricultural education graduate of Michigan State University, was sent there in October 1967. By December, he and the local agricultural demonstrators had approval for organizing 4-B Clubs in rural villages. In 2 months, 509 boys and girls were enrolled in clubs in 9 villages.

This is a part of a new 1-year program for the IFYE's that has been initiated, and we plan this year to send nine young people of similar education and experience to three Central American countries.

Through IFYE and other 4-H international programs, a firm foundation has been laid for increased assistance and support for the rural youth educational programs of the world. America will have made a great contribution if the ideals and principles of 4-H can make a major contribution toward correcting the world's food and population imbalance.

I want to emphasize again that all of these benefits have come about through private enterprise sponsorship of programs developed by the extension service and allied public educational efforts. The exception, of course, has been our contracts with the Peace Corps. But even here, 4-H members and cooperating groups around the Nation have collected materials and money to help "their volunteers" develop 4-H type programs.

The need for these programs, especially in the developing nations, is well known. The only practical limitation to expanding this work in food production is the matter of funds. Even in a country as rich and powerful as America, it is difficult to find funds to meet all of the needs we can identify and program.

There are a number of ways in which Government grants could assist the private efforts of the National 4-H Club Foundation in helping to stimulate the development of more effective rural youth educational programs, and establishing better communications between youth, particularly in the developing countries.

First. Expand 4-H's international educational exchange programs. This, of course, is one of the widely recognized methods in sharing