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 Who Are We?
America.
Many immigrants choose to live and raise their
children in the United States of America
because, quite simply, this country is the greatest nation on earth. The main
reason America remains the greatest is that this country has essential qualities
that many other nations lack. Foremost among these qualities is a truly
democratic system, in which people have sincere pride of ownership; a culture of
volunteerism, in which people show their love and care for their fellow
citizens; and the diversity and power of its people, an amazing resource
emerging from a unique blend of ethnic backgrounds and cultures. These three
qualities—democracy, volunteerism, and variety—form the foundation of pride in
America today.
Many Americans question the patriotism and
loyalty of new immigrants to this country,
but most immigrants love and care about America. However, the majority of new
immigrants are not yet familiar with American culture—its social behaviors and
the duties of its citizens. New Americans have so much to do and learn upon
arriving here and making the adjustment to a
new country: they must learn about their new culture, often a new language, new
expectations, their rights and duties as citizens. . . . But the adjustment
process for immigrants runs slowly because of the lack of available resources.
Without an available support system, many new immigrants lose their enthusiasm
for their new nation.
America has a stake in having immigrants adjust quickly to their new homeland. The longer America has to wait for this adjustment, the longer immigrants will take in beginning to make their contribution to American society and culture. Moreover, the new immigrants will take a longer time to begin to fully enjoy their place in America.
The Good Neighboring Campaign(GNF) is a nonprofit organization designed to educate and stimulate the new immigrant community so that they can quickly become an integral part of American society. GNF¡¯s current focus is on the Asian-American community.
The Good Neighboring Campaign has a variety of campaign programs. The Good Neighboring Campaign (GNC) promotes
Ten Main Themes to help new immigrants integrate into American culture. The
GNC Post is an educational newsletter about America that is distributed weekly to Korean-American churches and organizations. The
Manners School System supplies teaching materials about protocols and etiquette in American society. The
Speakers Bank
has information about available speakers who can address immigrant and student
organizations so that they can learn about and discuss
issues that are unique to the immigrant community.
One day soon, today¡¯s new immigrants will be some of the best neighbors and most loyal citizens America can have, devoting their services to communities and to society at large. Once immigrants feel that America is really theirs, their duties and responsibilities to this nation will become clear, and all of America will benefit.
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copyrights GNC 2004 ¡¡
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