Not so long ago our office was visited by David Bell, the initiator of friendship between Dubna and La Crosse, and Bill Trussoni, a guest from La Crosse.
Many people of our city know Bill as one of the organizers of student exchange programs during which high school and college students live with host families both in Dubna and La Crosse. We have told about last summer trip of Dubna group to La Crosse in one of our earlier editions ("They Lived American Life" � 66 Sept. 5, 2003.) This time we wanted to ask our American guest to talk more about the program.
This is his story:

I've been involved in the exchanges since 1993 when my oldest daughter applied to go to Dubna and was admitted. My participation started as that of a parent and I have stayed involved ever since. This year we selected 6 students from La Crosse to go to Dubna as part of the next exchange and just recently we selected the 6 students in Dubna that will come to La Crosse in 2005.

Our group will come to Dubna in 2004; the group of Dubna students will visit La Crosse a year after. Selecting students is a hard task both here in Dubna and in La Crosse. There are very many worthy candidates with good knowledge of English and we would like to select them all. Originally there were 53 applicants in Dubna. You can imagine how difficult a job it is to size the students down to 6, as there are so many more of those who deserve to go.

Just in brief about how we work. This exchange would not be possible without lots of other people who are working "behind the scenes". For example David Bell, Gennadi Ososkov, Alla Efimova, Victor Fefelov, Eugeni Alexandrov and others help us here in Dubna. I was very pleased that one of the applicants this year was a grandson of Alla Efimova, she takes an active part in organizing the exchange, especially that the student was absolutely worthy of being part of the exchange.

Our hope is that the families who are involved in the exchange do not limit themselves to the trip abroad. We are saying that it is a student exchange, however it would be better to say that it is a family exchange as well. A good example is Alex Leonov who was a student in our last exchange. His family helped me a lot, more than was expected from them. This year Alex's sister Rita applied and was selected. We are very pleased that the family that has shown such involvement is sending their representative again. There might be parents among the readers of this article who would want their children to go to La Crosse. The students that we recruit are not younger than 13-14 years old, but if the parents are really determined to have their children on the exchange, they can get involved much earlier. For example, when we come to Dubna next year we will have several days of clean-up work on the banks of the Volga River. Students and parents that are not on the exchange yet, can work with us now with an outlook to get in the program in the future.

Many people say: " If not for Bill's enthusiasm, the exchange would not happen at all." What is the basis of your enthusiasm?
The first time I visited Dubna to help with student selection was in 1996, at that time nobody knew me except for Dave Bell and Gennadi Ososkov. They introduced me to other people in Dubna. Everyone I've met so far has been extremely welcoming and hearty people. Many have shown a sincere interest in our program. For example in 2001 Ilya Prokh was among the students who participated in our exchange and he turned out to be a very good and helpful guy. I had the honor of being invited to the home of your Mayor. It's a great feeling to experience when you meet so many friendly and interesting people in Dubna. That is one example of many as to why I stay so involved in the exchange.

David Bell had something to add:
I want to stress the importance of personal involvement of Bill Trussoni. Everything that is done - is hundred percent done due to his enthusiasm. The expenses of the trip for our kids are covered by far and most by the Americans - and this is big money. The families from Dubna contribute 300 $ for this trip, which is only a small part of the final cost. An exchange of two groups of 6 students and a chaperone from each side comes up to around 20000 $. The 6 selected students in La Crosse together with their friends and families work hard to earn the money for the exchange: they do car washes or bake and sell cookies. It's a common practice in the States. Local companies and organizations give donations for the exchange - everything is done mostly for the expenses of La Crosse, whose people are providing the necessary funds. This is very important.

A. A. Altynova.