FFA New Horizons

By Molly Wilson
28 years it separated I ami lies,
Forsquelched dreams, stifled a nation,
and broke the hearts ot'two
countries. But the fall of the
Berlin Wall last November breathed new
hope into a world yearning for liberty.
""We were in Kansas City at the FFA
convention when I learned the wall was
open," says Hike Petersen, a 21-year-old
German exchange student staying on a
farm in Mt. Camiel. Illinois. Hike was one
of 1 3 German exchangees who were stay-
ing in .America on an FFA foreign exchange
program called Congress-Bundes-
tag, when the news broke that the Berlin
wall would fall. It was an electric mo-
ment.
"The other Germans were watching
TV. They came to tell me. I couldn't
believe it." Hike recalls. "I sat alone in m>
room. I had tears in my eyes. 1 was so
happy for the East German people."
Many FFA members may think the
incredible t 'nts happening in Eastern
Europe have ;lc impact on their lives.
But when a ht Hul of German young
people can travel i 'way around the world
only to be so deepl} )ched by events far
away in their homek. 't becomes clear
just how small the woi 'lus become.
With so many people lives touching
each other's across the sea:-, understand-
30
The Berlin Wall was built before they
were born, and many expected it to
be there long after they were gone.
But something wonderful happened
on a cold day last November...
ing other cultures becomes a prerequisite
for future leaders — especially in the
global marketplace called agriculture.
The Congress-Bundestag program is
designed to strengthen the ties between
new generations in the United States and
West Germany. The program enables the
exchange students to expand their per-
spectives while m;iking friendships across
international boundaries by living with
farm families and attending school.
"At first we couldn't believe it. We
said nothing, we just sat there not believ-
ing it was happening." says Matthias
Kolber, 20, from Thalmaessing. West
Gennany. Matthias is slaying with the
Darius Harms family, who operate a 2,000-
acre grain farm near St. Joseph, Illinois.
The participants from West Germany,
met and traveled to East Berlin in May
before coming to the U.S. It was a short
journey in distance, but the differences in
economy made East Gennany seem like a
different world.
"1 had heard about East Germany from
people who had traveled there. But it is
something very different to see it with
your own eyes. All of the things I had
heard were true," says Eike. whose 240-
West German
exchange
student Eike
Petersen was at
the national FFA
convention when
she heard that
the Berlin Wall
had opened. "I
sat alone in my
room. I had tears
In my eyes," she
remembers.
acre family fann in West Gennany produces
grain and hogs.
"The workers on East German state
farms have no ambition— they gain noth-
ing for themselves from working harder,"
observes Eike. ""Their government makes
this plan, tells the workers how much they
have to produce and how much they'll
export and import. It 's not like if you work
a little harder you get more."
Escape to Freedom
For almost three decades people
struggled to escape the confines of the
wall. Some escaped and lived to tell their
story. But over the years 73 people have
lost their lives trying to escape.
Adds Matthias, "When I stood there
and looked at the fence (the wall) I didn't
feel so good. I thought, "How can these
guards shoot people, people who are trying
to be free?'"
Eike and Matthias' parents sent articles
about the events from their German
hometowns. Matthias was surprised at the
amount of infonnation about East Germany
in the U.S newspapers. "'Here most
of the news is usually about America and
only a little concerns world news on a
FFA New Horizons