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Reflections: Two Project Harmony alums share thoughts, memories and experiences from their '88 and '89 choral trips to Russia
Adam Wing and Timo Bradley reflect on their Project Harmony trips in the late 80s and how they placed them on the international stage (physically and metaphorically) and influenced their lives.
Adam Wing, Vice President of Global Business for AbleNet Inc., a world leader in technology, curriculum, and services for people with disabilities, reflects on his experience on a Project Harmony choir trip in 1988 to Leningrad, Moscow, Yaroslavl, and Tbilisi. In addition to fond memories, he recognizes that his Project Harmony trip may have contributed to the professional approach he took to international business years later.
“The Project Harmony experience involved learning about a new culture while sharing one’s own way of life, preparing extensively to deliver excellently to capture the attention of the audience, and traveling abroad to a region that was perceived as totally foreign and potentially inhospitable. This process was unprecedented at that time and it was exciting to be a part of it. We felt like pioneers and what we experienced in these unfamiliar circumstances were affection, admiration, and gratitude from everyone we met. I’ve been in the field of disabilities for over 20 years and an important component of my work is about shepherding cultural change. If you’re going to be in my field, you are signing up for advocating for a cultural evolution. As I think about Project Harmony, I’m curious about how that experience may have contributed to my comfort and confidence in navigating my work. Today, I have commercial partners in more than 60 countries, I have conducted business in person in nearly as many regions, and in every case I have witnessed the collaborative benefits of working with likeminded people around the world in order to achieve great results. This is an echo of what I experienced 30 years ago as an early Project Harmony participant – I feel honored to have had the opportunity to learn early on the benefits of reaching across the globe in order to achieve important outcomes.”
Project Harmony’s approach to introducing, respecting and understanding culture provided a potential framework that has carried into Adam’s work at AbleNet, where they often use the mindset “listen, learn and lead.” He added that in business meetings, the Project Harmony trip is one that is easy to reference: “People find it very interesting and exciting when I mention that I’ve been there.”
Timo Bradley, a partner of TimberHomes VT, a worker-owned timber frame construction company, reflects on how his Project Harmony trip impacted his personal development and how it changed his relationship with himself as an American-Finn.
“It was the summer of ‘89, a little while before the Soviet Union fell apart. Those were the Cold War years. I have to commend Project Harmony for having the vision to make it happen; that was earth shaking stuff what they were doing, trying to make those bridges across the world…I have some images of going to Leningrad and Petrozavodsk, I remember how plain things were, nothing flashy going on. From the outside, apartment buildings were quite plain. It was interesting walking into an apartment building, just how different it was culturally...yet you walk into someone’s apartment and inside it was very comfortable, we were well fed and well taken care of. At that point in those days there was not a lot of materialism and that left an impression on me. Most American kids are trying to get as many toys as possible, adults too, but materialism wasn’t as apparent there…
I remember we went to a summer camp in Karelia, Russia, an area that happened to speak Finnish because of its proximity to the border. My heritage is from Finland, that’s where my mom is from. I stood up introducing myself and said in Finnish, I am an American-Finn “Olen Amerikan Suomalainen”, which is just about all the Finnish I knew at that point. At that moment I got surrounded by a bunch of kids that were all speaking Finnish to me; somehow the light bulb got switched on. It was a moment where I said to myself, "Jeez, I’ve got to learn Finnish." After that year, I went back and finished up high school, then took a gap year in Finland and later went back again. I ended up living in Finland for almost 3 years in total. I attribute that in part to that one crystal clear moment on the Project Harmony trip. It definitely changed my life; I’m more international than I would have been otherwise. I’m married to a French-Canadian woman, we lived in Montreal for a year, now we’re living in France for a year. I’m not afraid to meet new people, try out different languages. It was a great trip during a formative time.”
Timo’s reflections remind us of how powerful these international experiences can be for individuals who are at an age where they are still figuring out who they are in the world. He didn’t go to Russia expecting to connect with his Finnish heritage, but this unexpected moment led to years of living abroad in Finland where he connected with a language and side of himself he had not fully discovered growing up in Vermont. Timo and family will be hosting a Russian this Summer as part of a PH exchange.
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