August 15, 2005
Preview: Gilbert Sherr - Servas Member,
World Traveller, Social and Political Researcher
The second person I had a chance to get to know at the Servas
Conference was Gilbert Sherr, a communications professional
from Atlanta where he was born and raised.
Until college Gilbert had only been to 5 different states and had
never really gone on vacation. That changed radically after college
when he travelled all throughout the US, followed by a long trip
to Europe about 4 years later. He found, however, that travelling,
visiting buildings and museums and marvelling at natural wonders
simply wasn't enough - one thing was absent, and that was meeting
the people.
That changed when Gilbert learned about Servas in 1981. He said
he had tears in his eyes when he realized that there existed a group
of people who were willing to share their lives and invite strangers
into their homes. In total Gilbert has spent about four and a half
years of his life travelling around the world.
Gilbert Sherr
As Gilbert travelled more through the Servas network he found that
he wanted to give something back. So he started to make meals for
his hosts, babysat their children and truly became a part of their
family, just like a long-lost relative. That's when he had an idea
for a book "Dishwashing through Europe", a project that
hasn't come to fruition yet, but I found the title just delightful.
With his sociology background, Gilbert has a true interest in understanding
the societies that he travels to. So what he normally does is he
stays with 3 types of Servas hosts: an elderly couple or individual,
adult couples with children and a younger adult. This gives him
a chance to get a much more authentic, complete picture of the society
he is travelling to, and to understand the specific issues that
are facing each demographic group.
Similar to me, he also ponders which political / economic system
might actually work best, and he has had a chance to spend significant
amounts of time in countries with completely different economic
systems. He has had the opportunity to study different variations
of Western-style capitalism, socialism as well as communism, and
he has developed his own insights as to which societal systems might
work best for the greatest portion of the population.
He also found that the more he immersed himself in foreign cultures,
the more he started to understand his own culture, he described
this experience with the saying "When a fish jumps out of water,
it doesn't discover air, it discovers water" - a very interesting
statement indeed.
Travelling also taught Gilbert that truth is not absolute, that
current events are covered from completely different angles in different
countries, and that local media can sometimes present a very biased
one-sided perspective on issues.
By hosting other Servas
travellers, Gilbert found that he is able to bring the world home,
and hosting allows him to give back to this organization. Hosting
gives him the opportunity to learn about other cultures from the
travellers, and it enables him to share his culture. As a result
of close to 25 years of travelling with Servas, Gilbert now has
a network of family and friends around the world.
In the upcoming interview Gilbert will share his travel experiences,
his insights on different cultures and socio-political systems as
well as some of the decision-making and sacrifices that enabled
him to spend so much time exploring the world. He will also touch
on issues such as culture shock when reentering into his native
US culture whenever he returns from an extended trip. Last but not
least, he will share the insights of insider who has had a chance
to discover his own culture through the eyes of outsiders.
Related Articles:
Presenting: Mary Jane
Mikuriya - Servas traveller, volunteer for peace and social
justice
Presenting: Robert & Bette Allekotte
- Servas members & family travellers
Presenting: Helga Smith -
Servas member, Marathon runner, conqueror of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Preview: Robert
& Bette Allekotte - Servas members & family travellers
Preview: Gilbert Sherr
- Servas traveller & cultural researcher
Preview: Mary Jane Mikuriya
-Servas traveller, volunteer for peace and social justice
Preview: Helga Smith
- Servas member, Marathon runner, conqueror of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Preview: Pablo Chufeni
- Servas member, Champion of youth causes in Argentina
Coverage of the first Canada-US
Servas Conference in Vancouver, Aug 3 to 5, 2005
Interview with Patrice Samara from the
US Office of Servas
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