"A wonderful and truly 'enriching' experience, I cannot find a better or more telling word to describe the initiative of gathering together Fulbright scholars, to visit, come to know, and share the life of a city, its recent history, its present problems and challenges, its future and its new profile!

The Fulbright Program gathered 55 Fulbright visiting scholars, from different universities throughout the United States – to Baltimore Enrichment Seminar (25 – 28th of March) - which was focused on two related aspects of the city, two tales: Public Health and Environment. I found it most enriching not only because anyone of us, participants, discovered the background history, the social, economic and local community issues of Baltimore, but mainly because we could share that experience and implicitly we compared it with our own - in our countries and cities.

Within the three days of conferences, visits and interaction, the Baltimore Fulbright Seminar turned into a tremendous 'pool' of knowledge, emotions, personal and collective experiences and ideas, which, when shared, may lead to most enriching results. Let me mention a few of these experiences: The visit to Paul’s Center, which operates exclusively on the basis of volunteering and donations for children and adult people in need; it was a most impressive and enriching visit for the group of Fulbright scholars who were there on the second day of the seminar. The whole 'operational chain', from reception to actual support, material and educational, including training and instruction, is managed by volunteers, people who are ready to use their energy, time, and spiritual effort to help others, small children, their families and teenagers alike, all living in poor urban communities. The visits to Chase Brexton Health Services Center or to Enoch Pratt Free Library, where we listened to most resourceful lectures held by Johns Hopkins specialists in virology and medical sciences were equally illustrative of how people’s sense of devotion and strong progress-focused convictions can bring a historic town like Baltimore to an impressive social and economic change.

The last day was expectedly full of surprises, the last one was the Marshmallow Construction Game, a real example of fun, sense of togetherness and accomplishment – in a row. We departed, feeling that we could have stayed more, to share and, perhaps, also to be ready and give something in our turn ! From the part of a Romanian Fulbright participant, MY WARMEST THANKS !"