“My dearest international family: It was such an honor and a blessing to know you all. In our culture we say ‘vakambo onana hava shayani.’ In loose translation this means, ‘once we have met we will never be strangers.’” Violet Tendai Gonda, Zimbabwe

"The program was a significant opportunity for me to gain new knowledge. The methods used by many of the professors in conveying their ideas and their techniques were very helpful. Being an Iraqi, it was my first time ever traveling abroad, due to the restrictions set up by the previous regime of Saddam Hussien. This enabled me to meet colleagues from other countries and share information, both cultural and academic. I must admit that during my stay at Stanford I never felt that I was out of my country and family. All participants and CDDRL folks were really friendly and generous!" Talan Aouny, Iraq

“I have too much to say about your program and three weeks we spent  together, but here is only one word: TERRIFIC.” Liu Junning, China

“The shared knowledge and experience we had together at Stanford will stay forever.” Kavi Chongkittavorn, Thailand

“It appears that like-minded people were selected to participate […] Each of us is interested in the development of humanity, and it appears that we have accepted that democracy seems to be the vehicle through which human development can be accessed reasonably. We share this.” Suni Aliyu, Nigeria

“The program enriched me both professionally and personally. I keep in touch closely with CDDRL professors, current and former fellows, and research fellows and staff. I often meet them either in Stanford or Washington, DC and exchange opinions about my work at WADAN [the Welfare Association for the Development of Afghanistan, an organization that Mohammad started four years ago to advance the spread of democratic principles, development, social justice, and freedom in his country]. I feel inspired by their ideas, which I then turned into policy proposals on the Afghani grounds.”  Mohammad Nasib, Afghanistan