Lethbridge’s Friendship Force chapter sparks the power of connection

Australian members of the worldwide Friendship Force joined the Lethbridge chapter to visit Waterton National Park in an effort to turns strangers into friends.

The global group has more than 300 chapters spanning 60 countries all with the intention of fostering new friendships. What makes the Lethbridge chapter unique is that its members stay in each other’s homes, explains Lethbridge Friendship Force president Barbra Clarke.

“It was originally to help make peace around the world. The idea was that we make friends, because you don’t want to have an enemy, you want a friend,” Clarke explained. “So, it started that if you are in the home of someone else and have your feet under their table morning and evening, you learn about their culture and you become friends.”

The group that would like to visit a different country puts in a request to the Atlanta, GA. head office that then connects the visiting group with the country hosts and lets them take it from there.

The match process is based on interests. For example, the Australian groups are known for having a lot of academic professionals, so they were paired with other teachers and professors in Canada.

Then the host group gets to know the visitors and develops an itinerary based on the interests and limitations of the visitors. The Lethbridge chapter is determined to show its visitors a wonderful time.

“We’ll show them all of the touristy stuff, including First Nations and Blackfoot visits with the Buffalo runs, but we will also do things that they are interested in. Most groups that visit Lethbridge want to see our area and especially the Rocky Mountains,” Clarke said.

“But we will also plan parties and lots of food, because we all like to eat, and that’s how we make friends. Laughs, food and fun.”

The trip has been a longtime coming, says Mount Gambier Australia Friendship Force president Bill McGregor

“We had organized to come to Lethbridge and Vancouver Island in 2020, but covid put a stop to that” McGregor explained “So, this is the journey that we’re carrying from four years ago. It’s taken us a long time to get here, but we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, the club has been wonderful to us.”

Accompanying the group from Mount Gambier is another Australian Friendship Force group from Mount Baker, just a four-hour drive away from Mount Gambier.

Mount Baker President David Adams was elected to be the lead communications between the Australian groups and the Canadian hosts.

“We’ve found that both clubs that we’ve visited have become instant friends, because we’ve been so well matched with similar types of background people,” Adams said.

Clarke herself is a host for this particular group and has been having a great time getting to share her culture while learning about others around the world, which is a sentiment shared by her Australian guests

“When you get to connect with other people from around the world, even without an interpreter, having never spoken the language, you can still really connect with other people,” McGregor said, adding you can still laugh and have a good time with people through mannerisms.

Having travelled the world with her friendship force group, Clarke says she has made valuable friendships all over the world from Thailand to Moscow and Germany and beyond.

“It’s amazing because you have to have that adventurous spirit, I’ve been hosted by people around my kids’ age,” she said. “And one thing still gets me. They offer their home. So, you know that they’re doing their very best. Some are humble and some very exotic. But it’s the people, it’s not the house you remember, it’s the person.”

Another example of no matter where you go in the world, it’s the people who fill your life that make it so wonderful to live.