My Friends Around The World™ is a book
series aimed to raise cultural awareness amongst young adults. By reading about the lives and adventures of young people
in other countries the readers will become familiar with different cultures and
more interested in diversity.
My Friends Around The World™ aims to celebrate the
differences between cultures, and to make them interesting. Given today’s
conflicts between very different cultures it is important that sensitivity be
raised on cultural aspects. There was a
theory that globalization and technological forces would gradually erode local
cultures and values. It is now becoming increasingly clear that culture shapes
economic development. As education and wealth increase, cultural differences
become more pronounced as different cultures have different definitions of “the
good life” and how to achieve it.
The big question of this century will be in understanding
other cultures, how cultural capital can be nurtured and developed, how cultural
conflict can be turned towards healthy cultural competition. Conflict arises when reality does not meet
expectations. If we want people of the world to get along, then they have to
understand each other, so that their expectations are in line with reality. And
so it is necessary to seed their interest, so that they will embrace diversity.