United States Shares Chemical Know-How with the Other Americas

HARRy WRIGHT TOLIN, International Training Administration, Inc., Washington, D. C.

Carrying out the principles or the economic Charter or the Americas", the Inter- America η Trade Scholarship program has technically trained over two hundred Latin American young men on the basis that learning comes with doing. O f these, twenty men have studied chemistry, one of the most popular fields

1̂ 1 EARLY a score of ambitious young • ^ men .from the 20 other American re­publics have received practical training in chemistry and chemical engineering with private United States concerns under the Inter-American Trade Scholarship pro­gram sponsored b y the Office of Inter-American Affairs, a United States Govern­ment agency.

Since this unique training program started in 1941, a total of 216 Inter-Ameri­can Trade Scholarship awards have been given t o young men in the other Americas by t h e Office of Inter-American Affairs. These awards make it possible for the award winners to come to the United States and obtain two years of practical on-the-job training in various fields of in­dustry, business, and agriculture. The trainees from the other Americas work side by side with North American workmen, learning United States technical and in­dustrial "know-how" b y the American method of "learning by doing".

Actual administration of the training program and supervision of the trainees is carried out by the International Training Administration, Inc., a nonprofit member­ship corporation which services training programs for governmental and private agencies, corporations, or individuals on the basis of cost plus a service fee.

The practical training in chemistry and chemical engineering that the United States Government, with the cooperation of private industry, has made available to these trainees is a practical demonstra­tion of the good neighbor policy of assist­ing t h e other Americas i n their economic development. By sharing United States industrial and technical knowledge with these trainees, advanced United States industrial and technical knowledge is put to use in the other American republics.

The need of technical cooperation in the economic development of the Ameri­can countries was emphasized at the Inter-

American Conference on Problems of War and Peace held in Mexico City in Febru­ary-March, 1945. In the "Economic Charter of the Americas", adopted at the conference, the American republics de­clared it to be their firm purpose to collab­orate in the encouragement of technical skills. Another resolution, on industrial development, similarly declared that if sound industrialization is t o be attained throughout the hemisphere, the American republics should "intensify their coopera­tion in the training of technical personnel required by their economic development and in the interchange of technical experts of all kinds and of every class of nonstra-tegic technical information. . . . "

G o o d W i l l and Sales

B y sharing United States know-how, this nation not only creates good will for itself but also demand for United States machinery and equipment with which the trainees have become familiar during their training in the United States. Foreign technologists trained in the United States are better qualified t o do servicing of machinery and equipment for branches of United States concerns located abroad.

Chemistry has been one of the most popular fields of training selected by the Inter-American Trade Scholarship award winners. As of July 1945, ten award winners had completed their training and had returned to their home countries, and nine others were still in training here.

Those who had finished their training were: Oscar Benavides of Costa Rica, Pedro A. Reyes of El Salvador, Mario Bravo of Mexico, Mario Ordaz of Mexico, Javier Oretega of Mexico, Adolfo Perez of Mexico, Rogelio Bozzano of Paraguay, Carlos A. Ugas of Peru, Herbert Wirth of Uruguay, Fabio Leal of Brazil, and Waiter de Oliveira.

Young Benavides trained with the Campbell Soup Co., Reyes and Bravo with

Wm. S. Merrell Co. and Ea-stman Kodak Co., Ordaz with the Monsajito Chemical Co., Ortega with the American Viscose Corp., Perez with Vick Chemiical Co. and American Cyanamid Co., Eozzano with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc . , U g a s with the International Shoe Co. , Wirth with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc . , and U. S. Industrial Chemicals, Inc., ILeal -with the Standard Oil Co. (N. J.), and Oliveira with United States Sugam· Corp. and United States Industrial Cinemicals, Inc.

At the present time Alberto Lagomar-sino of Argentina is in training wi th Vick Chemical Co. Wilson F. Fs».lcao of Brazil is training in the manufacture of plastics with the International General Electric Co. at Pittsfield, Mass. L.uiz Telles of Brazil is obtaining training verith Lehn and Fink Products Corp. at Bloo>mfield, N . J., Luis Garcia of Chile is training i n indus­trial chemistry with Waterbury Com­panies, Inc., at Waterbury, Conn. Enrique Orvananos of Mexico is behatg trained by the Reynolds Metals Co. o f Richmond, Va. Training in industrial bacteriology is being obtained by Virginuo Obmedo of Paraguay a t Arlington Hoscpital,, Arling­ton, Va. Agustin Ëtcheverr^y of Uruguay is training with E . I. du Pon* de Nemours & Co., while Hugo Garrido o f Uruguay is training in industrial chemistry wi th the Paragon Packing Co. at Astoria, Oreg.

History of Scholarship Program

The story of the Inter-Anaerican Trade Scholarship program began early in 1941, when United States industry was becom­ing increasingly occupied w i t h produc­tion for defense. Normal international trade was adversely affected^ Industrial branches, agencies, and representation abroad were closed or reduced to a skele­ton basis of operations. Thae bringing of young men t o the United States from other nations for practical, technical, and pro­fessional training virtually la.ad ceased.

This trend was viewed wit=h concern by a group of United States businessmen who were interested in inter-ADaerican eco­nomic and cultural relations. Their in­terest was further heightened because the war in Europe had unexpectedly pre­sented the United States wi^ih a n oppof-tunity to bring to this comatry a, larger proportion of trainees froiaa t h e other American republics. For msmy years the

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accepted training ground for most of these young men was Europe. Now Europe was closed to thein by the war. The group v,f businessmen was in complete agreement as to the value of the exchange of technical and industrial knowledge that had been de­veloping for more than half a century be­tween the Americas.

T o a considerable extent, the training of young men of the other American repub­lics by United States business and indus­trial enterprises and by government and private agencies—even though carried on with limited numbers—had offset the fact that the people of the United States have not been a colonizing people. It has been estimated that there were not more than 55,000 United States citizens residing in South America, when the war began. This is in contrast with several million first-an d-second generation Axis residents settled there.

Businessmen Cooperate

When the Office of Inter-Ajnerican Af­fairs suggested that an Inter-American industrial training program be initiated by the United States Government in co­operation with private industry, these businessmen gave their hearty coopera­tion. Accordingly, the Office of Inter-America.n Affairs set up the Inter-Ameri­can Trade Scholarship program in August 1941, for the purpose of bringing young men from each of the 20 other American republics to t h e United States for practical training.

The travel and living expenses of these trainees in Washington, while they are undergoing orientation and while writing

their final reports, are paid by the Office of Intor-American Affairs. However, dur­ing the months the trainees are working in the field with private concerns, they are self-supporting. They receive an average of $150 per month as a living allowance from their employers in lieu of compensation.

Selection of Candidates

For the selection of candidates, a Trainee Selection Committee was estab­lished by the Office of Inter-American Af­fairs in each of the 20 other American re­publics. These committees have served without compensation and are composed, in practically all instances, of a represen­tative of United States industry in the respective country, the chairman of the country's Commission of Inter-American Development, and a technical specialist of that country.

In order that trainees might become ad­justed to North American ways of living and working and have the opportunity of df jcussing their training with specialists in their chosen field, the cooperation of practically all governmental agencies was enlisted, as well as that of numerous pri­vate institutions. For placement with industry in the United States, a placement advisory committee of government offi­cials and businessmen was appointed. Through the National Foreign Trade Council, industry as a whole was ap­proached to support the Inter-American training program.

The response of industry was gratifying. Of the 397 companies that were asked if they would cooperate b y taking one of the

Inter-American Trade Scholarship award winners for training, 9 2 % responded in the affirmative. Federal, state, and municipal agencies likewise agreed to assist. Naturally, the degree of assist­ance which any given organization could give has depended on its ability to supply the type of training desired. T o date, more than 200 private enterprises, labor unions, and governmental departments have been willing and able to contribute actively to the training of the young men who have come under the Inter-American Trade Scholarship program.

What these young men actually receive is a period of on-the-job experience in the particular trade or career they have chosen. The precept of learning by doing is the training principle followed.

Emphasis on Equality

In announcing the Inter-American Trade Scholarship program of awards in the other American republics, emphasis was laid upon the fact that candidates would be expected to d o manual labor in actual industrial and agricultural opera­tions on an equal basis with young North Americans engaged in the same training.

Any doubts that this warning would re­strict the number of applicants were quickly dispelled. In Ecuador, for ex­ample, more than 400 young men applied on the first day the scholarship awards were announced as open t o application. Yet applications had been invited only from young men between 18 and 28 years of age who were able t o pass a physical examination and who possessed a good working knowledge of English.

Two Mexican recipients of Inter-American Trade Scholarships sponsored by the Off ice of Inter-American Affairs are shown receivins on-the-job training in industrial chemistry. Left Mar io Bravo is specializing in synthetic organic chemicals with the Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N . Y . Right A d o l f o Perez is studying the production of vitamins with the Vick Chemical Co. , N e w York, Ν . Υ .

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Adolio Perez, specializing in vitamin production, in his laboratory at Vicl< Chemical Co.

Experience has shown that many of those applying for Inter-American Schol­arship awards have been unable to meet the language qualification. But an inter­esting by-product of the granting of these awards is that the study of English is pro­moted among those young men who are otherwise qualified for the awards. In Ecuador, investigation revealed that 80 otherwise qualified Ecuadorans, in the group of 400 who applied for the initial awards, subsequently began the study of English so that they might be eligible for later awards of Inter-American Trade Scholarships.

Under the Inter-American Trade Schol­arship program, care i s taken that the award winners are given training that will ultimately be of benefit to the trainee's own nation. Each country's require­ments for trained technicians are studied by the trainee selection committees of the Office of Inter-American Affairs. Ar­rangements are then made in Washington so that the award winners are given the specific type of training to fit these needs.

What this opportunity for training in the United States means to these young men from our sister republics, and what use they are making of their opportunity is a separate story in itself for each of the trainees.

However, the story of Fabio Nunes Leal, the first of the trainees t o receive an Inter-American Trade Scholarship award, may well serve as an illustration:

Young Leal is a University of Rio de Janeiro graduate who sought training in the United States in all phases of oil pro­duction and refining.

Brazil, desperately short of fuel, is ener­getically promoting oil production and oil exploration, Consequently, it has great

need of trained technologists and techni­cians in this field. Before coming to the United States, Lea l woriked in the Bra­zilian Government's mineral laboratory and also for the Brazilians National Coun­cil of Petroleum. H e made the first chemi­

cal analysis of Brazilian oil which was dis­covered in 1939 on the coast of the Stat* of Bahia.

In addition to working 43 months in the laboratories of the Bayway and Bayonne Refineries, Leal took evening coursée given by the Standard Oil Co. (N. J.) for its junior engineers. From New Jersey he went to Pittsburgh to study grease manu­facturing with Penola, Inc., a manufactur­ing company of the Standard Oil Co. of Pennsylvania. He had already studied the manufacturing of lubricating oils, asphalts, and waxes at the Bayonne Re­finery.

Leal next worked with Carter Oil Co in Seminola, Okla. Here he gained practical training in the actual production of crude oil, working as an ordinary roust­about or manual laborer. He completed his training by getting experience in mar­keting with the Standard Oil Co. of Louisiana in Little Rock, Ark.

At the conclusion of his training, Lea) had this comment to make:

"I think that the technique of supple­menting technical knowledge with prac­tical training is one of the greatest things the United States has to offer technolo­gists and technicians from other lands. I believe the best way to learn is by doing. Then one not only acquires necessary knowledge but can also more competently instruct others."

Fabio Leal οί Brazil trains in petroleum refining at Carter Oil Co., Tulsa, Okla.

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