During a business trip to China in 2002, Homa Sabet Tavangar was impressed by the country’s forward-looking goals.

The Chinese seemed fixated on preparing their children to compete in a global economy, she says. Meanwhile most Americans, understandably, were focused on healing after the first anniversary of 9/11 and improving homeland security.

Back home in Philadelphia, she searched for a book that encouraged children to become world citizens, but all she could find were titles dedicated to explaining terrorism.

So she decided to write her own: “Growing up Global: Raising Children to Be at Home in the World,” which was published last year.

“Globalization is here to stay. Everything is affected by our relationship with the world,” the married mother of three says.

Tavangar, who was born in Iran and lived in Fort Wayne as a child, will be the keynote speaker for the International Women’s Day celebration today at Indiana Tech’s Andorfer Commons.

The book is a hands-on guide that uses music, food, movies, sports and cultural celebrations to instill an appreciation for diversity and teaches children “to be a friend to the whole human race,” she says.

“What I’m advocating is that as competitive as the world is, … it’s still those kitchen-table conversations, those examples that parents and teachers set, (which) young people are watching, that really have a profound impact.”

Tavangar is a global citizen herself; she has traveled and lived around the world. In 2007, she and her three daughters lived in Gambia, West Africa, with relatives for four months. The girls, now ages 6, 14 and 16, attended school there.

“I saw how naturally my kids made friends and how, through the lens of friendship, they were learning so much about the country and culture,” she says.

“When you reach out to people across who they are (at first glance) and make friends, it is such a valuable experience. So many people did that in Fort Wayne. They saw who we were as people, as opposed to judging us by our country,” she says.

Her family lived here from the time she was 5 to age 16, before moving to California in the early 1980s. Tavangar was a cheerleader at Northrop High School.

And she, too, was horrified by media reports about the Iranian revolution.

“For the most part, my own friends knew we were nothing like those images on TV: people burning American flags and yelling ‘Death to America.’ That was horrible. My own family suffered so much,” says Tavangar, who was raised in the Baha’i faith.

And that faith helped teach her the importance of equality for everyone, regardless of gender or race.

“Part of being a global citizen is appreciating a need for a whole ‘oneness’ of humanity. Within that, you can’t tolerate injustice and inequality to half of the human race. When we have parts of the human population that are living in great oppression, (it) is weighing all of us down.”

She likes to use this image from Baha’i teachings: Women and men are like the two wings of a bird, with the bird representing society, or humanity. If one wing is strong and one is weak, then the bird can’t really fly, and society doesn’t really advance.

Belief in equality is just “part of our family values,” she says, along with faith, kindness, honesty and generosity. And women’s rights are not just “a Western thing,” but a universal cause – and one on which peace depends.

Ultimately, Tavangar hopes her book helps kids (and their parents) develop a broader worldview and strive to “be hopeful and optimistic, wherever we are,” she says.

“We’re wired for connection. When people have a chance to see the connection and feel this kind of unity with the world, it just feels right,” she says.

“It’s not just about the lives of somebody in India or Africa. … This is a tough time to try to make it (anywhere). With the economy and everything in flux, we should have hope. We live in a time where there is rapid change. We can empower ourselves, right here.”

sscarlett@jg.net