New Jersey Herald

New Jersey Herald: "hough Dakake has been involved with community service programs in high school and college, including working as a consumer advocate for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and later for the American Cancer Society, he quickly found that such programs were eyed with suspicion in other cultures.

As a member of a non-governmental service organization in Uzbekistan, he was often followed by the Uzbek equivalent of America's FBI, since part of his work was to 'open up the government' to the country's citizens. Dakake said he 'never felt in danger, but they definitely wanted to know what we were doing.'

Many Moldovans were equally suspicious. Because of the country's struggling economy, many citizens are trying to leave, either legally or illegally, to find work. 'They have no culture of philanthropy,' Dakake explained. 'It's a foreign concept. They think, if everyone's trying to leave ... why would an American come here?'

But by becoming living among the locals, accepting their customs and conversing with them, Dakake said he discovered a culture that he said is 'very hospitable.' Where in America, you must generally call ahead to your neighbors to tell them you are coming over, in Moldova, friends simply expect you to show up, Dakake said. They will break open homemade wines and foods they jarred themselves."