The 1971 Volkswagen bus, painted in the green, yellow and white of Brazil's flag, picked a good place to break down. Emilio Zagaia and Felipe Luis da Costa had just arrived in the small Guatemalan city of Coban. They were two Brazilians in a strange town, but they received some unexpected help right away. "The city's local Volkswagen club is looking for you," their mechanic told them. "They saw your car and took a picture of it."

Andrew Saul, CEO of Genovation Inc., recently completed a three-week, eight-city speaking tour of Australia and New Zealand on "Entrepreneurship and Renewable Energy," as part of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP). Genovation is a Rockville, Md.-based designer and custom builder of environmentally friendly automobiles.