Congratulations to Faisal Hassan (‘07, hosted in Seattle), President YES Alumni Malaysia, for being selected as the State Department’s State Alumni of the Month for February!
The U.S. Department of State has named Faisal Hassan, a Malaysian alumnus of the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, as State Alumni Member of the Month. Hassan was selected in recognition of his work as president of YES Alumni Malaysia, an association promoting youth empowerment through leadership and volunteerism. In the past year, with support from the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, he has been involved in leadership training, teaching English to disadvantaged youth, and raising public awareness to promote international peace.
During his semester at a high school in Seattle, Washington, Hassan had his first taste of American-style teamwork by taking part in club activities and watching Seattle Mariners baseball. Hassan cites family, friendship, and an open mind as the three elements that made his U.S. exchange experience memorable.
Returning to Malaysia from his 2007 YES program, Hassan brought home lessons learned about teamwork, friendship, and leadership. As a strong proponent of new media tools, he makes full use of Facebook, his association’s blog, and the State Alumni website to showcase YES Alumni Malaysia’s many achievements.
In November 2009, Hassan and YES Alumni Malaysia hosted a Global YES Alumni Conference welcoming more than 50 YES alumni worldwide to a global version of the train-the-trainers leadership skills development program.
Hassan’s contributions as a YES alumnus and leader have positioned him to share his American exchange experience both locally and internationally. He currently works with YES alumni in Ghana and India to assist them in starting their own alumni associations. He also studies mass communications in a university program, and hopes to pursue a career in Malaysian politics.
Throughout February, Hassan’s leadership and promotion of community service will be recognized on the State Alumni website, https://alumni.state.gov, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ official website for the more than one million alumni who have participated in a Department-sponsored exchange program. Each month, the Bureau’s Office of Alumni Affairs, which supports alumni as they build on their exchange experiences, confers the award on an outstanding alumnus or alumna. For more information, visit http://exchanges.state.gov/alumni/alumnus.html.
Media Contact: Catherine Stearns, StearnsCL at state.gov or phone (202) 632-6437
Photo: Faisal Hassan manages alumni leadership committee office at recent training workshop
The 2009-10 cycle was the first year AFS welcomed 5 young Mozambican men and women to the US on the YES program, currently hosted in KY, DC, OH, KS, and AK. As we look forward to the arrival of the next group of students from Mozambique, AFS-USA is continuing to partner with the Lurdes Mutola Foundation (FLM) for the recruitment, selection, and orientation of YES students. FLM works to provide Mozambican youth the services they need to further develop through education, sports, and entrepreneurial opportunities. For more information about YES in Mozambique, please visit The Lurdes Motola Foundation
For the2010-11 cycle, Mozambique saw a total of 41 applicants competing for 10 scholarship opportunities. From this first group, 18 finalists from two main cities in Mozambique—Nampula in the north and Maputo (the capitol) in the south— came together in Maputo for a final selection. Among them were the first 3 deaf students recruited in Mozambique. The final 10 students will be divided up among the AFS-led YES consortium of hosting organizations: ACES, AIFS, CIEE, and PAX; student applications will become available in the coming weeks.
For background information about Mozambique, please see page 86 of the YES cultural handbook on the AFS Wiki (connects to .pdf download. You will need Adobe Acrobat to access.).
Please join me in welcoming the next Mozambican group to the US in August 2010!
This past January 13-16, a team of AFS staff and volunteers, along with representation from 3 of our 4 YES consortia hosting partners (ACES, AIFS, CIEE and PAX), welcomed our 46 semester Malaysian students, 2 of whom are Deaf students, into the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program. Of these 46 YES Malaysian students, 10 are hosted by PAX, 9 are hosted by AYA, 5 are hosted by ACES and the remaining 22 are currently being hosted by AFS-USA all over the United States.
AFS-Malaysia collaborates with the Malaysia Federation for the Deaf in order to recruit students for the YES Program. AFS staff in Malaysia worked closely with the Malaysia Federation for the Deaf (MFD) in order to develop and plan the 3rd annual ASL Camp. Past Deaf Alumni were able to collaborate with them to provide additional input and ideas for this camp and then join them to help facilitate along with AFS-MAS staff. As the YES Program strives to engage, recruit and support students with disabilities this is a big step forward and we know the ASL Camp will continue to grow, improve and provide additional preparation in order to better support our deaf participants.
Upon arrival to the US, the group dove into an eventful and lively 3 day orientation in the Washington, DC area. Highlights included a visit with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, as well as a session led by Kimberly King of the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF) on the topic of Culture and Religion in America.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank one AFS volunteer, Mary Ann Offer of the World Class Area Team in Wisconsin, who filled our “Lead Facilitator” volunteer role during the event. Mary Ann joined our team and took on key responsibilities throughout the various planning stages, organizing a volunteer training and info sessions. Mary Ann led all the orientation sessions and was the main contact for our 5 group leaders. Mary Ann Offer is also a member of the Sponsored Programs Advisory Group (SPAG).
Please join us in warmly welcoming the YES Malaysians to the US!
Please welcome the first group of South African YES students to join the AFS-led consortium in the 2010-11 cycle! This coming August we look forward to having 6 students from South Africa come to the United States on the YES scholarship, funded by the US Department of State.
AFS Interculture South Africa has taken the lead in recruiting, selecting, and orienting these students. AFS in South Africa has utilized their strong volunteer base to focus recruitment in three main areas of the country: Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, each city sending 2 students in the final group of 6. AFS in South Africa focused to ensure inclusion of qualified young men and women to represent the diversity of South Africa.
For the 2010-11 cycle, South Africa saw a total of 47 applicants from Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban competing for 6 scholarship opportunities. All 47 took part in individual interviews and group activities in their respective communities. From this first group, 16 finalists moved on to the home interview stage, where AFS volunteers met with the applicant and family in their home for a personal interview. From this final group of 16 students (8 girls and 8 boys), 6 were selected to travel to the us—3 girls and 3 boys. The final 6 students will be divided up among the AFS-led YES consortium of hosting organizations: ACES, AIFS, CIEE, and PAX; student applications will become available in the coming weeks.
Please join me in welcoming the first group of YES students from South Africa!
This article was originally published in the Edmonds Beacon
Published on Thu, Jan 21, 2010 by Sara Bruestle
Tinus Tuozie wants to inspire Americans to be global citizens. As an ambassador of Africa, he’s helping Americans to actively think about and engage with other nations of the world.
He’s only 17, but he’s taking his job very seriously.
Tuozie, an exchange student at Meadowdale High School, recently won an International Education Week competition for a presentation he gave on the West African nation Ghana.
Competition results were announced in December, but Tuozie, from Ghana, is far from finished with his IEW project.
“I think my nation needs my service, my continent needs me,” he said. “This is the time to educate others about [Ghana] and make Africa a place to be by the outside world.”
Since his initial presentation to Meadowdale staff on Nov. 9, Tuozie has given his presentation numerous times to students at Meadowdale and Maplewood Middle School.
“Some people out there think that Africa is just a nation,” he said. “They don’t even know that Africa is a continent and has different nations in it, so we do this to help them be connected, because the world is coming together.”
Tuozie is living with a host family in Lynnwood for a year and attending Meadowdale as a student in the AIFS/AFS Intercultural Exchange program.
Students in the program were asked to carry out a project that helps teach Americans about the world beyond their own country in celebration of International Education Week in November.
AIFS submitted the projects – captured in photos, video and letters of recommendation – to an IEW competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
American Field Service is sponsored by the American Institute for Foreign Study foundation, which supports programs that send students abroad as ambassadors of their countries to build global awareness.
AFS is an international-exchange program that aims to grow intercultural understanding throughout the world.
“AIFS wants us, as intercultural exchange students, to educate Americans about our culture, our nation, and tell stories about our family, ourselves, and tell all our stories about everything, so they can be educated about Africa and our world,” Tuozie said.
For his project, Tuozie gave a PowerPoint presentation on the geography, history, flag, economy, government, culture, agriculture, tourism and languages of Ghana. He welcomed questions about Ghana and Africa.
Elizabeth Cano, an English teacher at Meadowdale, said she is thankful for the opportunity Tuozie gave students and staff in Edmonds schools to learn about Ghana.
“People should never pass up the opportunity to learn about other cultures, as it makes us more open-minded [and] empathetic at times,” she said. “And as a result [we] appreciate our own culture and surroundings more.
“Few people can afford to travel to foreign countries, so Tinus allows us to learn about Ghana in a unique way, not by book or film, but by a personal experience presented with pictures and emotion which transcends pages or video clips.”
As a competition winner, Tuozie will go to Baltimore in April to attend the Better Understanding for a Better World leadership conference. He’ll get to discuss leadership, education and global citizenship with students from 24 countries around the world, including Kazakhstan, Egypt and the United States.
“I am privileged to know him and work with him, as are the other students in our school,” said Jill Van Berkom, a photography teacher at Meadowdale. “I know that he will continue to be an amazing ambassador for the people of Ghana. [The] conference will give Tinus a chance to show others in the USA what an amazing and accomplished young man he is.”
All his life, Tuozie wanted to go abroad – not just for travel experience or to get an education – but to make a difference.
He’s keeping a list of everything Ghana needs to improve on, including humanitarian aid, education and communication.
In addition to his IEW project, Tuozie is creating a Web site where students from Meadowdale can connect with students from and his school in Ghana so they can share experiences as well as teaching and learning methods.
“Through this [online] school relationship, I’m hoping that students will get to experience a more connected world,” he said.
Tuozie said he admires President Barack Obama and his leadership as the first African-American president of the United States. It’s his wish to follow in Obama’s footsteps.
He has applied to several colleges across the United States, including Macalester College in Minnesota, Trinity University in Texas, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Yale University in Connecticut.
He plans to study law and political science so he can return to his nation as a leader and help other Ghanaians fight for the betterment of their country.
But for now, he’s happy to give his Ghana presentation to students and staff in the Edmonds School District.
Andy Streit, an English teacher at Meadowdale, asked Tuozie to share his presentation with his students because they were reading an African novel in class. Streit wanted to bring the story to life for his students with Tuozie’s stories, and it did.
“Tinus, I think, opens students’ eyes to the broader world,” he said. “Many of them don’t have the opportunity to travel outside of the United States, so I think the next best thing is [having] someone like Tinus, who is able to speak from his heart and share experiences, to help open up our eyes to all the differences we have here.”
Many students in Streit’s class asked Tuozie questions about his background and what it was like growing up in Ghana, West Africa.
Tuozie grew up in a farming town called Jirapa, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The town, with a population of nearly 30,000, is about the size of Lynnwood.
Born in 1992, Tuozie spent most of his childhood living without a mom or dad. His parents divorced when he was two, so he and his four brothers were sent to live with his grandmother while his mom sold food at a nearby market to support the family.
His dad died in a car accident when he was 11, and soon after Tuozie and his brothers were sent to live with his uncle. Tuozie’s mom and uncle couldn’t afford to send him to boarding school when he finished primary school, so he helped his mom and uncle sell food at the market until they could pay for his tuition.
It was at the boarding school that Tuozie heard about the AIFS/AFS Intercultural Exchange program, for which he applied. After an exam, an interview, several vaccinations, a bus ride and two plane rides later, he finally arrived in Seattle for the “greatest year” of his life.
“It’s just amazing,” Tuozie said. “That’s a word I like to use a lot because everything in the United States is amazing. I’m having the best experience of my life.”
Photo by Jake Watrous, Edmonds Beacon: Tinus gives a presentation to Meadowdale school staff on Nov. 9
