Yes AFS news

Yemeni YES Participant Discovers a Different Side of America

Thu Sep 02 00:00:00 +0000 2010

Maad Sharaf is a 17 year-old high school student from Aden, Republic of Yemen. In a recent Huffington Post article, Maad writes about how a year abroad in the United States has changed his life. He spent the 2008-09 school year in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

Maad describes how the media has shaped perspectives in both countries, and challenged himself to help change those perspectives:

“When I came here I had no idea what people thought about the Republic of Yemen and my religion. I found myself the only Arab-Muslim in the entire community and learned that a lot of people had negative views about my culture. They couldn’t imagine that all Muslims were as nice as me. When I asked them why, they would reference the local media. It was then that I decided I was responsible for teaching the American people in my community who we (Muslims) are as real people, and showing them that we are not the bad people they see in the news. I felt like I was not only representing Yemen, but also the Middle East and all the Islamic countries in the world.”

“I thought America was all about huge buildings, exciting places, drunken people everywhere and going to war with every country. That was what we saw every day on television and in American movies. Unfortunately, we never saw the nice things about it or the very respectful people.”

Read the full article

Volunteering for YES, Making an Impact

Tue Aug 17 00:00:00 +0000 2010

This article was originally posted on the AFS Volunteer Blog

by Carolyn Sharratt

I had the pleasure to be a group leader for the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program arrivals in Washington DC from August 8 to August 11. YES is an innovative high school exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This public diplomacy initiative builds bridges of international understanding, especially between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations.

The first day the students arrived was amazing. Watching high school students from 13 different countries come together, share stories, and teach each other new games was the realization of the AFS and YES missions being fulfilled.

Day two was DC day. We all got to visit the Department of State and listen to Ann Stock, Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural and Educational Affairs. Ann Stock shared with all of us her vision for the future of the YES Program and was grateful to meet all of the students that make this program a success. While waiting for all the students and speakers to arrive, country groups and students took advantage of photo ops at the podium and the American flag.

After visiting the Department of State, each country visited their own embassy and met with a representative or Ambassador. I was able to visit the South African Embassy. We met with the First Secretary of Political Affairs. The students really surprised me with the questions they asked the First Secretary. Their questions included the topics of education, immigration, and health care. The Embassy representative also spoke about how he sees programs like YES impacting the future of South Africa.

After the Embassy, all of the students went to the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. It was extremely hot and humid but we managed to take a group photo.

After a very long and hot day in DC, day three consisted of small student groups working on orientation activities that covered the topics of journaling, being an ambassador, conversations about religion, host family conflicts, and other difficult discussion areas. The students did role plays and played games that would prepare them for such situations during their 10 months in the US.

Since Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, began on August 11, the YES students had a Ramadan party on the last night of orientation. There was lots of food, music, and a few countries performed for everyone.

The next morning began very early (1:00AM!) with students saying goodbye, tears of sadness, excitement, and nervousness of the unknown that awaited them in their hosted community. These YES students learned a lot during these quick three days, but so did I. I learned that these YES and AFS programs mean so much to these students. What we do as volunteers and host families leave a lasting impression on these young adults. I learned more about Islam in these three days than I have in all my years in school, I learned DC was named after Christopher Columbus, and I learned that a group of 400 students from other countries can impact my view of the world and how my presence in my community is a part of a larger mission to build cultural understanding.

Photo courtesy Carolyn Sharratt

Indian Exchange Student Happy to Get Taste of Home during Ramadan

Mon Aug 16 00:00:00 +0000 2010

This article was originally published on The News Tribune web site

By Sara Schilling, Herald staff writer

PASCO — Musarraf Ali could have eaten a bag of peanuts or drunk a can of soda during his flight last week to Pasco.

Breaking the daily fast during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan is allowed while traveling, and Ali, 15, of India, flew thousands of miles to start his yearlong exchange in the Tri-Cities.

But the teen said abstaining from drinking and eating during daylight hours is an important part of the observance, so he didn’t want to miss it, even in the air.

He got to enjoy another part of Ramadan — the iftar meal, which breaks the daily fast after the sun goes down — with new friends in the Tri-Cities on his first night in town.

“I’m very happy to meet them. It’s very incredible,” he said, standing in the packed living room of his host mom, Sabiha Khan of Pasco.

Ali is spending a year in the Tri-Cities through the Youth Exchange and Study program, which is paid for by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

His first day in town was last Wednesday, which also was the first full day of Ramadan. Dozens of people gathered at Khan’s home, sharing laughs and conversation as they waited for sunset. When the sky began to grow dark, they broke the fast with water, juice and dates.

After a prayer session, the meal began.

Ali mingled with his new friends and host family. He’d already been in the U.S. for a few days because he participated in an orientation session in Washington, D.C., before flying to Pasco. Another Muslim student also arrived in the Tri-Cities on Wednesday with Ali, but is staying with a different family.

Ali said he felt right at home during the iftar meal. He would be doing the same thing if he were back home in India.

Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a time Muslims look forward to each year. It commemorates when, according to Muslim belief, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to the prophet Muhammad and revealed the Quran, which is Islam’s holy book.

The month starts at a different time each year because it follows the lunar calendar. It’s a time of special prayers, charity and fasting.

The fasting isn’t so much about self-denial, but about spiritual discipline and growing closer to God, said Yehia Ibrahim, president of the Islamic Center of the Tri-Cities. Everything is enhanced during Ramadan — there’s more worship, more outreach, more charitable giving, he said.

“It’s a month of blessing,” Ibrahim said during the gathering at Khan’s home. “We wish that for every human being around us. We wish to share that with everyone around us.”

About 200 families belong to the Islamic Center in West Richland. During Ramadan, there’s a community iftar meal at the mosque each week.

In the spirit of the month, members especially try to reach out to the growing number of refugees in the Tri-Cities from places like Iraq, Ibrahim said.

People seemed to be having fun last week during the gathering at Khan’s home. They shared the meal of rice, vegetables and other dishes. They spent time laughing, telling stories and watching children play. Ali made new friends.

The plan is for Ali to stay with Khan, who teaches high school in Kennewick, for a few weeks before moving on to a permanent host family.

He said he looks forward to taking high school classes and learning what it’s like to be a teenager in America. He’ll miss his family and life back home, but he’s also looking forward to the adventure.

“I wanted to see the way of life in America,” he said.

Starting with a little taste of home during Ramadan.

New YES Students Visit the Embassy of the Philippines

Mon Aug 16 00:00:00 +0000 2010

This was originally published on the Embassy of the Philippines web site.

August 9, 2010, Washington, DC – Forty Filipino students mostly from Mindanao arrived yesterday to participate in a one-year student exchange program under the Department of State’s Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES). They visited the Embassy today and called on Philippine Ambassador to the United States Willy C. Gaa. “I congratulate these young Filipinos for passing the rigorous selection process of YES. I am confident that as they are immersed into their host families and communities, they would also impart elements of the rich and diverse culture of the Philippines,” the Ambassador noted.

YES provides one-year scholarship to students from countries with significant Muslim population to attend high school in the United States and learn more about the US society.

Also see The Asian Journal

Our Golden Cluster of Exchange Students

Wed Aug 11 00:00:00 +0000 2010

by Sonali Medhekar, India 09-10
hosted in Silver Creek, NY

Around four hundred students were in D.C. on 9th July, 2009. Everyone was very excited and a little bit nervous and scared at the same time, but each told ourselves we were ready for this unique adventure of a year’s time in the USA. No one was talking much; we were consumed with observing our surroundings. We were rooming and attending all sessions with students from many different countries.

We had no idea what we were in for, and how fun it was going to know teenagers from all over the world. As we proceeded through the hours and days in DC orientation, we started to realize we kept running into the same students in our groups over and over again. It took us a while but we eventually figured out that we were all headed for Western New York and were going to be in the same group of sponsored students, called a cluster. We started developing friendships and relationships, that we had no idea were going to result in the closest relationships we might ever experience. These friendships immediately decreased the level of our homesickness.

Our first Western NY event was as a family picnic in early September where we met the other students hosted in our region who were not necessarily in the YES program. We found out that WNY has a really passionate group of volunteers who schedule activities for us as well as make sure we are all doing OK. Along with our parents, we met with our fearless leader, Mrs. Carol Collins. Mrs. Carol has an enthusiastic, encouraging, and charming personality to show us American life styles, society, cultures and government. We had a rich cultural event at least one weekend per month which she systematically arranged. We learned a lot about America as well as about other countries as we discussed how the experiences compared to things in our own countries.

Besides our regular cluster events which we learned so much from, we also participated in volunteer activities and community service. We found that volunteerism is a very strong ethic in America and learned a lot about giving to the community and about leadership skills because of these activities. In addition we were active in giving presentations to various groups or organizations in our region. We shared information about our countries and about our experiences. We found our audiences were very interested in listening and learning from us. On top of the required activities that a cluster is supposed to do, such as learning about American government and Native American culture, our coordinator invited us to many concerts, musicals, dramas, performances, festivals, museums and such.
We enjoyed watching each other in a high school musical or go to an art gallery event to try to learn how to Tango. We truly appreciated her kindness in everything she did for us. She is my role model forever.

We did so many things as a group and wherever we went, people who met us told Mrs. Carol that she had a United Nations with her. That’s what we felt like, which was a great feeling. Our crew consisted of Sinbad Silongan from the Philippines with his genuine sense of humor and the best smile ever; Suka Pradita from Indonesia with a charming affectionate character was always ready with a quiet hug to make you feel better; Talal Alhenaski from Saudi Arabia, whom we affectionately called our “King of Oil”; next we had Gehad Abdelgawad from Egypt with his strong positive attitude and class clown humor that could make anyone laugh; Ece Mese from Turkey with her strong organizational and great leadership skills demonstrated by her arranging surprise birthday parties for us; then we had Lolita Zarifullaeva, our beauty queen, who showed us how one is supposed to dress and present themselves. Max Schumann from Germany with his candid baby face and most welcoming smile, showed us what a warm friendship feels like; Nico Holtgrefe from Germany with his smooth dance moves, blew us all away at the talent show.

But our tight group did not consist only of sponsored students. Some other locally hosted students became a close part of our group and participated in many of our activities. These included Tata Nokmeerod from Thailand, with the sweetest, most polite personality anyone has ever met; Raban Burcher from Switzerland who has a most earnest disposition and competed on the track team with the best. Andrea Schneider and Briggitte Pace from Eden NY gave us a huge amount of support and friendship throughout the year and came with us on many events. Their friendship will never be forgotten and these Americans will be in our hearts forever.

I never would have imagined I would have been a part of such a wonderful group, always together, always having fun and making people laugh. It was an amazing group of individuals none of whom felt they were better than anyone else either because of where they were from or what their personality was. Everyone appreciated everyone else for who they were and respected each other’s culture. They had interest in each other’s culture. We had fun with the American language, making mistakes, and also trying to learn each others’ native language at the same time.

At the close of this astonishing year, it was miserable to believe that we will not be together at a same time in our life again! It was very cheerless feeling. We talked and spent lots of time together as much as we can at the end. But, still the year was going to end. We didn’t stop our imagination and came up with following idea. We have made one card which has everybody’s name and other things as well. It’s going to travel to everyone’s home as world map goes. Like, first to Philippines then it will stay at him (Sinbad) for a month and then travel to Indonesia and then so on and so forth. It will stay at everyone for a month and they will forward the same card to next by adding a note or picture etc. Then, when it comes to USA again, they will continue the same cycle again. By that way, we will again share a big experience. We will be in touch. Internet helps us but we suffer through some problems like, time difference in countries, so, we can’t talk with each other at the same time. A Card gives real experience, we thought! So, I think, “Our hearts were breaking, but despite the pain, it was better to have loved and now be hurting, than never to have loved at all.”

For, all this, I would like to give thanks to all of our host families, AFS volunteers’ team, Mrs. Carol Collins, everybody in the group and all who gave us huge support!

Poverty: If you were there, would you survive?

Thu Jul 29 00:00:00 +0000 2010

Faiz Rahman, YES 2009-10 student from Indonesia, writes about the gap between rich and poor.

This article was originally published in the Jakarta Post

Poverty: If you were there, would you survive?

I don’t know if being poor is an option. I grew up in a developing country where the standard of living is far from enough for those people who struggle every day just to get some money to buy food. Some of them even don’t know what they will eat or how to get the money to buy food each day.

Farmers in my country are out in the hot sun every day; they don’t have high technology and advanced equipment to cultivate crops. Most of them grow their crops using very traditional methods. For example they use a bullock cart to help do the harvest. They live very poorly. They provide food for people, but they have problems of "what to eat today’.

Fishermen in my country risk their lives every day by facing huge waves that in a second could destroy their small boats.

These fishermen are the providers for their families. If they died then who would take care of their families? And they live in very poor circumstances.

Some little kids in my country have to walk more than 10 miles every day and they have to swim across the river to get to school. The determination of these kids to get their education is very highly appreciated.

They live in villages – if Argyle (where I’m staying now) is considered as a village, we would call Argyle a town in my country. We define villages as places where we have no access to lots of things; transportation, good schools, clean water, good telephone system, internet, or even proper bathrooms. Villages perhaps have just one or two teachers at the school who teach every subject.

Why is the gap between the rich and poor so huge? If Tiger Woods was paid a million dollars a month and shared 30 percent of his golf prizes with people in Angola or Ethiopia, maybe the money would be a lot better spent than if he spent it cheating on his Swedish wife.

Or if Bill Gates spent 20 percent of his company’s monthly profits on the needs of people in the Western Hemisphere or Southern Asia, maybe that money could build thousands of schools and water points.

Or, if we stopped making wars or spending billions of dollars on wars, causing death and injuries, maybe we could help more homeless people by building shelters or helping community groups, so they won’t feel cold every night because they have to sleep outside, or not feel lonely anymore, because they can make friends with other homeless people.

Poverty is one of the major problems we’re facing now. From more than 190 nations in this world, only about 40 nations are considered developed countries, and the rest are considered to be developing countries, which means that the standard of living in these countries is much less than in the developed ones.

And lots of countries are still struggling to get good education, proper houses, enough food, clean water, etc. At least 80 percent of humanity lives on less than US$10 a day, according to UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty, around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted, 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.

Maybe you were shocked about the facts, me too. I don’t want to talk theoretically about this poverty problem, but I want to talk about it logically. I don’t know how hard it is to work and maybe that makes people not want to share their money. They think they deserve it, because they have worked hard. Maybe I don’t understand this because I never had a job.

But imagine if all the world shared with these unlucky people, I believe the world would be a better place. They are poor not because they are cursed by God, but they are just unlucky, or maybe God wants to see evidence of their patience and faith. You and I don’t know why the world works this way. Let’s find the answers and solve the problem.

Faiz Rahman
Argyle, Wisconsin, USA

Students with Disabilities Succeeding in International Exchange

Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 +0000 2010

This video, from YES partner Mobility International, highlights the experiences of several YES students with disabilities.

If you’re a US family interested in hosting a YES student, complete a Host Family Interest Form!

See more at YESProgramsTV

My Dream is Peace

Wed Jul 28 00:00:00 +0000 2010

By request, the Edmonds Beacon is reprinting a speech delivered by exchange student Tinus Tuozie, of Ghana, West Africa, at the Meadowdale High School graduation ceremony on June 19.

By Tinus Tuozie

There are moments in our lives when we need to put the past aside and focus on our achievements, and today is one such moment I am so delighted to be part of. It was a dream come true when I was accepted into the “land of the free and home of the brave.”

I came here not to demand respect from you or to take anything away from you; I came here to give my heart out, just to see light and to be considered one of you. But you have taken me in as more than a student, which I don’t even deserve. I have nothing of my own to give back, and therefore the only thing to give back is to make you proud for taking time to make me who I am.

Words cannot express my gratitude at this moment of my life. I feel uplifted about being part of this great day where courage, determination, hard work and hope have been our only choices since the beginning of this academic journey.

My ever grateful and heartfelt thanks go to the United States of America, state of Washington and the Edmonds School District for taking me as one of you in your beautiful land. May you live long to produce great people such as those before me.

Thank you to the staff of Meadowdale High School who have been such wonderful support in making this year a success and to AFS/AYA [American Field Service/Academic Year in America, an intercultural-exchange program] for this excellent opportunity to come to the United States.

I cannot take my seat without saying a very big thank you to my brother, my friend and my partner, Brenden Howell, and his wonderful family and friends who have been so tremendous in my life.

You have been so outstanding and amazing and words cannot describe how I wish to express my profound gratitude today. Thank you for accepting me into your home. I appreciate every minute I spend in your hands.

To my colleagues, the Class of 2010, it has been a short stay here, and how I wish I had gotten to know you all better and treat you with more respect. I wish you the best in life, and I promise to be with you as a brother, as a friend and as a partner.

I am so very proud to call myself a Maverick of Ghana and a Maverick of Africa. I hope you have a goal in life, because I do, and it is for my country Ghana, my continent Africa and the world.

Peace is my dream, peace is my goal, peace I want for you and peace we shall achieve.

This is the time.

I ask today that this graduation will forever be part of your life, as it is for me.

May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.

Related articles:
Exchange Student Inspires at Edmonds Schools

US Embassy Welcomes Home Malaysian Alumni

Fri Jul 09 00:00:00 +0000 2010

This article was originally published on the US Embassy Malaysia website

On July 6, Cultural Affairs Officer (CAO) Nicholas Papp welcomed home 47 Malaysian alumni of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program after their six month exchange program in the United States. The workshop started with a video screening of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s June 16th remarks to a group of YES alumni in Washington DC. The speech highlighted the importance of the YES program, alumni engagement and giving back to the community.

Together with International Visitor Leadership program alumnus “Dash” Dhakshinamoorthy Balakrishnan, Papp engaged and invigorated the new alumni in a 90-minute workshop focused on alumni partnerships to give back to the community. The returnees were attending a three day debriefing program organized by AFS International Malaysia. Although a bit jetlagged from their long journey home, the alumni were fresh with ideas for future alumni projects and agreed on the importance of building and sustaining partnerships between the alumni of various USG sponsored exchange programs such as Fulbright and the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). In his message, “Dash” shared his exchange program experiences, having recently attended the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship as well as a three-week IVLP. He stressed the importance of making the most of their new-found knowledge and global mindset to help the disadvantaged in their communities.

After an overview on upcoming alumni projects, the alumni broke into groups to begin charting out their action plans for an exciting alumni project which will focus on engaging alumni in partnerships to implement a series of community development projects. These community development projects will focus on Leadership Skills Development, English Language Skills Development, Poverty Reduction, Environmental Issues and Global Climate Change, Poverty Reduction, and Social Entrepreneurship.

The Embassy’s new embassy Alumni Coordinator, Tryphena Mathius, will be involved in coordinating these project with the goal of networking and associating alumni of U.S. government sponsored exchange programs in Malaysia.

Related articles: YES Malaysia Alumni News

Follow YES Alumni Malaysia on-line:

Photo from US Embassy Malaysia

YES Students Featured on North Carolina TV!

Wed Jul 07 00:00:00 +0000 2010

2009-10 YES students Padmanabh Phadke from India and Muhammad Amin from Indonesia talk about their US school life, host family and discovering snow on “My Carolina Today”.

Watch it here!