Not every YES student is lucky enough to become best friends with a host sibling, but May Student of the Month Haris Akbar (2017-2018, Pakistan, hosted by World Link in Swansea, IL) and his host brother Michael were inseparable since the two joined Junior ROTC last September.  Haris’ host mother, Amy Smothers, said the two boys shared all the same interests. Special times together through JROTC included presenting the American flag during a professional baseball game and becoming Fire Cadets for the Swansea Fire Department. Through JROTC, they also proudly presented the school colors at the graduation ceremony for their school, Belleville East High School.

Besides forming a strong bond with his host family, the student from Pakistan was a stand-out in his community. During his YES year, he completed 190 volunteer hours. He tutored his peers and served meals to veterans. Haris cared for animals at the Humane Society and used his artistic skills to create promotional posters for it. He could be seen at many local community events and festivals, serving food, running game booths, or painting children’s faces. The capstone to Haris’ year was his Global Youth Service Day project, “Take the Initiative - Zero Hunger.” Haris, along with his YES teammate, Shadad Hossain from Bangladesh, raised awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Zero hunger to over 400 of their high school peers through presentations. A well-placed poster caught the attention of 1500 attendees of the spring play. While their main goal was to raise awareness, they also collected $127 by offering henna tattoos. This money will feed 12 primary school children for a month. 

Haris was an asset to his host school, according to his guidance counselor. He made honor roll, was selected to be his school’s representative at the National Academy for Future Physicists and Technology Experts Summit, and was chosen as the “Student of the Triad” for English.  He was part of “Saturday Scholars,” a science program for talented students. As a special project, Haris wrote a short lesson on religious tolerance. He wrote letters to his teachers asking them to present the lesson at school to “change the paradigms of their students and make the world a better place.” The lesson was taught in 80 classes.

Haris’ host mother told his local coordinator that hosting Haris has been a great experience for the whole family and that he will really be missed. Haris echoed his host mom's feelings and expressed how much he had grown in this short year.

Congratulations, Haris!