Over 200 Kennedy- Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) participants celebrated the completion of a successful program year at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President of American Councils opened the event, program which featured presentations by Ambassador J. Adam Ereli, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs; John Milewski, Host and Managing Editor, dialogue TV and Radio at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; and YES participants Ana from (Macedonia /Hawaii) and Moiz from (Pakistan/Illinois). Both students talked about their year in the United States, and Moiz summarized the sentiment of many YES students, saying “All of us have made so many memories with our host families, teachers and high school peers and even though we just left them, we will maintain these relations for the rest of our lives.” All remarked on the immense personal growth and change that the students experienced during their time in the U.S.
The YES program is a year-long high school exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by American Councils. YES was created by Congress in 2002 in response to the events of September 11, 2001 to build bridges between Americans and young people in countries with significant Muslim populations. YES students from 39 countries spend a full academic year attending a U.S high school and living with American host families. During the program, students engaged with their communities, shared their cultures, developed leadership skills, and learned about American society.
Since 2003, nearly 7,000 YES students, from 45 countries have received scholarships to spend a full academic year attending a U.S high school. During the lifetime of the program, YES participants have volunteered more than 340,000 hours of community service across the United States. Countries currently sending students on the YES program include Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gaza, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel (Arab Communities), Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank, and Yemen.
For more information about the YES Program, please visit: http://www.yesprograms.org/