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.
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.
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.
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.
