Youth Exchange and Study Programs

[1]Youth Exchange and Study Programs or YES Programs are full scholarship student exchange programs administered by the U.S. Department of State. YES includes the "inbound" program for students from close to 40 Muslim dominant countries to study and live in the U.S., and the "outbound" program, called YES Abroad, for students from the U.S. to study in selected YES countries.

The Kennedy-Lugar YES Program evolved out of a generalized recognition that public diplomacy efforts had been neglected in many countries around the world for many years and that the effects of this came into stark focus in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, along with the U.S. exchange community, recognized the importance of youth exchange as a key component of renewed commitment to building bridges between citizens of the U.S. and countries around the world, particularly those with significant Muslim populations.

Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program

The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program was established in October 2002. The program provides scholarships for high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend up to one academic year in the United States.[2] The first class of YES students arrived in the United States in 2003. The program has continued to expand, and has made connections across more than 40 countries:

Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad program

The Kennedy-Lugar YES Abroad program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, was initiated as a reciprocal extension of the YES program with the first group of American high school students and recent graduates participating in the 2009-10 academic year. YES Abroad is focused on cultural exchange and offers full scholarships for one academic year to live and study abroad in selected YES countries.

The scholarship covers costs related to: room and board for the In-Person Selection Event (for semi-finalists); round-trip airfare, room and board for the Pre-Departure Orientation; round-trip airfare between the participant’s home region and community abroad; in-country support; cultural activities; school tuition (where applicable); room and board with a host family; secondary medical benefits; visa fees; and a modest stipend.[3]

YES Abroad countries include:

YES Abroad students serve as “youth ambassadors” of the United States, promoting mutual understanding by forming lasting relationships with their host families and communities. Participants live with a host family, attend a local high school, acquire leadership skills, and engage in activities to learn about the host country’s society and values; they also help educate others about American society and values.[3]

YES Alumni Associations

YES students returning from their exchange year in U.S. are welcomed by the alumni communities in their country. These YES alumni communities actually help students to settle back into the culture after having had a whole year of learning, and these YES alumni communities are also responsible for helping returnees to cope with the reverse-culture shocks.

Most of the YES alumni communities in different countries are involved with volunteer activities that span over educational, cultural and recreational learning. However, their activities are not only limited to running learning projects but also they take part in rehabilitation, social welfare, etc. For instance, YES Alumni Pakistan which is one of the biggest YES alumni associations in the world is involved with many such incredible activities all across the year. The rehabilitation project after 2010 Pakistani floods, the YES Ramadan project in 2013 and numerous alumni led workshops and seminars are just a few of the projects that YES Alumni Pakistan has taken part in. Multitudes of such projects are also conducted under the banner of many YES alumni associations all around the world. These activities are actually a reflection of the passion of community service that students get to learn over their exchange year.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rotary youth exchange experience
  2. ↑ Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program Archived April 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2
  4. ↑
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