12 November 2004

Students from Muslim Countries Study in U.S. High Schools, November 12, 2004

(U.S.-funded scholarships to 424 students seek to bridge cultural gaps)

By Julie Lippmann
Washington File Writer

Washington -- School is in session for 424 high school students from the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia who are studying for a year in American high schools on scholarships provided by the U.S. government.

The Partnerships for Learning Youth Exchange and Study program (P4L YES), a Department of State-funded scholarship program, affords secondary students from countries with significant Muslim populations the opportunity to live and study in the United States for a full academic year, during which they learn about American customs and institutions and serve as cultural ambassadors for their own countries.

Amy Chamberlain of AYUSA International, an organization that helps administer the scholarships, said the program is successful because it allows the visitors to interact with Americans at the grassroots level. The students are "really just going out in their most honest, genuine way, saying, 'Here is who I am, here is where I am from, tell me about yourself,' and using that as a way to exchange ideas," Chamberlain said.

Students have the opportunity to share their own heritage and traditions with their American host communities, and the students enrich their leadership skills and understanding of the United States through community service, youth leadership training, a civics education program and other activities.

"The program is vital to expanding communication between the people of the United States and the partner countries in the interest of promoting mutual understanding and respect," said Kate Archambault, director of exchange programs at AMIDEAST, another organization that helps administer the program.

Many American students do not know much about the Middle East and the Muslim world, said Ghizal Miri, a 15-year-old girl from Afghanistan.

"They are excited to know about Afghanistan," she said.

Participants see "first hand" what it is like to live in the United States. They live with host families, and are treated as one of the family, doing chores, adhering to curfews, and going on family vacations. This intimacy allows the student and the family to transcend what they see in the media.

"The American media only shows bombs and military forces, people fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they never show the beautiful places like heaven in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The same thing [is true] in the [images of] United States. They are only showing Hollywood ... people going to parties every night, a giant holiday, and using credit cards all the time. But that's not the case," said Muhammad Saad, a student from Pakistan.

The program was launched in March of 2003 and has quickly gained in popularity, nearly tripling in size in its second year.

More than 4,792 students sought admission to the program for the 2004/2005 academic year. The applicants came from Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Israel, West Bank/Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Yemen.

The program will soon be expanded to include India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.

Former Ambassador and AMIDEAST President and Chief Executive Officer Theodore Kattouf, recently testifying before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said, "It is my firm belief that exposure to liberal education and values such as academic freedom and open inquiry are among the best tools we have to inspire a new generation in the Arab-Islamic world to resist the siren calls of those who would subvert one of the world's great monotheistic religions to achieve their political self-interests."

The scholarships cover all major expenses, including airfare, room and board, health insurance, pocket money and educational supplies, so that students can focus their efforts on learning about the United States and absorbing as much as possible from the experience.

An evaluation assembled from student surveys about the 2003/2004 program determined that "most participants were profoundly impacted by the exchange of ideas and beliefs with people from different parts of the world."

An "overwhelming majority" of participants said that they understood Americans "a lot better" and an even higher percentage said that they left people in the host communities with a better understanding of the students' home countries.

"We have stereotypes of Americans in the Philippines," said Victoria Tulad, a 16-year-old Filipino student. "So by observing, it either provides proof or contradicts the stereotypes we have. Observation has been very helpful to me."

When the students return to their home countries, they participate in alumni activities, assisted by the local, in-country partner organizations, so that they can engage in community action plans.

"More than anything, we want to see the real impact back in the home countries," said AYUSA's Chamberlain. "I would love to see the alumni develop in a really positive way by helping more students get involved, by teaching other youth about the U.S. and about the importance of bridging cultures, and that is where this alarming gap is going to be narrowed. These are the real change-makers."

Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Patricia Harrison recently addressed a group of YES students before they departed the United States for home. She stressed that they were chosen because they had the potential to be "future world leaders" and that, as alumni of a U.S. exchange program, they were "joining the ranks of presidents, prime ministers, Nobel prize winners, and leaders from every walk of life that you could imagine."

Kattouf said in the past decade tens of thousands of Middle Eastern students have returned to their own countries to serve in senior leadership positions "as cultural interpreters by virtue of their firsthand perspective on U.S. society."

The program is administered by a number of organizations, including AMIDEAST, AYUSA International, ASSE International, iEARN, and Sister Cities International.

Students in Pakistan can learn about the program's application process by accessing http://www.iearnpk.org/YES%20application%20process.htm

In all other countries where the program is offered, details are available at http://www.amideast.org/programs_services/exchange_programs/yes/default.htm#CountryAp