American Serbia and Montenegro Youth Leadership Exchange

Program News

• Distinguished Leader awards for A-SMYLE participants announced 07/12/11
  At the end of each school year, American Councils asks A-SMYLE Placement Organizations and Local Coordinators to nominate A-SMYLE participants who have been solid leaders in their host communities and who have effectively shown leadership skills for a Distinguished Leader award. The American Councils office in Washington, DC, reviews these nominations and selects the students who have demonstrated the most outstanding leadership qualities to receive awards of first place, second place, third place and honorable mention. We look for a diversity of accomplishments, skills, and experiences for these awards, and we were pleased to see all of these qualities in this year’s nominees.
• A-SMYLE Alumni Encourage Volunteerism to Bring Community Together 04/27/11
  A-SMYLE alumni Aleksandr Cakic and Teodora Tasic noticed a problematic trend in their hometown of Leskovac, Serbia: instead of taking action and trying to fix its problems, people were packing up and leaving their community. Aleksandr and Teodora believe one reason for this trend is a lack of ties within the community and very little dedication to making it better. To address this, they envisioned a project to bring everyone together and spark an interest in volunteering that would set an example for future generations. From this vision, their project ACT ON was born.
• High School Exchange Program Alumni in SE Europe "Get the Word Out" in Macedonia 04/26/11
  Alumni of the U.S. State Department-funded America, Serbia and Montenegro Youth Leadership Exchange (A-SMYLE), the Serbian Youth Leadership Program (SYLP), and the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Macedonia have been using their experiences as U.S. exchange students to inspire activities and projects that improve their home communities, teach about life in the U.S., and encourage others to take part in international exchange since the first A-SMYLE alumni returned home in 2006.
• A-SMYLE Alumni Promotes Volunteerism with Hands-on Training 03/14/11
  Danilo Stojanovic and Maja Jovanovic, 2010 A-SMYLE alumni, recently embarked upon a project entitled "Volunteerism and Me." The two engaged in various volunteer activities during their time on program in the U.S., and felt a strong desire to share these values with the younger generation in their town of Prokuplje, Serbia.
• A-SMYLE Alumna Inspires World Travel through Photography 01/06/11
  Tea Vastag, a 2006 A-SMYLE alumna, used her love of photography and her experiences in the U.S. to create a platform for talented Serbian youth to express themselves and showcase their photographs. The project, "Voyage of Dreams", a two-week event at the American Corner in Subotica, Serbia, not only promoted multicultural understanding through art, but also raised money for orphans and students with special needs.
• Are You Ready for Tolerance? 09/09/10
  When she returned from the U.S., A-SMYLE alumna Daniela Kurfis (2009) saw a lot of intolerance around her. Inspired by her experiences while on the program and a desire to promote tolerance in her hometown, Daniela organized a street performance: Are You Ready for Tolerance? (Because I Am!).
• Reusable Bag Fashion Show 09/09/10
  Serbia has a serious problem with plastic bag waste, so A-SMYLE alumnae Marija Micic (2008) and Tijana Isoski (2008) decided to take a fun approach to encouraging people to use reusable bags instead of the plastic ones that are ubiquitous here. They organized a fashion show in Vladmimirci at the Sugar Head EcoFest to demonstrate that reusable bags are fashionable and fun, and that "Plastic bags are so 2000 and late."