International Education Week (IEW) is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. Since IEW occurs right before Thanksgiving, Youth Exchange and Study (YES) students across America can give thanks for this terrific scholarship opportunity by sharing their culture.
IEW is a joint initiative of the US Department of State and the US Department of Education and is part of a national effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from overseas to study, learn, and exchange life experiences.
IEW gives YES students across the US, and YES alumni around the world a unifying opportunity to help educate Americans about their countries and cultures. When YES students share their culture with their host communities, they simultaneously build bridges of mutual understanding and friendship in the place of negative stereotypes, xenophobia, and islamophobia. The impact of their weeklong efforts creates a ripple effect that can only be described as monumental and enduring.
During the five days of IEW, YES student Aliza from Pakistan gave five presentations to more than 60 people throughout Labette County, Kansas. She reflects on the week, saying:
"Breaking stereotypes and teaching my national language was the best thing I did throughout IEW. People thought that Pakistan is a country full of terrorism, but I changed their perspective by showing them slideshows. After my presentations, they were inspired and actually wanted to visit Pakistan in the time ahead. The appreciation I got from my teachers and the people of the city office was worth it."
Aliza's success isn't the only powerful result of IEW: 875 YES students in 570 US communities gave over 8,000 presentations, reaching approximately 130,000 Americans.
David, a YES student from Liberia, also loved the opportunity to share his country with his host county of Lucas, Ohio:
"IEW will probably be ranked the best week in my exchange year because it is a week when I gathered all my cultural knowledge of my country and selected ones that were most educational and fun to share. Most of all, I love the respect, gratitude, and appreciation Americans give you when you share your country with them...Thanks so much to the once in a lifetime opportunity that YES and the US Department of State gave me."
For YES students, the week is packed full of presentations, answering questions, and dancing with a cultural purpose. All 875 YES students made presentations about their home country to elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as in places of worship and community centers throughout their host communities. In these presentations, they discussed their culture and then allowed their audiences to experience it firsthand, such as by trying traditional foods, learning cultural dances, or getting henna tattoos. The students also discussed misconceptions about Islam and taught basic phrases in their native languages.
International Education Week brought a wonderful exchange of ideas, culture, and mutual respect for YES students and their host communities. We thank each and every YES student for sharing of themselves and of their country and culture. We also thank every host family for opening up and sharing their home with these exemplary YES students.
About the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program
The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was established by Congress in October 2002 in response to the events of September 11, 2001. The program is funded through the US Department of State and sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to provide scholarships for high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to spend up to one academic year in the United States. Students live with host families, attend high school, engage in activities to learn about American society and values, acquire leadership skills, and help educate Americans about their countries and cultures.