Kennedy-Lugar

Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program

Host one of YFU’s 2011-12 Kennedy-Lugar YES Students!

YES Students

2,000+

American families
have hosted YES
exchange students
since 2003.

4%

Of the students
who apply to the
YES Program are
accepted.

250+

Schools in the
United States are
currently hosting
a YES student.

30+

Nations
participate
in the YES
program.
In response to the events of September 11th, 2001, the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program was launched to build bridges of understanding between the United States and countries of the Arab and Muslim worlds. Funded by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), the YES program provides high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations the opportunity to live in the United States with host families and attend high school for an academic year.

             

 

Kennedy-Lugar YES welcomes students from

Albania, Bahrain, Bangladesh,  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gaza, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank and Yemen.

YFU YES Students at Orientation

YFU USA welcomes 31 YES students on program in the 2011-12 school year.




YFU YES Students at 2010 Arrival Orientation in Washington, D.C.

Contact Amy Ballard in the YFU USA National Office for more information on this host family opportunity.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to YES exchange students

 

YES students talk about their experiences in the U.S.

“I think that the main purpose of YES program starts now, to pay it forward…Now I’m a more responsible citizen, a loving son and a better student. I now understand the importance of U.S. ties with Muslim world. Due to a better understanding of American Political Culture, I understood the fact that people run the government, governments do not run people.”
~Muhammad
YFU YES Exchange Student from Pakistan to Nebraska

“This year was for me a year of learning and change. It allowed me to know more about myself, who I truly am...It also made me feel more mature and allowed me to accept things that I see in life such as how to accept and treat someone completely different from you, and one of those things is that you have to look at it in a positive way and learn as much as you can from them.”

~Khadidiatou
YFU YES Exchange Student from Senegal to Minnesota

YES Student Essays

Nadine - YFU YES Exchange Student from Qatar to Texas

“…having my host parents always by my side, supporting me in everything I did, whether it was my soccer games or my choir performances, they were always there for me, and the love they made me feel is something that kept me positive and determined in my exchange year.”

Read Nadine's entire essay here.

Jad - YFU YES Exchange Student from Lebanon to Michigan

"As the plane made its touchdown in Virginia, USA, I, Jad , a YFU/YES exchange student from Lebanon,had just scored a touchdown myself as I landed hundreds of miles away from home, to By now, I have spent seven out of the nine months in this awesome country. As I look back and reflect on this unique experience, I see happy faces, I hear laughter and I realize that I have lived it fully, learned a lot and met amazing people."

Read Jad's entire essay here.

Nada - YFU YES Exchange Student from Kuwait
"...coming here made me realize that the United States is more than a movie on TV or a politics article in a newspaper. It shocked me how people who don't know you and never met you in their lives would open their houses unconditionally for you and treat you like a part of their family. They worry when you are sick, they listen to you when you have something to say ... it all began to feel right…"

Read Nada's entire essay here.

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