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Gaza
Jordan
Pakistan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet the Participants

Participants in the video conference will meet:

Nidal, a 16 year-old from Gaza, is living in the U.S. for ten months as a participant of the Youth and Exchange and Study (YES) program. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), the YES program was developed in response to the events of September 11, 2001 and aims to promote understanding and cooperation between the United States and the countries of the Arab and Muslim world. The YES program provides high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations the opportunity to live in the United States with a host family and attend high school for an academic year. While in the U.S., students participate in leadership training, community service and a mentoring project.

Jordanian teenagers attending Cardozo High School in Washington, D.C. as part of a three-week exchange through the BRIDGE program. During the group’s stay, the participants will shadow their American peers at school, visit cultural landmarks and participate in community service projects. The physical exchange is only one portion of the BRIDGE program. Prior to and after the exchange, BRIDGE participants collaborate online with their American peers to develop projects that are designed to have a positive impact on the world. Launched in the summer of 2002, the BRIDGE (Building Respect through Internet Dialogue and Global Education) Program aims to enhance cross-cultural communication in an educational context between U.S. high school students and their counterparts in the Islamic world. Through a grant by the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau at the U.S. State Department, the BRIDGE Program has provided online exchange opportunities for an estimated 24,000 students and teachers from over one thousand schools throughout the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia.

Pakistani alumni of YES and BRIDGE programs have lived in the U.S. and returned home where they continue to demonstrate the far-reaching effect of the programs through community leadership and alumni activities. The alumni will discuss how their experience in the U.S. has impacted their lives and provided them with a new perspective.