YES students met President Bush at the White House in June.

Under the supervision of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the YES Program provides an opportunity for high school students from predominantly Muslim countries to experience life in a democratic society in order to promote these values and institutions in the Middle East and throughout the world.

Countries participating in the YES program include: Gaza, Iraq, Arab Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank, and Yemen.

Please visit the official program website:

http://exchanges.state.gov/education/citizens/students/nena/yes.htm

The Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) was established in 2003 by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in response to the tragedies of September 11. It falls under Partnerships for Learning (P4L), a global initiative undertaken by ECA to reach a younger and more diverse audience with a $10 million youth initiative for Muslim countries. This program awards high school Muslim students scholarships to study in clusters throughout the US where they are encouraged to exchange ideas, values, and experiences among young people and their communities.

The Department of State awards grants for school and host family placement and overall student monitoring to private US organizations.

Aspect Foundation administers the YES Program along with consortium of placement organizations. Throughout an entire academic year, the students experience enrichment activities of community service, a youth leadership training summit, civics education, negotiation and diversity training, and other activities designed to give them a well-rounded view of the US culture and values and to build leadership skills. This groundbreaking initiative continues to engage participating youth, their teachers and classmates, and community leaders in an exchange effort that promotes increased understanding and tolerance among all.

Upon their return, students apply their leadership skills at home. Alumni groups have formed and been involved with many projects, including clothing drives, community service activities, mentoring younger children and English teaching, immunization drives, and much more. All YES students and host families should register at http://alumni.state.gov in order to stay informed of Alumni events after the program year.

The recruitment and selection process for the YES program is conducted by AMIDEAST and iEARN. They are the central YES administrative organizations for Aspect Foundation's consortium abroad. Their responsibilities include recruiting and evaluating scholarship applicants, selecting finalists, arranging roundtrip travel between the students' home countries to their host families throughout the United States, providing on-program support for the students and their natural parents, and organizing and supporting alumni activities.

Cultural and other information is available on their websites at http://www.amideast.org/ and http://www.iearn.org/

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