Exchange Program Of The United States Takes Students From Countries In Conflict
Alamar Sarah hopes that when she arrived in America, it would not be considered as just another Muslim terrorist.
The 17-year-old in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, participated in the Youth Exchange and Study program, which he believed he could help change perceptions about the Middle East.
"I wanted people (the U.S.) do not know what people think," he said. "This was actually one of the big reasons I came here."
The YES program, which began in '11 following the terrorist attacks of September 2001 to help build understanding between Americans and people in a significant Muslim population.
The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Students receive a merit scholarship, once accepted into the program.
Sarah was placed in Chester county Alabasi with the family to the program a year later with his parents in Saudi Arabia attended several meetings.
Alabasi Kim said she and her husband Hayder, wanted a student of the Middle East when her husband is resident in this area.
"I wanted to tell you that culture is my children," he said.
