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A Pair of Scott High School Students Have Come up ACES

By Linda Nelson
Sojourner’s Truth Reporter

In the middle of international tensions, global divisions and an impending re-structured immigration law, the American Cultural Exchange Service’s (ACES), secondary program serves as an undercurrent for international reconciliation, global diplomacy and cultural understanding.

Through its efforts, the nonprofit organization – which operates through the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the U.S. Department of State – and the generosity of local families who open their homes to international high school students, provide life altering experiences and far reaching effects.  

Tracee Ellis, local international coordinator for ACES, said that students from more than 65 countries around the world are courted, every academic year, to come to the United States and experience life and culture.

“One of our primary initiatives for diplomacy is secondary exchange,” said Ellis. “If we are going to have peace in the world, we have to understand one another. We have to teach our children diplomacy and respect and they have to be knowledgeable about international relationships and how we are dependent on one other for success.”

 


Abdul Rafiq Lartey and Birama Ndiaye


Tracee Ellis

For Abdul Rafiq Lartey and Birama Ndiaye the program is personal.

Lartey, 17, and Ndiaye, 15, were chosen to participate in this year’s program. They described the experience of leaving their homes, their families and their friends for a nine-month opportunity to come to Toledo, attend Scott High School and become immersed in the American culture,

“This experience has changed my life,” said Lartey who said he heard about the program in Ghana.  “People from outside of the school came in to educate us on how to live moral lives on campus, because we were boarding students,” he said. “One person in the group was an [ACES] alumnus who told us that it was a very good program and that we would get the chance to come to America, experience American culture and study abroad for one year.”

Lartey said he was initially skeptical about the opportunity. “I personally thought that it wasn’t possible because I didn’t think that it was something that existed for someone to buy you a plane ticket and you could go outside of the country and stay in another country and study there for free and have a close family,” he said. “I didn’t believe it.”

Lartey said that he remained doubtful throughout the process including the testing, the interviewing and even the receipt of his passport. “I didn’t believe it until I got on the airplane,” he said.

“I always dreamed of coming to America, and I wanted to come here because of the movies I watched on TV. It was like a dream,” he said. But he soon discovered that life in the Toledo  would be a far cry from the movies he’d seen on television.

“The people [here] are totally different, Lartey said. “In Ghana I was with the people that I grew up with. We slept in the same school and we knew each other. It was more of a bonding [experience] than it is here.  When I got here I was confused. I had sleepless nights,” he said. “And when my host mother took me places like, the mall, I still couldn’t believe it. It took me about three months to settle into this environment.”

And with just a couple of months left before he returns to Africa, Lartey said he has made many friends and has had several positive experiences that have strengthened, and inspired him. He has perfected his English, taken broadcasting classes and participated in public speaking events.

“My English has improved vastly, and so has my broadcasting skills” he said. “I was not so much of an outspoken person when I came here.” But he is now comfortable speaking in front of crowds and sharing information about ACES.

And in June, he will leave behind the values that he brought from Ghana and hopefully a deeper appreciation of Ghanaian music. “I tried my best,” Lartey said. “I went to the extent of going to a Christian church with my host family, even though I’m a Muslim. I participated in all of the family events. And I participated in household responsibilities. I did the dishes and ironed my host family’s clothes, and I had talks with my host brother about parental respect. When I go back home I hope they will remember me and say ‘Oh if Rafiq were here he would have been doing the dishes. I hope that I remind them of a person that they will always remember.”

And he will carry to Ghana all of the lessons he’s learned through training and teaching and relationships that have inspired him. “I want people to know how much I’ve learned from here, because a lot of things I’ve learned here people don’t know in my country,” said Lartey.

He plans on using those newly acquired leadership skills to help his community. “I want to be able to teach them that community service matters and why you should value your community and your culture and how you should be able to relate to one another around the world,” he said.

“Our country has a lot of economic problems. If I go back there and educate people that we all have to contribute to the progress of the country, I feel like we could solve our problems by ourselves. Nobody is going to do anything for us, but it’s the responsibility of each and every one of us. There are a lot of things I want to do. Those are just a few things.”

And even though Birama Ndiaye and Lartey didn’t meet until they arrived in Toledo, they share similar stories. Ndiaye, who described his home country of Senegal as a “beautiful country with a diverse culture, said that his road to here was easier for him to believe. But he also went through an adjustment period once he got to the U.S. He described the process, “My English teacher talked about the program and said that everyone could apply,” said Ndiaye. 

He said that his father’s previous enrollment at Virginia Tech and reassurance that “you can do everything if you can put your heart in it,” gave him the confidence to believe that it was possible. “It was like a dream for me to come here,” Ndiaye said. “Even before I took the exam, I went home and told my mom, ‘I’m going to the U.S.’”

He arrived in September which meant he wouldn’t have a break between school sessions, but that seemed to be the easy part. “The most challenging was leaving my country, and changing my whole life to come to a new land,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how my host family was going to be or how the people were going to be. It was very hard.”

Also hard for Ndiaye was the process of learning English as a second language to his native French and adjusting to the Ohio climate. “I used to wear shorts and short-sleeved shirts back home and when I came in September I always wore shorts and they would ask me ‘why are you wearing shorts? It’s cold.’”

And like Lartey, Ndiaye has also adjusted to new surroundings and quickly took in stride a full school schedule and multiple extracurricular activities. “I love sports,” Ndiaye said about his participation in soccer, basketball, track and bowling. And he also found time to join the band.

And also like Lartey, Ndiaye has gained wisdom and a sense of community activism from those around him which he plans to take home to Senegal.

“When I go back home I want to work for my home country and help them a lot with the government,” Ndiaye said. “I want to promote working together. I want to promote learning the English language. It is the key to opening a lot of doors for the future. I see my government and they are way back in technology, finance, education, and politics. We need more. We don’t have enough. We don’t have enough food. But we have a lot of different ways to work on that. Sometimes people wait for someone to lead them. I say why wait for someone to change things. Be the change you want to see.”

And while it’s clear that the young men’s time spent in the U.S. has had a resounding influence on their lives, the experience would not have been possible without the families that provided a safe, loving place to virtual strangers. Tracee Ellis pointed out the importance of host family participation for the success of the program.

“Our families are volunteers that take these students into their homes,” said Ellis. “Sometimes it’s challenging, and sometimes it’s not, because in the American culture we aren’t always globally competent and don’t understand the importance of the exchange experience.”

Ellis who remembers her first experience as a host, 15 years ago, praised families who are able to look beyond the challenges of hosting and focus on the bigger goal to help ACES accomplish its mission of diplomacy.

“This is a life changing experience not only for the student but for them,” Ellis said. “Focus on what the experience does for the foreign students and for the American students. When they go to school with them and do activities and play sports, it teaches them about the world, which is something that we have to leave in their hands. They are the future leaders.  And even though we have a lot of conflict in the world, and we have a lot of controversy, we have to somehow teach our children to break through that and to understand one another. That is the main reason. So the experience of hosting brings that right to the forefront in your life. I don’t regret any of it and I keep on doing it and I encourage other families to do it.”

Lartey and Ndiaye said they are grateful for the families who opened their doors to them. “I want to say thank you to my family for accepting me,” said Ndiaye. 

And Lartey emphasized, “I wouldn’t have been able to experience this or been able to give this part of me to America if someone hadn’t hosted me. America has gotten some part of me because someone was willing to host me.”

When they return home, the two plan on revisiting the foods they have missed so much while here – mangos plucked right off the tree and fish and rice with African spices. And once there they say that they will miss the foods they have now become accustomed to – mac and cheese and burgers.

For more information on becoming an international host family for ACES, contact Tracee Ellis at 419.450.0631, email her at Traceeellis.goglobal@aol.com or go to the ACES website: Exploretheworld.org.

 

   
   


Copyright © 2017 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 08/16/18 14:12:36 -0700.


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