6/21/2007 - What a Year in Our Nation's Capital!

by Umar Mohammed Farouk, Ghana 06-07; hosted in Washington DC

Who would have known that the love one receives from family is not limited to one’s natural family? That is my question. But i got the answer when I landed in the United States of America.

I would like to say a very big thank you to my host family and my friends for making this year a memorable and unforgettable year for me. Images of this year will always be with me for the rest of my life. For students who have not and may be interested in joining the YES program, my assurance to you is that, the experience you will have will have no limit and no comparison.

This land is a land of love, a land of diversity, a land of the world’s people. This land is the land of prosperity and freedom. Even when you talk of differences in the states, when it comes to dealing with other nations, their voice is one and unified. This kind of unity in diversity sets an example for everybody on this earth to follow. I dream of the day when all the people of the world can sit together and eat, drink, play and agree to disagree together, a day when a person’s color, religion, race or ethnicity will not be used as an excuse for treating one special and the other not, that day when all children of men shall come together for the common good of the human race.

As said by the famous American civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
A day when all of us will be brothers and sisters like we are supposed to be instead of hating one another.

The experiences of this country have taught me that we the people of the world can live together in peace and brotherhood despite our differences. The differences between us are very minor when compared to our similarities. When we tend to focus on our similarities, then we shall see the reason to live happily together for the common good of mankind. To say the least, I have learned to live with people of different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different religions and different races. And one thing i have noticed is that every one of us are the same regardless of who we are. We all have the same feelings and emotions and needs. That is what makes us a unique race, the human race.

I urge everybody in the world and the world leaders to reconsider their ‘stand’ on politics and focus on us, their children, and how things are going to be for us when we grow up. Meeting people from Japan, Russia, Israel, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, India, Palestine, Ukraine to count but a few, one thing i have noticed is that, we are all the same; as young people we all do and want the same things and have the same emotions and feelings.

The final thing i want to say is that the United States has initiated a good program (YES) that needs to continue and never stop. It provides opportunities for future leaders to get to know and make friends with their future counterparts in the world. I say a very big thank you to the US State Department for giving me the opportunity and advantage to see the United States of America and actually live in it for a year. You have opened my mind to the world, for the US is a country of all people.

And my thanks once again to the YES volunteers, coordinators, directors and liaisons for seeing us through a wonderful year. I will always remember and will always love you and keep you in my heart.