he Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation’s Sino-American Youth Ambassadors (SAYA) exchange program was inspired by a speech delivered by President Barack Obama during his first visit to China in 2009. SAYA is designed to bring international awareness and cultural diversity to American and Chinese high campuses, with Chinese students serving as cultural ambassadors in both countries.

Overview

First, Chinese high school students travel the the U.S. as Chinese Ambassadors: they immerse in regular American high school classes for a week, and also present seminars about Chinese culture. After returning to China, SAYA students then serve as American Ambassadors: they make presentations to their peers about what they learned in America, thus enhancing American cultural awareness in China.

The most recent exchange

In February of 2010, the SAYA program sent 14 students and one teacher to Belmont, Massachusetts for the inaugural program. Spending one week at Belmont High School and another week traveling in the U.S., students were given a rare chance to live with students and their families, share Chinese culture with American students and experience American culture in a high school setting.

The SAYA vision

The Ameson Foundation is a non-profit entity committed to promoting mutual understanding between China and the west. As directed by our Honorary Chairman Dr. Boutros Boutros Ghali (former Secretary General of the U.N.), the key to future peace lies with our youth. Thus, the SAYA program was developed to bring Chinese and American students together for sake of cultural and educational exchange.

What Ameson provides

• Testing, screening and selecting qualified Chinese students (from different cultural backgrounds) to be the Youth Ambassadors. Chinese students’ English ability will be evaluated by the PAST (Pre Ameson Scholastic Test) which is recognized as an English proficiency test by numbers of American leading universities for their summer institutes and summer programs.
• Ameson will assume responsibility for the logistics, travel arrangements and safety for Chinese students while in the U.S., including comprehensive transportation and full insurance coverage.
• Ameson will assist, support and coordinate the Youth Ambassadors’ culture exchange activities and performance before their leaving China.
• Ameson will help Youth Ambassadors to share their experience with their classmates upon returning to China.
• Ameson will provide a stipend to host families.
• Ameson provides a Chinese teacher chaperon to accompany the students overseas.
• A pre-departure orientation program, in which Ameson provides courses on US culture, history and politics.

What schools provide

• Selecting host families by choosing students who are the same gender and of a similar age as participating Chinese students.
• Making the necessary arrangements, such as ensuring that students have transportation to and from the host home and the school.

Benefits for American high schools

1. International awareness: cultural presentations by the visiting students (tai chi, kung fu, classical music, etc) gives American students a broader appreciation for Chinese people and culture. Then, when students return home, they share with their peers what they learned stateside, thus building international awareness of American culture in China.

2. Campus cultural diversity: since world cultures are not a uniform entity, each group can become advocates of the culture they represent. Through SAYA, students can gain both individual and mutual understandings about the wider world and the interconnectivity of its diverse global citizens. It is through such channels that world peace will ultimately be achieved.

3. New perspectives on learning styles: American and Chinese education systems are fundamentally different. By being exposed to Chinese students for a full week of classes, American students will gain a greater appreciation for their own methods of learning (encouraging creative proactivity) while also coming to learn about the merits of the Chinese style of education.

4. Marketing tools: for American high schools seeking to attract top American students to study at their schools, involvement in SAYA can bring a unique feature to your school. By showing parents how well-connected your school is globally, you can put forth a dynamic image that your school is globally aware and globally connected with one of the world’s emerging global powers.

5. “Out-of-the-box” quality & coordination: Ameson handles all of the logistics (screening and selecting Chinese students, making travel arragements, arranging insurance, providing a chaperone to assume responsibility, etc). This provides U.S. schools an easy and reliable means to gain a festive air for a week with dynamic Chinese cultural performances. This can serve as a deep resource pool for teachers to base lessons on, while also giving school administrators a break to enjoy the performances without needing to worry about the details.