THE U.S. Embassy is inviting applications for the 2016 Youth Ambassadors Program (YAP) from within the Caribbean. The Youth Ambassador Program is a three-week cultural and leadership exchange program for public secondary school student leaders to visit the United States. A release from the U.S. Embassy said that through the exchange, participants will develop their leadership skills, strengthen their ability to serve their communities and foster relationships and mutual understanding among youth from different ethnic, religious and national groups and create networks of youth leaders in the Western Hemisphere.
The release noted that the program for 2016 will include a three-week U.S.-based exchange under the theme: “Youth and Social Transformation” for approximately 41 secondary school students and adult educators from five countries in the Caribbean Region. In Guyana, eight youths and one adult will be selected to participate in the program from August 8 – 29, 2016.
During their exchange, participants from the Region will travel to the United States for exchanges in Brattleboro, Vermont and Washington, D.C. that focus on civic education, community service, and youth leadership development through site meetings, experiential learning activities, leadership training, civic participation at the community level, mentoring by community, business and NGO leaders, volunteer programs, and homestays with American families.
The adult participants will have special sessions with their peers designed to help foster leadership and civic education programs at home. Afterwards, students will develop and implement projects that serve the needs of their communities in the months that follow their return home.
To date, 29 students and six mentors have participated in Youth Ambassadors Program for Guyana since September 2012.
Interested students and mentors can visit the U.S. Embassy website at http://georgetown.usembassy.gov/yap.html for more information and applications.