Senator Mike Gabbard hosted Zakaria Rami, an international exchange student from Morocco, as an intern for a day at the Capitol on January 22nd. Zak is a participant in the Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) and is currently attending Kapolei High School for the year. Zak is a member of the school's wrestling team and lives in Kapolei with Mr. Doug Brown.

Gabbard said, "I wish Zak the best of luck during his stay in Hawai'i and hope he returns one day to our islands."

Zak is from Essmara where he lives with his mother who is a school administrator. His first language is Arabic and he also speaks French and English. When he's older, he'd like to become an engineer or businessman.

YES is an innovative high school exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This public diplomacy initiative builds bridges of international understanding, especially between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations. Since 2003, over 2,000 students have come to the US to live with an American family and attend high school for an academic year or semester.

---

Social Bookmarks:

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment