World Learning Hosts 2007 Brazilian Youth Ambassadors

Program promotes intercultural understanding among Brazilian and American youth.

The Program seeks to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and Brazil; strengthen ties between the two countries by demonstrating the educational and cultural interests, developments and achievements of the U.S.; counter possible negative misconceptions of the U.S. by presenting an authentic and positive image of the country, and; support and promote Brazilian public education.

The program kicked off in the second week of January with 25 amazing young people from economically disadvantaged families and communities all over Brazil. The program includes six days of civic and leadership education in Washington, followed by a week of community visits and homestays in Cleveland, Tulsa, Charlotte, N.C., Huntsville, Ala., and Freeport, Ill. The whole group then reunited in Washington for the final few days before returning home. In addition to the workshops and discussions, the group did sightseeing and heard oral arguments at the Supreme Court, a visit that included a meeting with Justice Stephen Breyer, who was an Experimenter.

Now in its fifth year, the Brazil Youth Ambassadors Program has become a model for other Youth Ambassadors Programs in the hemisphere. Twenty-five participants were selected from a pool of over 2,000 students based on academic achievement, community service, attendance at a public school and English language competency. Participants learn about U.S. society and government, visit historical sites, participate in interactive and experiential activities, and attend local high schools with their host brother or sister.

The Brazil Youth Ambassadors Program is made possible in partnership with over 50 Brazil-based organizations and through the generous sponsorship of the U.S. Department of State, FedEx and Continental Airlines.

The course was jointly managed by SIT's Youth Peacebuilding and Leadership Program Director Simon Norton and Delphi International's Cari Hlousek and Christina Thomas. Donald Occhiuzzo from World Learning Brazil gave a World Learning overview presentation at the pre-departure orientation in Sao Paulo.

About World Learning and the School for International Training

World Learning is a 75-year-old global non-profit with operations in 78 countries and headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont. Through its award-winning international education programs – The Experiment in International Living, the School for International Training (SIT) and SIT Study Abroad – World Learning fosters global citizenship by connecting over 3,000 young ambassadors annually across cultural differences and social barriers. Through its Washington, DC-based World Learning for International Development program, World Learning practices what it teaches, undertaking locally-driven international development, training and exchange projects in sixteen countries.