Brasília, July 2010  – After the success of the Youth Ambassadors Program, a cultural exchange project run by the U.S. Embassy taking Brazilian public school students to the U.S., the Department of State launched a U.S. version of the program.

Thirteen young Americans aged from 13 to 16 from the states of North Carolina, Montana, Oklahoma and Washington took part in the exchange program in Brazil between August 2^nd and 20^th. They spent three days in Brasília to see the capital, visited NGOs involved in education, and took basic Portuguese lessons.

Afterwards, the young people were split into groups and traveled to Curitiba (Parana State), Guarapuava (Parana State), Manaus (Amazonia State), Recife (Pernambuco State) and Salvador (Bahia State), where they stayed in the homes of host families. They also visited public schools, gave talks about the United States, and visited projects focused on social justice and volunteerism. At the end of the program the young people met up in Rio de Janeiro to see a little of ‘the Wonderful City’ and present their proposals based on the projects they had visited to try to implement them in the U.S.

The young ambassadors underwent a thorough process, and each of them has demonstrated academic excellence, a commitment to volunteer community work and leadership skills. This was the first time abroad for most of them and a unique opportunity to get to know another country.

“We want American youth to have the same opportunity to see and learn about Brazil that Brazilian youth have had through the Youth Ambassador’s program.  We have seen how this extraordinary program changes lives, provides opportunities, and strengthens the ties of friendship and understanding between our two countries, and wanted to make it truly “two-way.” The United States and Brazil have much in common and we can learn much from each other, and the best way to do that is through people-to-people connections,” said the US Embassy Country Public Affairs Officer, Adele Ruppe.

The U.S. version of the Youth Ambassadors program is supported by the U.S. non-governmental organization World Learning and the Binational Centers, Brazilian English language teaching institutes that have been officially recognized by the United States government.

Visit the sites below to check out their experiences in Brazil: