Schulze of Stewart are hosting two youth exchange participants through the Lions International Youth Camp and Exchange Program (YCE). This is the first time the Schulze family has hosted YCE participants, although both of their daughters have participated in other countries’ YCEs with Lauren Schulze going to Italy and Norway and Caitlin Schulze going to Australia and France.
“They loved it so we thought we’d try hosting,” says Patty.
The Lions Youth Exchange think of its program as a tool to help young people become “young ambassadors for peace and international understanding” and bring the ideal of global citizenship to life. In the program, participants spend four to six weeks with a host family and then attend a youth camp where they meet other youth from around the world. Between 30 and 40 youths will participate in this Minnesota’s YCE, which is called Camp Spicer.
Sude Arslan from Izmir, Turkey, arrived in Minnesota two weeks ago. At 16, Arslan is looking forward to representing her country. “I love meeting new people,” laughs Arslan. She’s excited to learn more about the Schulze family, town and church traditions and, in return, share with them her own experiences, traditions, and culture.
Namuundari Bayndalai, who has chosen to go by the name Lily during her stay here, also arrived two weeks ago. She is from Darkan, Mongolia, the second largest city in Mongolia. Bayndalai also is 16 years old and heard about the program from a friend. She is excited to share her culture with the Schulze family and other youth participating in the YCE. She describes herself as a very sociable person and looks forward to sharing Mongolia’s history, traditions and lifestyles with the other program participants.
For more, see the July 12 print edition of The Chronicle.
Links:
[1] http://www.glencoenews.com/category/section/news/browntonstewart
[2] http://www.glencoenews.com/category/byline/katie-ballalatak