I’ve heard courage defined as staring fear in the face and continuing on regardless. Courage isn’t the absence of fear then, but rather the determination to overcome it. I see this trait in both the military circles I’m surrounded with and the bright-eyed and determined young exchange students from all over the world I’m working to place with host families. Though the connection may not seem obvious, I can’t help but compare the patriotism that leads some to go abroad to fight for their freedoms and those whose patriotism lead them to live abroad that they may learn and appreciate not just that new culture, but indeed, more of their own.
Is it the appeal of adventure, the uncovering of the unknown, the love of homeland, or simply the unquenchable desire to be an active part of the moving force shaping and changing this ever shrinking world? I venture: a mixture of it all.
In the small biographies I have of each student I meet Faten, a Muslim girl from Yemen. Peering beneath her beautiful deep blue head covering is a wide smile and piercing brown eyes. I learn that she is a practicing Muslim and follows a Halal diet, but plays volleyball and is an avid swimmer. While in the US, she is excited to do community service and share the culture and history of her country. I am working with exchange students from the Czech Republic, Brazil, Switzerland, Thailand and Norway to name a few, and the desire and excitement to study in the United States is no less apparent. But it is Faten from Yemen that makes me believe even more deeply in the idea that exchanging our youth to study each other and return to teach others is quite possibly the most influential and important way to foster global understanding, tear down human rights abuses, and ultimately gain peace. It is an end result that, at least in theory, is what prompts the military to go abroad as well.
Situated in the volatile Arabian Peninsula and just over the Red Sea from Somalia and Djibouti, it’s no secret Yemen and the US relationship has been strained at best. The Department of State’s website warns travelers of the high security threat level due to terrorist activities in the country, and advises all travelers to defer non-essential trips. It was from this area that the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) group claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of the Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day last year, and who have repeatedly threatened Westerners working in Embassies and elsewhere in the country. In the last few years numerous kidnappings, car bombs, and suicide bombs have taken place all at the hands of suspected al-Quaeda operatives in Yemen killing tourists, government agents, embassy workers and Yemeni nationals. In short, Yemen is not exempt from the turmoil swirling in the Middle East, nor are they free from the Muslim radicals that would attempt to persuade any young person of self-sacrificing hatred toward the free world.
It is out of this atmosphere, that I find young Faten steadfastly determined to come to America. I see in her the hope and optimism of youth – the desire to understand, the desire to better both cultures, the desire to reach some sort of peace through realizing we are all more alike than we are different. And like our brave soldiers, I see courage: a courage to overcome the fear, a courage to make a difference.
