Meet our guests

This is the first of a two-part series about the exchange students visiting Jay County this year. For the second story, see Saturday’s newspaper.



A group of 15 students is gathered in Chrissy Krieg’s classroom on a Wednesday afternoon. Only one of them is American.

The others — they come from northeastern Europe to Southeast Asia and points in between — make up the group of exchange students who are spending the year at Jay County High School.

This marks the second year of the program under Krieg’s leadership that is bringing students from around the globe to Jay County through the U.S. State Department’s Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) and Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programs.

This year’s group is made up of Juste Griskonyte of Lithuania, Camelia Hodorgea of Moldova, Alina Nikolaiets of Ukraine, Habet Mikayelyan of Armenia, Aisha Bashirova of Azerbaijan, Misaal Fatimah of Pakistan, Gana Elseoudi of Egypt, Ghida Emran of Israel, Omar Alhuessein of Palestine, Nayade Sabbagh of Lebanon, Chema Pradigta of Indonesia, Aidai Meirachova and Aizada Bubujova of Kyrgyzstan and Amaan Shah of India.

Both FLEX and YES were created in response to key moments in history.

FLEX was formed following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its stated goal is to “improve mutual understanding and develop and strengthen long-term relationships between citizens of the United States and other peoples and countries.” It serves former Soviet republics and a handful of other countries that fell under the Soviet sphere of influence.

YES, which was spearheaded by former U.S. Senator from Indiana Richard Lugar along with Sen. Ted Kennedy, was created in October 2002 in response to the 9/11 attacks. It is open to students from majority-Muslim countries and seeks to have them “engage in activities to learn about American society and values, acquire leadership skills and help educate Americans about their countries and cultures.”

“Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and I felt it was very important in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy in the Untied States to get to know students in Muslim countries and for them to get to know us,” said Lugar in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the program in 2012.

Both FLEX and YES are merit-based programs, with the students going through an extensive process to earn the opportunity to study abroad for a year.

While experiences differ somewhat from country to country, the students’ overall path is similar. They fill out lengthy applications in order to take the first step. The steps that follow includes essays, interviews, camps and tests. Then, they wait for a phone call.

The numbers are staggering.

Gana was among 50 chosen from an original field of about 5,000 in Egypt. Juste was among the 20 Lithuanians chosen from about 7,000 applicants.

“It’s very hard to come here,” said Amaan. “It’s not just like you fill out a form and you just come here. You have to go through many processes to come.”

Most of the students have a story to tell about the moment they learned that had been selected.

Alina was doing her makeup at the time, which led to eyeliner streaking down her face. Juste was eating soup at a friend’s house.

Aisha said she thought about it every morning when she woke up and every night before she went to sleep. Then, she got the call.

“I remember that after that call I lost my hearing for like two days. My mom screamed so loud on the phone,” she said. “She was so happy, she was crying. …

“I was so shocked I couldn’t express my emotions. … She was showing the expressions that I wasn’t able to show.”

Krieg first became acquainted with the programs when she was on a field trip with JCHS students to a presentation by Romanian-born Holocaust survivor Eva Kor. A Palestinian student was among those asking questions, along with others from various countries. Krieg made sure to introduce herself to their supervisor.

Two years ago, she welcomed her first exchange student. She and her husband, Pat, hosted another last year among a group of 10 who came to JCHS. This year, she’s grown the group to 14.

“And I just don’t want it to stop,” Krieg said. “I think the program helps us grow here. It helps our kids who are leaving Jay County to go to college be more prepared to understand other cultures and to accept the difference and to embrace it …”

The exchange isn’t just about exchange students learning about Americans and vice versa. They also learn about each others’ cultures.

Krieg explained that she wasn’t sure this year if she might have to have some conversations with particular students whose countries — Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan — are often at odds with each other.

But, she said, when she added Ghida to the group chat, Omar was one of the first to welcome her and say he was excited to meet her.

And Misaal and Amaan get along great.

“Amaan is such a nice guy,” Misaal said.

“That’s why I love this program,” Krieg said, addressing her exchange students. “You bring that here. And then you get to teach us, ‘Hey, he’s a nice guy. She’s Muslim and she’s pretty cool.’ …

“It’s an opportunity for them. They won this scholarship by competing for it. It’s a hard competition to get here. But we win. Because we get to learn about all of these cool countries and these cool cultures from these cool kids.”