After September 11, 2001, it became clear that relationships between the U.S. and international Muslim communities needed to improve. In October 2002, Congress took a step toward fostering human understanding and open, sustainable relationships across those cultures by establishing the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program through the U.S. Department of State. Each year, the YES Program invites high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to live in the United States with a host family for an academic year. Not only do participants gain firsthand experience of American culture, they also have the opportunity to help their host communities learn about their home countries.
In developing resources and building capacity for alumni of their programs, YES directors recognized that storytelling was at the heart of their work. Meike Faber, the head of the project, explains:
“When our participants are in the YES Program, they become storytellers. They’re teaching people about their cultures and their countries. [...] So I think a lot of alumni have a deep connection to storytelling, and that’s why we wanted to pursue a podcasting workshop.”
In January of 2022, StoryCenter partnered with the YES Program to lead a cohort of 20 participants in a genuinely international podcasting workshop. YES Program administrators wanted to offer their alumni the chance to develop individual podcasts focusing on local and regional concerns identified by each participant.
Given the large number of alumni interested in participating in the program, YES and StoryCenter developed a rigorous application and selection process to offer the workshop to participants located in 14 different countries. First, StoryCenter facilitated a customized 6-week online workshop series in January and February, followed by a month of production time and individual support sessions with facilitators, culminating in bringing everyone together for a two-day in-person workshop in Tirana, Albania.
Working in pairs, participants wrote, recorded, and edited pilot episodes for ten original podcasts. These episodes tackle some of the most critical and challenging topics from around the world. Interfaith love stories in Bangladesh. A Pakistani project creating inclusive cultural events for deaf people. Impending global food security challenges. Young women from Ghana and Palestine overcoming the odds for higher education. Just to name a few. The workshop culminated in a listening party where each participant shared their original 10-20 minute podcast segment with the rest of the group. Reflecting on what she found most valuable about the workshop, Meike notes:
“It’s exciting for [the participants] to have something so concrete to share with the world and show the work they’ve done over the past few months. I’m so proud of what they accomplished. They sound amazing. And they’re furthering the mission of projects and initiatives that they’ve led in their communities–which is so exciting!”
StoryCenter has since worked one-on-one with YES Program administrators to build the technical expertise to host and publish these episodes for an international audience. You can listen to this year’s episodes here on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yes-voices-podcast/id1629069271
Or you can sample this episode, The Checkpoint from Nada (Morocco) and Moones (Libya) about interesting career options for youth to explore.
Or The Discharge Note by Lana (Jordan) and Ahmed (West Bank) discussing the potential of universal health care, its benefits, its effects, and the current issues the United States is facing with health care feasibility.