Pumpkin Bread

Last week I accepted a full scholarship to study abroad and live with a host family in Indonesia next year. I also made this pumpkin bread. The scholarship is through YES Abroad, a student exchange program funded by the State Department. The bread is a sweet, spiced pumpkin quick bread that warmed our rainy afternoon. 

The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program was founded in the aftermath of 9/11 as a way to build connections and understanding between the U.S. and countries around the world, particularly those with significant Muslim populations. In the 2003-2004 academic year the first YES exchange students came to the U.S. from Egypt, Gaza, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, West Bank, and Yemen. Since then, the program has expanded to accept students from 39 different countries for the 2011-2012 academic year. Up until 2007 the YES Program brought high school students from countries around the world to study and live with host families in the U.S., but wasn't sending students from the U.S. to other countries.

When the YES Abroad Program was established in 2007 to send American high school students to selected YES countries it furthered the potential and impact of the program and fostered greater trust between the countries involved in the YES program. Next year 55 American students will be hosted in nine different countries, each with significant Muslim populations: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Thailand, and Turkey.