[Ohio-talk] Fw: Scholarship Exchange Student from Turkey with Low Vision

[Carol Akers]

Please review the attached info to see if anyone in our blind community is interested or knows anyone who would be interested in hosting this blind exchange student who knows braille, is 17 yrs old and in 10th grade and is from Turkey.  There is  a bio attached to read about her.


Carol Akers
 
 

--- On Thu, 7/14/11, Brian Peterson <BPeterson at americancouncils.org> wrote:


From: Brian Peterson <BPeterson at americancouncils.org>
Subject: Scholarship Exchange Student from Turkey with Low Vision
To: purplecakers at yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2011, 5:13 PM








Dear Ms. Akers,
 
I represent American Councils for International Education, an international nonprofit organization that administers several merit-based scholarship exchange programs for foreign high school students.  This year, one of the students we’ll be working with is a young lady named Batul, from Turkey , who has low vision.  Batul will be participating on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Program, a US Government funded scholarship program for students from countries with significant Muslim populations.  Each year, the YES program awards a number of scholarships to students with disabilities, Batul being one of these for the 2011-12 school year.
 
American Councils is excited to be working with several students with disabilities this year, though we have been particularly challenged in finding a school and host family in the same area able and ready to welcome Batul to their communities.  My hope is that you might be able to suggest avenues we can explore in trying to connect with a school and family in Columbus or elsewhere in Ohio .  If you have any advice about who else we can approach and how, or if you have another suggestion, I would welcome any ideas you might have.  Currently, Batul is scheduled to arrive to the US in August.
 
I’ve attached Batul’s profile, so that you can learn a bit more about her.  When we find the right school and family for Batul, I believe she’ll have a lot to bring to her host community and is ready to embrace her experience in the US .  If you’re interested, here is an article about one of our 2010-11 students from Serbia who was also low vision and did very well in Alabama .
 
Please feel free to pass on this e-mail and my contact information to anyone you think might be interested in learning more or assisting in some way.  I can be reached at 1-866-790-2086, bpeterson at americancouncils.org, or anyone can visit my department’s website here.
 
I appreciate your time in reading this and look forward to the opportunity to connect with you further about Batul.  
 
Warm regards,
Brian
 
Brian Peterson
Program Officer - Secondary School Programs
American Councils for International Education
1828 L Street NW, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 866-790-2086 or 202-833-7522
Fax: 202-833-7523
Emergency: 800-621-9559
bpeterson at americancouncils.org
www.americancouncils.org
 
For information on hosting an exchange student: http://apps.americancouncils.org/acinbound
 
Please consider the environment before you print this message.
 
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