El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Volume I, Issue 7
NESA UGRAD in Moscow, Idaho
When I landed in Moscow Idaho, I
was sure that nothing would happen
in this small town, I was completely
Inside this issue: wrong. I have done and accom-
plished in a so short amount of
time. During the first semester, I
had the opportunity to do commu-
nity service, I built furniture for the
NESA 1 city hall of Moscow, I planted trees
Undergrad in the Palouse, I represented my
country during the inauguration of
the University of Idaho’s president, I
helped for the organization of the
World Cup Essay 2 African night, I sold popcorn and
Contest coke during football games and I
had the pleasure to do a cultural
presentation about my country
‘A New Beginning’ 3 twice, the first on the beginning of
the year on campus in Islam in the
West’s class and another one on the
middle of the second semester in
Moscow High school.
Muslim Entrepre- 3 I participated in some events, the
neurship most exciting one was Cruz the
world where more then 40 coun-
tries were represented, I was repre-
senting of course Algeria, and as far
Youth Leadership 3 as I knew, I was the only Algerian in
Program Moscow Idaho. I prepared some
desserts that I cooked for the first
time in my life with the help of two
Advising Sessions 4 of my friends. People loved it and
EducationUSA even asked for the recipe.
The second semester was of the
Near East and South Asia Undergraduate (NESA UGRAD)
The Near East and South Asia Under-
graduate (NESA UGRAD) Program is a
program of the Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs (ECA), U.S. Depart-
ment of State, and is administered by
Georgetown University's Center for
Intercultural Education and Development
(CIED). The program provides full scholar-
ships for outstanding students from the
Near East and South Asia for one aca-
demic year of non-degree undergraduate
study in the United States at accredited
two- and four-year institutions.
June 2010
most exciting; I had the opportunity
to intern for John Anderson from
the Anderson Group, where I was
able to work on a real project on a
real site for a given time. I could
develop a lot my analysis and design
skills and deal with real design is-
sues. I did some research about how
the building could be, which materi-
als we could be used and how could
such a project impact this small
international town.
I had the opportunity also to partici-
pate in leadership workshops. I
could learn a lot of things about
different leadership aspects and
after finishing 16 workshops, I had
the leadership certificate from the
Idaho Leads Program.
The re-entry workshop was an
amazing experience. Meeting all
these students that were in the Walid during the Idaho University’s
Inauguration
same program than mine, people
from the state department and from
CIED (Center for Intercultural Educa- tion and customs but also share
tion and Development) was great. I mine.
was one of the people that were in Then, when time came to say good-
charge of the video presentation bye and go back home, the time
that we had to present. goes but the memories stay.
I could go to 6 different states be- “It’s not years in your life but life in
sides Washington DC, where I met your years, and this year was a lot in
amazing people, Americans but also our lives”
international people and was able Walid Baba Ahmed
to see and learn about their tradi-
Program Objectives the development of peaceful and con-
The program is designed to increase the structive relations between their nations
mutual understanding between young and the United States.
emerging leaders from the Near East and
South Asia and the United States by
providing meaningful academic and
cultural experiences at U.S. academic
institutions. The immersion experience at
American campuses ensures that partici-
pants gain a first-hand understanding of
the American way of life, which builds
lasting bonds of friendship and results in
Page 2 El-Djazair Alumni Newsletter

World Cup Essay Contest

In order to mark the World Cup
2010 and the Algeria-USA game,
The U.S. Embassy in Algiers organ-
ized an essay contest in which
young Algerians were asked to
write their thoughts on sport and
how it can influence people-to-
people relations.
This challenge was received with a
great enthusiasm by the young
Ambassador David D. Algerians, in view of the over 800
Pearce With the Win-
essays that were received in just a
ners.
few days and from all parts of the
country, it was difficult to decide
on the winning essays and more
specifically because of the quality of
the received texts, which showed
not only the interest in sport but
also the increasing level of English in
Algeria.
The Public Affairs staff at the U.S.
Embassy Algiers along with the
partner local newspapers, ‘El Haddaf
& Le Buteur‟ (specialized in football)
worked to choose the winners, this
was fulfilled after long discussions
and debate.
His Excellency David D. Pearce, the
U.S. Ambassador in Algiers, pre-
sented the six winners with their
prizes during a special ceremony
organized at the newspapers‟
premises. The two winning essay
writers among them got the first
prize which consisted of a trip to
the U.S. Where beside visiting Los
Angeles, they watched the game
between Algeria and USA in the
Los Angeles Football Club, the
third partner in this project.
A.B

Mounia & Yacine Go To Hollywood.

Mounia and Yacine, winners of the
‘Passion for Essay Contest organized by the
U.S. Embassy Algiers and their
Soccer was partners “El Haddaf-Le Buteur” and
LAFC (Los Angeles Futbol Club),
the same made their way to Los Angeles.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience
they just shared a passion for writ- their winning of the essay contest
ing and both were attracted by an on „Sports and People-to-People
advert on a newspaper for an Essay Relations‟ led them to the U.S.
contest calling for thoughts on
„Sports and People-to-People Rela- A.B
tions‟, they won.
Now, Mounia and Yacine know

under other that lead these two young Algerians

to visit L.A, to be the special guests
of the LAFC and watch Algeria
skies’ playing the U.S. in the world Cup
2010.
A few weeks ago, Mounia and
Yacine did not know each other,
each other and they know more
about many other things, including
young Americans and older ones,
they saw that their passion for
soccer was the same under other
skies, they simply saw that words
on paper can turn into reality as

All Six Winners with the Ambassador. Mounia, Don Sheppard Mounia and Yacine in Hollywood
(President and founder of LAFC)
and Yacine
 Volume I, Issue 7
One Year After ‘A New Beginning’
On June 4, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt,
President Obama proposed a new
beginning between the United States
and Muslims around the world,
based upon mutual interest and
mutual respect. Specifically, the
President said that the U.S. would
seek a more comprehensive engage-
ment with Muslim-majority coun-
tries, countries with significant
Muslim populations, and their peo-
ple by expanding partnerships in
areas like education, economic
development, science and technol-
ogy, and health, among others, while
continuing to work together to
address issues of common concern.
Muslim Entrepreneurship Stars in D.C.
More than 160 Head of companies
from Muslim countries gathered in
Washington D.C. from April 25 to 30
2010, following the U.S. President,
Obama invitation for the Entrepre-
neurship Summit.
The summit was highly anticipated, as
it came after the President‟s promise
made during the famous Cairo speech
on June 2009, to bring together all
efforts as to make a „New Beginning‟.
During this summit, Algeria was
represented by 7 Managers from
different fields of business, each of
Algerian Youth Leadership Program Returns to Campus
The Northern Nevada International
Center will once again welcome
Algerian students and teachers to the
University of Nevada, Reno campus
this summer for the annual Algeria
Youth Leadership Program June 30 to
July 31. The students will join with
University student mentors and local
high school students to gain experi-
ence in cultural leadership and civic
service, which they will be able to
extend to their own communities at
the end of the program.
“We hope the students will be able
to learn from and teach each other
through sharing their cultural experi-
The President‟s speech articulated
an overarching vision and set of
principles that guide U.S. Govern-
ment policies. Importantly, the
Administration has not treated the
Cairo speech as a special initiative.
While the President identified spe-
cific projects or commitments in the
speech, these were examples of the
type of engagement we seek. Over
the last year, we have delivered
many of the specific commitments
the President mentioned, but we
have done far more. Embassies
around the world and departments
and agencies across the Govern-
ment are engaged every day in ways
whom had their own vision and
expectations on what this historical
summit would bring to their own
view on the future relations with the
U.S.A.
The summit was an opportunity to
see different success stories from
different countries but also to strug-
gle to create and change things from
the inside. This event made it possi-
ble to establish bridges between
companies that would otherwise
have never had the opportunity to
meet or at least hear about each
other.
ences,” said Carina Black, executive
directory of the NNIC.
During their month-long stay in the
United States, the 25 Algerian stu-
dents will visit Washington, D.C.,
during the Fourth of July celebrations
as well as San Francisco and Lake
Tahoe. The majority of their time,
however, will be spent in Reno,
where they will team up with 10 local
high school students to create social
media marketing campaigns for com-
munity service organizations such as
the Food Bank and United Way. In a
new addition to the program this
year, undergraduate students from
Page 3
that reflect the vision the President
put forth in Cairo.
One year since the President‟s
speech, the Administration remains
committed to confronting common
challenges and seizing shared oppor-
tunities.
America.gov
Presidents Speech
Cairo ‘A-New-
beginning’
The Entrepreneurship Summit will
certainly not be a one shot experi-
ence, as many events and activities
are planned in and outside of the
U.S.A. for the near and distant fu-
ture, in an attempt to plant the
seeds for a better more prosperous
future for all. Representatives from
Algeria.
A.B
the University of Nevada, Reno‟s
Reynolds School of Journalism--
Carolina Chacon, Elliott Shaw, Jenni-
fer Young, Cara Dohnansky and
James Morgan--will act as “global
mentors” to the students during their
time on campus. Algerian and American
Mentors will keep in touch with the students bond during last
students after they return home to year's Algerian Youth
see how they improve their own Leadership Program.
communities after the program.
According to Felts, the chance for
students to “get out of their comfort
zones” will also be an asset to the
journalism school as well.
NNIC.com
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Advising Session at the U.S. Embassy Algiers

Meet with the Education Adviser at the U.S. Embassy Algiers, on Mondays and Wednesdays
from 2.00p.m to 4.00p.m.
Please send email to: Boussoufaa@state.gov
Appointments request is to be received 24hrs before meeting.

U.S. Embassy Algiers

http://algiers.usembassy.gov/

EducationUSA Opportunity: Funding to Help You

Alumni Coordinator/Education
Take the Next Step Toward Study in the U.S.!
Adviser at the U.S. Embassy:
Boussoufaa@state.gov
Opportunity is an Educa-
tionUSA initiative to sup-
port talented interna-
tional students who may
need financial assistance to
take the next steps toward
studying in the United
States at an accredited
institution of higher learn-
ing.
The aim is to demon- Apply by requesting an
strate that international application from the Edu-
students like you are wel- cationUSA Advisor:
come in the U.S., and in- Boussoufaa@state.gov
crease access to U.S. in-
stitutions of higher learn-
ing for deserving students
who have broad interests
and ambitions but modest
means.

These grants are available These grants make it pos-

now to help cover the
upfront costs of seeking
higher education in the
U.S., and are part of Edu-
cationUSA‟s broad range
of assistance to interna-
tional students.
sible for students who
would be otherwise un-
able to afford the costly
application process to
take the next step to-
ward an education in the
United States.

STATE ALUMNI is the official website for more than 1,000,000 alumni of exchange programs spon-
sored by the U.S. Department of State‟s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Interactive, dy-
namic and password-protected, alumni.state.gov offers alumni from U.S. government-sponsored
exchange programs a place to network with other alumni from around the globe; share information
about exchange programs and alumni activities; participate in Q&A Live discussions with experts; and
access resources such as grants, jobs and research databases.

Build upon your exchange experience. Visit: https://alumni.state.gov