Imagine a youth exchange program that mixes students of various socio-economic classes and countries to open the aperture of their dreams, share their voices, all while promoting cross-cultural collaboration on social and environmental issues pertinent to our times... This project will expand upon the already established "Village of Dreams" located in a rural town of Brazil by building a physical space, aka a hub, to host educational and athletic classes for the participating exchange students.
Exchange programs tend to target medium to high income families where their children seek a culture shock in some developing country. But, what about an exchange that goes both ways? Millions of youth from impoverished, crime-ridden communities across the globe have limiting beliefs to their potential. The values of education, cross-cultural interactions, environmental sustainability stewardship, and healthy eating, are unlikely to have been instilled in comparison to those more fortunate...
A cross-cultural exchange hub at the Village of Dreams and partner schools throughout the world could allow for 2,000 students each year to interact and learn from students across a socio-economic spectrum - thereby opening their minds to new personal developmental goals, and aspirations for the betterment of their communities. This hub would be one of solidarity, where we would encourage the youth to share their voices, hear those of different backgrounds, in order to grow diverse leaders.
With the successes of this project, we'd hope to inspire schools and non-profits from numerous countries, both developing and developed to host similar exchange programs so that the number of youth provided with such an impactful opportunity could grow exponentially.
