DEARBORN – Maysoon Abu-Omarah and her husband Mohamad have been hosting 16-year-old Aseel, a foreign exchange student from Palestine at their home, along with their five children. Through a program funded by the Department of State of Education, Aseel is staying in the U.S. for an entire school year, where she has been attending Fordson High School as a 10th Grader.

Since her short stay in the U.S., the Abu-Omarah’s say Aseel has become the sixth child of the family. She speaks English very well and has been able to adapt to the community,  mostly due in part to the large Arab American population in Dearborn. Despite this, she has still been able to experience the American culture by participating in seasonal events like Halloween and Thanksgiving. During her down time, she likes to go to the mall, where she shops at her favorite store, Forever 21. Just last week the family threw a big sweet sixteen birthday bash for her.

So far during her stay, she has visited Washington D.C., where she attended a week long training seminar with other foreign exchange students who have been placed in homes across the U.S. During the Fall, she also visited her first amusement park in Ohio, where the family attended Halloweekends at Cedar Point.

Aseel will be visiting her uncle in Chicago before returning back for her final semester at Fordson, where she has been maintaining a 3.6 GPA. She says she originally applied for the student exchange program in Palestine as a joke between her and her friends, not thinking that she would ever be selected. The program, titled “YES,” was started by the Department of State closely after 9/11 as a means to build bridges between Middle Eastern students and residents in the U.S.

Aseel (left) is a foreign exchange student from Palestine. Aseel will be attending Fordson High School until the end of the school year. Maysoon Abu-Omarah (right), a board member of the Palestine Children Relief Fund, is now the local coordinator of the American Culture Exchange Service (ACES). She is hoping more local families will open up to the idea of hosting foreign exchange students from the Middle East.

It wasn’t until 8 months after Aseel applied for the program that she was deemed qualified, after putting her through extensive interviews and background checks. But one problem still persisted, the program was having a hard time finding a family who was willing to host her.

“It kind of fell on my lap. It was not something that I was prepared for, but they felt that I would be a good fit,” stated Maysoon, who is a board member of the Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF).

Mohamad says he and his wife were considering adopting or providing shelter for a child, so he encouraged Maysoon to accept the opportunity to host a student from Palestine. Maysoon says it’s unfortunate that many Arab American families are reluctant to follow in their footsteps and reach out to children in the Middle East.

“I highly recommend for every family to at least consider it. The benefits are very rewarding, and it’s helping somebody out. She is God’s child, so how can you say no to something like this. It was hard because we had another student from Saudi Arabia and we couldn’t find a home for him in Michigan. He ended up in Wisconsin with another family. I felt that it was too bad that not even one family could help him out in this region,” Maysoon added.

Many Muslim families might have some issues with taking someone into their own home because of religious reasons, but Maysoon says that has not been a problem for their family. Her oldest son Bilal, 20, says that Aseel has become like a fourth sister to him. The two oldest daughters of the family also attend Fordson High School along with Aseel. 

Since taking in Aseel, Maysoon has become more involved with the student exchange program. She has become the local coordinator of the American Culture Exchange Service (ACES) and is preparing for more foreign exchange students to come to Michigan in the future. The plan is to have at least one foreign exchange student at Fordson, Edsel Ford and Dearborn High next year. Maysoon hopes to find local families who are willing to host them. 

While Aseel has been enjoying her time in the U.S., she says that Palestine is still a big part of her life on a daily basis. During Israel’s latest assault against Gaza last month, she participated in protests that called for Israel to cease fire. When Palestine was recognized as a “non-member observer state” by the UN a few weeks ago, she said that she led a discussion in her classroom at Fordson, where she was able to explain the Palestinian perspective  to her classmates and teacher. 

Aseel still keeps in close contact with her family back home. She says that they believe the UN recognition will not change anything for the Palestinian people and their dire living conditions, and that more needs to be done to secure a future for the Palestinian state. As for Aseel’s future, she hopes to come back the U.S. for a college degree, where she either wants to study Medicine or Therapy, in hopes of following her parents’ footsteps. Her father is a orthopedic surgeon and her mom is a social worker.    

Aseel says if she returns to the U.S. she would not want to live in Michigan. She has always been interested in visiting California and hopes one day she has the opportunity to take a vacation in Hawaii. One thing is certain though, Aseel says she will always be grateful for the opportunities the Abu-Omarah family have provided for her.

“They are like my family now, I am going to miss them so much when I leave. But we will always stay connected forever,” Aseel stated. 

Maysoon is encouraging other Arab American families to participate in the foreign exchange programs. On a yearly basis, over 750 scholarships are provided through the Department of State for students to come to the U.S. spanning from over 20 different countries. There is also an American Abroad Program, which gives an opportunity for U.S. students ages 14-17 to attend schools in other countries. For more information on these programs, visit www.exploretheworld.org, or contact Maysoon directly at 313.790.2703.