Greenheart Exchange Student Selected as YES “Student of the Month”

One of CCI Greenheart’s Youth Exchange & Study (YES) students, Muhammad Nizamani of Pakistan, was chosen as the February YES Student of the Month. The Student of the Month is chosen by the Department of State from all YES students that are nominated for that particular month. These students come from all placement organizations that participate in the YES program. To put that in perspective, there are over 800 YES students here on the program this year!

Muhammad will receive a small prize, his story will be posted on the YESPrograms.org website, and shared with ECA, the Department of State regional bureaus, and U.S. embassies in nearly 40 YES countries.

Muhammad Kahn Nizamani, the February YES Student of the Month, is a young man with a mission: he is determined to improve agricultural yields in his native Pakistan and in his host state of Montana. Muhammad, who hails from a wheat and cotton farm in Sindh Province, won First Place and Grand Prize in Ennis High School’s science fair for his project on irrigation methods for field crops. On March 16, he advanced to the regional science fair in Butte. Montana has proven to be an ideal location for Muhammad. He quickly bonded with his host parents, David Kelley and Kelly Robinson, who themselves have a family farm. With his host family, he has not only helped with growing wheat but has also had the new experiences of riding horses and having pets. Muhammad’s host parents support his wish to learn all he can here and take it back to back to his home country. They take great pride and joy in helping Muhammad and encouraging him to succeed.

Muhammad has excelled in his studies, making the honor roll at school each quarter while taking a challenging course load. He played on his school basketball team – a new sport for him – and taught his American classmates to play cricket. Muhammad took second place at a regional speech tournament in Original Oratory, delivering a speech entitled “The Future of Pakistan,” in which he spoke about water resources, education and the importance of improving U.S.-Pakistan relations. He advanced to the semi-finals of the State Championship Speech, Drama and Debate Tournament. About his speech, his host mother commented, “I think it really speaks to the mission of the Kennedy-Lugar YES Program.” Muhammad has also been selected as one of 25 ECA-sponsored exchange students to participate in the Global New Media Youth Tech Camp in April.

Congratulations to Muhammad and to his Local Coordinator Ramona Linabary. And a special congratulations to his host family, including his host mom Kelly Robinson, who is a CCI Greenheart Local Coordinator herself.