Assyrian Youth Exchange 2011. Chicago – Germany.
On July, 8th, 2011, 15 Assyrian students from Germany arrived at O’hare airport and received a warm welcome from all the hosting families in Chicago.
This Student Exchange is part of a greater program to unite all the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac youth around the world. Both The Assyrian Youth Federation Central Europe (AJM) and the ACSSM had already triggered Youth Exchanges throughout different countries. AJM traveled and established Youth Exchanges in Turkey (Tur Abdin), Sweden, and Russia. ACSSM, for three consecutive years, traveled to our homeland, Iraq, and built strong relationships with the youth organizations in Atra which was part of Destination Assyria.
This year, ACSSM and AJM worked collaboratively to build new ties between the Assyrian youth in Europe and the ones in the US. The Youth Exchange program lasted for 12 days. 
It included visiting most of Chicago landmarks and tourist sites. Some of the places visited were the Shedd Aquarium, Millennium Park, Wrigley Field, Navy Pier, Willis Tower, Six Flags, Oriental Museum, and many others.
The students also had a chance to listen to two lectures from two honorable speakers. One lecture was with Mr. Alfred Daniel and the other one was with Mrs. Juliana Taimoorazy from the Iraqi Christian Relief Council.
The youth attended two church masses, one at the St. Afrem Syriac Orthodox Church and the other one 
at Mor Odisho Assyrian Catholic Church.
The Assyrians from Germany had also a chance to participate with ACSSM annual picnic, Nusardil. The picnic this year was organized by both organizations and it was a great success.
Two beloved singers, Tony Gabriel and Johnny Youkhana, performed at the picnic as well. AJM youth group along with all the other picnic attendants participated in a big folk-dance “khiga” and celebrated the holiday, Nusardil.
This Youth Exchange truly built an unbreakable bond between the youth of both countries. Both groups learned a lot from each other.
The success of this Exchange is only a motivation for a lot more Exchange programs with other countries around the world.
Thanks for all who made this Exchange possible, especially the hosting families who opened their houses and showed enormous hospitality.
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