I could not have predicted the level of support my community would provide when I first began working with Kawthar, a Lebanese exchange student.

That’s not to say that our community had never hosted and supported a student who was blind—we had. When I first learned I would be working with Kawthar, I immediately thought of Eri, an exceptional exchange student from Japan I met three years ago. Eri, who is also blind, adjusted quickly to her new home, family and school, impressing everyone with her intelligence, sense of humor, maturity, independence and adaptability. I anticipated that the Lebanese student, Kawthar, might share many of the qualities that helped Eri have a positive experience. What I didn’t realize was the difference in resources used by people with disabilities in each of their countries.

Kawthar is a scholarship recipient through a new U.S. Department of State-funded program called Youth Exchange and Study (YES). This initiative recruits high caliber high school students from the Arab world to live and study in the United States for an academic year. Although I had been a community representative with AYUSA’s high school foreign exchange program for several years, I had not had the opportunity to work with a student from the Middle East. Representing a student from Lebanon intrigued me greatly.

I immediately got in touch with the family who had hosted Eri and told them about Kawthar. Since they had successfully hosted Eri, I felt they would relish the chance to host another blind student. I also called Fleetwood High School in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania because the staff had previously been open to accepting an exchange student with a disability. Both the host family and school were elated at the chance to become involved in the YES program by welcoming Kawthar into the community.

Before her arrival, I assembled a support team for Kawthar: her host family, a Muslim community leader, a teacher, another AYUSA representative and me. We all expected that Kawthar would arrive with the technology and equipment she might need while studying and living in the United States, just as Eri had. Nothing could have been further from the truth. We soon learned that technological resources for visually impaired or blind people are much more common in Japan than Lebanon.

Kawthar did not possess Braille books, learning aids or other adaptive equipment, but she was open to trying these new options. Initially, we found ourselves a little lost as to how to help Kawthar succeed in her new environment. But I quickly began compiling a list of things she would need, with assistance from the host family and school who remembered some of the aids that Eri had used.

First of all, Kawthar needed textbooks. After receiving a list of necessary books from her guidance counselor, I began to search for Braille versions. I found companies that made Braille books, but the fees proved astronomical! It seemed unlikely that Kawthar, her host family, the high school or even the YES program could cover the costs. After several days of searching, I located a company right here in Pennsylvania, PaTTAN (Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network), which makes Braille textbooks for students at no cost, as long as the student attends a Pennsylvania high school. Not only did they provide all her textbooks in Braille, but they were also very excited to help a foreign exchange student.

In addition to providing the books, PaTTAN told me about a machine called Type & Speak which could be very helpful to Kawthar and provided one to her on loan for the entire school year! Since the loan periods for these machines average six weeks, this was very generous. PaTTAN also lent Kawthar a talking dictionary.

During the next few weeks, I obtained several other items that would help Kawthar have a successful year. The local association of the blind happened to have a cane that was her size. Another community member volunteered an electric typewriter for her to use. In addition, a professor at Kutztown University donated a laptop computer with a speech synthesizer that reads type and voices it aloud for the user. When a representative of AMIDEAST, the exchange organization that recruited Kawthar, called to ask if she needed anything, I quickly suggested a talking scientific calculator, which was soon purchased for her with YES program funds.

Kawthar, of course, has been extremely grateful for the support she has received. She has been introduced to new technology and aids, which she now uses with proficiency. All these resources have helped her to excel in her schoolwork.

I have been amazed at the outpouring of care and commitment from my community and friends. It seems that someone, somewhere knows exactly where to find whatever Kawthar needs. And so far, there has been no price tag attached. This sense of giving and sharing is just a small example of how our country works.