Bates County 4-H is participating in the FLEX (Future Leaders Exchange) program this year by hosting Suha Sobirov a high school student from Tajikistan. Bud and Linda Mareth, of Butler, are serving as Suha’s host family. Suha, or Nick as he calls himself, is a student at Butler High School and will be staying with the Mareth’s until the end of the current school year.
Suha would like to become more acquainted with Bates County residents and has volunteered to speak to 4-H clubs, civic organizations, or any other group looking for a program for one of their meetings. If you would like to have the opportunity to listen to Suha share experiences from his home country and his thoughts on living in the United States, please contact Alan J. Mundey, 4-H Youth Specialist, at the Bates County Extension Office at 660-679-4167 to schedule a speaking engagement.
The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) is a scholarship program administered by the U.S. Department of State through funding from the Freedom Support Act. The program provides opportunities for high school students from Eurasia (former Soviet Union, including: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan) to spend a year in the United States, living with a family and attending an American high school. The program was created in 1992 out of former Senator Bill Bradley’s conviction that the best way to ensure long-lasting peace and understanding between the U.S. and Eurasia is to enable young people to learn about democracy firsthand through experiencing it.
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