Niskayuna High School student Beth Halayko spent part of her summer in an exotic land, where “the beaches are beautiful,” she said. But her trip wasn’t about fun in the sun. She and 23 other high school students from the United States spent nearly a month in Thailand visiting villages in the country’s southern region — an area still rebuilding after the December 2004 tsunami devastated parts of the Southeast Asian coastline.
As part of an international exchange program called Partnership for Youth (P4Y) in Building Disaster-Resilient Communities, Halayko traveled halfway around the world to explore ways in which she and other teenagers can help their communities with disaster preparedness and advocate for public policy changes in responding to natural disasters—such as tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes.
While participating in field-based study, Halayko and the other P4Y students visited disaster sites on the Thai coast and heard from tsunami victims. “It was sad to hear their stories, and see how people’s lives have changed,” she said. “We met a pair of women whose only source of income was to shell huge bags of cashew nuts. It’s a hard way to make a living and it made me appreciate what I have.”
The P4Y students participated in classes, role-playing workshops, presentations and peer exchanges discussing youth involvement in disaster education and response with host-country students. They also met with government officials and experts from non-governmental agencies to learn about disaster management plans.
At the conclusion of the 25-day program, Halayko was one of six students selected to share their insights at a press conference in the province of Phuket. From their observations, students recommended that youth assist their communities in increasing public awareness, serve as peer educators, and help make sure the lessons learned from past disasters are not forgotten.
Like her fellow P4Y students, Halayko stayed with a Thai family, visiting local sites of significance and participating in leisure activities that provided students with a better understanding of the culture and respect for the people of Southeast Asia. Halayko’s host family lived in the province of Krabi, where her host parents are teachers at a local college.
Halayko – who studies Spanish at Niskayuna High School – observed that students in Thailand are taught English at an early age. “My host sister could speak and understand English really well,” she said. “And I was really interested in learning as many Thai words and phrases as possible during my stay there.”
Although her visit to Thailand is now a fond memory, Halayko’s commitment to the P4Y program hasn’t ended. This fall, she will speak about the experience during public presentations in school and in the community.
The Partnership for Youth in Building Disaster-Resilient Communities exchange program is a grant-funded program administered by the East-West Center through the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. P4Y program partners include the Pacific Disaster Center and the Civic Mosaics, an international exchange program in comparative civics for teachers coordinated locally by Russell Sage College.

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