In France and Lexington, teens became another ‘boy in the family’ in exchange program

As soon as Henry Clay High School senior Ben Swayze arrived in Deauville, France, earlier this summer, Claudie and Gael Lecoq said they felt as if they had another son.

When the Lecoq’s son Léopold, 16, came to Lexington a few weeks ago, Ben’s parents Meg and Rob Swayze said Leopold joined “the rhythm of their family.”

“He had such a willing spirit” to jump in on whatever the Swayze’s were doing as a family, Meg Swayze said. Léopold acted as if he were their own boy.

Léopold and Ben, 17, participated in the Lexington Sister Cities exchange program, which began in Lexington in 1957 after it was started by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower the year before as a way to promote peace and prosperity through citizen diplomacy, said program executive director Kay Sargent.

Sister Cities is the world’s largest citizens diplomacy organization, said Sargent. People around Lexington have heard about it for years, but many don’t realize the partnerships and friendships can be life-changing. The “youth in education” sector is a big part of the program, but there are also opportunities for artists, business people and others.

Lexington has partnerships with Deauville, France; County Kildare, Ireland; Shinhidaka, Japan and Newmarket, England, including people of all ages.

President Eisenhower said in 1956 about the program: “If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments — if necessary to evade governments — to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other.”

The first exchanges between Léopold and Ben started via the online platform WhatsApp.

“Immediately bonds were woven,” said Léopold’s parents.

The boys experienced everyday life in each country and found fun in the mundane, Rob Swayze said.

In Kentucky, “the places that I liked the most were the landscapes of Natural Bridge, the incredible feeling of King Island and the visit of the University of Kentucky which was breathtaking,” said Léopold who returned to France last week.

Like many Lexington teens, he went tubing in Lake Cumberland.

“The food culture here is very good,” said Léopold.

In France, “we knew that Ben and Léopold and our family were going to form a family with an adopted son for 3 weeks,” the Lecoqs said in an email. “He was the third boy in the family. Ben was always smiling, jovial and funny. He immediately integrated into the family, with ... Léopold and Valentin, his older brother.”

“His desire to progress in French, his desire to understand our culture, always pushed us to share with him our French way of life. This experience has been a richness for all of us,” they said.

Sharing, respect, listening, kindness and a lot of joy made the exchange a total success, said the Lecoqs.

“This is the beginning of a sincere relationship of friendship between a French and American family. This is a wonderful gift,” they said.

Both boys want to go into the medical field.

Ben said he first heard about the Sister Cities program in the ninth grade. He wanted to apply but had to wait because of the COVID pandemic.

When he arrived in France this summer, his travel included Paris and the south of France.

Ben said the pace of life, including eating meals, was a lot slower in France. Homes were smaller. He lived the life of an average French teenager, going to the beach in Deauville. He discovered that the French don’t eat in the car. School days are longer.

Ben had intensive online French lessons with a tutor in Paris.

“I was nervous about not being able to communicate. By the first day, all my nerves were gone. I was very comfortable. Anyone wanting to do an exchange should just go for it,” Ben said.

Some people pay for their own travel in the Sister Cities program, although there are fundraisers and scholarships available because officials want deserving students to participate even if they can’t afford it, said Sargent.

“The long lasting life lessons of integrating travel, culture, and making friendships is priceless,” said Rob Swayze.