AFS recruits host families looking for meaningful international experience

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 8/16/16

When a group of ambulance drivers returned to America after helping the war effort in France during World War II, they came to understand that the best way to prevent a third World War was to encourage and promote peace through global

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AFS recruits host families looking for meaningful international experience

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When a group of ambulance drivers returned to America after helping the war effort in France during World War II, they came to understand that the best way to prevent a third World War was to encourage and promote peace through global understanding and cultural exchange. They established what would become American Field Service, an international student exchange program servicing more than 2,300 international students from 90 countries in the U.S. The program also provides services for more than 1,000 American students in their study abroad efforts.

With more than 60 years of experience, the non-profit has established a large support system of volunteers. Now, AFS-USA is in need of local host families, to provide housing for students arriving stateside on Sept. 8.

JoAnne Hanrahan, the community outreach specialist for AFS-USA’s Massachusetts Bay Ares, which covers Rhode Island Massachusetts and New Hampshire, said that hosting an international students can be a meaningful and life-changing experience for host families.

Anywhere between 55 and 60 international students will stay in the Bay area and 25 to 30 American students from the region will be visiting other countries for a year of study abroad.

AFS is looking to place about 10 students in Rhode Island. These students include Louise, a 16-year-old from Germany who enjoys painting and writing; Rachele, a family-oriented and studious 17-year-old from Italy; 16-year-old Shun from Japan, who plays piano and is a member of his local geography club; and Imam, a 16-year-old from Indonesia that characterizes himself as adventurous and involved in theatre.

Host families include grandparents and empty-nesters, young families looking to give their own children the “big brother/sister experience” or those who have or had children that studied abroad and want to give back.

“For the most part people come out of this experience with a global extended family. They have a new son or daughter, a sibling across the world in another country,” Hanrahan said.

“The connections between host families and the student are long lasting; we have seen host parents going to the weddings of their students years after the initial trip, making trips and visiting the students in their home countries.”

Taking a year to study in America is a popular experience among international students, who often start learning English at a young age. To be immersed in a culture and its language is believed to be a “leg up” for them rather than just learning in a classroom. Studying in America is a way to perfect their fluency in English as well as learn about the country’s culture.

Although AFS does offer programs for American students to study abroad in high school across the globe, Hanrahan said many students wait for college to study abroad. She argued though that students don’t have as meaningful as experiences because they are most often attending an American university and staying in apartments or dorms rather than with a local family.

“When you are younger you are more open to new experiences and perspectives, before you form concrete stereotypes. It’s easier to understand and accept other cultures and there is value in that,” Hanrahan said. “The hope is that students bring their new understanding of their host country back with them, to share their experiences and educate their communities to break down cultural stereotypes and barriers.”

The same can be said for international students who often come thinking American high schools are like “High School Musical” and all American are lazy and careless, “fat and driving hummers.” Usually though after spending a year in America the students often don’t want to leave but are excited to share their adventures and new perceptions of America with their home communities.

Students go through an extensive orientation period before being introduced to their host family that covers what they should expect in their new placements and some cultural differences they may come across those first few days. They are encouraged to try new things and come out of their comfort zones and to adjust to the routine of their host family, not the other way around. Hanrahan explained that the first few days and the first day of school are the toughest because the students are translating everything they hear and say in their head, while learning new things about the customs at the same time.

Hanrahan said, “It is really cool to hear just how much this experience has meant to them. They get the chance to educate a family on a different part of the world and then take what they learn here and share that with their home community.”

For more information on AFS-USA, how to become a host family, or the specific students moving into this area, visit www.afsusa.org Interested families should also contact JoAnne Hanrahan at jhanrahan@afsusa.org.

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