Sep 18 2008
Make Friends from Around the World: Host an Exchange Student
Make Friends from Around the World: Host an Exchange Student
Enhancing the image of the United States abroad goes a long way toward improving and strengthening our relationships with other countries. People like Laurie and Martin Scott of Nevada are doing their part to create and promote a positive impression of America around the world.
The couple has joined forces with the nonprofit EF Foundation for Foreign Study to host exchange students, something Laurie says has the potential to make a world of difference for foreign affairs. “In the five years we’ve been doing it, each of our students has come to the U.S. with their own unique perspective on our society and culture, and they weren’t always positive views,” Scott says. “By the time they left us at the end of the school year, their views had totally changed. Now for the rest of their lives, they will be walking ambassadors for America.”
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice states, “We must increase our exchanges with the rest of the world. [W]e must encourage our citizens . . . to understand different cultures and to welcome others into their homes.” Karen Hughes, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, named international exchanges as one of the four strategic pillars needed to strengthen America’s ties with foreign nations.
While the Scotts have given so much to students from abroad, Laurie says that they have gotten a lot back as well. “EF Foundation is like a big family. We’ve made friends around the world and we have so many places to visit. Plus, we have built relationships with staff members that will last forever.”
Åsa Fanelli, president of EF Foundation for Foreign Study, stresses the true exchange that takes place when families host. “The best way to experience another culture is by opening your heart and home to a young person from another country,” Fanelli says. “Your family and community get the opportunity to learn about another culture while you have a chance to share your American values and traditions.”
Laurie Scott agrees, noting that hosting exchange students builds mutual understanding for everyone involved. “We really need programs like this to understand each other. It has been a fantastic experience for us,” she says.
EF Foundation students are between 15 and 18 years old, and arrive with health insurance and their own spending money. EF Foundation for Foreign Study is a nonprofit organization with thousands of volunteers across the country that brings high school students from all over the world to live and study for a year in the United States. Since 1979, the program has helped 100,000 students from nearly 40 countries take part in international exchange.
To learn more about the EF Foundation and the steps you’ll need to take to become a host family, log on to www.effoundation.org or call (800) 44-SHARE.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
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The couple has joined forces with the nonprofit EF Foundation for [...]
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