- What is AFS?
- What is a local
AFS chapter ?
- What is an Area
Team ?
- What is a District
?
- Who do I contact
for program information ?
- Who can host ?
- Does AFS pay host
families ?
- What are host families
expected to provide ?
- Do AFS students
need their own room ?
- Who pays for medical
expenses ?
- How long will
the student live with the host family ?
- When would the
student arrive ?
- Where would the
AFS student go to school ?
- What type of support
is available for the AFS student/family ?
- What are the AFS
rules?
- What about medical
care?
- Can the student
travel during the year?
- Is the student
allowed to go home during the year?
- What happens if
AFS doesn't find a host family in the country of the student's choice?
- What happens if
for one reason or another a student returns home before the end of the
official stay?
- What happens if
a student breaks a law in the host country?
AFS is a non-profit
organization that seeks to promote world peace one person at a time. AFS
coordinates international exchanges for high school students and teachers
in over fifty countries. AFS has a strong support infrastructure made
up of local chapters, Area Teams, Regional, and National offices.
An AFS local chapter
is a structured group of volunteers in a school community who implement
the AFS programs in that community by hosting and sending participants
on AFS programs, and who work together to assure that the principles and
standards of AFS are upheld.
An AFS Area Team is
a structured group of volunteers in a specific geographical location who
manage the operations of the local chapters.
A district is a geographical
region of the state. As an example, Arkansas is divided into six
(6) of these districts; they include the following: Northwest, Northeast,
Southwest, Southeast, Metro, and Central. A representative from each of
these districts sits on the Area Leadership Team and they vote on issues
that concern the local chapters in their respective district.
Review the "Contact
Us" section of this site for the Coordinators that have the information
you require.
All kinds of families
can be hosts. AFS's criteria for hosting is a secure, flexible, interested
household of people genuinely interested in sharing their lives with a
teenager, providing that young person with love and support, and learning
about the world and its people.
AFS does not
pay families to host students. AFS host families choose totheir
homes not for financial gains, but for the unforgettable rewards that
accure from sharing with a young person from another culture. Families
are entitled, however, to a modest $50 tax deduction for each month the
student lives in their home.
You supply love, moral
support, comfort and basic needs, just as you would for a child of your
own. The cost depends upon a number of factors. A major cost factor is
your family's lifestyle and level of expenditure. The student will bring
his/her own spending money.
AFS only requires
that each student has his or her own bed. A large proportion of AFS students
share a bedroom with their new siblings.
AFS students have
their own medical coverage. There is a 24 hour support line to deal with
medical emergences. Because AFS is the student's offical sponsor, the
student is in the USA on a J-1 high school visa. The student's natural
family remains his or her legal guardians under this arrangement.
You will wish it were
longer when the time comes to say good-bye! Year Program students stay
for approximately 11 months; semester students for 6 months. Recognizing
that some families are not able to make such a long term commitment, it
is possible to host for 3 months or a semester. Regardless of how long
you host, most AFS students and families become "family for life."
Most students arrive
in early August, although there is a small group of students from Southern
Hemisphere countries who arrive in January, most for a semester. You receive
an approximate arrival date with confirmation of your placement from AFS,
and more specific information nearer the arrival time.
AFS students attend
your local high school. Your local chapter volunteers will be happy to
assist you in making these arrangements.
removals to germany
AFS prides itself
on being able to offer local support to both the student and the family.
This help is provided by three different groups of volunteers. First,
each student/family is assigned a liaison or advisor. This person will
visit monthly with all of the family members and the student to offer
them a chance to talk to someone outside of the family about a possible
problem. Secondly, the student is assigned an Aunt/Uncle. These volunteers
help the family out by providing an opportunity for them to take a break
for a couple of hours or over a weekend. The volunteer will pick up the
student and take them to a movie, out to eat, or invite them over for
the weekend. The third support person is the Program Support Coordinator.
This volunteer acts as a counselor. It is their job to settle difficulties
that crop up between the student and their host family or other students.
No hitchhiking;
No driving;
No drugs – using, buying or selling.
The purpose of these rules is to protect the participants – thus
AFS will be very strict and any student found to have infringed these
rules will be sent home immediately.
The cost of medical
insurance is included in the price of the program. AFS covers all medical
care and repatriation if necessary, but not medical care after the return
of the participant or dental care or eyeglasses. For more details ask
your AFS contact.
In as much as possible, AFS will request permission from the parents or
legal representative before any surgical intervention is carried out,
if and when necessary, for the health of the participant. Parents are
requested to fill out a permission form ahead of time authorizing emergency
care in case of an accident or serious illness.
Yes, with prior permission
from AFS and parents /legal representative. But the participant must be
accompanied.
AFS is against the
idea. Experience has shown that it is not a good idea. A year-long experience
requires a certain frame of mind – you have to be able to be away
from your family. If the student goes home in the middle, it would require
a further adjustment upon return, for a second time.
For the same reasons AFS does not encourage visits of friends or relatives
but it is the host country which decides whether or not to give permission.
We reimburse all partial
payments except the registration fee. But if the student refuses
the family AFS finds them, we do not guarantee to find another one.
Any additional expense
will be paid by the participant.
AFS bears no responsibility
for such a case but each student will be carefully prepared so that they
are informed of the specific laws of each host country.
AFS
Ring
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