|
AFS is a
non-profit organization that seeks to promote world peace one
family at a time. AFS coordinates international exchanges for
high school students and teachers in over fifty countries. AFS strongly
supports sponsored exchange students, teachers, and host families through
local chapters like ours.
The core
of any machine is its intricate network of cogs and wheels, which tirelessly
rotate to keep the machine running. The AFS machine is powered primarily
by volunteers, with support from AFS Partner organizations and their staffs.
Which role is best for you? Here's a rundown on voluntary AFS "parts":
Volunteers:
Volunteers are the lifeblood of AFS. After all, it was World War I volunteer
ambulance drivers who first conceived of AFS back in 1914. Since then,
AFS has evolved into one of the world's largest international community-based
volunteer organizations. Through volunteers, AFS transforms the lives
of young people, inspiring them to explore new dimensions of global philosophy
and service. For every one AFS staff member, there are 200 volunteers,
most of whom can be found working with participants in communities around
the world, advancing the adage "Think globally, act locally."
AFS volunteers also play important leadership roles, serving on AFS national
boards of directors.
Participants:
AFS is an adventure in learning that lasts far beyond the exchange experience
itself. By living with a host family and attending school in another culture,
AFS participants come to appreciate differences and realize connections
with their global neighbors and share their knowledge with others in their
home communities. "Participants" can be defined as high school
students, educators, school administrators or anyone taking part in an
AFS program.
Host
Families: A host family can be a single parent, a childless couple
or two parents with children already living at home. Families applying
to host an AFS student indicate their preference as to a boy or girl and
nationality, and AFS will try to place a student whose profile is compatible
with family's. Hosting an AFS student provides two-way interactions that
vibrantly bring to life the culture of a far-away land, perhaps seen before
only through the distant, impersonal headlines of a newspaper. Families
are not paid. They are expected to supply love, moral support, comfort
and basic needs for their hosted student, just as they would for their
own children. Students bring their own spending money, and their clothing
and medical expenses (in most cases) already are covered. The student's
natural parents remain the legal guardians throughout the exchange experience,
while AFS looks after the student's general welfare. The host parent(s)
is responsible for the student's well-being on a day-to-day basis. Both
families and students are supported by the local AFS volunteer committees,
which provide orientations, meetings and social functions throughout the
year.
Host Schools:
In secondary schools around the world, the presence of AFS students is
valued by administrators, educators and fellow students. Increasingly,
educators understand that there exists an element of intercultural learning
for all their students when they have an AFS participant in their classroom.
AFS students come to be viewed as resources and contributors to the classroom
environment. While they are not required to do so, many AFS participating
schools contribute extracurricular fees, field trip costs, workbooks and
other educational expenses for their AFS students.
AFS started
as the American Field Service, which was a group of American
ambulance drivers in Paris during World War I. After the war, they
wanted to find a way to promote world peace. The result was AFS!
Information
is available about:
Becoming
an exchange student
Becoming
a host family
AFS
in Kansas City
Our
parent organization: AFS
Intercultural Programs
Additional
websites are listed on our AFS LINKS page.
|
 |
