Student Exchange Promotes International Friendship

http://www.canyon-news.com/

Shana Wentzell is looking for special families. Shana is the local Southern California “Community Representative” for the Academic Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, finding families who are willing to accept an international high school exchange student into their home for the upcoming school year. It’s a process that fosters lifelong international connections.

AFICE President Kevin Donaker-Ring stated that, “As a non-profit organization, we are dedicated to promoting international understanding. Personally, I have devoted my entire adult life to the concept of cultural exchange, as I believe it is a powerful and important way for the people of the world to come together in friendship.”

In her role as a Community Representative, Shana interviews local families and supervises the students during their stay. She works with the host families to select a student that matches their interests, and she helps the student and family become accustomed with each other after the student arrives.

AFICE’s students are aged 15 to 18, and come from all over: Russia, Czech Republic, Korea, China, Germany, Mexico, and Bolivia are a few of the countries whose students are sponsored through the AFICE program.

Donaker-Ring went on to say that, “To me, one of the most important things about cultural exchange is that the students get to come here and experience the real United States. Not what they see on TV shows or their news at home. Several of our students come from countries where the media is tightly controlled, so they get here and learn that things are very different from their expectations. Best of all, they take their great experiences back home with them and spread the word to family and friends. It's an amazing tool for teaching American values by simply allowing a teenager to become a part of it. Not only that, but American families gain knowledge, insight, and empathy into other cultures.”