University staffers bring home the world

by Kerry Hill

Two university staff members have brought a far-off part of the world right into their homes this year, by hosting foreign high school students through AFS Intercultural Programs.

“We get to see our lives through someone else’s eyes,” says Rachel Rothschild, assistant dean in the School of Veterinary Medicine, who is host mom to Karla, from Venezuela. “We get to rethink habits and assumptions. Our daughter, Cody, has a sister she would not otherwise have had.”

More information To learn more about AFS, its history and programs, visit the AFS Web site. For a free brochure and host family application, or to speak with a representative, call (800) AFS-INFO. E-mail: afsinfo@afs.org. In Madison, call 246-0153. E-mail: kghill@execpc.com.

Donna Veatch, international program specialist with the Office of International Studies and Programs, says she has enjoyed “watching Surama (from Brazil) enjoy her first snow, open presents on Christmas morning, and seeing her learn things she would not see and learn about in her country. We also enjoy meeting her AFS friends from many other countries.”

For both Veatch and Rothschild, past experiences inspired their families’ decision to become hosts.

“Because of our travels and work with ‘Up With People,'” Veatch says, “both my husband Bob and I have stayed with about 300 host families, so we know well what a rewarding experience it can be for both host and guest.”

Also, Veatch’s family hosted an AFS student from Japan in 1978, when she was a senior in high school.

“Two years after her return, my parents and I visited her and her family in Japan,” Veatch says, “and she toured us through her country for two weeks. She came back for my wedding 10 years ago and my parents visited her again this past year in Japan. As always, she is part of our family.”

“Our decision to host now grew out of our son Justin’s experience as an AFS student in Panama in 1998-99,” says Rothschild, who also lived abroad as a teenager. “We were struck by the extraordinary generosity of host families all over the world as they make room in their homes and their lives for young people from other countries who are having life-altering adventures. We wanted to be part of that.”

As AFS begins its search for host families in the Madison area for the next school year, Rothschild and Veatch are recommending the experience. The value of hosting, Veatch says, is “connecting people in the world – unfamiliar places become the people you love, not just a ‘foreign country.'”

“The AFS organization functions extremely well without being bureaucratic,” Rothschild says. “We have experienced this now as both sending and hosting parents. We knew there would be support of all kinds for us as a host family whenever needed. Then, when we read Karla’s AFS application, the decision was easy.”

An AFS host family can be a single individual or parent, a couple with or without children living at home, from 20-something through retirement age. All host families are expected to supply love, moral support, comfort and basic needs for their hosted student. AFS students bring their own spending money and clothing – and come with full medical insurance coverage.

AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.