International Students Need Place to Call HomeBy Jen Thomas
iBerkshires Staff
01:48PM / Tuesday, June 10, 2008
 | | Exchange students like Siddhant Shah and Asadullah Sohail need host families.
[Photos courtesy of Kara Lozier] |
NORTH ADAMS — In two months, students from all over the world will come to America to study in our nation's schools, to learn about a new culture and to become a part of the community.
And some of those students will call the Berkshires home.
But only one host family in all of Northern Berkshire and Southern Vermont has volunteered to care for a student for the coming school year, said Kara Lozier, the coordinator for two scholarship programs that bring exchange students to the region for 10 months every year.
"I feel like I have done absolutely everything possible to find host families," said Lozier, who has posted fliers, placed announcements in church bulletins, used social networking sites to reach out to local students, written columns for local newspapers and hosted exhibits at area events.
Originally intending to find families for 15 students, Lozier has had to scale back that number to six because of the lack of local interest.
"I kind of thought it would be easier this year, because I placed 17 last year. I didn't think it was an overly ambitious number," said Lozier.
A host parent herself, Lozier called hosting an exchange student a rewarding and life-changing event but many families don't give themselves a chance, counting out their homes for perceived faults.
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Siddhant, Asadullah and Anya, from Ukraine, pose in their prom outfits.
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"The host families are everything you can imagine. Some have no children in the home, some have younger children, some are widows, some are lesbian couples. They all work. Every family has its different strengths; they all have something to offer," said Lozier. "A lot of people think if they don't have teenagers in the home, they won't be a good family but that's not true."
Host families are expected to provide a bed for the student, three meals a day and reasonable transportation for school and other community or academic activities. They must clear a background check and have two character references.
"I think fear might be playing a big role here. You're inviting not only a complete stranger into your home but also someone from another country and a teenager, no less. But host families don't have to feel like tour guides or entertainers. We're just trying to expose our whole community to whole cultures they wouldn't normally come into contact with and these families make that happen," said Lozier.
Two students here with the scholarship programs — the Youth Exchange and Study scholarship, administered by the Program of Academic Exchange and American Councils for International Education and the Future Leaders Exchange Program, sponsored by the U.S. State Department — said having the chance to participate in the program will change hundreds of lives.
"You're not just changing the lives of one person but lots of people," said Asadullah Sohail, a student from Afghanistan who is studying at Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vt. "There are a lot of stereotypes and misunderstandings and misconceptions and it causes a lot of problems. People hate you and they don't know you and we want to say that people are not different; they are the same."
"If people host students from other countries and help them to learn, when they go back, they can say that the people of the U.S. don't want to take control. They just want to help us," he said. "And students here can learn about other cultures and traditions and lifestyles."
Asad is spearheading a project to build a library in his home country, thanks to support from the Goodrich Foundation, and he said the project will further build bridges between his culture and the United States.
"Right now, I think Afghanistan and this area are connected. The library project will help thousands of people in my home city and it is clear that I will help those in Afghanistan so they will understand that people of the U.S. want to help students like me," Asad said.
Siddhant Shah, from India, said he'd had the best year of his life and urged families to allow others like him to have the opportunity to experience America.
"Everything is ready. The only thing left is to give the student a place to stay. Families should give it a try. It's not like you get a chance like this all the time," said Siddhant. "I am so thankful to the people here for being so kind. It just went like a snap and it's sad that we're going to be saying goodbye."
Lozier said hosting students not only promotes cross-cultural understanding but it also teaches the students who come to live here values like democracy and volunteerism.
"If people here want to change the world and have a great year, they should definitely host an exchange student for a year," said Asad.
"I know there are families out there. I just have to find them," said Lozier.
For more information about the scholarship programs or about hosting, contact Lozier at karalozier@yahoo.com or at 802-823-5006. |
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