The Nuts and Bolts of AFS

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

Participants

Host Families

Host Schools

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.