Ayusa Star 2012 Newsletter

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Ayusa Star

Welcome MessageWelcome to the 2012 edition of the Ayusa Star Newsletter! As another successful year of hosting and cultural exchange draws to a close, Ayusa would like to take the time to thank all our participants, host families, schools, and field staff for a fantastic year of developing future world citizens. The exchange experience not only provides our students with new perspectives on their own cultures, it gives them a more profound understanding of their important role in the global community. Out of their comfort zones, students’ characters are enhanced, their confidence expanded and they ultimately learn to embrace their potential as upcoming leaders. Through our work – welcoming students to the United States and sending Americans abroad – Ayusa is poised to have a lasting impact on future generations both domestically and internationally.

As members of the global community, and in lieu of printing this newsletter, Ayusa will make a donation on behalf of our host families and students to the ProWorld Fund. The fund makes a difference in the experience of a ProWorld volunteer and in the lives of host community members. The Proworld Fund was created to further support the project efforts of the in-country nonprofit organizations ProBelize, ProMexico and ProPeru and funds raised are sent directly to onsite projects. ProWorld aims to accomplish even larger projects and increase the scholarship awards available to volunteers.

Thank you for your commitment and dedication to Ayusa!

2012 Newsletter

Contents

President’s Award Winner 2

Contest Winners 3

Tomodachi Project 5

Host Family Spotlight 6

Student Spotlight 7

Study Abroad News 8

Stay Involved with Ayusa 9

Thank You 10

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Ayusa President’s Award

We are proud to announce this year’s Ayusa President’s Award was given to Mary Morton, Regional Director in the Southeast Region.

How did you get involved with Ayusa? Well, 11 years ago, Pat Balli (Southeast Regional Manager) came to church and was looking for a host family. She was looking for a family to host a boy from Switzerland. My husband’s heart went out to him and he asked me if I wanted to host. I said, “No.” I thought it sounded like something I would like to do but the timing wasn’t right. I had a 16 year old daughter along with 3 younger, impressionable boys. The thought of a 16 year old European boy seemed out of the question. The next Sunday Pat presented the scenario again; my husband came to me with the same question and I had the same answer, “No!” Pat can be persistent and so can my husband, so as you can imagine, on the following Sunday Pat asked again. My husband looked at me again and finally I said, “Yes.” It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I loved hosting when my children were at home and I made sure they each had their own exchange student. As my kids started to go away to college Pat asked if I would be a Community Representative. Again, the first two times I said no, but by the time my second child started college I said, “Yes!” I’m so glad I did. What could be more rewarding for a school teacher than to work with amazing youth from around the world? Of course, one of the highlights of my life has been going to visit other countries on Ayusa trips. Something I only dreamt about became possible because I work with Ayusa. I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.

Do you have a fun memory you would like to share with us? One experience that stands out is with the first boy we hosted. It was not the boy from Switzerland; we ended up hosting Gino from Germany. He was a great fit for our family and that was amazing in itself. Why? Because he was an only child and we had four children. He didn’t believe in God and we did. His parent’s weren’t married and really didn’t believe in marriage. We were married and believed in it very much. Because our family hosted that year, three of my four children have had the opportunity to go to Germany and other countries around the globe. In 2010, I finally got to go meet Gino’s parents, thanks to Ayusa Germany. Gino picked me up from the airport and drove me to the restaurant where we would meet his parents. I was so excited to see him. What a reunion that was to finally meet Gino’s parents.

What inspires you as a Regional Director? I love making matches and watching them bloom into memories that will last a lifetime. I love to encourage the students and families I work with and share my excitement with them. I get to re-live my first hosting experience through this position and at the end of the year, the families and students have their own experiences to share. This is definitely a job I love and even after eleven years, I still love hosting.

“Mary Morton is consistent and dependable. She runs a good, strong program for her students and host families providing multiple events every year. She has built good relationships with the school systems in her area. She actively looks for ways to network in her communities and devotes many hours doing so and enlisting others to help. Mary is the energizer bunny and I can always count on her to find homes for our students. She takes responsibility for her staff, her students, and her host families. She is available and

responsive. I’m very thankful to have Mary as part of my regional team.”

— Pat Balli, Southeast Regional Manager

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Contest Winners

While all of Ayusa’s student participants are amazing, we’d like to take a moment and recognize the inspiring winners of this year’s student contests.

International Education WeekInternational Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Ayusa students gave cultural presentations in their communities and entered our annual contest. In November of 2011, the Ayusa headquarters office received an amazing amount of submissions for the International Education Week contest. The applications received proved Ayusa students are excellent junior ambassadors and are achieving great things through cultural exchange. From a large number of remarkable entries, the following winners were selected.

NianWu explaining traditional Chinese games.

1st place: NianWu – ChinaNianWu is an Ayusa student living with the Bidwell family in Windsor, Colorado. NianWu really impressed this year’s IEW judges by giving presentations to a total of over 240 people at his high school. NianWu began preparing his presentations by doing research in his home country of China before coming to the United States.

Mariyam teaching children how to write their names in her native language of Balochi.

2nd place: Mariyam – PakistanMariyam is a YES scholarship student from Pakistan who lives with the Saunders family in Coquille, Oregon. Mariyam presented four amazing presentations to four very different audiences, including an elementary school, a women’s club, a community church, and the high school she attends. Mariyam’s application spoke volumes about the philosophy put forth in her presentations that “while we speak different languages and have different cultures, there are still many things that we share…we are all the same.”

Kaerels with some of her presentation attendees.

3rd place: Kaerels – the PhilippinesKaerels from the Philippines showed her level of commitment to IEW by changing the content of her presentations for each audience she presented to, at her high school, local elementary and middles schools. Kaerels put together a very thoughtful presentation that told about the different dialects, school system, traditional dress and foods (including preparing dishes native to her country) of the Philippines. Kaerels is a YES scholarship student who is living with the Leiterman family in Poynette, Wisconsin.

Because the competition was so fierce this year, the judges decided to award honorable mention to two students whose applications also stood out from the others.

Sofia a YES scholarship student, engaged several hundred people in each of her classes and school clubs, educating them about her native country of Pakistan. She gave a well-organized presentation and even sang the Pakistani national anthem and made the traditional dish of rice pudding.

Dong Yoon

from Korea, submitted a thoughtful application where he discussed the four presentations he made about his country’s food, school system, general culture and pop music. He wore traditional Korean clothes to his school, and with his easy-to-understand presentation style and obvious pride in his country, kept those who attended his presentation asking questions.

Honorable Mention

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Contest Winners

Community Service ContestEvery year, Ayusa sponsors a special contest for students who have dedicated a significant part of their time to community service projects. Community service is a great way to get involved with fun projects that give back, and is a learning and growth experience for everyone involved.

Linda – the NetherlandsLinda impressed our judges by devoting many of her free hours to working primarily with individuals with special needs, including helping them to play sports, chaperoning a trip and traveling with the special needs school that received an award for the volunteer work they do. Linda’s host sister has Down syndrome and was the initial inspiration for Linda’s decision to volunteer. Linda also spent time serving the homeless and working at the local church. Individuals involved in all of her community service projects wrote glowing recommendations about her work. When asked in her application what she got back from her volunteer experience, Linda stated “Everybody should at least make an attempt to help others in their community. Even the ones who ought to be helped are helping. It may be your life, but it is not about you, it is about the people around you.”

Nathalie – GermanyNathalie’s passion for volunteer work with her church and the local veterinary clinic was evident in her submission. Every week she took care of the boarding cats and dogs at the clinic by exercising them, cleaning their cages, monitoring them after surgery and helping with adoptions. Nathalie aims one day to work in the mental health profession and feels that helping to diagnose and treat animals is very similar to the way we approach diagnosing and treating humans. Nathalie’s recommendations described her as delight to work with and eager to learn, with a strong work ethic, sense of humility, and creative spirit. As her favorite quote by novelist Josephine Humpreys points out, “Who you are begins with what you do.”

Kaerels – the PhilippinesKaerels devoted her volunteer time to working with children in a Cognitive/Special Education classroom, assisting young children at a local church, helping those less fortunate and fundraising for her school’s youth activities, among others. Kaerels viewed her community service as not just helping others, but also as an opportunity to learn about American culture and educate people about her culture. She reports, “Many aspects of my community service have also influenced my personality and the way I lived my exchange year.”

Community Contributors

Several students were also chosen for honorable mention. While these students did not place in the top three, we recognize that they also made substantial, quality contributions to their communities:

Aiman Pakistan

Dareen Bahrain

Javier Mexico

Min Chi South Korea

Mariyam Pakistan

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Tomodachi Project

What is Tomodachi?Tomodachi is a public-private partnership led by the U.S. Embassy in Japan and the U.S. Japan Council (a non-profit), supported by the Japanese government. Tomodachi, which means “friendship” in Japanese, supports Japan’s recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and invests in the next generation of Japanese students, to strengthen cultural and economic ties and deepen the friendship between the U.S. and Japan. The initiative conducts a variety of programs that focus on student exchange, virtual exchange, leadership development and fostering entrepreneurship. Tomodachi takes its name from “Operation Tomodachi” the joint operation between the U.S. military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces that provided humanitarian relief in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

How does Ayusa fit into this?Ayusa has been selected to administer and operate the Tomodachi Softbank Leadership Program, a three-week program that provides full scholarships for 300 high school students from the earthquake affected area of Tohoku, in eastern Japan. The program will take place on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, from July 22 to August 12, 2012. Our office in Japan will recruit, select, and prepare the students, while our Ayusa team in the U.S. will administer the program, plan activities, and recruit local host families.

The Tomodachi Softbank Leadership Program is unique for Ayusa as it will not be funded by the U.S. Department of State, but by a private company. Softbank Corp., a large telecommunications company in Japan, will provide funding for the program. Ayusa’s involvement in the program is significant. Of all the educational exchange programs announced, Ayusa will be welcoming the largest number of students in a single program.

Last year, on March 11, 2011, the eastern coast of Japan was hit by a devastating 8.9 magnitude offshore earthquake and subsequent 23-foot tsunami, causing thousands to lose their lives, families and homes. In response to this disaster, the Tomodachi initiative was created.

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Host Family Spotlight

Ayusa is proud to have many outstanding host families this year! Here’s a spotlight on just one of our amazing host families, Cosette, Ted, and Camille Thoms of Rock Island, Illinois. The Thoms are hosting Ayusa student, Lucie from France and graciously took the time to tell us about their experience.

The Thoms

As our first time hosting, we were uncertain what to expect. We were looking for a student to become part of our family and that is exactly what has happened with Lucie. It was like she was hand-picked for our family. It’s amazing how quickly she felt like a member of the family; when people see us in a store or on the street, they just assume she’s our daughter.

We enjoy listening to music together, watching movies, baking and being active together. Our family travels a lot and having Lucie with us during these times not only brought us closer together as we shared America with her, but also energized our family. It’s also been great to have her participate in cheerleading at school, watch her make friends and just do what we consider normal American teenager activities. Knowing we have helped Lucie experience many things and grow as a young woman is very rewarding.

It’s been surprising how fluent Lucie has become with her English. We play word games with her, have her read aloud with Camille and have a “word-of-the-week” and “phrase-of-the-week” on our blackboard. It has all made a big difference.

Having Lucie here has made us a better family. It’s allowed us to see the things about us and our community that are important to us but that we sometimes take for granted. We have tried to truly show Lucie what American life is like and help her make the most of her time here. Having a “big” sister has also been invaluable to Camille. She’s really grown as a person this year and has a new appreciation for her life and what it means to be American. The only downside with becoming so close is that we can’t imagine life without Lucie. We will be so sorry to see her go home, but we know she’ll always have a place in our family.

“For Valentine’s Day, my family tried to embarrass me by sending a lot of balloons to my class at school. At first I didn’t know who they were from but when I read the card, I laughed. Everyone was looking at me and I thought it was very funny.”— Lucie

“To me, Lucie feels like a real sister. We have our ups and downs but all sisters do. She’s there when I need someone to talk to and as an only child, it’s fun to have this experience.”

— Camille, host sister

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Student Spotlight

By the end of the school year, Vincent will have picked up three separate varsity letters for his athletic achievements in basketball, soccer, and track and field. His dedication to staying active has allowed him to integrate himself into each of these teams as a valued and essential member.

While Vincent has seen many successes in sports during his exchange year, he is also heavily focused on his academics. He is currently taking a full load of college preparatory classes and signed up to take the SAT and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) tests. Even with a busy schedule filled with extracurricular activities, Vincent is presently on track to graduate from his American high school with an astounding 4.0 grade point average.

However, Vincent is not only defined by his diligence and athleticism, but also by his benevolence. Having never participated in community service back in Germany, Vincent has had the opportunity to volunteer his time regularly in his host community. This has been a new and exciting experience for Vincent, who has a passion for helping others through medicine. Recently, Vincent was accepted as one of the few seniors in his school to accompany sixth graders as a camp counselor at Outdoor School in the beginning of May. As a Student Leader, Vincent displayed excellent leadership and enthusiasm and shared his interest in science with his cabin of sixth graders.

In the Cooper home, Vincent is a dedicated family member and has made his host parents very proud. Towards the end of March, Vincent had the opportunity to travel to Salem, Oregon with his host dad to attend a bill signing event with John Kitzhaber, the Governor of Oregon. Vincent was even presented with a copy of the actual bill and the pen Kitzhaber used to sign it. “Needless to say,” said Vincent’s host dad, “I think his exchange has worked out pretty well.”

Vincent’s thoughtfulness, motivation and friendly demeanor has made him a distinguished member at his school and in his host community.

We are pleased to feature Vincent in this year’s Student Spotlight! Vincent is a German exchange student who attends Crook County High School and lives with the Cooper family in Prineville, Oregon.

Vincent

“Vince has been a model exchange student this entire school year. He is very active with his school, host family, and community. He has done extensive community service and continues to do so. He has a great attitude and has been a joy to have in my region.” — Patti Oatman, Regional Director

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Volunteer Abroad ProgramsAyusa offers the most dynamic Volunteer Abroad programs for high school students who want to experience personal growth and make a difference in our world. Through experiential and academic learning, hands-on development work and cultural immersion, Ayusa, in partnership with its sister company ProWorld, challenges its participants to grow as individuals and as members of our global community. Students complete an Ayusa Volunteer Abroad program with a broader perspective of themselves, life and the world. Project work, language classes, cultural excursions, and cross cultural experiences give students an edge and teach them skills that cannot be gained in the classroom. In addition to volunteer service, students will also receive conversational Spanish instruction, Global Citizen Initiative curriculum, and a program finale weekend!

We offer summer Volunteer Abroad programs in Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru and host families get a $250 discount! American high school students can participate on one of these programs with their exchange student and both students will save $500. If you would like more information or want to join this year’s program, contact our program advisors at 1.800.579.1709 or visit http://www.ayusa.org/students/volunteer-abroad.

Cultural Exchange Goes Two Ways!Ayusa gives back to families and communities that are involved in cultural exchange by offering the following discounts on our outbound programs.

Study Abroad News

Golden Ticket Discounts Host Family Discounts

Student Ambassador Discount Friends and Family Discounts

“I have been back home for a week now and I still miss Spain like crazy. Everyone bombards me with questions and asks to see pictures, but I don’t know how to convey the AWESOMENESS of my trip in words… so I just say, ‘good,’ even though it was so much more than good.”— Chrissy, Ayusa Study Abroad

student

Can’t get enough cultural exchange? Sign up to be an Ayusa Student Ambassador to promote and facilitate cultural exchange by helping exchange students in your community, and by telling friends and classmates about opportunities to host or become an exchange student! Student Ambassadors receive a $500 discount on all Ayusa programs.

Starting in 2008, once a high school hosts their first Ayusa student they’ll get a $500 discount for every successive Ayusa student they host. The school can give these discounts out to their students who are interested in volunteering abroad with Ayusa.

Families who host Ayusa exchange students within two years of volunteering abroad are eligible for a $250 discount on our summer programs. For more information about becoming a host family, visit http://www.ayusa.org/families/what-hosting.

Ayusa offers a $500 discount to families who have participated on a previous Ayusa or Volunteer Abroad program, and to students who enroll in an Ayusa program with a friend!

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Host an exchange studentAyusa firmly believes that one connection has the power to change the world. What better way to make a difference than by welcoming a young person from another country to your own home and community? If you haven’t already, families living in the U.S. can still select their exchange student for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.

To get started, visit http://www.ayusa.org/families/apply-now.

Volunteer AbroadAyusa has a number of volunteer abroad programs around the world! If you’d like to join us this summer, there may still be room on some of our programs. Please call 1.800.579.1709 for more information. Check out some of the discounts you may be eligible for on page 8.

More information can be found at http://www.ayusa.org/students/volunteer-abroad.

Volunteer to be an Ayusa Student AmbassadorAyusa Student Ambassadors are high school students who facilitate and promote cross-cultural understanding within their communities by befriending exchange students and spreading the word about cultural exchange!

To learn more about becoming an ambassador, ask your local Ayusa representative or call 1.800.579.1709.

Work for AyusaIf you live in the U.S. and are over 25, you can become an Ayusa Community Representative! Working with exchange students has the potential to be one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. Not only are you bringing diversity and understanding to your community, but you are having a direct impact on the life of a young person. As you continue to work with your students, host families, and schools, you will find your capacity for cultural understanding and communication will grow beyond your wildest expectations. Many of our staff find that they become leaders in their communities through their work with Ayusa. The strong friendships you’ll build and the cross-cultural enrichment you’ll experience will make your international family continue to grow year after year.

Stay involved with Ayusa!

Ayusa would love to have you remain an active part of the family! We hope you had an absolutely amazing and unforgettable year with Ayusa, learning all about another culture, but also a lot about yourselves. Here’s a few ways to stay involved with Ayusa:

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Thank you!

Thank you host families, students, schools, staff and partners for all your contributions to cultural exchange. You have impacted and strengthened the global community.