Dear Members of the UKFB&S,
I am a former Finnish high school exchange student to the U.S.– and currently working here in Finland for international exchange organization called Youth For Understanding (YFU). I am personally forever grateful to the Muto family in Michigan, who took me to their home and hearts as their second daughter back in 1995. We are still in touch, after all these years.
The reason why I am writing you is that in 2011 the U.S. State Department has made some severe restrictions when it comes to organizations such as ours recruiting American families to host our wonderfully international exchange students this year. These protocol changes have led to an incredibly challenging situation in the U.S.: there are still hundreds of wonderful, smart, funny and smiling teenagers -- just like I was only 16 years ago -- waiting for information about their future American families.
Today, as YFU USA celebrates 60 years of international student exchange, us former exchange students are filled with gratitude and admiration for the literally hundreds of thousands of volunteer host families in the United States who have enriched the lives of international students for generations. The value of this unbroken process of interaction and bonding across the borders of our planet cannot be measured, but it certainly weighs heavily on the scales of the best qualities that humankind has to offer.
As in the past six decades, this year once again one hundred Finnish teenagers are anxiously looking forward to spending an entire school year with an American family somewhere in the United States. Some of them are still waiting for the information of their own American family… Knowing that your organization is well connected and there is definitely a circle of friends of Finland around you, we are now asking for help from your organization. Could you please forward a short message to your members or post it in your newsletter or website as soon as possible -- maybe they would like to broaden their family's view of the world, for even a short few weeks this August, by hosting one of our exchange students from one of the over 50 different nations? Perhaps you could even get to know my fellow Finn in your home?
Below you can find two short messages which some of my international colleagues have shared thru emails and Facebook - maybe this is something you could post on your wall, or mention to some of your contacts?
I hope I am not asking for too much -- as said, all help would be so much appreciated by my colleagues in YFU-USA. Your local YFU representatives can be reached at www.yfu-usa.org or by calling 1-800-872-0200.
Thank you so much for all your help, and warmest greetings from Helsinki
Kirsi Keskitalo
YFU Finland
P.S. I am happy to answer any possible questions!
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Reading about the horrible events in Norway, now more than ever is the time to stand up for multiculturalism and show international solidarity. One way to do this is by inviting a young (15-18 year-old) exchange student from another country into your home for a few weeks, a semester or a school year.
Call 1-800-872-0200 and key in your zip code for details. Or register on the website www.yfu-usa.org. Share Your Home, Change the World! Host a YFU Exchange Student.
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Message to my American friends - and their friends: maybe you’re expecting in August and don’t even know it yet!! Consider hosting a YFU teen exchange student arriving in August, whether as a short-term arrival family or for the school year. Call 1-800-872-0200 and key in your zip code for details. Or register on the Youth For Understanding Website. Share Your Home, Change the World! Host a YFU Exchange Student - just the kind I once was!
