11/24/2008 - Thanksgiving Greetings from Margaret Crotty & AFS-USA
Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, and it warms my heart that you are sharing your traditions and celebrations with our exchange students. It is the perfect time of year to thank all of those who make our lives richer.
On that note, we’d like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving by sharing two letters: one from Mohammad, a YES student from the Philippines who was hosted in Minnesota last year; another from Betsy, an American who studied abroad in India in 1974 and is now a volunteer. Their stories about the impact of AFS on their lives are the best way we can think of to say thank you to all of you. It is through you- our volunteers, staff, host families, and parents- that our mission of changing the world one person at a time happens.
Thank you from the AFS-USA Family, and Happy Thanksgiving!
”Thanks to the Beautiful State of Minnesota”
Now that I am about to return to the Philippines, I have nothing but fond memories as an exchange student. My fellow scholars and I are returning home to build bridges of understanding, bringing knowledge in how to deal with people of different customs, cultures, and beliefs.
My parents, brothers, grandparents, and other relatives all join me in extending my heartfelt “Thank You” to my host family and their children, relatives, friends, and neighbors. Also to my teachers, classmates, coaches, and friends from Buffalo Senior High School who all extended their help and support to me. They all deserve my everlasting “Thank You.”
My host family showed me good examples of how to become an honest person without reservations, and everyone I met during my stay definitely influenced my young life and my future. The love, kindness, and understanding my host family showed me definitely make me a better person, a better friend, and a better individual.
I honestly believe that I owe what my future can become to the founders of AFS and YES. I personally will help build understanding in my future life and will strengthen the bridges with nations around the globe. This program made me a positive thinker. Whatever trials and obstacles come my way, I can say I will always emerge a better thinker. This experience of mine is irreplaceable.
Again, to my host family, friends, teachers, and neighbors from the beautiful state of Minnesota: Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat at magkita-kita tayong muli! God bless America! God bless the Philippines!
And thank you all!
”I Am AFS”
Departing from JFK Airport NY: one petrified, shy American student on her first airplane flight.
Destination: India.
Returning from India: one American ‘world traveler’ who is stronger than expected, more confident, and more understanding.
Nothing in my life could have prepared me for India; it was beyond anything that I could ever have imagined. The people, sights, smells, and food were definitely different than small town New Jersey. The AFS mantra – “It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just different” was repeated many times – sometimes in triumph, other times for strength.
My Indian host father, a very wise man, challenged all my preconceived ‘certainties’ and made other perspectives understandable. Who would have believed that a romantic, naïve teenager would later explain that arranged marriages have a place in some societies? How could I have known that poverty and misunderstandings needed to be addressed globally if they were to be corrected?
In the ensuing 34 years (can it really have been that long?), my AFS experience has remained vivid and immediate. It is hard to say what events it has impacted, because my life has changed beyond recognition. The shy teenager has matured into an outspoken advocate for AFS and the positive changes it creates in our world.
I am not a political leader, but I have become a sending interviewer, seeing stronger things in teenagers than they even know they have. I am not the petrified teenager meeting a new family; I have become the hosting parent of 7 teenagers from all over the world, and liaison for a dozen more. I am not the daughter asking permission to spread my wings; I am now the parent sending two of my own children off to have their lives changed with AFS. I am the Hosting Coordinator that reads the applications for all those hopeful teenagers, and a volunteer helping to shape the future of AFS. I am the confident voice for everything that AFS stands for: encouraging, consoling, and enabling other teenagers to find their dreams.
The mission statement of AFS-USA has a greater imperative than ever. Without the ability to understand other countries as names and faces – rather than lines on a map – our world will never know peace. I am an AFS returnee. I am a volunteer. I am a hosting parent. I am a sending parent. I am AFS. Thank you.
 |
Printer Friendly |
