Home sweet international home
 |
Homestay "mom" Betty |
When Dorothy, heroine of The Wizard of Oz, said, “There’s no place like home,” she obviously didn’t know about ELI’s Homestay Delaware or Host Family Program. Had she lived with an American family in Delaware, Pennsylvania, or nearby Maryland, Dorothy would have surely agreed that there are many definitions of “home,” even thousands of miles over the rainbow.
Between September 2006 and September 2007, approximately 600 students who participated in the Homestay Program called the greater Newark area “home.” Over 200 hundred American families welcomed ELI students into their lives, offering them a chance to experience life in the United States firsthand.
“Long-time relationships have continued all over the world as a result of families welcoming many different nations into their homes,” said Nancy Purcell, director of Homestay Delaware. “We continue to learn much about cultures from around the world. It is our hope that as we use ‘grassroots diplomacy,’ international students and teachers will go back to their countries with a greater understanding and appreciation of this country.”
In addition to housing individual students coming for regular sessions, American families opened their hearts and homes to groups of English teachers from Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, South Korea and Syria. Japanese students from Kobe Shoin Women's University and Seinan Gakuin University also shared in the homestay experience.
For students who live in a dormitory or in off-campus apartments, ELI offers a similar opportunity to meet and interact with American families. The Host Family Program, under the direction of Karen Hale, is a friendship program designed to connect American families with ELI students.
“We hope they can get together two or three times each session, though some meet more often and some less,” said Hale.
 |
| Host family Roger and Danna Levy were guests of ELI grad Ali Al Hasan and his bride at their wedding in Kuwait. "We feel honored to have been part of this memorable occasion," Danna said. |
Typical activities include trips to the mall, outings to the beach, school plays, Chinese restaurants, church picnics, graduation parties, weddings and Blue Rocks baseball games. This past year, 165 students were placed with 50 host families. The program is always in need of more families to volunteer, reported Hale.
Thanks to programs such as Homestay Delaware and the ELI Host Family Program, students’ first steps along the “yellow brick road” of study in the United States are less daunting.
For more information about either program, contact Nancy Purcell at rtp3@aol.com • MW