Japanese students need host families
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning, Columbiana, Portage and Trumbull county families will have the opportunity to welcome a young person from Japan into their home for a month this year as part of an international exchange program being offered by the counties’ Ohio State University Extension 4-H.
Last year, six youths and one chaperone were hosted in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Statewide, host families are needed for 100 Japanese youngsters age 12 to 18 and their adult chaperones, who will visit Ohio from July 23 through Aug. 18.
Host families provide the exchangees with room and board and a chance to experience daily life in America. Families are urged not to alter their daily routines or lifestyles during their visitor’s stay.
Exchangees provide their own spending money and the sponsoring organization furnishes comprehensive medical insurance.
The young Japanese visitors belong to the Labo Foundation, an organization which promotes the study of English culture and language in Japan.
The other youths belong to organizations similar to 4-H in their country.
Ohio 4-H has been conducting international exchange programs with these groups since 1949.
Students will arrive July 23 and leave Aug. 18, delivered locally by OSU buses.
“Do you know what I learned from this child?” asked one host father. “That you can live together and not understand one word the other is saying, and yet still communicate and learn to love each other.”
The program allows children to live with an American family as a way to expand their English skills and learn from each other and from similar-age children. Chaperones also live with adult families as a way to be available to the visitors and help with homesickness, health issues and language barriers.
Each family chooses the activities and experiences they want for their guest, so each student could have a unique adventure compared with his or her peers.
All types of families are welcome to apply to become hosts, including urban, rural, single-parent, childless and non-4-H families.
The only requirement is that for the Japanese monthlong exchange, hosts must have a family member of the same gender and approximate age of the exchangee, three meals a day and a separate bed for the visitor.
Those interested should contact Gretchen Kalinay at 330-799-8407 or Gary Reel at 330-533-7712 (Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Columbiana counties) for an application form and more information about this and other 4-H international exchange programs.
Information and applications are available at the website www.ohio4h.org/youth/international.