8 Would you like to host an Iraqi high school student August 6-20? <https://avonhillcambridge.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=13093632> 17h ago Kristin Semmelmeyer <https://avonhillcambridge.nextdoor.com/profile/1380166> from Agassiz Dear Neighbors, My daughter and I hosted an Iraqi teenage student here in Cambridge last summer for two weeks. It was a very rewarding and fun experience for us and we're hosting two students again this year. We did this through a program sponsored by the U.S. State Department in conjunction with the American Embassy in Baghdad. The students who come to the U.S. are highly accomplished Iraqi high school students. About 1,100 students apply to the program, and about 150 are accepted. 14 of those are coming to Boston. These high schoolers went through months of completing application questions sent to them by email, and a number of interviews, including at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, before being accepted. They are from all around Iraq. I'm writing you now because the program is still looking for additional host families, for four teenage girls, one teenage boy, and one 20-something adult Iraqi mentor. Families host one or more students, whatever they request. I'm writing in case you might be interested yourself, or in case you know someone else who might be interested (feel free to forward this email). Host families don't have to live in Cambridge, though it's nice for those of us who do because the program at Tufts is so close by. But there have been families from Boston and Newton who have also hosted, with their kids traveling for as long at 1-1/2 hours each way to get to Tufts on public transportation. This year, the students will be here in Boston from August 6th through August 20th. They will be studying Public Health every weekday at the Fletcher School at Tufts. Here is some more information about the program: -- The students are at Tufts for the whole day, so hosts have no responsibility to occupy their times during weekdays. -- The Tufts building they are in is between Davis/Teele Squares. Hosts don't have to transport the kids there, unless we want to. If a host isn't going to drive their student over in the morning and pick him or her up at the end of the day, we teach him or her how to get there by public transportation. Public transportation is a new (and enjoyable) experience for the students, allowing them a level of independence they don't generally have at home. -- The program provides breakfast for the students. -- One of the participants who needs a host is a 20-something (Iraqi) male mentor, who might be more independent (for anyone who doesn't want to deal with having a teenager in the house). -- Ramadan will be over before the kids arrive, so that's not a consideration this year. -- The experience of living with a host families is one of, if not the, highlights of the students' experience here. They experience American family life with us during the evenings and over two weekends. Last year, we took our student to the beach, which was his first time seeing the ocean, and we took him to a Red Sox game. I also found pickup soccer games in Cambridge for our soccer-loving student, and dropped him off to play twice, which he loved. When he got home, he told me (on Facebook, they don't have snail mail or reliable email in Baghdad) that being here was the best two weeks of his life. -- There are three or four evenings of activities during the two weeks that host families participate in, if they are able to. Last year it was a bowling get-together, a pizza party at a Cambridge host family's house, and a presentation the students made to us at Fletcher on their last evening here. -- Although we are, you don't have to be a family with school-aged children to participate. Host families can be of any configuration -- single or couple, with children or without, with children at home or with children grown. -- Look at this website if you're interested: https://www.gyli.org/programs/iraqi-exch... <https://www.gyli.org/programs/iraqi-exchange-program/> Also, please feel free to get in touch with me if you'd like to talk or learn more about our experience. You can send me a private message off the list. Kristin Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program - Global Youth Leadership Institute Host an Iraqi Student or Adult Mentor in Milwaukee or Boston for 2 weeks this summer (August 6-20)! Click Here to Fill out the Host Family Application Form GYLI has been a host community for the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP) since 2011 in collaboration with World Learning, The U.S. Department Š GYLI.ORG <https://www.gyli.org/programs/iraqi-exchange-program/> Shared with Agassiz + 10 nearby neighborhoods in General <https://avonhillcambridge.nextdoor.com/general/> THANK REPLY