Mennonite Central Committee

Exchange Program Hosts Vow They'll Do it Again

Press Release, March 2002

Sandra Friesen and her friends still rave about it. And she says they'll do it all over again if given the chance.

Friesen is talking about the MCC International Volunteer Exchange mid-year conference and their experience hosting 52 overseas visitors from over 20 different countries.

"I can't say it any other way. It was amazing," says Friesen, whose family hosted four international students for the week-long event. "The people who stayed in our homes touched our lives as well as the lives of the other people they met."

International Volunteer Exchange Program participants gather three times during their year-long stay in North America—when they arrive, six months into their term and just before they go home. MCC organizes the mid-term event as a way of continuing dialogue and fostering longer-term relationships between them. The conference location, which rotates throughout Canada and the U.S., was held in Calgary from February 4-11. Friesen's family and 24 other families from Calgary volunteered their homes for overnight accommodation.

"Some of the host families said that they had never had the experience of having someone from another culture in their home," says Friesen. "The visitors who stayed in our home were from Indonesia, Taiwan, Switzerland and the Ukraine. We don't realize the rich cultural background they bring with them," she says.

Participants in the program range in age from 19 to 30, must profess their faith and participate in their local church. They are referred to the exchange program by MCC's overseas country representatives, through Mennonite church connections or by other church organizations. Students are granted 12-month work visas and placed by MCC in positions that allow them to gain work or cultural experience in Canada and the U.S.

"These young people were put together for a week to get to know each other again," says Friesen. "As their host families, we got to know them too."

Friesen says conference organizers kept participants busy during the day but the schedule did leave time for extra-curricular activities. She says that while some host families chose to take their guests to see such sights as the Olympic Oval or the Calgary Tower, her family chose to visit a Hutterite colony.

"We also spent time visiting, just so we could get a better feel and to understand where they were coming from," Friesen says.

In addition to sightseeing and visiting, host families also had the opportunity to take their billets out and to their respective church services.

"We had eight international guests in our church," says Friesen. "They all come from different countries so it is natural that they all have different styles of worship as well. But it all worked out fine. We were able to introduce each one and hear something about their home country."

Now that the mid-year conference has wrapped up, where does this leave people like Friesen and the other host families? Friesen says she expects more opportunities in the future. In fact, with IVEP on the lookout for potential job placements and host families, she says she's looking to get more involved.

"My family had a great time and we hope to do it again," says Friesen.