THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407290288
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Fran and Bob Alwood hadn't planned on adopting another foreign exchange student this year.
But unless something changes in the next two weeks, 16-year-old Jose Maria Cristia De Llano of Argentina will be moving into the Suffolk couple's spare bedroom Aug. 12.
``We are still looking for a permanent home here for him,'' Fran Alwood said.
Since they began in 1978, the Alwoods have provided a home-away-from-home for nine students who participated in the Youth For Understanding International Exchange Program.
``I think Jose would fit well into the Suffolk community,'' said Alwood, who agreed last month to give Jose a home until alternate arrangements can be made. ``We feel he really needs a younger host family.''
During the next month, hundreds of students from all over the world will pour into Hampton Roads communities.
Several are headed to Suffolk, where they will live with local families and attend classes at Nansemond River and Lakeland high schools.
YSF is just one of more than 15 international exchange programs to place teenagers from other countries into local homes.
Even as August rolls around and students begin to arrive, representatives from most of these organizations are still scurrying to find homes for the visitors.
``The time is drawing near,'' said Debbie West of Portsmouth. ``And we (exchange coordinators) are all still trying to get our kids placed.''
She and her husband, Duffy, are local representatives of the ASPECT Foundation, which has placed three teenagers in Suffolk this year.
The group still needs to find three area homes to meet its goal of placing 20 students in Hampton Roads.
Beverly McCraw, a Franklin High School French teacher and area coordinator for a French exchange program, Mondes Nouveaux, has been hunting for 15 host families in the area since January.
``It just seems especially hard this year,'' said McCraw.
After exhausting her list of contacts and running advertisements in several newspapers, McCraw has located only eight host families.
Despite the shortage of host families, all 15 students are slated to arrive Aug. 3 and will live with McCraw until a permanent residence can be found.
Area residents can still volunteer to open their homes to exchange students.
Host families are only asked to provide the visitors with room, board and friendship; students have their own medical coverage and spending money.
Before students are placed, host families are screened by exchange organizations. This is to make sure the students are placed in stable households in safe communities, and that the family can afford an extra person, West said.
``An exchange student becomes a part of your family,'' she said. ``It's a wonderful experience.''
Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student can contact representatives at the numbers listed below: World Experience Teenage Student Exchange
Local Coordinators: Jim and Ginny Ligon
Telephone: 483-6291 Mondes Nouveaux
Local Coordinator: Beverly McCraw
Telephone: 919-348-2634 ASPECT Foundation
Local Coordinators: Duffy and Debbie West
Telephone: 393-0983 International Student Exchange Programs
Local Coordinator: Dorothy Bryant
Telephone: 653-2371 Youth for Understanding International Exchange
Local Coordinators: Bob and Fran Alwood
Telephone: 539-5780 ILLUSTRATION: Photos
On a trip to Hamburg, Germany, Bob and Fran Alwood visited exchange
students who had lived with their family , left to right, Margitta
Petter, Wiebke Brandt and Christine Witthoft.
Margitta Petter, left to right, Christine Witthoft and Wiebke Brandt
all of Germany, are foreign exchange students who have lived with
Fran and Bob Alwood of Suffolk during the last 10 years.
by CNB