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EARBORN – Youth For Understanding (YFU), a non-profit organization that assists in bringing foreign exchange students into the country, is looking for hosting families who would be able to provide a home for three students during their stay.

YFU works with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, a scholarship program established in October 2002 in response to the events of September 11, 2001. The objective of the scholarship program is to build bridges between Americans and residents of the Middle East.

The program, funded by the State Department, awards scholarships to high school students from countries with a significant Muslim population.

In previous years, YFU helped bring in foreign exchange students from countries that included Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt and Bahrain.

The students are usually 15 to 17 and placed in various high schools across Michigan. In the past, Dearborn Schools and Dearborn Heights schools have worked with YFU to bring in foreign exchange students from the Middle East.

The students speak English to varying degrees and have their own health insurance, along with $200 to $300 per month in spending money to cover any additional costs such as activities, entertainment or personal items.

Full school year students arrive in mid-August and leave in June. The students will attend the local high school, although some are willing to pay tuition to charter and private schools. They agree to live by the family’s rules and help with chores. Those who have hosted students in the past have claimed they quickly become a part of their families.

Debra Bledsoe, field director for YFU, told The Arab American News that the organization is having difficulty trying to find hosting families for some of the students planning on visiting Michigan this school year. If the students don’t find families by the end of August, then they will not be able to come to the U.S.

Bledsoe said that families who are interested in hosting the students are put through an interview process and must submit paperwork that would have to be approved by the organization.

“We never want the student to be a financial burden and we understand there are costs involved in having another person live at home,” Bledsoe said. “We generally want their income to be at least above $35,000. It’s one more teenager in the house, so there’s going to be extra utilities and costs.”

Bledsoe herself has hosted foreign exchange students from the Middle East for the last 25 years. She said the impact the students have made on her home have tremendously impacted her outlook on the rest of the world.

“I’ve learned so much from these kids; it’s opened my eyes up,” Bledsoe said. “The impact it’s made on my family is amazing. What I’ve learned from these kids has impacted my life. I am the person today, having an open mind about life, the world and culture, because of these kids.”

Students who are still looking for hosting families include:

Khizar a 16-year-old from Pakistan, who is aspiring to be an engineer with a specialization in telecommunications. Khizar’s favorite subject is math, and he has participated in Math Olympiads. He said he was raised to be an honest, obedient and responsible person and that he tries to live up to those expectations at all times. He likes helping his mother with cooking, loves jogging and playing electronic games and enjoys cricket, badminton and photography. Due to a lack of hosting families, YFU is asking for a family to host him for four to six weeks until they find him a permanent home here during his school year. If no family is found in the next few weeks, Khizar will be forced to cancel his flight and miss his opportunity to be a foreign exchange student.

Sumanta, a 16-year-old student from Bangladesh, is a leader at his school in both academic competitions and extracurricular activities. Sumanta’s favorite activities are playing cricket and collecting newspaper cuttings. He is also learning chess. Sumanta is hoping to make a name for himself as a chemical engineer.

“I am a very ambitious person who has high expectations and dreams,” he said in his scholarship application.

Fara, a student from Lebanon, aspires to be an author or psychologist one day, due to her fascination with the human brain. She hopes to travel the world and “get to know all kinds of people.” Her year in the states will be a big first step in achieving this goal. Farah said she can’t wait to meet new people and having the “compelling and thrilling experience” of being an exchange student.

Families interested in hosting the above foreign exchange students can fill out an application online at //www.yfu-usa.org or contact Debra Bledsoe at 248-468-9108 or email her at dbledsoe@yfu.org.