O'Hara resident has opened her home to 9 international students, seeks families to do the same

Carol Huff feels like she has seen far-flung parts of the world without ever leaving her O’Hara home.

An AFS-USA volunteer, Huff has hosted international students for the past 25 years, including those from Germany, Iceland, Italy, Kuwait and Pakistan.

“I’ve learned so much as a person from my students,” Huff said. “Having hosted nine students from countries around the world, we have had a lot of fun while learning about their families and cultures.”

AFS-USA is a leader in student exchange with a global network spanning more than 55 countries and facilitating cross-cultural learning.

Founded in 1915 as a volunteer ambulance corps, AFS was transformed from a wartime humanitarian aid group into an international secondary school exchange.

Huff is among 2,600 AFS volunteers in the United States and 32,000 worldwide.

The group is seeking families to host high schoolers for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

“Hosting provides individuals, families and communities with opportunities to learn about new cultures while sharing the best of one’s community with a person from a different country,” Huff said.

Families of all types are welcome, including single folks and empty nesters. Students from Paraguay, Morocco, Germany, France, Italy, Egypt and Tanzania are hoping to spend the year studying in the U.S.

Stays can be as short as a few weeks to the entire school year.

“It is great to have these students in local schools,” Huff said. “Everyone can learn from them.”

Families and hosted exchange students receive ongoing support from trained support staff and experienced local volunteers.

“Most of these students just want a chance to learn our language and culture,” Huff said.

She said she proudly watched as her “children” flourished after their experience here.

“One of our students is an English teacher in Italy, while several others became medical doctors,” she said. “I think the students are very brave to come to leave their family and friends and come to live with a new family in a new country.”

Anyone interested in learning more can contact Huff at huffdclg@aol.com.