Host family experiences
My husband, Billy, and I are hosting Nathália, a student from Brazil for the CCI Academic Semester program.
We are very excited about the program, and so is Nathália.
We began our experience by searching for good organizations to host students through. CCI was at the top of the list. We were impressed by what they had to offer. We shared a little about ourselves and were soon matched up with a few students to choose from. After we chose Nathália, we started the interview process. Our Representative contacted the school district we live in and secured permission for an exchange student to attend school there in the fall. We then sat down for our host family interview and completed a background check.
Before we knew it we received our first email message from Nathália. We have been corresponding regularly and have even spoken on the phone. We’re excited that we are able to have this contact with her, because we feel having this time to communicate before her arrival has already helped build a strong family connection. We have communicated with her family and friends as well, who are all very excited for Nathália.
We have exchanged multiple photographs and emails, and learn more about each other every day. We talk about school, holidays and cultural differences, as well as likes and dislikes.
Now we anxiously await confirmation of her arrival date.
hi i know this is kind of random but I’m a student that wants to participate in a CCI program and my parents are very worried that it might be unsafe or a scam…with good reason of coarse because many of these programs are..but do you have any references that are not affiliated with CCI that says it is a safe program? thank you so much for any information you can give me!!!
Cory
August 18, 2008
When we found CCI, we looked for volunteer opportunities that were highly rated and found them. I can’t find the website we used now, but I can give you a link to important information for finding approved programs. http://www.csiet.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=66167&orgId=cosfiet
This is the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel. You’ll see that CCI has been given a full listing on the advisory list. In the “About CSIET” section, you’ll also want to check out their standards. Another informative site for choosing a program is http://www.foreignexchangestudent.com/find-a-winning-student-exchange-program.htm, although they do not specifically mention CCI, they do list ways of finding a good, reputable company.
I can also let you know that we are very pleased with CCI. We completed a questionaire, a home interview, and mandatory criminal background checks before being approved to host a student. CCI insured that the school would accept the student and gave us plenty of information, including rules and guidelines, signs for recognizing culture shock and helping a student over come it, as well as an orientation. We also received information about the student’s home country and a copy of the questionaire (complete with pictures) that she completed when applying for the program. We had plenty of contact with our student before her arrival through email and a couple short phone calls. I think this helped everyone feel more comfortable.
I hope this is helpful for you and sets your parents’ minds at ease.
starkey15
August 18, 2008