AFS

I am writing as a HOST MOM!
We're nearing the end of our year, and I am appalled at the way AFS treats its volunteers, students and host families.

For all of the money that you pay for a program like this, I am shocked at how little the organization actually provides in the way of support.

Over and over again I have watched AFS dump on its volunteers, while neglecting the concerns of the students, host families and birth families.

My host student was placed with me after leaving an ABUSIVE host family. AFS IGNORED the situation until it had escalated so badly that even the school and other concerned parents got involved. We all acted quickly, but AFS doesn't work on weekends, so it took an extra 2 weeks to get the student moved to my home.

AFS does very little to actively provide support for its students when there are problems. Its staff members say things like, "We're trying...", when I know firsthand that nothing has been done (since I work closely with the school). They are slow to respond to calls and emails.

I've been dealing with AFS since January, and I am making sure to let everyone know what they are getting into, if they do business with this organization.

The only reason I didn't give a 1-star for overall or value is that I am guessing that when everything goes right, this might be a good program for some people. But in the event there IS a problem of any kind, don't expect any help or support. You won't get any from anyone with afs.org in their email address. (You might from the overworked volunteers). The people who are paid are too busy selling and marketing the program to actually pay attention to the needs of the participants.

Please, please, please if you are a student considering an exchange with AFS, or have already decided to use AFS, read this.
I'm not some kind of spammer, or someone from another company trying to prevent you from using this company, I'm a student too, who last year went with AFS on a year long exchange to Malaysia.
In hindsight, I understand that Malaysia is an out there, unusual destination, and of course it was not going to be easy, but it wasn't the cultural differences that made my exchange such an awful experience, it was AFS's way of dealing, with pretty much anything, that made it so bad.
This company uses volunteers for practically everything. Your host family, your Chapter Leaders, your co-ordinators, everyone is doing it for free. This, in theory sounds like a lovely idea, but it's not.
I lived with two different host families, and I found that after a month or so of living with a host-family that you do not pay, you become nothing more than a burden to them. The whole concept of letting someone live in your house for free is much worse than what you would expect. For my family, the idea of taking me out and showing me Malaysia became tiring to them, pretty soon they began to resent me, as they had to drive me to places, feed me and let me use their power, for nothing in return.
You might think that this was just a bad host-family, but, after three months I couldn't stand the guilt of living with people who resented me, and I decided to move. But within two months, the exact same thing began to happen.
It's not hard to understand that if a host-family were being paid to take care of a student, they would try their hardest to make it a good, and worthwhile experience for them. It's unfair to dump a stranger on a family who has nothing supporting them but their own goodwill.

Chapter Leaders, the people in charge of looking after you, helping you, and organising various events and social gatherings, are also volunteers. My Chapter Leader, who seemed to be one of the best in the country, according to all other exchange students, was an old woman with a full time job who lived three hours away from me.
She was truly a lovely lady, but she was too busy to ever really organise anything, and often we did not have enough money to do anything worthwhile. In Malaysia especially, it was hard to do anything without someone else organising it for you, over there, and most likely in similar countries, you can't simply go out and do your own thing, hell I couldn't even go for a walk down the street by myself.

I don't want to rant on, but please, please, please if you are reading this, consider another exchange company.
My dad was a very stubborn man, and he would not let me switch to a different company, or to another country, don't let your parents be like mine!!!
It has ruined my life, I feel so silly for wasting so much money and effort on an experience so miserable. PLEASE DON'T GO WITH THIS COMPANY!!