I was picking up brochures at the Tauranga City Library and the little green stick figure going the other way caught my eye. When I got it home it turned out to be a promotional brochure for what we called American Field Service. It’s referred to as AFS and AFS New Zealand and it’s a student exchange programme. Nothing seems to have changed over the years except the stylish nature of the brochure.
The world seems very small laid out flat on my table but there are the flags of participating countries everywhere – surprisingly not the UK but Russia and Haiti and Latvia (there are 40 partner countries). Sounds dangerous going to live for 10 months with another family in some other part of the world? Well as someone once said to me “you could choke to death in bed eating an apple!” It’s an opportunity to see another part of the world and it’s people, art and culture. Take a look at www.AFS.org.nz or text or call Hedi 022 639 0560.
Rosemary Balu
