12/19/2006 - AFS Diversity Scholarships in Action
AFS has an abiding interest in increasing the diversity of its participants and in making its programs available to those who may not be able to cover the costs associated with an intercultural exchange program. In fact, according to the AFS Vision for the Year 2010 adopted at the 1999 AFS World Congress in Costa Rica, the organization affirmed that:
”AFS Will Embody Diversity: AFS will have a widely recognized presence all over the world. AFS will actively seek the participation of people throughout the organization reflecting diversity in all dimensions. AFS will work to ensure that qualified participants will be involved regardless of their financial means.”
Thanks to a generous bequest by the Hassler family, AFS was able to institute a yearly worldwide competition among its affiliated offices to submit applications for AFS International Diversity Scholarships. The aim of the scholarship competition is to have a participant population that more fully reflects the diversity of their country or territory, be it in terms of geography, economy, ethnicity or any other aspect of diversity.
In 2006 AFS awarded eight Diversity Scholarships. Among the recipients of the scholarship was a young teacher from Honduras, Ilsy Ramirez. Ilsy came to the United States as a participant in the AFS Semester Visiting Teacher Program. We decided to find out a bit more about this young teacher, who she is and how she felt about the opportunity, as an AFS International Diversity Scholarship recipient, to participate in the teacher exchange program.
In her application materials Ilsy was described as coming form a coastal town in Honduras but had been living in Tegucigalpa, the capital of her country for the last ten years. An inquisitive and gregarious young woman, Ilsy had experience in teaching and administration at her local school. Additionally, she was described as being very responsible, a goal setter, sincere, persevering and an adaptable person – certainly a very qualified candidate for Visiting Teacher Program. She said that she hoped to use her AFS experience to learn about a new culture and life styles and also to acquire as many tools as possible to become a better teacher upon her return home.
Close to the midterm of her stay in Arcata, California, AFS asked her to share her experience – here is what she told us:
My name is Ilsy Walkidia Ramírez. I am from Honduras. I am a student at the National University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa. I currently work as an assistant principal at Lincoln School in my country. I joined AFS for many reasons. One reason was to get a new perspective on education for my work and my school. I also wanted to improve my English. Knowing a second language is important and I will have more opportunities with that knowledge. English is taught in the Honduran educational system in which I work.
I am currently a participant in the AFS Visiting Teacher Program and my host school is in Northern California, at Jacoby Creek Elementary Charter School. When I first started my training at Jacoby Creek I observed all the different teachers at the school from kindergarten through eighth grade. Now I work with the Spanish teachers every week. I share duties around the school with the other staff. I have been able to help a student from Nicaragua who is working to master his English. Four girls who were in a Spanish immersion school transferred to Jacoby Creek. I meet with those four girls to talk and practice and improve the Spanish they learned at the Spanish immersion school, I created a series of lessons that I present to classes. The topics include: the history, politics, geography, music, dance, food, animals, culture, and currency of Honduras. Teachers sign up for my presentations and I travel from class to class sharing my country’s culture and history with the students of my host school.
AFS also arranged my placement with a host family, where I have been welcomed as a new member of the household. My host family includes my host mother, Christi, and her daughter, Paula. Christi teaches fourth grade at my host school. Paula is a college student at Humboldt State University which is only a few miles from our house. I am able to accompany Paula to university functions and have a chance to improve my English even more while meeting people closer to my age. I will be going camping for the first time ever with Paula and the Geology Club at Humboldt State. I am learning about geology too. I am very excited! I have also joined a salsa dance club at the university. I enjoy the dancing very much.
We have five pets, three cats and two small dogs. They are like a small herd! One cat who has decided to be my “roommate” is very loud—his purring and meowing is funny. My family is taking me to Los Angeles to visit Melissa, another daughter who is a student at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). While we are there we will be going to Disneyland! During the winter holidays we will visit San Francisco too, I am going to see a lot of California.
Through my family and friends I have made here I am learning a lot about American culture. I have also met many people who come from Central and South America. I was invited to an Independence Day celebration September 15th by a church member that my host grandfather told about me. She was originally from Honduras but has lived and taught English here for many years. The party included people from Peru, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba, Chile, and of course, Honduras. It was interesting to hear other people’s experiences adjusting to American culture. It was funny to hear stories of misunderstanding different words in Spanish and English! I attended the local high school “Homecoming” parade. The floats carrying the princesses and football players were fun to watch.
I am experiencing many different foods here, sushi, kebabs, pizza, Mexican and Chinese, and any other type of food you can think of, it seems like they have all types here. I cook homemade tortillas and traditional Honduran dishes that everyone says they love.
Thanks to AFS I am learning a lot about a different culture, a different language, and I have met many people. In return I am also getting to share my culture, language, and my country with the people I work with. It is nice to discover that no matter where you go in the world there are good people that you can learn from and who you too can influence.
AFS Diversity Scholarship Program awards from seven to eight scholarships per year to deserving participants such as Ilsy and we constantly strive to increase the diversity of our participants to reflect the true intercultural nature of our programs. We are grateful to AFS Honduras for submitting an application for the Diversity Scholarship for such an excellent participant and wish Ilsy all the best upon her return to Honduras.
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