This article was originally written by Nicole Sands and published in the Marshfield Wicked Local News.

After their children graduated from high school, Carole and Jim McCorry, of Marshfield, began volunteering with AFS, a leader in international student exchange programs. Over the past 10 years, the McCorry’s have opened their home to welcome high school students from Belgium, Hungary and Turkey. The couple also worked with students from Germany, Tunisia, Egypt, Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Malaysia, Kenya, Mali, Bangladesh, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Russia.

It’s been a life-changing experience.

“I can’t believe how much we have grown and learned about the world,” Carole McCorry said. “It has been our privilege to come to know these students and to get a glimpse of understanding about their parts of the world. This experience has been meaningful beyond words.”

This year, the McCorry’s are hosting 16-year-old Ayesha Fatima from Pakistan. Ayesha is enrolled as a junior at Marshfield High School. Ayesha recently cooked a traditional dinner for her host family and other AFS volunteers to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice. The McCorry’s were honored to wear the traditional Pakistani clothing that Ayesha brought for them.

“Ayesha is awesome and dispels most of what we have been taught about her country,” McCorry said. This is one of the greatest benefits of student exchange programs. “With all the troubles in the world, exchange programs like AFS provide an incredible opportunity to raise awareness and foster understanding of other cultures and countries. We can’t come to understand the world or other peoples through the media or books alone. The perspective that these students bring us is very different than what Americans are led to believe. That is especially important in our world right now.”

“These programs were established through the U.S. State Department to encourage domestic diplomacy,” McCorry said. “With 16-year-old students placed in homes around the world, they begin to see the world through a lens unfamiliar to home. They share their culture with other families. Through it all, the students and families grow in ways that create extended families all over the world and understanding beyond imagining.”

The McCorry’s have developed lasting bonds with their exchange students. She said that they have kept in touch with Claire from Belgium, Dori from Hungary and Ipek from Turkey. “In fact, we were third in line to hear about Claire’s engagement and later traveled to Antwerp to attend her wedding. Dori from Hungary is in regular contact with my children and has travelled to Massachusetts twice in the past year to be a part of the weddings of two of her host sisters. And when Jim and I visited Dori and her family, we met her sister Julia, who ultimately stayed with us last year.”

The McCorry’s also visited Istanbul last year. Jim McCorry then extended his tour of Turkey to include stops in Ephesus, Cappadocia and Pamukkale before escorting U.S. exchange students back from their year abroad.

“We would never have dreamed of visiting Turkey had it not been that we came to know Ipek,” she said.

McCorry believes that these exchange programs provide an opportunity to make peace between countries right in our own backyard.

“AFS is an organization of volunteers who are committed to creating a more just and peaceful world through cultural exchange,” she said. “We are grateful to Marshfield High School for allowing this opportunity to happen for our community. The students offer a world perspective to our classroom experience and build relationships that are far reaching in time.”

Currently, there are still openings for Marshfield families to host exchange students. For more information, please visit the AFS Intercultural Programs website, afsusa.org.