Kate W's family is currently an AFS host family for Harris (YES 2016-17) from Thailand, and have previously hosted YES student Jesse (YES 2015-16) from Nigeria.

Kate W. has been welcoming exchange students from around the world into her family home for the past few years. Now, recent national and global events have given her a new perspective on the value of person-to-person international exchange – and renewed her commitment to furthering peace through understanding.

Like many parents, Kate decided to host in order to give her kids first-hand exposure to other cultures. She explains, "Budget-wise we were never going to travel the world. It was actually a lot easier to bring the world to us, so to speak." Since then, she has seen the "ripple effect" of hosting: "We share the love as much as we can. Each student doesn't just affect our family, they affect the entire community."

Left: Kate's son Jason and his host brother Jesse (YES 2015-16) from Nigeria

Over the years, Kate's students, many of which were YES students, have helped spread understanding and even empowered their host siblings to speak out against discrimination. "I've seen my kids defend things that are just said out of ignorance because people don't understand other cultures. It makes me proud. They have a host brother or sister whose culture people are talking badly about, and my kids have enough exposure now that they can say, 'Hey, you know sometimes things that we see in our news or just believe because of what we've been told aren’t necessarily the way things are.'"

Plus, growing close to high schoolers from different cultures has helped her family see that people in other countries are more like us than we might expect. Kate says, "In talking with the mothers of these students we've hosted, it really boils down to that we all just want to raise our families the best way we can. Taking away that 'us versus them' mentality and putting it into 'we're all in this together, how can we live harmoniously and accept and learn from each other' makes you realize we're all just trying to achieve the same goal."

Above: Kate's sons and their host brother Harris (YES 2016-17, AFS) from Thailand

Other YES host families in towns big and small see similar effects. By bringing people of different backgrounds together, they help create friendships that cross cultures, languages, and national borders. In Kate's words, "People don't always realize the effect of exchange is that you look at people differently when you know them or their culture better. You're more open."

This article was originally published on the AFS-USA blog.