By Chevon Adriaans (YES 2018 - 2019, Suriname, hosted by AIFS/AYA in Scio, NY)

Who am I?
Hey my name is Chevon Adriaans. I am from Suriname, a small country in South America with a population of 500,000+ and 90% covered with rainforest. I am hosted in Scio, New York by a wonderful family - the Scholla's. Here in Scio I joined the soccer and basketball team and now I am continuing with baseball.

About My Host Family
In my host family I have one host sister, one host brother, and a double placement from Moldova.

There are hundreds of things I love about my host family, but one of them is their motivation for me, especially when I have a game. I think that their support and motivation is very important for me because there might be a day where I will feel down and don't have the spirit to play. But thanks to their support it gets me hyped up and ready to play and I do everything to make them proud. Doesn't matter where, when, what time, my family is always there for me.

I think the support of the host family means a lot to every student, because then they know that they are not alone and that there are people counting on you. I am grateful to be hosted by the Scholla's

About Volunteering
Before I came to the United States I never thought that volunteering can be important, but now I realized that volunteering is not just about helping it's more about making the society a better community, and making your heart warm. 

One of my favorite volunteering activity was Toys For Tots, where we raised money to buy presents for children whose parents might not have the money to put presents under the tree during the holiday season. As we all know, when you're a little kid, presents are really an important part of Christmas! So, we sure didn't want to leave any kids behind from having a wonderful spirit for Christmas. After all the hard work of raising money and packing presents we could finally say that it was successful. And remember there will always be a time where you would look back and will be proud of what you did.