This article was originally published in the Dexter Leader

By Sheila Pursglove

Special Writer<br />
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p>

Local artist Susan Clinthorne, a volunteer with the AFS International High School Exchange Program, is working with students at Dexter High School and schools in Ann Arbor who are on programs sponsored by the U.S. government, to help further understanding in “at-risk” international relationships.

The exchange students are also involved with the organization PeaceJam, a program that introduces them to Nobel Peace subjects and winners.

“As part of requirements for both organizations, they’re required to investigate and act upon a social or political problem,” said Clinthorne, who over the years has hosted six exchange students.

The AFS students chose to become involved in Camp Take Notice, a tent city for the homeless in Scio Township. They delivered cookies and helped clean up the camp, and Clinthorne recently hosted a cooking session at her home where the students prepared a meal then delivered it to the camp.

“In addition they’re researching what’s being done in their own home countries for homeless people,” Clinthorne said.

Next month, the AFS students will present their project to the Great Lakes PeaceJam convention where they will meet a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. They will then go to Chicago for the 12th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the first time this conference has been held in the United States.

Clinthorne volunteers with PeaceJam, as does AFS volunteer Susan Morrison who runs the local chapter of PeaceJam, and who has hosted an Indonesian exchange student.

“PeaceJam and exchange student programs create leadership qualities,” said DHS senior Sonam Chawla from Pakistan. “There are many homeless people in my country. I love the way Americans are very caring for homeless people. “I’d like to see a way to solve the problem instead of just providing food for one or two days. It would be good to find a way of providing income so they can provide for themselves.”

DHS senior Ayub Basheer Khan said that in his city in India, 20 to 30 percent of the population is homeless, with poverty as the main cause.

“The reasons for homelessness seem a little different here,” he said. “I realize that being homeless is a dangerous problem in cold climates.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s interesting to see private organizations that help. When I get home I&rsquo;d like to help solve the problem through private organizations.&rdquo;</p>

Thainida “Ice” Suthinoparatanakul from Thailand, a senior at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, said that in her country, the homeless are left behind. “Here, there is lots of help for the homeless and poor. Here, churches are willing to help. In Thailand churches don’t help. There are no shelters, so the homeless just sleep in the streets,” she said.

Ahmed Nada, a student at Skyline HS in Ann Arbor, is from Egypt.

“When you decide to be an exchange student for one year you become engaged in how the country solves problems and you can take that back to your country with you,” he said. “I always thought the homeless were only the uneducated, but I’ve found by talking with people that’s not always true.

“In PeaceJam, we all believe in a message, which is peace. We share opinions and hopefully apply ideas to own views and country. Because we, as teenagers, will meet adult specialists in peace, we can learn so much. They pass on their experience to us and keep it alive.”

Yekaterina “Kate” Pavlova is a Russian student at Skyline HS. “It’s good that, in America, people try to teach young people about ways they can help, so when they are adults they can know about problems and can really help,” she said.

Another Skyline AFS student, Mohamed Aizam “Zam” Askali from the Philippines, said that it feels “really good” to help someone. “My own mother in the Philippines always gave help to the homeless and the poor and taught me to do the same,” he said.

U.S. student Nicholas Borbely, a freshman at Washtenaw International School who will go to Egypt this summer as an exchange student, said he felt concerned about the plight of the homeless, but frightened too. “I didn't feel that I could make a difference. I’m learning what can be done.”

Photo courtesy Dexter Leader: Thanida “Ice” Suthinoparatanakul (left) from Thailand; Ayub Khan from India; Ahmed Nada from Egypt and Yekaterina “Kate” Pavlova from Russia; Nicholas, who will visit Egypt this summer; Mohamed Aizam “Zam” Askali from the Philippines; Sonam Chawla from Pakistan.

© Copyright 2012 Heritage Newspapers,

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