Host families sought for exchange students

A STUDENT exchange program is looking for host families in the Bendigo area.

Donna Lack, marketing and communications officer for World Education Program Australia, or WEP, said the organisation prefers placing international students in the regions for a more authentic experience.

“We are hoping to get a couple of students in the Bendigo area because we haven’t had any for quite a few years now,” said Ms Lack.

“We try to place students into smaller communities rather than the big cities, because I feel like it’s more of a cultural experience for students to get to know a small country town in Australia.

“We do have some students in other country towns like Ballarat, Swan Hill, Cobram, those kinds of areas, but not so much Bendigo.

“We are definitely hoping that some families will be able to put up their hands and volunteer to host students this year.

Ms Lack said WEP encourages all kinds of families to volunteer.

“We have a lot of families with younger kids, no kids at all, single parents, retired couples are quite popular as well,” she said.

“Empty nesters, same-sex couples, anything is always welcome. All these types of families can be really good host families.

“Basically, what these families need to do is provide students with three meals a day and a loving and safe environment.

“We don’t require families to take students out and do things with them. A lot of host families do anyway because they want to show off the local area.”

Students can stay for different lengths of time. Some are placed for a school term of 10-12 weeks, semester – or for about for five or six months, or the year.

Ms Lack said the most common places students come from are Western Europe, and Central and South America.

Students are aged between 15-16 years and are usually placed in years 9 to 11.