Emma Grady, 15, hopes to travel to Ireland with AFS this summer. She wants to immerse myself in the culture, try new things, and volunteer her time while exploring the country and having an adventure, but needs your help to get there.
A foreign exchange student at Shorewood High School was part of a unique intercultural experience Sunday evening at Victory Missionary Baptist Church.
High school students from all over the world came to the intersection of Teutonia Avenue and Center Street Sunday evening for a rare intercultural experience. For 15 years, international students from the Milwaukee-area AFS team have taken a field trip to Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Milwaukee to share their native culture with church members and experience an African-American church service. About 70 AFS students and host families from around the Milwaukee-area participated in the church service, including Shorewood High School exchange student Yusei Chibana Machida from Bolivia. Some of the international students had never met a black person before. Others had never been to a church before. Some of the European students were …
Milwaukee-area groups with deep roots in the village like AFS and the Burmese Immersion Project are cultivating Shorewood's worldview by working to support immigrants and refugees, connect people from around the globe and promote cultural understanding.
The mix of cultures and nationalities packed within the village’s one square mile is a source of pride for Shorewood residents, Ravenna Helson says. "Shorewood sees itself as a diverse community," says Helson, co-president of the Shorewood AFS student exchange program "It welcomes it, because it believes it can learn about other cultures and that other people's solutions can to add to it." Shorewood’s chapter of AFS — formerly known as American Field Service — is one of the oldest and most active in the nation, Helson boasts. It’s one of many international programs with deep connections to the village. The Burmese Immersion Project (BIP Paw) and Nepalese Family Group are working to aid immigrants and refugees, connect people from around …
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