To my NYC friends,
I'm on the board of Bridge International Academies, which runs low-cost schools for poor families in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Liberia and India.
Two of our Kenyan 8th graders have won full scholarships to Avenues school in NYC starting ~11 months from now, but to attend they need a host family for August 2017-May 2018. (After May 2018, the likely scenario is a classmate becomes the host family.)
Below is an email with details from my friend Mike Goldstein, who is Bridge's Chief Academic Officer.
If you or anyone you know might be interested, please contact Mike.
Thanks!
Whitney
This is a chance to do a good deed, particularly for NYC families with kids....
Two Kenya 8th graders earned full academic scholarships to Avenues. That's a terrific prep school in NYC. Utterly life-changing for these kids. They'll start August 2017 as 9th graders.
But Avenues (22nd Street and 10th Avenue) is not a boarding school. So each kid needs a host family, for August 2017-May 2018. (After May 2018, the likely scenario is a classmate becomes the host family).
I know that sounds audacious. But once you wrap your head around the idea, it's very do-able!
I would handle the "Kenya side": introducing host family to student's Kenyan family; addressing plane tickets, clothes, medical insurance, passport and visa; ongoing academic support; mentorship (I have a Kenyan-born friend in New York City who is great at this).
On holidays, (Thanksgiving, Xmas, springbreak, etc), the kid could stay with my family in Boston to give the host family a break.
My organization has 4 Kenyan 9th graders right now in USA boarding schools (in Florida, Georgia, and Virginia) on full scholarships. They are "killing it" (succeeding academically and socially; carefully chosen kids). My own children are age 8 and 6, and they LOVE it when our Kenyan teenagers stay with us...and my wife Pru loves how it opens our kids' eyes to the world, and makes them appreciate what we have.
Might be ideal for someone who just had a kid go off to college....maybe an empty room?
Obviously if someone were interested, the starting point is not wanting someone to say "Yes, I will do it" right away. The next step is simply "I'm interested and would like to learn more." We'd take it slow before any commitment were made.
Thank you.
Best wishes,
Mike
Thomas Tilson, Ph.D.
Education Consultant
+254-733-440036
603-286-0044
Skype: ttilson