About AFS
Mission Statement
AFS-USA works toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership.
American Field Service Ambulance Corp
AFS Intercultural Programs was established as the American Field Service more than 50 years ago by American volunteers who drove ambulances to carry the wounded from the battlefields of World War I and World War II. After the Great War, they resolved that they would do everything in their power to ensure that no carnage on that scale would ever occur again. Their solution? To begin an international student exchange program for high-school-aged youth – a program which would bring young people to live as part of American families their own age, in schools that would accept the students without charge as part of their student bodies.
By 1947, the first exchange was arranged and included students from 11 European nations who came to the United States. By 1948, German students were included among the students hosted here. By 1950, AFS was also sending American students abroad to live with families in other lands.
From these early exchanges, a mission developed which guides the work of more than 100,000 volunteers worldwide today.
AFS is able to be the leading international student exchange program today because we have the network of more than 50 partners worldwide. We present more program options than any other exchange programs. While 40% of the worldwide hosting and sending involves Americans, our partners also exchange students among themselves. Our 50 years of working with our international partners have led our expertise in providing excellent 24-hour, 7-day-a-week support of our students and host families. There is always someone on duty. You or your child can reach a volunteer, staff person, or representative by phone at any time, day or night, weekends and holidays included. AFS is known throughout the student exchange community for the quality of our support.
We know the student exchange business because we helped to invent it and have developed it to its current range of programs and destinations. For more information about AFS, please visit AFS International or AFS USA.
About AFS Milwaukee
AFS Milwaukee celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2000 and boasts a strong volunteer network. Students are hosted regularly at 26 area schools. The area extends from Port Washington in the North to Racine in the South, and Brookfield on the West.
The Area Team, a dozen or so volunteers, meet regularly to coordinate hosting, sending, and support activities for all of the schools in the area. There are also 7 Districts within the area, with a District Representative who coordinate meetings and activities for students at nearby schools.
Many participating schools have both an adult and a student AFS Chapter, which plan activities for visiting students. Some of the Chapters are very active and have annual fundraising events, such as the Homestead Talent Show, and the Shorewood Showcase. Other schools do not have any local support, except for a school faculty advisor.
If a school does not have a chapter, they may still host or send students abroad, but AFS support is coordinated by District or Area Volunteers.
