Returnee activities
From AFSWiki
This article contains lists of easy, specific tasks for the involvement of returnees in the chapter or team.
Contents |
Pairing up a returnee with a hosted student
(If the returnee does not wish to commit to the role of liaison, they could act as more of just an extra friend to the hosted student. Please see AFS Pals)
- Hold a welcome pizza party, with you and your families
- Go bike riding
- Take the student to your favorite restaurant
- If the student is interested, help get them involved in your sports club or invite them to games
- Together with the student, make a nice dinner for the host family or even for your own family
- On a rainy day, play cards, board games or watch DVDs
- Take the student out to coffee with you and your friends
- Hold a surprise birthday party for the student
- Make funny YouTube videos
- During the Christmas season walk/drive around looking at lights
- Play pool/foosball
- Take the student to see another close town or city
- Help the student with gift ideas
- Bake cookies
- Take the student to one of their high school’s football games
- Go out for ice cream
- Invite the student to a family barbecue
- Invite the student out to the movies with you and your friends
- Bring the student to an international store where they can find food they miss from their country
- Go swimming
- Take the student to a festival
- Show the student pictures from your exchange
- Learn/teach origami
- Walk the student’s host family's dog together
- Play card games or board games with the student and their host family
- Go out for a picnic
- Take the student to a museum, art gallery or the zoo
- Go out to a cheap diner just for a bowl of fries
- Just sit, talk and listen to music
- Go to a video arcade
- Get a mixture of your friends, the student’s friends and other AFSers and play kickball
- Take the student to a concert
- Give the student a ride if they need to go somewhere
Hosting
- Help with orientations
- Go on host family interviews
- Help with student selection
- Help with the chapter/team directory, by designing the cover or stapling
- Help with making a chapter/team AFS yearbook to be distributed to the AFSers at End-of-Stay and also to be used by local volunteers for generating leads. Include pictures of the returnees having fun and helping out.
Sending
- Help with orientations
- Go on sending interviews
- Invite students who are interested in sending to general team or chapter events
- Organize a celebration party for students who have been chosen to go abroad
- Keep in touch with a sending student during their exchange
- Learn more about the Returnee Initiative
- Be a guest panelist during an Online Info Session
- Become a Country Officer on the 'Ask an AFSer' Facebook Group
Support
- Take a student who is feeling homesick out just to get their mind off of things
Generating leads
- Make school presentations
- Participate at info nights
- Invite high school AFS clubs to general AFS events
- Replenish AFS brochures in stands at local restaurants and businesses
- Find recipes from your host country and make a lunch or dinner for your friends, high school AFS club members, or even members of another club you’re in
- Design a chapter/team T-shirt or bumper sticker logo.
- Write an article for the local newspaper about your exchange experience. See Letters to the editor
Returnee bonding
- Take turns hosting theme nights with food and music from your host countries and a foreign film. At the beginning of each theme night, have a short language lesson with some words and phrases to be used throughout the evening.
- Make an AFS DVD yearbook for the recent returnees by getting photos from them during and after their exchange, assembling the photos and adding music. Have a screening at the welcome back party.
- Invite returnees and sending students to go out to a cheap dinner together.
- Returnee camp-out
Fundraising
It should be mentioned that for most returnees, the "F-word" (Fundraising) is probably the biggest turn-off. Still, there are ways in which they can help that don't require too much of a commitment.
- Mention any interesting fundraising ideas they might have
- Design and print out flyers and brochures for publicizing the fundraiser
- Write a short newspaper article about the event
- Organize food and drinks for the event
