Mass Bay Area Team Annual Meeting 2005-2006
People gathered at Pine Manor College for a lovely meal at tables graced with bright begonias. These hardy flowers were potted in containers that proclaimed in bold letters: “Gardening for Dummies!”
As the neophyte team secretary, I was encouraged by those words that give the reassuring message that anyone can do anything with the right instruction. And thus when I was told by Mass Bay Chair Elizabeth Leatham that all I had to do was record the meeting and that I would do just fine, I decided to relax and ended up totally enjoying the amazing speeches that followed.
The meeting began with the approval of the annual report by vote. The brave first speaker was Yuki Saito, an AFSer from Japan. It was a precious speech, and some of her words were as follows:
Because my school in Japan is 98% Japanese and 2% part-Japanese, I had a dislike of different cultures. I felt like I was in a zoo during my first days at Classical High School, in Providence, RI, where there are so many different types of people. But now I’ve made friends from other different lives. I made friends without judging their appearance or where they came from. I plan to volunteer with AFS so kids can have an experience like me.
And I learned how to be nice to my own little brother back in Japan, because I was able to see how nice my host family treated my little brother here. Thank you to everyone!
The second speaker was Claire Fornoville, AFSer from Belgium. Her speech was inspiring and moving, as she had to deal with the death of her grandmother back in Belgium while she was in the U.S. Here is her speech, word for word. (I didn’t have to take notes, as this capable young lady had the speech all downloaded and saved—thank you, Claire!)
Where did this year go? It’s already mid June, and I feel as if I just arrived!
Almost eleven months ago, I was in the airport in Belgium, scribbling the AFS emergency number and the phone number of my host family on my hand “just in case”. The plane that I was about to board – I knew - would bring me to New York City. But I didn’t know much more. Quite honestly, I didn’t even know how I was getting from New York to Boston. And what I did know I might have preferred to be unaware of. I knew I had no friends (or rather, no friends YET), no after school activities to get involved into (yet), I knew that I didn’t know any teacher, I didn’t have a schedule, and didn’t master English yet... I barely knew the name of the town I was going to and had nothing familiar to fall back on.
I was leaving everyone and everything behind for a place where I knew no-one or nothing. So was I scared? Yes, even though my dream of living abroad for one year was finally about to come true, I suddenly felt fear and uncertainty about this decision I had made rationally six months earlier.
But look at how this year turned out! I explored the whole East coast, went to a UN conference, participated in 3 plays, sang, learned how to play the piano, got involved in Girl Scouts, made new friendships that will last forever, learned everything there is to know about the US, became part of a new family and so much more.
Never, ever would I have believed that I would face more fear and sadness now than a year ago. Today, as I stand in front of you, I feel totally heart broken at the thought that in 9 days, I will have to leave my high school, my girl scout troop, my drama club, my color guard, my peer ministry, my AFS club at school, my teachers, my AFS buddies I got to know on all our orientations, my liaison, you (the AFS volunteers), my friends, and last but definitely not least my host family.
I owe you an apology. I deliberately forgot to tell you something earlier. I told you I was scared and unsure about this past year. That is true. However, I didn’t tell you that at the same time, I felt a strange but comforting feeling of trust, a “hakuna matata” feeling which was of great us.
That was because AFS volunteers on local, regional, state, national and international level were standing by my side to help me make this year the most fantastic experience possible. I didn’t know how I was getting from New York to Boston? I knew that AFS was taking care of that, so no need to worry. No need to worry about my host family because I knew that AFS had matched us up, truly believing that this was going to work. And even before school had started, I had met my liaison, who would be ready to listen and help me out anytime. Thanks to all that, I was able to focus on being happy and getting involved in my new life.
Even though this was an amazing, incredible, unforgettable experience, I’ve had my ups and downs. I have encountered hardships this year. Hardships that could have forced me to return to Belgium. In January, I lost my grandmother, very unexpectedly. Nothing worse can happen to you when you’re far far away, than to loose a loved one. There are no words to explain the pain. But I overcame this obstacle. It was very hard but by talking, crying, sharing with my host family, my liaison, and the AFS volunteers I managed to move on and enjoy the rest of this unique experience. Your advice kept me here
And looking back on that period, I feel like we turned the negative into positive. That tragedy brought me closer to my host family and made me realize even more how much support you offer.
During this year, AFS was the invisible hand that guided me through a path full of obstacles, while I was blind folded and that helped me to slowly learn to go through this new world by myself - partly by removing some of the blindfold, partly by teaching me how to deal with some of my temporary blindness and tricks to avoid the obstacles.
Thank you, to all of you, for all that support you gave us, for all the talks, all the cries, all the hugs. Thank you for being part of this year and helping us making the best out of it. Thank you for the orientations. I know for myself that I really enjoyed seeing all the AFSers and sharing my experiences with them. I liked talking to you and asking you for advice or sharing the wonderful moments I had. I was so happy to have my liaison to go to when I had a bad day.
This year made me more independent, more mature in dealing with trouble, more open, I learned that I do appreciate some things of the Belgian culture, but also that I absolutely dislike others, I learned to dare to try new things and this year made me- if possible - even more addicted to international contacts. It taught me more than books ever could about the US and it’s differences with Belgium. This experience has transformed me from Belgian into BelgoAmerican and I’m more than happy about that. But it also made me into a world citizen. And I think that is the goal of AFS.
Without you, this experience would not have happened, or been as amazing as it was. Therefore, in name of all the students who all have experienced years similar to mine, I would like to say one more time dank u (dutch), merci (French), gracias (Spanish), Danke (German), grazie (Italian), obrigado (Portuguese), “spasiba” (Russian) or just ‘thanks’.
The third speaker, Danika Meine (Congress Bundestag Germany scholar 2004-5), alas, was at the beach, resting up for her beginning Simmons College in the fall. And so her parents, Roger and Connie Meine, stood up for their daughter (as parents do) and gave a wonderful talk from their perspective.
Our daughter asked us to attend a meeting for AFS. We knew nothing of the organization, but we did enjoy the spirit of the people that were at the meeting. Then Danika asked if she could become an exchange student. We let her know that we couldn’t afford it. She then asked that if she found funding, would we let her go? We said yes, figuring that it would never happen—at least the scholarship competition would be a good experience for future college application procedures. But we then saw Danika grow in many ways, especially in beginning a process of believing in herself. By the time she had her final interview, where she was asked the question, “Tell us why you should go to Germany and not someone else,” she was able to answer why with confidence.
And so our 15-year-old daughter went to Germany with 27 lbs of luggage and a great attitude. Our last glimpse of Danika was of her taking off her shoes for airport security, smiling and laughing. She basically landed in Germany with no language skills, so she had an immersion course in former East Germany, and then moved in with her host family, who—thanks to AFS--- was a perfect match. Danika continued her violin, swimming, and even did a veterinary internship.
When she returned to the U.S., she missed her German friends, her host family, her school. We realized that she had a whole life there, and that it was hard to leave.
In ending, we want to say that AFS is a program that gives back. Every step we took, AFS was there, with all the volunteers helping in all their ways. And it all worked!”
The last speaker and honored guest was Theresa Collignon, Vice-President of AFS-USA. After Elizabeth’s amazing introduction of all of Theresa’s accomplishments, the VP stood up and immediately charmed us with her Australian accent and warm manner.
My job tends to be Emails, conference calls, and meetings. It is great to actually see the folks who do the work of AFS. So a big Thank you! to Mass Bay Area Team. I have just found out that you are the second largest sending team in the country!! Well done! You should be proud of your achievements. Don’t be modest; see yourselves as role models, especially to other areas who are beginning or smaller or more isolated. Call an AFS group in East Texas; they’d love it!
As you know, AFS is full of stories. When I went on my own AFS experience as a high school student, my mother said to me as I was getting on the plane, ‘I have the impression that you are never coming home anymore.’ And yes, I ‘got the bug,’ to travel, to have deep and profound connections with other people.
I had the opportunity to hear another AFSer’s story that was extremely moving. He was from Indonesia, from the province of Aceh. He had been planning to go on the YES program with AFS. Then the tsunami came and he lost all of his family, except one younger brother who, like himself, was attending a strict Muslim boarding school up in the hills.
Despite the terrible tragedy, he decided to still go to the U.S. and he found out something that he didn’t know: AFS was committed to peace. He said, ‘I now realize that there are people who don’t believe the same things that I do, nor eat the same things that I eat, yet still these people will still love me.’
It is a miracle that AFS deals with 52 countries and 11,000 kids, and that so little goes wrong and so much goes right.
The meeting then proceeded with the area team awards. Each name announced was greeted with “Of course!” and enthusiastic applause. The awards are listed as follows:
| MassBay volunteer of the year | Maegan Plagge | Special Programs Coordinator |
| Cape Cod volunteer of the year | Carol Norman | District Rep |
| Greater Providence volunteer of the year | Nic Peros | Support |
| MetroWest volunteer of the year | Marcia Quinlan | Hosting |
| North Shore volunteer of the year | Ruth Clark | Sending |
| SouthEast volunteer of the year | Anne Perry | Volunteer Coordinator |
| South Shore volunteer of the year | Nina Leek | Support |
As my only experience with AFS was to be a host parent last school year, I was amazed at all the accomplishments of these extremely giving people. I saw that AFS is an immense, amazing miracle that continues its message of peace. How wonderful!
Respectfully submitted,
Catharine Maxey
Mass Bay Area Team, Secretary
June 28, 2006
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