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Show Paulo Silva m .. . AFS Students pave the Way for Peace program are carefully screened. Sue was pleased that there were two families, the Crosby's and the Williams', Wil-liams', who were chosen to host students in the chapter's chap-ter's first vear. In addition to which AFS has selected Park City High School student Caroline Bassett to go abroad next summer. I know just how she feels. I remember the day my family heard that I had been accepted as an AFS student. Soon afterward, I learned that my host family was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was an invaluable experience, living with another family in a foreign country, learning that the customs were so different but the people so much like my friends at home. Who would have thought that 13 years later I would still feel an instant rapport with a Brasilian AFS student? stu-dent? Paulo is also from Rio and he reminded me of parts of the city I thought I had forgotten. He laughed over the only Portuguese I could remember (the slang word for a handsome guy) and we both admitted that talking over the phone in a foreign language is really tough. Paulo's English, though, is much better than my Portuguese Portu-guese ever was. It is obvious to me now what those ambulance drivers dri-vers were hoping for. There had been two world wars and they wanted to make sure that it would never happen again, by making sure that we always thought of the people of other countries as humans just like ourselves. It seems to be working. AFS has grown over the years. This weekend, Park City will host 10 exchange students from Portugal, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, Ecuador, Finland, Denmark, Italy and Egypt. There will be a community dinner to introduce the students at the Park City High School Saturday night. Interested members of the community are welcome to come any time between 6 and 7:30. Proceeds from the fundraiser fund-raiser will be used to sponsor more exchange students. Illllllllllliilll mmmmmmammmm lllllllilllll Foreign exchange student Paulo Silva. J j M Paulo and his adopted American mom, Alice Williams. By Nan Chalat What is a 19 year old Brazilian who has never seen snow before doing in a junior U.S. history class at Park City High School? Paulo Silva is an American Field Service Exchange Student, one of two who are the first to spend a year with host families in Park City. The AFS exchange student program has been active since WWII. It grew out of the experiences of the ambulance drivers during the war who felt that the only way lasting peace could be achieved would be if the young people of different countries really knew each other. Paulo agrees. "You can read about something but unless you see it for yourself, it is easy to get the wrong impression. It is important to have your own opinions." From his smiling conten-ance, conten-ance, his enthusiasm and his busy schedule, it is apparent . that Paulo's impression of the U.S. is positive. For his 19th birthday last Saturday, he received a genuine cowboy hat which he thinks is great. For most of the week, he was busy dolling out popcorn at the Film Festival. He only had time to catch one of the films "Stoney Island," which he ' chose because he likes rock music. Paulo's stay in Park City is only possible because a group of Park City families were willing to offer their support of the program. Sue Worley, who had been an AFS student herself and who ' had been active in the Dallas A V- I r- ipliiiif fc .... - - ' v .Tl l .. . ' '.SMV - ; AFS Chapter, found that though there was no AFS Chapter in Park City, there were a number of families who were interested. In fact, at about the time Sue was contacting the Salt Lake AFS Chapter Deworth and Alice Wiliams found themselves talking about the AFS commercials they had seen on TV. "It's funny," Alice remembers, "Deworth and I both saw the commercial, but at different times. One morning at breakfast, we just started talking about having a student in our home. Deworth called the toll free number in New York and soon afterwards Sue Worley called us to say she was interested in starting a chapter in Park City." Both the exchange students stu-dents and the host families in the American Field Service Paulo and Geoff each enjoy having a brother for the first time. |
