International Friends Needs Hosts

International Friends, founded in 1952, is an affiliate of the University of Arizona. It was established to give support to international students from around the world. This year is the biggest year yet for International Friends. There are students from places including: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Iran, India, Japan, Nigeria, Peru, and Uzbekistan pursuing degrees in areas like: biochemistry, business analytics, business management, data science, English language and literature, health sciences, journalism, physics and astronomy, and world literature.

This is not a live-in program; most of these students live on or near the University of Arizona campus. Many are traveling from home for the first time. International Friends hosts provide a friendly connection, away from home. So far, 60 students have been paired with hosts, but there are still more than 30 on the list, and more are being added every week.

More hosts are needed and you can host one or more students. As a host, your obligation is to meet up with your student once a month over the course of the school year, though you are welcome to meet them more often.

International Friends offers a couple of events for hosts and students per semester. This semester, there will be a tour of the Southern Arizona Heritage and Visitor Center and a fall picnic at Reid Park.

Please consider being a friend to a foreign student. More information about the program can be found on the International Friends website: https://www.ifriendstucson.org/.

Webmaster’s Note: This article was submitted by one of our members. I have not edited it in any way. But I did follow the link just above, and printed a PDF of the International Friends of Tucson website, which you may peruse below, as well.