AFS Intercultural Programs

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AFS Logo
AFS Logo

AFS was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a political economics professor at Harvard University and a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury as the American Field Service. Started as a volunteer ambulance corps in 1914, it has evolved into an international youth exchange organization and has been renamed to AFS Intercultural Programs.

AFS is now a worldwide, non-profit organization that has been a leader in high school student exchange for nearly 60 years. AFS-USA sends more than 1,500 students to more than 40 countries each year; awards more than $1.5 million in financial aid and scholarships annually; places students from abroad with more than 2,800 U.S. families and is supported by more than 6,000 AFS Volunteers in the U.S. and 30,000 volunteers around the world.

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[edit] History

Created as an ambulance arm for the American Hospital of Paris, the American Field Service cut its ties with the hospital to become a volunteer organization providing ambulance and transport services to the Allied forces in France during World War I. Andrew's idea originated from the Anglo-American Ambulance volunteer service, organized by American Marion Sims for service during the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War.

Headquartered at an ancient château at 21 rue Raynouard in the Parisian suburb of Passy, the American Field Service had more than 800 volunteer ambulance drivers plus many transport sections. The AFS actively recruited its drivers from the campuses of American colleges and universities with individual ambulance units made up exclusively of drivers from particular universities. They all worked without pay, and ambulance driving required the volunteers to serve under extremely dangerous missions on the Front. There were 151 drivers with the AFS who were killed and a number of others earned the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor for their heroic actions.

AFS Safari, group of exchange students hosted in Australia
AFS Safari, group of exchange students hosted in Australia

During World War I there was another volunteer ambulance corps in France called the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps as well as the American Red Cross service in Italy. When the United States entered the war in 1917, both the American Field Service and Norton-Harjes were merged into the U.S. Army Ambulance Corps on August 30, 1917. Also, once the Americans entered the war, many of AFS volunteers joined the U.S. armed forces as officers and served in the regular Army.

Following the Great War, the AFS continued as a legal entity, offering student scholarships to France until World War II when they again provided ambulance service in France and as well in North Africa.

In September 1946, Stephen Galatti, [1] president of AFS established the American Field Service International Scholarships. During the 1947-48 school year the first students came from ten countries including Czechoslovakia, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Syria. As of 2005 there are over 50 AFS organizations worldwide, serving over 75 different countries, providing exchange opportunities for over 11,000 students and teachers annually.

AFS is one of the largest volunteer-based organizations of its kind in the world with more than 30,000 volunteers worldwide and more than 8,000 in the U.S. Tens of thousands of volunteers and a small staff make the AFS program happen worldwide. AFS volunteers are both young and old, busy professionals and retirees, and students and teachers. AFS provides development and training opportunities for volunteers.

AFS volunteers help in many areas including facilitating the AFS mission in the local community and schools by finding and interviewing students and families. Further involvement includes serving as a contact person for an AFS student, organizing fund raising events, and arranging activities for AFS students.

[edit] Notable AFS Ambulance Corps Volunteers

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] About Stephen Galatti

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] AFS Program Countries

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