Click here to view students looking for a host family

Hosting an AFS exchange student will:

• directly benefit you and/or your children through increased knowledge, understanding and communication
• extend your family to include a son or daughter you never had
• provide you with worldwide networks that last a lifetime
• allow you to experience New Zealand and its culture from a new perspective
• allow you to learn about the customs, ideas and values of another culture
• allow you to experience the increased warmth and vibrancy of an extended family
• make a positive and real contribution towards creating a more just and peaceful world through intercultural understanding
• allow you to develop lifelong bonds and friendships

“You gain a lot more than you give and the more you put into making it work the better it works. It lets you grow as a family and gives you a new view on the world.”

AFS host mum Tania King of Christchurch

“Not only does the student become part of our family, but their family becomes part of ours and ours part of theirs. We’ve met our host son Edison’s parents and sister. It makes the events that happen in their part of the world more real. It makes the world a smaller place.”

AFS host mum Lucy Brown, of Greymouth

For more information about hosting an exchange student with AFS please send an email to info-newzealand@afs.org or call 0800 600 300.

“We enjoy having another teenager around and you get the chance to learn about another culture. We’re a small family so we liked the idea of another teenager. And there’s also the possibility that your kids pick up another language.”

AFS host mum Sue Ryall of Wellington