AFS is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based organisation. Our founders were ambulance drivers during the First and Second World Wars who imagined a world in which intercultural connections ensured world peace, leading to our mission: ‘peace through friendship and cultural understanding’. We do not operate to obtain commercial gain from students.
Our organisation runs on volunteers who believe in our mission! Host families, support teams, host schools, orientation facilitators, home interviewers, and many more roles are all filled by volunteers who love AFS. When you go on an exchange with AFS, you become part of a 75-year history of turning strangers into life-long family and friends.
AFS is the same organisation worldwide, so we take care of you throughout your journey. We have 24-hour support for all AFS students and families, with proven risk management and emergency procedures. With over 30,000 volunteers worldwide, there is always help at hand should you need us – anywhere you go!
AFS Intercultural Programmes is a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to creating a more just and peaceful world through intercultural education and exchange. For over 75 years, we have provided transformative experiences that empower young people to develop essential global competencies, including intercultural understanding, empathy and critical thinking.
By becoming active, engaged global citizens through deep personal connections across cultures, AFSers break down barriers and stereotypes and cultivate a profound sense of shared humanity.
Through its programmes, AFS directly contributes to peace by nurturing the next generation of leaders.
Intercultural learning is at the heart of the education of exchange students, and AFS has a huge body of educational knowledge for students to tap into. As part of their programme, AFS exchange students participate in our world-leading intercultural education AFS Student Learning Journey. This learning journey addresses key topics for intercultural learners to before, during and after their exchange programme.
At the end of their learning journey, every student leaves with the “AFS superpowers” that they need to make the world a better place through active global citizenship: adaptability, critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy, communication, valuing differences, open-mindedness, global awareness, and change-making.
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